Have you been posting on Instagram but nothing really seems to work?
The problem is that many business owners are still unsure about how to harness this game-changing social media platform to the fullest, particularly because it is an image-heavy site. Mistakes in posting are a common phenomenon that could be costing you those all-important engagement rates you’re working so hard to improve.
That said, businesses could get a handle on these mistakes by taking corrective measures beforehand — and making sure they’re only posting top-notch, error-free content to the platform.
1. No call to action
For the traffic to show up on your website, you need to first focus on adding a link or call-to-action in your bio – a small element that many businesses don’t consider worth their time and attention, especially with the need for high-quality photos and engaging captions in every post you’re publishing.
2. No profile picture
Forget about attracting new users; you’ll lose out on the existing ones if you keep your profile picture blank because that ghost-like blank photo will keep appearing every time you make a comment. Adding your brand’s picture is crucial if you really want users to follow your Instagram account.
3. Your account is private
If you’re really interested in gaining followers on Instagram, I don’t see any merit in keeping your account in private mode, because it drives away your potential followers. If you keep your business account in private mode, the wannabe followers need to send in a follower request first. And since brands need to accept these requests manually, it might take some time for new followers to begin viewing both your new and old content. That’s a huge inconvenience.
4. Too many hashtags
Twitter may be the Godfather of hashtags, but Instagram is equally inundated with them. But don’t fall into the trap of using too many hashtags in each post you’re publishing. Posts with 8 hashtags (although 5-10 is fine) garner the most likes. You can find relevant hashtags by doing a little research on Hashtagify. Simply add a well-known hashtag used by people in your industry and discover suggestions from other users:
5. Not posting anything new and exciting
Saturating your Instagram account with too many duplicate photos and videos will do a great job at driving away your followers. If you’re not sharing anything new, fresh or exciting (and clogging your followers’ feed with the same photo over and over again), why should they bother following you?
Also, you can keep a track of your Instagram engagement and performance of your profile account with engagement rate checker tool. As that will help you in finding an answer of if your posts are getting any good engagement boost or not due to your posting.
6. Posting too many photos at the same time
You’ll run the risk of clogging a user’s feed. When they scroll through a feed that’s dominated by your brand, they’re likely to unfollow your profile so they’re able to view other people’s (better) content.