Q: “How do I grow my Instagram following?”

This is a question I get asked constantly! Although I try and remind people the number of followers you have shouldn’t matter, the truth is…at the end of the day people do look at your following. When it comes to businesses and brands, it seems the more followers you have, the greater your trustability, IF you didn’t buy your following. As a social media manager, I am here to tell you I CAN tell if you bought your followers or if you have done 5,000 chain giveaways.

A: The four most common ways of growing your Instagram following:

• Posting consistently

• Showing up on stories every day

• Engaging for a least an hour a day

• Following 10 new accounts every day

 

But sometimes, you have to get outside of what’s considered normal to grow your following even more. This is where Pinterest comes in — there are more people than EVER on Pinterest. Here are some tips on how to use this tool to its full potential:

1. Claim your Instagram account on Pinterest

By claiming your Instagram account, you will be able to auto-publish your Instagram posts directly to Pinterest which will then lead people to your Instagram feed.

 

  

2. Pin your Instagram photos

If you choose to auto-publish your Instagram posts to Pinterest, I recommend you create a board specifically for your Instagram posts.

 

   

It is also important to note that by auto-publishing your posts, you won’t be able to add a pin title. This is why I still recommend uploading your Instagram posts manually so that you can add a Pin title and description.

  

3. Create promotional Instagram pins

Just like if you were to promote a blog post pin, you can create promotional pins for your Instagram posts. If you think about it, Instagram captions have become mini blog posts. Before promoting your pin you will want to look at your analytics, just like you would do for Facebook or Instagram ads, so that you aren’t just throwing money at a pin! The point of promoting a pin is to get people to your website, to purchase your product, or in this case lead people to your Instagram.

 

    

4. Follow Pinner’s Instagram accounts

Every day you should be following at least 10 new Instagram accounts. Instead of finding new accounts through hashtags, lately I have been trying to find 10 small businesses on Pinterest to follow on Instagram. Once I find them on Instagram, I always shoot them a DM (direct message) letting them know I found their account through their Pinterest page.

 

  

5. Add your Instagram content to Tailwind Tribes

 

If you are new to using Pinterest and aren’t sure what a Tailwind Tribes is, a Tailwind Tribe is a group of bloggers or people you connect with to share each other’s pins on a common topic. Tailwind Tribes are a great way to get your content seen by people in your niche, but also another great way to access your pin performance since Tailwind tracks tribe shares and repins.

 

Are you using Pinterest to grow your Instagram presence? Comment below!

 

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