5 Steps to Acing Instagram Community Management: Part 7 of the Instagram Growth Series

Ah community management – the less glamorous but absolutely necessary cousin of content creation. Let’s be real, there’s no point in slaving away for hours shooting, editing, and crafting the perfect caption, only for nobody to actually see your posts. Community management done well means growth, and isn’t that what we’re all here for?

Here are 6 steps to getting your community management spot on, so that more people find your account and you can grow your brand.

1. Love the One You’re With

First things first, you’ve gotta love the one you’re with. There’s no point going out to find new followers if you can’t even take care of the ones you already have. Make sure to like and reply to every single comment that gets left on your post.

It’s so important to make your followers feel valued. Personal connections through the comments cultivate loyalty and trust – two things that you absolutely need if you’re trying to sell a product or service.

And for the love of God, please don’t reply with a single emoji. Remember meaningful connections are the name of the game here.

2. Find Your People

Instagram now allows you to follow relevant hashtags. This is a god-send went it comes to finding users interested in what it is you’re doing. Find hashtags in your niche with around 15,000 – 75,000 posts. Click the follow button and check in on the hashtag regularly.

The people using this hashtag are your people. They are interested in what you’re doing – so engage with them! Leave meaningful comments on their posts and you may find them checking out (and following) your profile.

3. Be Thoughtful

When posting comments on other’s posts, be thoughtful. Post something that will solicit a meaningful reply.

Example A: ‘love this’

Example B: ‘this workout looks insane – those pistol squats!! Damn girl!’

Which user would you be more likely to check out? It takes a little more time but will 100% pay back in the long run, I promise.

4. Repost UGC

Make sure to repost user generated content. Keep an eye on content that mentions your brand or uses your branded hashtag and repost it! This not only means free content for you, it also shows that you value your audience (once again creating those personal connections).

Encourage users to tag you for reposts. One brand that does this well is asos. Customers use the hashtag #asseenonme in photos featuring asos products for chance to be featured on their page.

5. Run a Giveaway

Running a giveaway is an amazing way to increase your follower count and boost engagement. Post a photo & caption with the giveaway details. Let viewers know that in order to enter, they must be following you and must tag two friends in the comments. You could even give a bonus entry to people who share it to their stories.

This is likely to bring an influx of follows from people looking to win and also introduces your profile to two of their friends.