Why Community is More Important Than Followers On Instagram

Although most brands are always trying to grow their Instagram following because they’ve been told over and over again that that’s what will increase their engagement and get them more sales, there’s something else that they should be much more focused on, and it’s much easier to master!

Creating a real community on Instagram is much more important than having thousands of followers that aren’t actually interested in your brand. Instagram isn’t all about followers, it’s actually all about engagement!

For example, one account might have 20K followers and only have a 5% engagement rate, but another might have 5K followers and a 60% engagement rate - obviously, the latter will have more loyal followers and supporters, therefore undoubtedly make more sales.

So, rather than making your marketing strategy all about increasing your follower count, you need to focus on creating a community and increasing engagement. 

If you’re not sure how to navigate around creating an Instagram community successfully, don’t panic! We’re going to share 6 top tips on the matter, so you can get started and create an online community of your own, turning followers into loyal supporters of your brand. 

How To Create A Strong Community on Instagram.

Bring Personality To The Table.

To create a community on Instagram, you need to act as if you’re creating a community in real life. Therefore, you need to bring personality to your account and actually create relationships with your followers. 

Stand out from the crowd of lifeless brand accounts by adding personality to your account. Show the faces of the team behind your brand, write up thought-provoking captions, and speak up about causes that matter to you. By making your account more personal, you’ll be able to connect more deeply with followers.

Create Content Your Audience Wants To See.

If you’re planning to create and grow a community on your Instagram, one of the most important things you need to focus on is creating content that your community actually wants to see. 

One of the best ways to figure out what kind of content your followers want to see is by looking at your Instagram Insights and seeing which types of posts have been liked the most and had the most interaction. Then, you can make sure you focus on creating that type of content.

Your content should also always be high quality and aesthetically pleasing.

Engage With Your Followers.

To create a strong community, you need to put effort into creating a relationship with your followers. The main aim is to make followers feel like you care about them, and it’s pretty easy to do this!

You need to reply to comments on your posts, reply to followers that reply to your stories, and like posts by followers that are really supportive of your brand. If someone posts about your brand or posts a photo with one of your products (for example, if you have a clothing brand, this would be someone wearing one of your garments), it’s vital that you react and send them a message or leave a comment.

Make Sure You’re Posting At A Time Your Followers Are Active.

You’re never going to grow a strong community of loyal customers if your posts are never actually reaching your followers. You need to make sure that you’re posting at the best times possible - this is the time when the majority of your followers are active. By doing this, you can be sure that you’re going to have the best possible engagement.

If you’re not sure when the best time for you to post is, you can check by looking at Instagram Insights on your account. Once you’ve found out the best times for engagement, you can make sure you’re consistently posting at the best times.

Reward Your Community.

Although it’s wonderful to supply your followers with interesting, aesthetically pleasing content that keeps them hooked, it’s really important to give back to your community. Rewarding your community will not only strengthen it, but it’ll also invite more people in. 

You can reward your community by doing giveaways, having Instagram specific promotions, or even donating to a charity of your community’s choosing.

Be Consistent.

You can take on board all of the tips above and do everything right, but if your strategy isn’t consistent, then you’re never going to grow a proper community around your brand. Don’t run one of those accounts that’s active up on Instagram every hour of every day for two weeks but then goes silent for a month, because this is guaranteed to lose rapport with your followers.

You need to make sure that you’re posting and engaging with your followers consistently, so they know that you’re active and they can expect your posts. The Instagram algorithm also favours accounts that are consistent. So remember, for your marketing strategy to work, consistency is key. 

So, with all of this information, you can now go and grow, as well as strengthen, your Instagram community.