Dos and don’ts of interacting with profiles on Instagram

When someone new follows your account, or likes or comments on your posts, it’s human nature to be inquisitive and look at the person’s profile. This is why interacting with other profiles on Instagram shouldn’t be overlooked as a vital part of any organic marketing strategy on Instagram. Use this knowledge to your advantage, but in a way that benefits both your target audience and your business, through following our 8 top tips for interacting with other profiles on Instagram.

DO comment on posts that are followed by people who will get value from your business

Comment on and like posts from people who you think will genuinely get value out of your business, or interact with a page that your target audience is likely to follow. Be sure that when you’re engaging with content, you are doing so in a real way. For example, if you run a pet grooming business, find animal owners or animal fan pages and comment on the pictures of pets in a relatable way. This is a good way to get in front of your target audience, without being pushy.

DON’T make it all about you

If you start a relationship by just talking about yourself and never seeming that keen to get to know the other person, you’re going to seem self-absorbed and uninterested in a genuine connection. The same is true with online marketing. Reaching out to other profiles is all about building connections, relationships and rapport. You can do this in many ways, from asking questions, offering compliments or simply supporting the person by liking lots of posts. Whatever you do, don’t comment something such as, ‘Hi I’m [insert name] and I thought you might benefit from my business…’ It doesn't acknowledge their content, comes across as spammy and often will have you overlooked, even if your business is precisely what they need.

DO comment on other brands’ content

Interacting with other Instagram profiles isn’t limited to reaching your target audience directly. More and more examples are popping up of brands and celebrities interacting with each other through comments, which builds connections between the companies, but also brings the commenter in view of the other’s audience. This is a broader ‘thinking outside the box’ approach to connecting with new audiences.

DON’T forget to ‘read the room’

How you interact with content and profiles should change depending on who you interact with. If the profile is lighthearted, serious or comical, adapt your approach to add value to them and their use of social media. Being adaptable, flexible and craft conversation to suit the environment. This will stand you in good stead for making better relationships.

DO continue to be consistent

Interacting with other accounts as part of an organic marketing strategy takes time. You can’t expect your business to grow if you only keep up with it for a day or a week. Through regularly engaging with relevant profiles (both new and profiles you have already engaged with) you can grow awareness, develop relationships and build familiarity around your brand. It is said that it takes seeing your brand 7 times for a potential customer to buy a product or service. While there is debate as to whether this rule is outdated (it might take many more times), it’s still clear that the more a potential customer is exposed to your brand, the more likely they are to buy.

DON’T follow just to unfollow

This might have worked in 2015, but it’s not something you want to be entertaining in 2021. Instagram has cracked down on this method and will block your actions if you follow or like too many things in a row; it comes across as spam. Besides, there are third party apps that many people use that will notify them when someone unfollows. It’s a bit disheartening to know someone followed you just to unfollow down the line when they got what they wanted out of the interaction. Instead, swap out spam for genuine interactions. Of course following accounts can be part of your strategy, but make it relevant and think about the overall picture.

DO combine organic and paid marketing strategies

A good business approach is to combine paid and organic marketing because it covers more bases. While paid strategies might get you a lot more eyeballs on your content a lot quicker, engaging with people adds the personal touch that we use social media for… after all, it is called ‘social’ media for a reason. Continuing to pursue organic strategies even when you have an add budget to spend gives you the best of both worlds, enabling you to reach more people in a variety of ways.

DON’T give up if you don’t see results straight away

Organic marketing is all about building blocks to create the big picture. Through interacting with other accounts, creating good quality, consistent content and having a great product or service, you will find that each piece is important to the overall success of your marketing strategy. If you’re not seeing results straight away, it could be any one of these things that need tweaking, or perhaps your target audience is different from your actual audience. Either way, the longer you try out strategies, the more data you will have to reflect what it working for your business and what isn’t. You can track your KPIs with Minter.io which will show you your Instagram performance over a significant timeframe, making it easier for you to make accurate decisions for your business.

For your free trial of Minter.io click this link. We hope these dos and don’ts help you craft a credible organic Instagram strategy for your business.