If you are starting fresh on Instagram, the chances are high that you would want to promote your posts for free.
With a platform, like Instagram, you know it keeps on regularly improving, offering new features and functions to its users.
However, this means you need to keep updating yourself with what is hot continuously, so you are not left behind. In other words, what worked for some in the past does not mean it will work for you if starting today.
Knowing this, along with crafting solid content, you always need to test different things, to see what has the best performance for your audience. After a while, you will know what suits your followers best and focus on delivering that type of material primarily.
For some, videos are key while for all the others, images still win. Some use amateur-ish photography and others go all-on with professional content production. There are oh so many methods to use to present your content in the best possible light.
However, if you are just starting from scratch, images and videos shot from your smartphone will do you just well. After all, the quality of the smartphone camera is becoming so good, it is more than enough for social sharing – no need to purchase fancy equipment.
Once you have the post ready, how do you promote it? To be more precise, how do you push an Instagram post for free?
There are all sorts of ways; however, we will focus on the five most impactful ones.
5 free ways to promote your Instagram posts
1. Hashtags
Along with writing an enticing and attention-grabbing copy, you do want to add hashtags to boost the visibility of your Instagram posts. It is a simple, free technique that, when done correctly, can have a very positive impact on your reach.
You can play around with different hashtags, branded and industry-related. You can even throw in something entirely against the grain and see what gets the traction going the most.
Note, some hashtags bring a ton of (spammy) engagement that will not do you well. Sure, the numbers will go up, but the overall result, long-term-wise, will be minimal.
Last but not least, once you become an authority, you can use your own hashtags and popularize them. Create trends and take things to an entirely new level.
3 hashtag do’s:
– Clever, descriptive hashtags work best
– Use up to 30 hashtags (the more, the better)
– Research hashtags in advance
3 hashtag don’ts:
– Try avoiding adding hashtags which are too popular, like #travel, #coffee, #beer, #vegan and #yoga
– Using the same hashtags for each post. However, do create a small set of hashtags which are relevant to your brand, but add additional ones that are related to the post
– Do not steal competitor’s hashtags to a T
2. Tag locations, followers and brands
Another pretty basic free promotion of your Instagram posts is to tag locations, followers and even other brands. For instance, if you visit a popular tourist location or a famous restaurant, when you publish a post, make sure you tag it with the exact location/place.
People like to browse Instagram by locations and places, and if your post stands out, you know you will capture their attention.
Moreover, you can also tag your followers and brands. This might come very unexpected for the person or brand you tagged, which can end up with a repost and more social recognition.
On social media, it is not always all about you, give others some shine, too.
3. Publish your Instagram posts on your blog/website
For everyone out there who already has a blog or a website, introduce an Instagram feed to your page. If you use WordPress, a simple, easy to use and free plugin will do the trick.
Additional content never hurt anybody.
Boost your site’s experience with fresh material that you post to your Instagram profile. Each Insta post can be an individual image that links directly to your account. This way, you can grow your Instagram account, too.
You can display your Instagram content in a sidebar, footer, in blog posts or even as a full-width feed; the options are there, just put them into play.
4. Promote your posts in stories
When running an Instagram account, you will, very often, notice that stories tend to perform better than the actual posts. In other words, you will see a lot more people viewing your stories compared to engaging with your published images and videos.
With that in mind, you can additionally promote your posts in stories.
One of the ways to encourage your visitors, to actually check what you posted, is to blur some parts of the post so it does not reveal it all. Effortless and free Instagram post promotion that can end in more likes and comments on your original post.
5. Push your posts on Facebook/cross-promotion
Even in the Instagram app alone, you have an option to cross-promote your posts and publish them on other social media platforms, like Facebook. Of course, you can always step things up and use a dedicated tool that will automatically distribute your content across several different channels if necessary.
Friendly advice, if you post something to your Instagram, do not immediately post it to Facebook, too. Diversify yourself and try and keep things as unique and original as possible on all the platforms you are actively present on. However, what you post to Instagram today, does not necessarily mean it will not work if you share it on Facebook in a day or two (or even later).