Instagram has emerged to become one of the most important marketing tools for businesses. In 2017, at least 70% of all businesses are expected to have an Instagram account. With a large user base of 600 million users, you are certainly missing out if you don’t have an active account for your business. To be popular on the platform, you don’t need exceptional writing skills or even photography skills. As long as you are creative and understand your audience, you can create quirky and entertaining content that will generate brand awareness and loyalty. Everyone loves a funny, clever or popular person, and the same goes for your business’ social media profiles.

The number of followers is a direct reflection of popularity and the number is a strong indicator of Instagram marketing success. Of course simply creating an Instagram account and posting beautiful pictures is not going to be that efficient. According to data compiled for a new infographic by website builder more than 95 million photos and videos updated daily, all your efforts could easily go unnoticed. Here’s what not to do on Instagram so that your audience remain engaged with your content and you gain more genuine followers.

• Don’t post content without understanding the active times of your audience, which is dependent on your business and audience demographic. That being said there are general times when the platform is most active. Without considering the time and day of your post, it may go unnoticed.
• Don’t post content several times in a day, clogging your followers’ feed. Your followers will be interested in knowing about your business as long as you don’t annoy them. Posting several times in a day will decrease the quality of your posts. As a result, your audience may unfollow you.
• Don’t push the audience to follow you with every comment. Subtly encouraging users to follow is fine, but you should not overdo it as this will come across as insincere. Contests, giveaways and offers are a great way to gain new followers on Instagram, while offering the audience something in return.
• Don’t post low-quality images. Instagram is a platform for visual content and nobody will like to see blurred images or pixilated photos. The network is meant to be used with modern smartphone cameras, but if you are using a meme or photo from elsewhere, zooming in before posting will help you check how high the resolution is.
• Don’t sell your business on Instagram all the time. It is a marketing tool, but you don’t have to directly advertise in every post. Focus on increasing customer interaction to create a loyal customer base. Engage your audience in new ways and this will give a reason for them to follow your business.
• Don’t post boring content. The audience is always interested in knowing what value you can offer to them and mundane pictures will not be welcomed by your followers. When you want to be popular on Instagram, you have to be quirky and honest. The Instagram business account should have an amiable personality so that people are motivated to follow you.

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