Do the numbers matter? Not really, but they are somewhat important in the world of Internet Marketing and Social Media. After all, the more people you reach, the more likely you are to make a sale. It’s definitely a numbers game.
Let’s say you want to make money online by offering advertising opportunities. You’ll need to have numbers to back up how much traffic your website is generating.
Why would someone or a company pay you top dollar if you don’t have the numbers to show? People won’t automatically trust you. The initial impression is on how popular you are in terms of readerships, fanbase, followers, etc.
Let’s say you stumble upon 2 identical websites. One has a good deal of followers with lots of engagement through likes, comments, messages, etc. The other has absolutely no followers and no engagement whatsoever. Which one would you trust more? Assuming this is the first time you’ve seen their website.
The idea of using Social Media to promote your content is not just to get people to see it. It’s to get people to engage with it. It’s like an empty restaurant! When it’s empty, it stays empty until someone shows up and sits down.
For Social Media, 3 things can happen and obviously you want all 3, but it’s not that simple. You’ll want your audience to like, comment, and share. In this article, I am going to focus specifically on Instagram.
Use Hashtags On Instagram
With so much information on Social Media, the use of Hashtags can bring awareness to your content to the right people. Let’s say there’s a huge pond with lots of fishes and a smaller pond with just a few.
That doesn’t mean you’ll do better at the pond with lots of fishes. I’m not a fisherman and I have zero knowledge in terms of fishing. But let’s assume that different fishes take different baits.
The smaller pond might not have as many fishes, but they are more concentrated. So if you have the right bait, you’ll be able to catch more.
This applies to Instagram or internet marketing as well. Within Instagram, users can search and click on hashtags that they find interesting. The hardest part is finding the right hashtags.
That’s why I always recommend turning your competition into inspiration. You can check out what hashtags your competitors are using, so you can test out what best interest your audience.
Also, with Instagram, when you start typing in a hashtag, you’ll get suggestions, recent hashtags, and how many posts have used that specific hashtag. There’s no perfect hashtag, you’ll just have to find the ones that are most relevant to your post and try it out.
Using Resources To Find The Right Hashtags
Source: Keywordtool.io
Instead of blindly selecting hashtags for your Instagram posts. There are resources that you can access with statistics. One of which that I personally use is called Top 100 HashTags on Instagram.
It updates automatically to provide you with up-to-date hashtags that are currently trending. If you want to find something specific, you can use their search bar.
Another that I use very often is the Keyword Tool for Instagram. I actually prefer this one over Top 100 HashTags on Instagram. Instead of giving a general list, you can search for something more specific.
Unfortunately, the Keyword Tool will only present limited data (posts per hashtag), so if you want the full access, you’ll have to upgrade to pro (starting as low as $48.00 per month up to $88.00 per month).
Keep Your Audience In Mind
Lastly, the best word of advice I have for you is to keep your audience in mind. HashTags are only effective if used properly. If the content you post is irrelevant to the HashTag, then it’s pointless.
I’ve seen many people spam HashTags all over their Instagram posts (for example, #cat on a picture that shows a duck). It might have caught my initial attention, but it won’t keep me engaged long enough to convert because it’s irrelevant. The more relevant you are, the more likely someone is going to like, share, and comment.
Lastly, please try and respond to every comment even if it’s from a bot. I am definitely guilty of this at times and I am taking in the consequences. When people go through your Instagram posts, they will also look at the comments. When you don’t respond, it makes people feel like you don’t care. Just make an effort and you’ll see greater results.
That concludes this extremely short article! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns. Please leave a message down below and I will try my best to help you out!
Kind Regards,
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