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Organic: important in the produce aisle, but even more important on your Instagram feed. And no, we’re not talking about filling up your account with photos of lush kale leaves or free-range eggs when it comes to exercising organic Instagram best practices.
In the social media sense, organic best practices refer to maintaining the aspects of your social media accounts that are able to be seen and interacted with by all followers, such as your posts, photos, bio, and videos.
And just like it’s important to pay attention to the ingredients going into your Whole Foods cart, it’s important to carefully curate your organic Instagram presence to get your brand’s message across quickly and clearly. If you do it right, you just might boost your paid Instagram ad campaign’s results, too.
Curious how? Then let’s dive into the top Do’s and Do Not’s of organic Instagram best practices!
The Do’s of Organic Instagram Best Practices
There’s no better place to start than what TO DO with your organic Instagram feed. This section includes a little bit of everything from content curation to hashtag strategy so even a rookie Instagrammer can harness these tips and tricks!
First Things First: Get to Posting
The first step to a great organic presence is to create an Instagram account for your business or brand and start posting. If you’ve already been doing this for a while, then pat yourself on the back because you’re a few steps ahead in the organic Instagram game!
But posting isn’t enough – you need to curate your content.
Instagram is a visual feed, after all, so you must use high-quality photos and videos for your organic posts.
It’s not enough to just put up a photo of your product, you need to make your followers stop scrolling when they come across your photo in their feed!
Make sure to use interesting photo angles, bold contrast and colors, and appropriate lighting for all of your posts.
Work that Algorithm with a Killer Hashtag Strategy
Posting on its own isn’t enough, though.
Working the algorithm to your advantage is one of the most important organic Instagram best practices, so you need to have a stellar hashtag strategy in place to help your posts get seen by people who actually are interested in what you’re posting. Don’t worry – a hashtag strategy isn’t as daunting of a task as it may seem.
For any caption or comment, up to THIRTY hashtags can be used.
You want to choose wisely, though; avoid looking excessively #thirsty and stick to twenty or less hashtags per post.
Select a few that are broad and might have millions of related posts, a few that are more honed in with tens of thousands of posts, and then a few super niche hashtags that have anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand posts.
For example, if you’re posting about a new Ford Bronco, you might use #Ford, #BuiltFordTough, and #BroncoOffroad as some of your tag choices, paired with some that relate to your geographic location, to get the range sweet spot you’re looking for.
Grow Your Brand’s Recognition with Your Dealership’s Hashtag
One hashtag is more critical than any other and needs to be used on every post you make: your hashtag!
Be sure to grow your brand recognition on Insta by creating and using your own hashtag on all of your posts, and encourage your followers to use it, too.
Some brands choose to have their hashtag match their username, some choose to use an abbreviated version of their name, and some even choose to use a pun or play on words based on their name.
Many different options may come to mind when choosing your brand’s hashtag, but as long as you’ve got your name in there, it’s easily recognizable, and the selected phrase matches the vibe of your brand, you’re golden.
Get Your Profile into Tip-Top Shape
Alright so you’re posting, you’ve got your hashtag selected and ready to use, what’s next?
Get that profile looking good! Make sure you’ve got a profile picture that gives your followers and potential customers a quick look at who you are.
Stick with something simple and not too busy.
Using your brand logo and signature colors is a great way to go, and makes it so your posts are easily recognized by someone scrolling through their feed. You could also use your profile picture to highlight a featured product or service.
After you’ve picked a pic, get that bio in tip-top condition. Keep it as brief as possible, while still telling a bit about your brand.
Then comes the one and only spot to link organically, so be sure to use it!
You can use the link spot to land followers directly on one page of your website, or you can use tools like Linktr.ee, Feed Link, or Lnk.Bio to harness the power of many links on your Instagram profile.
Reap What You Sow with a Paid Instagram Ad
Now that you have successfully set up your Instagram account and gotten it off the ground organically, we’ve got another big tip for you: set up a paid Instagram ad campaign through Facebook Ads Manager.
Doesn’t that seem counterintuitive to growing an organic following?
Yes. Yes, it does. But in reality, it’s not.
When you are working on building your following, introducing a paid post engagement or ad campaign can help you get your posts and products in front of the eyes of people who actually want to buy your product and follow you.
This will gain you lasting followers who will then turn into customers, and likely future promoters of your brand if you keep them happy!
Need help implementing this double-dip approach to Instagram marketing? Don’t worry, the team at Dealer Authority is here for you!
Organic Instagram Best Practices Infographic
If you’re a visual learner, then you’re in luck! Check out the Organic Instagram Best Practices highlights in the infographic below.
The Don’ts of Organic Instagram Best Practices
So you’ve filled your feed, you’re using relevant hashtags, and you’ve even got a few paid campaigns running for good measure to get your brand a bit more exposure.
You’ve laid the foundation to totally-organic Instagram success, your follower count is increasing, and it’s time to close that ad account for good, right?
WRONG!
What Not To Do
One critical mistake that can instantly erase all of the hard work that has gone into building your brand’s organic Instagram presence is to pull the plug on your paid campaigns after getting a post or two that go viral.
Keeping a small budget to push your posts to people in your area or targeted groups is an extremely cost-effective way to build brand recognition, trust, and brand loyalty with future and existing customers.
Another misstep commonly faced once you’ve gained a bit of a following is to end up on a completely sporadic posting schedule.
Post regularly so that you are seen and on people’s minds, but not so often that it can seem like spam. The last thing you want to do now that you’ve built up your page is to annoy people to the point of unfollowing your account!
Three to five times a week is a perfect posting frequency for a business page to maintain a healthy following and keep users engaged.
How Organic Instagram Best Practices Lead to Better Paid Instagram Results
Sure, you can run paid campaigns on Instagram without having an actual Instagram account for your business. But if you’re relying solely on paid content and not using any form of organic social interaction for your business on Instagram, you are doing it wrong.
When you use only paid campaigns, there isn’t an Instagram page for users to go back to when they want to look at your brand again later, which leads to many missed opportunities.
Plus, you are severely diminishing your brand’s ability to build trust and recognition with the Instagram community.
I mean, let’s get real: Have you ever purchased a product from an Instagram ad that didn’t have an Instagram profile? Probably not.
Take the extra time, go back to the beginning of this article and build that profile out!
Combine Forces and Dominate Your Market
Get the most bang for your buck when you implement both an organic side and a paid campaign side to your social strategy.
The use of paid campaigns allows you to target specific users in your market, while the organic side can reach your existing customers, their friends, and those who search for hashtags similar to those you use.
It won’t happen overnight but stay consistent, and you will see the results from both efforts reflected in your growing follower count so that you can get the most out of your organic Instagram best practices.
Need Help Making Your Dealership’s Content ‘Grammable?
Wow! It sure does take some nimble balancing skills, willingness to be flexible with strategy, and a keen intuition to tackle organic Instagram results successfully.
Incorporating a consistent organic and paid strategy is essential, whether you’re tackling it yourself or are looking to bring in external help to keep your Instagram ahead of the competition.
No matter which way feels right for you and your business, the team here at Dealer Authority is ready to help knock all of these organic Instagram best practices out of the park with our social media management, advertising, and consulting packages.
Don’t let your social presence suffer any longer; reach out to our team of experts today!
Want even more Instagram tips and tricks?
Discover awesome Instagram Story ideas for Car Dealerships in the video below!