6 Tips to Crush Blogging on Instagram (Follower + Revenue Growth)

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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on Breaking The One Percent by Francesca Mason of The Money Fox as part of our “Ask the Expert” interview series.

I firmly believe that blogging on Instagram is one of the most important things you can do in terms of marketing your business.

That’s not to say that you should ignore huge traffic drivers such as Google and Pinterest. But when it comes to getting loyal fans and readers, it’s all about Instagram.

Instagram allows you to grow a community around you and your business and connect with readers in a way that’s difficult to do on other channels.

Using your Instagram in the right way will allow you to grow your blog traffic and increase your sales dramatically.

What Does Blogging on Instagram Look Like?

Blogging on Instagram is different from how you would use a personal Instagram account. I have 2 accounts for that very reason.

How your Instagram should look depends on your niche, but it’s useful to think of Instagram as a ‘mini-blog’.

Focus on the content that you are putting on Instagram and how you can use that to direct people where you want. Your Instagram posts and stories should be relevant to your niche and what you are trying to sell.

6 Instagram Blogging Tips to Grow Your Readership

Use the following tips to attract your ideal audience and grow your blog with Instagram.

1. Set your account up for success.

The first step is to look at why you want to grow your Instagram.

Is it a numbers thing? Do you want to make more money? Connect with more people? Build your brand?

Drilling down on the reason behind growing your Instagram give you clarity on what type of content to create. What does success look like based on your goal? Is it more followers, more sales, more traffic?

Create a posting schedule

You will need to post a lot in order to grow your readership. Instagram loves an active account and will reward you for being active and engaged on the platform by showing you to more people.

The first thing that you need to do is decide what to post about.

Every post you publish needs to be for your ideal reader or it will be a waste of time. You need to bring them value and have a strategy behind each post.

The best way to find out what to post about? Ask your audience, and follow other people in your niche who have already built a following on Instagram. Don’t copy what others are doing exactly. But learn their strategy and figure out how you can model it in your own business.

Then, use a tool like Tailwind to schedule your posts to go out at opportune times. By scheduling content in advance, you can hit your target audience at perfectly optimized times, even if you’re not around to do it.

Related: 6 Ways Tailwind Helped Us Build a $100,000/yr Side Hustle

2. Perfect your blog promotion plan.

When you concentrate on your Instagram, it’s easy to get sucked into it and forget the main purpose — to direct people to your blog.

For people to go to your blog, they need to know it’s there. You need to reference your blog and tell people to go there.

Link in bio

There is only one place on your profile that you can put a clickable link, and that is in the website link part in your bio.

You will need to copy and paste your blog link in there, or any link you wish to direct people to.

Use Stories

This is the most important part of your blog promotion strategy.

Stories on Instagram allow people to see the real you, and this is where they will connect with you. Think of it as reality TV. We love to see what people are doing and who they are.

You can use stories for people to get to know you, but the most important thing that you can do in your stories is to provide free information and a ton of value. Point people towards your blog and resources that they can get on there.

Talk about the things that can help your ideal reader and where they can find them.

Adapt new features early on

Any time a new feature rolls out on Instagram, you can gain exposure by using these new features early on before everyone else jumps on the bandwagon.

Instagram rolled out Reels in 2020. Similar to TikTok, you can use Reels to create short videos that promote your business. As the Reels algorithm becomes more sophisticated and more users start creating Reels, it’ll become more difficult to get your content seen.

Related: 50 Smart Ways to Promote Your Blog and Get Free Website Traffic

3. Speak to your target audience in each post.

Aside from consistency, the most important aspect of growing your Instagram is relevancy. Don’t post just to post. Make sure your content solves your ideal reader’s problem.

The best way of doing that is to ask your target audience what they would like to see. You can use surveys to do this and put the link in your bio.

If you are taking them on a journey, tell them where you have been and how you can help them. People will connect with a story, and it’s a good way for them to get to know you.

Remember, everything that you post is for them. Write your posts as though you are talking to one of your readers and this will resonate with them.

4. Understand the importance of hashtags.

You should never ignore the importance of using good hashtags, as they could be the reason that people find you and want to follow you.

The great thing about hashtags on Instagram is that people can choose to ‘follow’ whichever hashtags they want. That means you can show up in their feed even if they are not following you.

If people are browsing through a particular hashtag, this is also where they will stumble across your account.

On Instagram, you can use up to 30 hashtags for each post, but it’s important to only use hashtags relevant to your post. It’s tempting to use popular hashtags, but it won’t attract your ideal audience, which can then hurt the reach of future content.

On Instagram, you can use up to 30 hashtags for each post, but it’s important to only use hashtags relevant to your post. It’s tempting to use popular hashtags, but it won’t attract your ideal audience, which can then hurt the reach of future content.

5. Don’t forget to network.

One of the best tips that I can give you is that Instagram will reward you for the time that you spend on the platform.

The more time you spend on there, the more that Instagram will show your content in other people’s feeds.

Follow other bloggers, like and comment on their posts, share their posts, chat to them via messages, etc.

But be genuine. Don’t do it because you want something from them, but because you genuinely like their content. Ideally, they’ll appreciate it and return the favor, but don’t expect to get anything in return.

6. Differentiate yourself.

Instagram has 1 billion users. While that means there’s a lot of competition, it also means you have the potential to get in front of a lot of people.

In order to find your following, you have to differentiate yourself from other accounts in your industry.

What makes you unique? What can you do differently from anyone else in your niche?

Now is not the time to be humble. Think about what you’re good at, the things that will enable people to connect with you, your unique style or personality. Show those to your audience.

Are you good at writing? Use this to your advantage by writing amazing copy in your posts and stories.

Are you a good photographer? Draw people in with your images.

People love to see the process. They love to see the behind-the-scenes and the not-so-perfect staged Instagram posts that we used to see a lot more of.

Instagram for Bloggers FAQ

Below are answers to the most common questions I get about how to grow your blog on Instagram.

How Can I Improve My Instagram Profile?

The first things that people will see when they click on your profile are your profile picture and your bio.

Make sure that your profile picture is professional and on-brand.

The bio is where you have a few small lines to get the message of your brand across. Use it wisely.

Don’t stuff your bio full of information. Make it succinct and easy for readers to tell what you’re all about. Your profile image and bio are the first impression someone will get of your business and brand, and you can’t redo a first impression.

Write about how you help your ideal reader with their specific problems.

Look at my bio:

I have written how I will help people and what result they can expect from working with me. I’ve also added some emojis to make it fun and appealing to my audience.

When putting together your content schedule, think about creating a theme so that your account looks appealing and so that people recognize your photos in their feed.

I have recently changed mine to more of a white background, as these seem to do well in testing. Try out different things and figure out which one works best for you.

What Should I Post to Instagram?

If you haven’t already done so, you need to nail down your reader avatar.

An avatar is essentially your ideal reader or target audience for your blog. Everything you create should be geared toward them and their specific problems.

When you are creating content for your avatar, you need to brainstorm what their pain points are and how you can help them.

As mentioned, you can do this by sending out a survey to your readers and asking them what their problems are, what they enjoy about your content, and what they would like to see more of.

If your goal is to make money with Instagram, don’t shy away from posting the things you are selling. It helps the reader to see how it’s used and the real-life benefits.

This is how I sell my budget planner on Instagram.

How Do I Promote a Blog Post on Instagram?

The best way to promote your blog post on Instagram is to talk about it on your Instagram stories.

Obviously, the best thing to do is use the swipe-up function if you have over 10,000 followers. If you’re under 10,000 followers, you can still talk about it on your story and direct people to the link.

The only place you can add a link on your Instagram is in your bio. However, you can use a tool like Linktree to direct your follower to a page with multiple links.

The best method I’ve used to get people over to my blog from my Instagram? Sharing freebies.

I have a freebie library with printables that they can download. Once they do, they’re added to my email list. When I share a free printable, this drives people over to my blog.

Also, something that has driven a ton of people recently has been a free email course that I’ve set up.

The secret here is to provide value — for free. I’m not asking anyone to buy anything from me when I share my freebies, but I am asking for their email address. That way I can keep in touch with them and sell them my paid products in the future.

The secret is in your stories. You can share your blog posts in your feed but this won’t appeal to people as much as they don’t enjoy being ‘advertised’ to.

You can talk about your blog post within the photos on your grid, but I personally wouldn’t recommend using an image with your blog post on.

Growing Your Blog on Instagram Takes Consistency

Instagram will get much harder to be seen, especially now that they have been acquired by Facebook.

At the moment, it is heavily underestimated as a major driver of traffic for businesses and building a brand, so the best time to start is now.

With Instagram being the 2nd biggest social media platform right now, you could be missing out on a big chunk of traffic. If your audience is on Instagram, then you should be, too.

Author

Ben Huber

Hi! I’m Ben. A personal finance nerd on a mission to help DollarSprout readers make and save more money. A quoted contributor for Business Insider, Business.com, Discover, Intuit, MSN, NBC News, Yahoo Finance and more, I work to help others live their financial best life.