Act Like an Influencer, Think Like a Brand: 7 Ways to Grow Your Instagram by Acting Like a Brand

As an influencer, you are your own brand. Even if you hate the concept of “personal branding”, it’s something you have to consider. Take a look at the pages of your favorite Instagram influencers: They have a clearly defined brand, color palette, and voice. You recognize their photos when you’re scrolling Instagram, even without seeing their username – and the same goes for retailers’ pages, too.

Influencers can learn a lot about growing their brand by imitating brands’ Instagram strategies. Read on for our 7 best secrets to thinking like a retail brand to grow your Insta following.

1. Identify your brand voice by asking yourself:

• What is your content niche?
• What is your overall aesthetic?
• What is the tone of your captions & content?
• Do you have a preferred color palette or lighting/filter preset that lets your fans instantly recognize your content when they’re scrolling through their feed, even if they don’t see your username?

2. Put an Instagram gallery on your website.

Many brands have a “shop our Insta” section, where they link back to their Insta feed or have their Insta feed on a page on their website that tags individual items on the site itself. You’ll notice MagicLinks has Instagram galleries on both the right-hand sidebar, and down at the bottom of each page.

3. Add a Call To Action to every Insta/IG Stories/IGTV description

A good CTA encourages your viewers to use your links, interact with you, and add more likes & comments to your posts. Here are a few examples:

• Swipe up to shop these sunglasses!
• Click the link in my bio to watch my newest YouTube video
• Tag me with #jennasglittersmokeyeye when you recreate this look, so I can see!

4. Do your hashtag research to see which hashtags in your content vertical are the most popular

For example, #fashion will pull over 658 million posts, meaning your posts will never get seen. #fashiononabudget, on the other hand, has just 136,000 tags, which increases your chances. Further narrowing your hashtags’ scope will give you a much more specific reach. There’s nothing wrong with adding large hashtags like #fashion or #tbt to your posts, but those should never be your ONLY hashtags.

5. Research and add location specific hashtags

Attract the attention of local Instagram users and brands by adding location-specific hashtags to your post. For example, if you’re a fashion & beauty influencer near us in Los Angeles, try:

#losangelesfashionblogger #losangelesmakeupblogger #losangelesfashion

6. Tag products & brand names in every post

Brands love it when you’re mentioning them, and it might end up leading to sponsorships or free PR goodies!

7. Don’t just post about yourself

It comes across as pompous. Reposting your subscribers’ photos, memes that fit your aesthetic, etc, helps break up your account and keep it from feeling like 100% self-promotion. A little humor goes a long way towards making your subscribers like you more – and want to buy the products you recommend.

We love the instantly recognizable aesthetic MagicLinks creators Crystal Coons (@sometimesglam), Charis (@lvlovercc), Gretchen Geraghty, and Allegra Shaw have on their Insta. Browse their feeds, and you’ll see what we mean!