4 Tips to Grow Your Instagram Presence

Instagram has become an essential tool for any artist to increase their online presence and grow their brand. However, it is also an incredibly difficult website to master, with their increasingly complex algorithm system changing with every update. Still, there are a few essential tips every artist should know to maximize Instagram's potential.

1. CONTENT SPECIALIZATION. There are countless niche communities on Instagram. These tend to have high levels of cross interaction and support. Gearing your content towards niche communities and themes can help increase engagement, proving more effective than nonspecific general content that can get lost in the crowd.

2. RELEVANT HASHTAGS. The hashtag game on Instagram is a notoriously tough one to play. Depending on who you ask, you'll want more hashtags, less hashtags, or none at all. What is certain is that (like your content) specialization is key. Use specific hashtags that have 50-100,000 posts max for maximum engagement. Posting with hashtags such as #art will only ensure your post drowns in a sea of thousands of new posts every hour in an overcrowded and overused hashtag.

3. FOLLOW THE RIGHT ACCOUNTS. Do you make art for a certain fandom or style? Make sure people you're following are relevant to this area. Don't just follow people at random all over Instagram; you have to be strategic. If, say, digital animation is your specialty - following and interacting with watercolor artists or photographers isn't going to be as effective as following people within your niche.

4. INTERACT WITH THESE ACCOUNTS. I can't stress this point enough! There's no point in any of this - posting, creating, etc. - if you are not going to interact with your Instagram sphere. Be social! The more you interact (generating QUALITY interactions - not spam), the more organic traffic and rapport you will create. You'd be amazed how far a few genuine interactions will go to driving traffic to your page.

These 4 points are the basic building blocks to any successful Instagram page. Without these fundamentals, any growth you have will be intermittent and slow at best. Instagram is a mysterious game - but there ARE methods to its madness. Good luck!