16K Instagram Followers – An Introduction to Instagram

Ladies, I am so excited to introduce our guest today at Just A Simple Home – Emily Crawford, creator of Why Hello Beauty and author of ‘The Social Bloggers Guide | How to grow your beauty blog with Instagram!’ You could call Emily an Instagram expert, with over 16,000 followers. I have been a follower myself for awhile now and I just love her style. Emily graciously offered to be a guest blogger for us when I eagerly asked her and I am beyond grateful for her time.

A  little about Emily Crawford:

“With a natural flair for beauty and lifestyle blogging, Emily has combined two of her creative passions and is quickly making a name for herself within the blogging world.

Through the use of social media, Emily continues to attract hundreds of followers with a keen eye for ‘beauty’, believing that “a refreshing, modern spin on makeup and all things cosmetics”, never holds a dull moment.”

Thank you so much Emily! I am sure our readers will be blessed to learn from you!

AN INTRODUCTION TO INSTAGRAM FOR BLOGS + BUSINESS
Instagram is a platform where it’s very easy to waste time scrolling through endless pretty images but it’s often an untapped resource for potential new clients, a new audience or simply a new network.

Instagram is a HUGE network of people with similar interests to you who are probably taking similar images to you, which is especially true for me as a beauty blogger at Why Hello Beauty– we #beautybloggers seem to be everywhere! The point is, connect with these like-minded people.

Building relationships with similar minded people is the best way to increase your Instagram presence & build a community.

Nailing your online presence can be broken down into the following steps below;

BIO
Capture your audience straight away by using your bio to describe what you do but also what you do, in a fun and witty way. I’ve popped my personal bio below for reference;

Emily Crawford
Beauty + Lifestyle Blogger | TAS AUS
A coffee & lip balm addict |Forever wanting a massage + manicure
Snapchat: emily_tassss
emily@whyhellobeauty.com

CURATE YOUR FEED
Curate your feed. Don’t just simply upload any old images without intention. This combination is key to increasing your followers. Deciding on the type of look you are after is vital.

Take some time to think about your ideal Instagram newsfeed. What does it look like? Is it bright pastels with lots of white images thrown in? Edgy black and white? Bold & tough colors? What are your favourite insta-people doing that hits the right spot for you and their followers? Use that as inspiration to create your own dream feed and once you know what you’re going for, start implementing it!

HASHTAGS
Research hashtags are that relevant to you but also have an active audience. A beauty blogger typically posts makeup flatlays and say handbags, quotes and pretty sunsets. But, they are also interested in stylish and on trend accessories, inspirational books and magazines, candles, interior design, fashion – the list goes on! Use this approach to grow your potential audience…

LIKING, COMMENTING + FOLLOWING
Try to aim for 45 mins – 1 hr each day liking and genuinely commenting on images within your niche, and definitely follow those accounts. But remember, you don’t have to do it all at once either. Get involved at different times of the day, spending 5 or 10 minutes here and there. This gives you access to different influencers time zones and means you can work out peak posting times.

If you need inspiration on new accounts to crush over, try scrolling through your favourite feeds and see who they are following – voila, a whole new potential audience.

TAGS
If you post an image of a lipstick (or any object really!) then make sure you tag the brand in the caption + within the image and also use their hashtag. By putting a little extra effort into your images you will see a huge return when a brand regrams your work with their audience. I remember LUSH Cosmetics and Ms Soho both featured me on their respective feeds last year and I gained an additional 100+ followers for each share! And who knows, gaining the interest of a brand/company opens up the potential for you to discuss a collaboration in the future!

If I can ever be of assistance in any way, please contact me on emily@whyhellobeauty.com and if you enjoyed this article, you may just like to take a peek at the-social-blogger.com at my exclusive debut ebook ‘The Social Bloggers Guide | How to grow your beauty blog with Instagram!’.

emily XO | WhyHelloBeauty.com + The-Social-Blogger.com
Social Media Manager + Digital Influencer