When it comes to building and maintaining interest as an entrepreneur, having a strong Instagram account can be invaluable. Because the platform is so popular, it can serve as a great driver for making useful connections but standing out can be difficult. Here are five ways to impress your fans with your Instagram content.

1. Find Your Voice

Checking out how the big names on Instagram grow and maintain their audiences can help you understand the platform and find out innovative ways to use it. However, sustained success requires finding your own voice. Make sure you’re willing to make changes over time but focus primarily on developing your own voice and owning it. You might encounter haters along the way but stay faithful to yourself and your voice. You’ll build your audience by being yourself in an honest manner and showing off all you have to offer.

2. Stay on Point

Before deciding whether a particular piece of content is right for your Instagram account, take a step back and think about the message you’re trying to impart. Your account is both a reflection of yourself (or your business) and the goals you’re trying to achieve. Because Instagram is a primarily visual platform, you’ll want to think about which types of images really speak to you: Which ones make your heart sing? A great option is to make a list of potential posts you’d like to share and decide if they’re right for your brand. Careful editing can help you reach your goals. Not sure about how to reach your target audience effectively? Check 4 Steps to Discovering Your Target Audience.

3. Don’t Over-Edit Your Photos

Photos and image editing apps today are amazing, and they can do great things for your photos when used correctly. However, it’s all too tempting these days to apply too many filters, leading to content that’s distracting and seems inauthentic. You are free to experiment all you want; it’s part of the learning process, after all. But bear in mind that it’s often the simple edits that are most effective. You may occasionally post content that you later find falls short of your goals but know that your photo editing skills will improve over time with practice.

4. Be Proud of Your Success but Don’t Brag Too Much

As an entrepreneur, you want to demonstrate your expertise on Instagram. However, we’ve all seen accounts where the owner is clearly bragging too much, irritating visitors to their pages and eventually turning away followers. Feel free to talk about your business and products but try to tie them in with real-life snippets about your daily life to ensure you’re engaging your readers. Your followers will be happy to hear about what you have to offer, but make sure you’re providing real entertainment and motivation along with discussions about yourself and what you have to offer.

5. Post Consistently

There’s a common trap on Instagram: Owners of new accounts are excited to post at first, but the novelty can wear off after a few weeks or even days. Make it a goal to create high-quality posts on a regular basis. Remember, your followers are interested in what you have to say, so make sure you stay engaged. Reaching 10k followers is an excellent goal, and it’s one you can achieve. But you’ll need to keep a consistent schedule.

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Now It's Time to Take Your Instagram Account to the Next Level

Applying these tips to your strategy will increase your engagement and help you get clients that trust you, your products, or your services!

Tracey Lee Davis, founder of ZingPop Social Media, turns busy small business owners into online marketing rockstars! A social media expert and Certified Partner for Constant Contact, she coaches entrepreneurs in how to grow their business using social media and provides total management for their email marketing campaigns. Tracey Lee is also a featured speaker for associations and business groups. She is a 2022 Silicon Valley Woman of Influence, Alignable's 2022 Local Businessperson of the Year for San Jose as well as a Top 25 U.S. Business Mentor of 2021, a Certified Content Marketing Strategist, and the Co-Owner and Vice President of the Women’s Networking Alliance. She also really, really loves cheese.