Author: Franz Malten Buemann

Sales grew for years, then suddenly plateaued.
Natalie Nagele and her husband Chris Nagele, the co-founders of software company Wildbit, immediately leapt into solution mode.
They were determined to figure out why the company’s growth plateaued and identify what they needed to do to kick start it again.
That is until they asked themselves why they cared so much about growth. In the end, the duo realized they wanted a business that served humans, not the other way around. They fixed their growth problem, but not in the way you’d expect.
Featuring insights from Buffer’s Small Business, Big Lessons podcast episode five, and the accompanying unpublished interview, Natalie shared Wildbit’s journey from a growth-focused business machine to a company that’s excited to find ways to work less.
Flipping the business script
When Wildbit’s growth plateaued after years of success, Natalie and Chris felt out of control. The business they’d poured their hearts and souls into suddenly hit a wall, or so it seemed.
“We felt up until that point, that growth was just happening to us,” said Natalie. “We weren’t really responsible for it. So, when we hit a plateau, we felt very out of control.”
Thinking strategically about what to do next, they decided to take a step back and look at the big picture. Instead of wondering how to tweak a certain ad or launch a new campaign, they asked themselves what the business was really for, why growth needed to continue at its previous rate, and if a plateau was really a bad thing.
The two started asking people they trusted for advice. One conversation particularly stuck out to Natalie though. She was talking to a banker friend about the situation, and the banker told her that businesses are a tool to “keep building wealth.”
“What does that even mean?” said Natalie, on the idea that a business is just about continuing to build wealth. Of course, she understood the concept of having more money – and wanted that – but she had a gut feeling that business had to be about something more than just money.
Thinking more about it, Natalie concluded that a business is flexible and malleable as long as it acts in the best interests of the people it serves.
“I believe businesses were designed by humans and therefore exists to do good for humans and they serve us,” said Natalie.
Specifically, Natalie believes that businesses are made to serve four constituent groups:
1. Shareholders: Those with financial backing and incentive in the company.
2. Employees: The people who make the business run on a day-to-day basis.
3. Community: Anyone external to the organization who is impacted by the organization (including families of employees and people who live in the local community where the business operates).
4. The Environment: Being good stewards of the planet.
With the realization that businesses should serve humans, Wildbit changed its mission. Instead of focusing on growth and building wealth, Natalie and Chris reset to building a people-first business.
“Anytime we’re making a decision, we’re saying, who does this serve?” said Natalie.
Businesses are imaginary, humans are real
A new people-first business in hand, Natalie and Chris still had to grapple with the question of growth. In order to pay good wages, offer benefits, and be a good environmental steward, you need to make money.
Thinking through the growth challenge led Natalie to another realization: businesses are imaginary.
A business structure is simply a piece of paper. Some businesses may have physical spaces, but the idea of a business is imaginary. It’s only made real by the humans who operate it.
“[Businesses are] just a collection of human beings,” said Natalie. “And if every human being is unique, then every business is unique, and so they’re all beautiful.”
In keeping with this belief that humans make otherwise imaginary businesses real, Natalie and Chris made the decision to prioritize employees above all else. If they did that, Natalie reasoned, the growth problem would solve itself.
“If the team feels safe, secure, and fulfilled, we can move mountains,” said Natalie.
A business that supports employees
Within the mission to prioritize employees above all else, Wildbit implemented a few key changes.
1. Deep work focus: Natalie firmly believes that people are more productive and happier when they can do deep, uninterrupted work. Thankfully, the remote nature of the company defaults to deep work – meetings and distractions are added on top, but at a baseline employees can find a quiet space and work on their projects.
“One of the beautiful things about our remote team is that you get the gift of deep work,” said Natalie. “It’s kind of built in.”
2. Working fewer hours: When the company first started, people hustled to get their work done. A few years into the business, Natalie and Chris implemented a no working on nights and weekends policy. Then came the idea that no one should work more than 40 hours per week, which was radical at the time for the hustle-focused software industry. With the new people-first mentality, they pushed it even further. Now, everyone at Wildbit works on a four-day work week, or a 32 hour work week. And Natalie is clear that this isn’t about cramming five days’ worth of work into four. It’s a fundamental change to how people work.
“I think of a four day workweek as a result of being just extremely intentional with how you work,” said Natalie.
3. Collective learning: After the shift to a people-first focus, Natalie and Chris wanted to ensure they learned alongside employees. That meant listening to employees as a collective, understanding what obstacles are inhibiting deep work or causing additional busywork. The whole team now communicates how many deep work versus “shallow work” hours they got per week, all with the eye to team-wide exploration on how the business can improve or iterate. Natalie is also conscious to look inward on herself as a leader, questioning where she’s asking too much of employees
“We didn’t experience a decrease in how much we got done, but we were asking too much in attention,” said Natalie. “…leadership’s job [is to] look at those hours and say, hmm, what can I change? Are we asking too much of folks?”
Iterating to a post-work future
With increased automation and a renewed understanding of the fragility of life piercing our modern society, many people, Natalie included, question whether we’re entering a “post-work” era.
It’s not that people don’t work in a post-work era, just that we don’t prioritize jobs as the main way we spend waking hours. Natalie said she’s already seen this mindset creeping into the software industry, a space known for proudly talking about working more hours than anyone.   Now, said Natalie, talented people don’t want to work 90 hours per week for an unknown, faceless corporate giant that abuses its power.
“You have brilliant people who are highly employable and saying, I won’t settle for that, we’re going to start to change narratives,” said Natalie.
Despite not prioritizing work, the post-work era also doesn’t mean people don’t care about, value, or desire more money. It’s not a poverty sentence. Instead, said Natalie, it’s realizing that you can have great pay, profits, and offer a workplace that’s built to serve humans instead of hiring humans to serve an imaginary business structure.
“It doesn’t have to be this singular way of doing it,” said Natalie. “The narrative isn’t honest. It’s designed to keep us doing the things the way that we are.”

Want to capture more conversions and engage more leads? You’ll want to get personal. But how can marketers make this personalized approach work for their brands?According to The State of Personalization Report 2021 by Twilio, businesses are struggling to make the best use of this new paradigm: While 85% of companies believe they’re offering personalized experiences, just 60% of consumers agree. To help your brand bridge the gap, we’ve analyzed the report to discover just how personalization is changing marketing — and what it means for your business.

60 Ways Personalization is Changing Marketing

Customization is not personalization. Customization is explicit, while personalization is implicit.
There is a growing willingness among consumers to trade information for a personalized experience.
IP recognition software will provide an experience that is dynamically constructed for individual users.
You can achieve intent-driven personalization by understanding what people engage with on your site.
Never forget that no matter how much technology changes, the key to great marketing is having an in-depth understanding of users.
Personalization is the next wave of the communal public user experience.
Delivering personalized messages to specific audiences at the right time is the holy grail of marketing.
The future of marketing is in making websites, products, or experiences personal in a deeply meaningful way.
The personalization of search results offers an opportunity to increase your visibility for really relevant searches.
The social, gesture, and location aspects of personalization are the key elements driving online advertising.
The potential to engage customers contextually based on a need and serve that in real-time will drive mobile devices as they become payment vehicles.
The advent of newer technologies, social networking, and database profiling offers the ability to help people find what they need and serve them what they desire.
Personalization has moved beyond segmentation to algorithmically-driven content.
People want to share what they do and information about themselves if you give them the chance to do it.
Personalization is about leveraging what you can from individuals when they come to your inbound customer touch-points.
Don’t think about the different groups you want to market to. Think about the power of one and how to reach that person in the most customized and creative way.
There are three pillars of personalization: real-time, what is hot, and local.
Use personalization and customization of landing pages to drive better conversion rates.
The three-step approach to personalization is: listen, educate, engage.
Think in terms of customer-centric recommendation engines rather than company-centric selling engines.
There is a growing need for social media managers to pivot their strategies to connect with consumers.
The future of personalization will reward publishers that provide better content.
Personalization is about creating a natural process of conversation between companies and customers.
Use personalization to give customers a great experience.
Personalization is not just an opportunity but is a part of a set of broad, very profound societal changes where there is a trade-off between privacy and personalization.
The three keys to balancing personalization and privacy are company transparency, consumer choice, accountability for those choices.
With personalized ads, the goal is to reach the highest point of relevance for the lowest sense of intrusion.
For personalization to work, you want to gain your customer’s trust and not abuse it.
Engage your customers and prospects without violating their privacy rights.
Use the available technology to make sure you touch your customers in the right way at the right time with the right information.

GDPR is changing the way marketers can track and target consumers with personalized ads.
Privacy is not the issue. It’s about the value proposition we give to consumers.
The key to personalization is not algorithms or automation. The key is to work your butt off. To personalize, you need to put in the effort.
Worry less about technology and focus on human emotions and what turns people on.
Go beyond what your product can do for your customers and focus on what your product says about them.
The three Ms to successful personalization: motivation, message, and media.
To get a shot at your customers’ pocketbooks, first capture their imagination by getting them into a dialogue.
Personalization convinces consumers that they are buying things thinking it’s their idea when, in fact, it’s not.
Marketers can get too focused on the details and forget to focus on the most important aspect: relevancy.
Filling your channel with content is going to personalize that relationship between the brand and the consumer.
Personalization comes to life by delivering relevant and compelling experiences to the end-user.
Business is personal. It takes time to build trust but less to establish likeability, which is the first step towards long-term partnerships.
The challenge is to create an emotional and psychological contract with your customers that separates you from everybody else.
Get rid of the scripts. Create a Personal Emotional Connection (PEC) by encouraging reps to be themselves and have their personalities connect with customers’ personalities.
Treat your customers like VIPs at every touch-point.
Customers now expect your business to use their personalized information to offer better service.
Get personal with your prospects and customers, but don’t get creepy by using all the information you have when communicating with your customers.
Personalized marketing is not just for customers and prospects. It can affect change within an organization.
To increase the value of the customer experience, remember to answer the question “why” and personalize the experience around that answer.
One-to-one marketing is all about personalization; less mass communication and more mass customization.
In face-to-face marketing, body language is the key. In online marketing, the key is taking note of the digital body language of your web visitors and customers.
Mass personal relevance allows you to target individual offers tailored by data and driven by customer input.
With customer behavior changed by the recent economic downturn, sales are now dependent on how a retailer or brand can communicate its relevance to the customer.
Personalization is about engaging customers using technology in ways that mimic how we would do it if we were face to face.
For mobile, location-based marketing and location-based services are going to be very important for companies trying to reach consumers.
After search box and site navigation, product recommendations are the third key method that consumers use to navigate a retail site.
The trend is for consumers to click on relevant ads only, and personalization platforms are helping to drive this trend.
We’ve moved from opt-in, permission-based, and customized address fields in personalization to online relevant conversations that engage and excite.
The long-term effect of personalization where everyone becomes their own brand is that personal expertise will be an asset that can be traded for currency.
The company of the future takes all of its disparate information and unifies it because that is what everything else is based on.

As personalization becomes commonplace, what shifts can marketing teams expect in customer and conversion outcomes? Here are eight ways this new paradigm is changing the game.
1. Omnichannel is Obligatory
The Twilio survey notes that just 25% of businesses are effectively implementing omnichannel marketing strategies. With consumers now actively engaging across multiple channels — 82% primarily engage via smartphones, while 63% use computers — effective personalization depends on an omnichannel approach that meets consumers where they are, not where brands expect them to be.
2. Privacy is Paramount
While three-quarters of customers surveyed said they’d never had an “invasive” experience with brand personalization, 64% of those who encountered this issue pointed to the problem of brands having information about them they didn’t knowingly or willingly provide. In a marketplace where personalization is king, privacy is paramount.
3. Strategic Investment is Essential
It’s easy to overspend on personalization efforts — after all, the more brands learn about their customers, the better, right? Not always.
Here’s why: Not every approach pays the same dividends. While massive investment in social media marketing might help drive interest, companies will quickly lose customers if websites can’t deliver the same level of personalization. The result? Start where the customers are by personalizing your mobile and desktop websites and work outward from there.
4. Context is Critical
Customers want personalization to change based on the context of their interaction with your brand. In practice, this means that how they connect and what they’re looking for should inform the nature of personalization.
For example, a prospective customer that clicks on a product ad from your social media site wants specific information about the item in question, how they can order it, and how long it will take to arrive. Those clicking through to your website from a search engine, meanwhile, are often looking for more generalized context about what you do, where you’re located, and what you can offer.
5. Boundaries are Beneficial
Not all personalization performs as intended. As noted by Accenture, consumers called geo-based texts or notifications on their mobile triggered by their proximity to retail locations “creepy” — which isn’t a word you want to hear from potential buyers. As a result, it’s critical to conduct market research and determine where your customers draw the line.
6. Anonymity is Actionable
In some cases, anonymity is the path to personalization. Here’s why: While customers are often hesitant to provide personal information to brands if it’s used to create identifiable profiles of them within company databases, they’re typically willing to share personal data if companies promise anonymity. This anonymous data, meanwhile, is a great source of overall market trends that can help inform personalization strategies at scale.
7. Apologies are Effective
About 45% of consumers say the “coolest” personalization effort they’ve seen is when companies apologize for poor shopping experiences. This is the other side of personalization-based marketing: While most efforts focus on gaining customers, this approach focuses on keeping them. Combined with action — such as discounts, free shipping, or other benefits — apologies are an effective way to retain consumer loyalty.
8. People are the Priority
When it comes to personalization, people are the priority. Customers not only want to be treated like people through the personalization of recommendations and service but also want to see the humanity behind your brand. As a result, it’s worth personalizing your web pages, social sites, and marketing efforts to showcase the human side of your story and help drive the creation of a shared customer/company narrative.
This Time, It’s Personal
The volume and variety of customer data now available — from personal preferences to transaction histories and social media interactions — lays the groundwork for effective personalization.
However, teams must do more than simply capture data; they must combine and curate this information to create value-driven campaigns that speak directly to user interests. It’s no easy task, but the rewards are substantive. From improved engagement to increased customer loyalty and reliable conversions, fundamental change is happening to familiar marketing processes — and this time, it’s personal.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in May 2011 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

It’s no secret that business opportunities are continuing to grow on Instagram. Approximately 90% of Instagram’s 1 billion active monthly users follow a business account on the platform, and there are more than 200 million business accounts.

But here’s the deal: Unless you’re famous, it’s really hard to amass a huge following on Instagram without some hard work.
Luckily, there are a few things you can do right away to collect at least 1,000 quality followers for your personal or professional Instagram account. It’s all about knowing where to invest your time and effort.
In this post, we’ll discuss a few strategies that will help you gain those followers, from creating a follow-worthy Instagram profile to using contests, to staying true to your brand.
1. Create and optimize your profile.
First thing’s first: Customize your Instagram profile to make it look good. Tell your potential followers who you are, and give them a reason to follow you.
How? Start by making sure your username is recognizable and easily searchable – like your business name.

Image Source
If your business name is already taken, try keeping your business name as the first part of your username so that people searching for your business are more likely to come across you. For example, the Australian activewear line Lorna Jane uses the username @lornajaneactive.
Setting Up Your Account
Step 1. Add your full business name to the “Name” field in the “Options” section. To find “Options,” tap the three lines in the top right corner of the iOS app, followed by “Settings” which will appear at the bottom of the screen next to a gear. If you’re on Android, tap the three dots in the corner. Your business or name will appear under your profile picture and your username in search.
Step 2. Make your profile public. To make your profile public, open Instagram, open “Options,” and make sure “Private Account” is turned off.

Step 3. Choose a profile picture that’s on-brand with your other social networks, like your company logo.
Step 4. Fill your bio with delightful, actionable, and informative information about your brand. Information like this lets people know what you’re about and gives them a reason to follow you. Include who you are and what you do, and be sure to add a hint of personality.
Here are a few examples for inspiration:

@cheekbonebeauty: “Less waste. Ethical and safe ingredients.”

@Oreo: “Playful moments from your favorite cookie.”

@mrsbrittanyhennessy: “Helping Influencers go beyond #sponcon and create sustainable businesses.”

@CalifiaFarms: “Something different, something better. Let us show you what plants can do.”

@coragedolls: “Elevating, educating, & encouraging girls of color to be unstoppable with dolls that finally look like her.”

Step 5. Add a link tree to your bio to make it easy for people to go straight from Instagram to your other platforms if they want to. The space allotted for URLs is precious real estate. When you receive 10,000 followers, you can add links to your Instagram Stories.
Until then, your bio is the only place within Instagram where you can place clickable links, so use it wisely. We recommend using a shortened, customized Bitly link to make it more clickable.
Step 6. Enable notifications so you can see when people share or comment on your photos. This’ll let you engage with them more quickly – just like a lot of companies do on Twitter. To enable notifications, go to “Options” and then “Push Notification Settings.” Select “From Everyone” for every category.
A word to the wise: We don’t recommend you link your Instagram account to Twitter and Facebook (or other social media platforms) for automatic posts. Because every platform caters to a different audience and requires different types of posts.
2. Designate a content creator.
Just like there should be one (maybe two) people managing your other social media accounts, there should only be one or two people managing your Instagram account.
If possible, choose someone with experience on the platform who will “get” it — and be sure they stay updated on all new features Instagram has to offer from Reels to IGTV.
If you work for a large organization, you might find that a lot of people want a say in what’s posted. That’s when an organized request or guidelines document comes in handy.
This document should inform people how to request a post on your Instagram account, when, the value of the post, and why.
3. Follow photography and editing best practices.
On Instagram, post quality matters. A lot. Your Twitter followers might forgive a few bad tweets, but a bad photo on Instagram is a big no-no.
Fortunately, you don’t have to take a photography course to be a good Instagram poster — nor do you have to practice for weeks before you start. But you should get familiar with basic photography tips and photo editing apps.
Photography Best Practices
Since Instagram is a mobile app, chances are, some content you post to Instagram will be taken on your mobile device. That’s expected.
If your budget allows, consider investing in professional photography for your Instagram photos, as that will elevate your profile. Otherwise, a smartphone and a few editing apps will do.

Focus on one subject at a time.
Embrace negative space.
Find interesting perspectives.
Look for symmetry.
Capture small details.
Make your followers laugh.

Edit photos before you post.
Instagram has some basic editing capabilities, but oftentimes, they aren’t adequate to make visuals really great.
Most of your photos should go through at least one or two photo editing apps on your mobile phone before you open them on Instagram.
Additionally, consider creating a cohesive Instagram theme across your feed, so anyone visiting your account for the first time can get a sense of your brand.

Image Source
4. Set a regular posting schedule.
Once you’ve created and optimized your profile, have someone managing it, and have your creative assets ready, it’s time to start posting.
It’s a good idea to have a solid number of great posts up – maybe 15 or so – before you start engaging people and working down this list. That way, when people visit your profile, they’ll see a full screen of photos and will know you’ll post great content regularly.
To start posting on Instagram, download this social media content calendar template first and plan out your posts. It’s best to build a backlog of content ready a few days or weeks ahead of the publishing date.
This will ensure you always have content during holidays, vacations, and even creative blocks.
Keep your target persona in mind as you plan out your posting schedule, as that can drastically impact your posting timing and frequency – especially if you’re targeting an audience in a different time zone. (Download this free template for creating buyer personas if you don’t have a few already.)
Optimizing your schedule for your specific audience might take time and experimentation.

Experiment with these times and days to see what works with your audience. You may find that your target users are most active and engaged at different times.
5. Allow outside contributors to curate your content.
Although it’s best to have only one or two people manning your account, one or two people can’t be everywhere at once taking photos. What about that fun sushi night the engineers had last night? Or the event your head of sales spoke at earlier this week?
There’s a whole breadth of content you’ll want to post to Instagram, and more often than not, one person won’t be able to keep track of it all.
One solution? Create a system where you can curate photos and content from members of your team.
There are a few ways to do this. The first option is to create a specific email address for employees to send their photos, short videos, memes, hyper-lapses, and so on.
Encourage people to add a descriptive subject line so you can easily sort through the content they’re sending. While this doesn’t seem like the smoothest way to curate photos, it’s actually the easiest for the people sending you photos — and the easier you can make it for them to send content, the more content you’ll get.
If your team shares a Box or Dropbox account, you could also create a shared folder where people can automatically drop their photos and videos.
6. Use a consistent, platform-specific brand voice.
Photos and videos might be the most important part of your Instagram posts, but captions, comments, and other text should never be an afterthought. If you’re managing a channel for a brand or have more than one Instagram manager, consider developing a consistent voice that humanizes your brand.
This shows potential followers that you are credible and relatable, rather than formal or intimidating.

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by theSkimm (@theskimm)

When developing a voice, you should keep the platform and your audience in mind.
For example, many influencers and prominent accounts on Instagram have a very casual voice and style but remain professional and on-brand. Once you’ve got your voice down, make sure it stays consistent and natural in your captions, comments, messages, and your bio.
7. Write engaging, shareable captions.
Captions are an essential part of your post — the icing on the cake if you will. Consistently great captions can do wonders for humanizing your brand, winning over followers, and making your content more shareable — thereby giving you more exposure.

Here are a few things you might see in a winning Instagram caption:

Clever or witty comments
Calls to action
Relevant emojis
Hashtags

More on that below.

Clever or Witty Comments
Some brands and influencers have used clever or witty captions, or even audience-appropriate jokes to further humanize themselves on Instagram.
My colleague Kelly Hendrickson, HubSpot’s social media team manager, says that she loves Netflix’s account and sub-accounts, particularly because of the post captions.
“They have such a clear brand voice, and you laugh along with them. They’re in on the joke, just like one of your friends,” she says.

Netflix’s voice is casual, trendy, and humorous while still staying on brand.
In the post above, the caption is funny, authentic, and relatable. Who hasn’t flipped through a friend’s Instagram Story with the hope that you’ll be featured?
Calls to Action
Another way to increase the shareability of your caption and engage your followers is to ask questions or have some sort of call-to-action in the captions of your photos.
For example, you might write, “Double-tap if you find this funny,” or “share your story in the comments.”
In the example below, we asked followers of the @HubSpot Instagram account to leave a comment with a book that’s had a positive impact on their work, along with tagging the author:

Relevant Emojis
Adding just a few relevant emojis can add even more personality to your posts. It could also make them even more noticeable on an Instagram feed. In the post below, Danielle Gray, a beauty expert with over 50K followers, (@Stylenbeautydoc) includes witty text with relevant emojis to make the post pop.

Along with the three items listed above, you’ll also want to include hashtags.
8. Optimize posts with relevant hashtags.
On Instagram, a hashtag ties conversations from different users who wouldn’t already be connected into a single stream. If you use relevant hashtags, your posts will gain exposure to a wider audience and help you become discoverable to potential customers.
The key to using hashtags effectively is to be selective and use them sparingly. Try to limit the number of hashtags per caption to around three. Similarly, don’t use “like for like” hashtags, like #like4like or #like4likes.
This is a shortcut tactic that’ll only leave you with low-quality followers.
To find the hashtags your audience might be using, do a little research on relevant hashtags in your niche or industry. The easiest way to do this research is in the Instagram app itself, in the Explore tab (i.e., the magnifying glass icon).
When you search for one hashtag, it’ll show you a list of related hashtags at the top of your screen.
For example, when I search for #digitalmarketingstrategy on Instagram, it shows me relevant hashtags like #digitalmarketingexpert, #digitalmarketing, and so on.

To help relate to your followers on a personal level, you might consider hopping on hashtag trends like #tbt (“Throwback Thursday”), #MotivationMonday, #TransformationTuesday, or other trending hashtags. Here’s a post from @fanmdjanm, a headwrap collection and lifestyle brand with over 150K followers on its Instagram account, using the #HappyMothersDay hashtag:

Once you build up a bit of a following, you can try creating your own hashtags — like your company name or a slogan that applies to your content. This is a great way to build up your brand on the platform and build a more cohesive presence.
9. Lean in to trending content formats.
With the arrival of TikTok on the social media scene, short-form videos have become one of the most effective content formats on social media.
In fact, according to a HubSpot Blog survey, 85% of marketers who use short-form videos find them to be the most effective content format. And 95% of marketers who leverage short-form videos plan to increase their investment or continue investing the same amount in 2022.
That’s why it’s important to lean in to trending content formats. After TikTok, Instagram came out with IG Reels, and this feature is a great way to post funny, relatable content.
When Instagram comes out with new tools, like IG Reels, don’t be afraid to use those features because they can help you gain Instagram followers.
10. Post content your followers want to see.
To gain your first 1,000 followers on Instagram, it’s important to know who your audience is. Once you’ve created your Instagram account, you should take note of which posts perform best.
Is it interactive content, behind-the-scenes stories, funny and relatable posts, or something else? When you have a general idea of what performs best, continue to create that type of content.
Additionally, Instagram has many tools and features you can use: IGTV, IG Reels, Instagram Stories, Instagram Live, Highlights, etc. Begin by posting several types of content formats and see which one does best. Then, come up with a strategy and master that one tool. Doing so will help you create content your followers want to see and gain new followers.
11. Promote your Instagram.
Like the old adage about a tree falling in a forest, if you start an Instagram account without promoting it, is the account even real yet? Well, yes. But, you’ll have fewer followers.
One of the best ways to gain followers on Instagram is to promote your account. Embed posts in your blogs (like you see a few on this post), post on your other social media platforms, and share social links in your email newsletters. A great way to gain followers on one platform is to ask current followers on other platforms if they want to follow you somewhere else as well.
Additionally, to promote your Instagram, it’s important to get started with Instagram promotions and ads. This will help you reach a wider audience. I know it might seem like ads are only effective for selling certain products, but I’ve followed several business accounts because of a sponsored post I saw.
1. Engage with users through follows, likes, and comments.
Instagram is very much a community, and one great way to get involved in that community is to find people who post pictures that interest you, and follow their accounts and interact with their content. It’s the most natural way to draw attention to your own Instagram account.
This accomplishes two things: for one, when they get the notification that you’ve followed them, there’s a good chance they’ll check out your profile. This goes back to the importance of having great content on your account before you start reaching out to others.
Secondly, it means you’ll be seeing their recent posts in your feed, so you can Like and interact with them if you choose to.
As you build a following, celebrate your followers by responding to and pinning their comments, and even reposting their posts for user-generated content.
2. Cross-promote with influencers and brands with similar audiences.
Once you build rapport with the folks behind accounts with similar audiences to your own, consider collaborating with them.
Partnering with influencers and brands helps with discoverability, reach, and social proof.

For instance, influencer @sweetlikeoyin who has around 60K followers, posted a sponsored image of herself on the beach wearing a dress from Lulu’s. The clothing brand then published the same image.
With this partnership, both accounts can expand their reach and gain new followers. It’s a win-win. However, be sure to create content that seems natural and makes sense for your brands and collective audience.
3. Run Instagram contests to encourage engagement.
Another great way to expand your reach while increasing engagement with your photos is to run a contest or giveaway. As part of your contest, you can ask users to follow your account, like, and/or comment on the post to be eligible to win.
I mean, come on. Who doesn’t love winning free stuff?
You can also add a user-generated content (UGC) element to the contest, too, where people post a photo of their own and use a specific hashtag.
Here’s an example from @PlayaBowlsNortheastern, where followers were asked to follow Playa Bowls as well as their brand partner, Scoop and Sushi, and tag a friend in the comments. In exchange, followers had the chance to win a free bowl:

4. Explore Instagram Stories’ interactive features.
Instagram has always given brands the platform to share beautiful, curated photos to represent their companies.
However, with the introduction of ephemeral Instagram Stories, brands can also share on-the-fly, behind-the-scenes looks for 24 hours that may not be as polished as a published photo, but give your brand more personality on the platform.
Just look at how Snapchat exploded a few years ago. Once platforms like Instagram and Facebook introduced similar features, it made those apps more valuable and interesting in the eyes of users. Although Snapchat pioneered this feature, Instagram Stories now has over 500 million daily users.
Along with sharing video clips and static images through Instagram Stories, users can also use polls, event reminders, and the “Ask a Question,” tool to gain more engagement and learn more about their audiences.
Once a user is verified or has over 10,000 followers, they can even include a link to a webpage within a story.

How Brands Can Use Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories disappear after 24 hours unless they are marked as a “Story Highlight.”
Highlighted stories will show up at the top of your profile between the photo feed and your bio.

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Here are a few other brands we recommend following to see what they’re sharing:
Dana Shultz (@miniamlistbaker) publishes easy vegan and gluten-free recipes on her blog. Her Stories feature neat how-to videos of her making breakfast and testing out new recipes in her kitchen. The behind-the-scenes aspect of her Stories provides a lot of human context for her blog’s brand, and everybody loves a good how-to video.
Casper (@casper) publishes quirky Instagram content to advertise their mattresses – without overtly doing so. The main theme of their content? Staying in is better than going out (because you can stay in and lay on a comfy Casper mattress, naturally).
They’ve even created a gallery for followers to use as backdrops for their Snapchat and Instagram stories to make it look like they’re out at a party when in reality, they’re laying in bed.
One of their latest Instagram Stories featured someone watching “The Sopranos” in bed, with the caption: “Who needs plans when you have five more seasons?”
This video supports Casper’s campaign to stay in bed with a very real look at what millions of people do when they’re hanging out at home.
Here are our tips for using Instagram Stories for your brand:

Whether it’s funny, sad, or unique, be authentic. Your photo gallery is where content can be perfect and polished. Instagram Stories are for the raw, unscripted, and unretouched. Use Stories to share the other side of your brand that followers might not be able to see elsewhere. Do you have a dog-friendly office? Is your team trying out the latest challenge? Start filming to showcase the more human side of your brand.

Go behind the scenes. These are by far our favorite types of content for ephemeral video sharing. Show followers what goes into the planning of an event or the launching of a product, and make it fun. Your followers want to feel included and in the know. You could also use Stories to cultivate a brand loyalty program that only rewards people who check out your content.

5. Use the Live Video feature.
Instagram also lets users record and share live videos, another content format that’s proven to be hugely popular on other social networks. What’s unique about live videos on Instagram? They disappear when users stop filming.
This authentic, bi-directional experience lets brands share unscripted, raw moments with their audience to incorporate human elements into a social media platform that’s highly edited and polished in its traditional use.
Since the Live feature launched, Instagram has added even more features that may enable further engagement or interactions from viewers, such as:

Request feature to go live with the live account
Pinned comment
Q&A box
Up to four accounts on Live at a time
Filters

Live video is a growing trend across a variety of social media platforms, so if something interesting is happening, start rolling. Whether it’s an event, a team birthday party, or behind-the-scenes footage, your devoted followers want to see what you’re up to.
6. Share your profile link on your website and social media channels.
Have a website? Newsletter? YouTube channel? Make sure you include a link to your Instagram on every single platform.
The first place you’ll want to make sure to add an Instagram badge is your website, specifically your footer and “About Us” page.
Here’s what the badge could look like:

If your brand has brick-and-mortar locations, put out a good ol’ print call-to-action letting people know you have an Instagram account and encouraging them to follow you. You can also place them on your business cards. You might even offer a discount code for doing so.
Also, be sure to promote your Instagram account on your other digital platforms. Chances are, the folks who already follow you on Facebook and Twitter will also follow you on Instagram without much prodding.
Let those followers know you’re on Instagram and encourage them to follow you there.

In this example, wine company The McBride Sisters encouraged their email subscribers to follow them on Instagram with a simple CTA: “Join the community.”
7. Post user-generated content.
Similar to cross-promotion, brands can publish user-generated content to show appreciation for existing customers and generate social proof at the same time.

If I see a regular person endorsing a product on Instagram, I’m more likely to believe they really like the product.
The same is true for most consumers. That’s why sites like Yelp are so popular.
Ultimately, user-generated content can be an excellent strategy when trying to increase brand awareness and trust in your products or services.
For instance, @bevel reposted a video from blogger Rickey Scott using and recommending their products to their 600+ followers.

Posting Scott using Bevel is a smart move.
Firstly, the product is designed with black men in mind. Having Scott, who is part of the brand’s target demographic, recommend the product serves as the social proof the brand wants.
Furthermore, part of Scott’s audience will likely fall within Bevel’s target audience. Simply put, the two brands have similar audiences and brands that align well, which is why it’s a good opportunity for Bevel to promote Scott’s content.
8. Diversify your audience to resonate with different types of users.
As your followers grow, it can be tricky to identify what content types will resonate with them. With this in mind, divide your audience into sub-groups and target your content to various demographics.
For instance, if you have 200K followers, those followers probably come from different regions of the world, have different interests and hobbies, and likely different careers. Rather than post all-encompassing content that will satisfy all your followers at once, conduct some analytics research to separate them into smaller sub-groups.
Take Starbucks as a good example of this. @Starbucks has close to 18 million followers. There’s no way the global coffee brand can post content to satisfy 18 million people at once — and it doesn’t try to.
Instead, Starbucks regularly posts more exclusive content geared towards particular groups, such as this post they published celebrating #TeacherAppreciationWeek:

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This post won’t appeal to the majority of Starbucks followers who aren’t teachers, but that’s OK.
You don’t always need to post content to please everyone. Instead, demonstrate your company’s ability to connect and engage with sub-groups and post what aligns with your own brand’s values.
Education is something that matters to Starbucks, so by posting about teachers, they’re doing more to demonstrate their values than they are appealing to everyone. Which is kind of the point, isn’t it?
9. Apply for a verification badge.
When an account on Instagram is verified, it has a blue dot, called a badge, next to the username. When another user comes across this profile or finds the verified username in search, the blue dot confirms to them that the account is the business, individual, or brand that it’s claiming to be.

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While Instagram has a list of eligibility requirements for the badge, the platform does allow users to apply for one. You can learn more about that process on Instagram’s Help Center.
10. Create your own filters and badges.
When it’s time to promote a new product or feature, creating your own filters, stickers, or badges can help you reach a new audience. You can learn how to create your own filter or sticker to jazz up your Instagram Stories.
The best way to do this is to use these on highly shareable posts that followers will want to add to their own Stories. This way, you’ll reach their audiences and your users will promote your page for you.
11. Tag relevant users.
Another way to gain more followers on Instagram is to tag relevant users in your posts. Your posts will then show up in that person’s tagged posts, and anyone who looks through there will find your page (and hopefully, follow).
However, it’s important that you only tag people who are in the photo, or relevant to the photo. For example, many times, influencers tag the clothing or makeup brands they wore in a photo.
12. Post content that’s meant to be re-shared.
Each post on your Instagram should have a purpose. It could be to generate likes, comments, engagement, shares, etc. However, you can’t expect followers to re-share content just for the heck of it. There needs to be a reason.
Because of this, reverse engineer your Instagram posts. Think, “What type of content would my audience re-share?” Then, create that content. It could be a quote, a meme, an infographic, statistics, etc.
To gain new followers, you should post content that’s meant to be re-shared, so that when others do re-share it on their own Instagram Stories and tag you, their audience will find you and follow you.
13. Collaborate on Instagram Live.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, while everyone was at home, a great way to stay connected was through Instagram Live. Many businesses and influencers took to the platform to host talk shows with interesting people their audience liked.
For your brand, you could collaborate with an influencer or another brand to host a Live. With people that your audience is interested in, you can promote this Live event, and then host it on your profile.
Promoting this type of event will help you tap into someone else’s audience while interacting and engaging with your followers by answering their questions and talking to them during the Live.
14. Get on the Instagram Explore page.
Getting on the Instagram Explore page is easier said than done. We get that. However, creating posts that are aimed at getting on the Explore page means you’ll be creating easily shareable and trendy content.
Think about viral trends and create a video that your audience might engage with. Additionally, use hashtags and tag other users and brands in those posts. 
Instagram’s Explore Page algorithm also seems to grab content that has more engagement, especially if said engagement happens in the first few hours of posting. In Instagram’s case, quality is better than quantity, and getting interaction from influential users (i.e. having a higher follower count) is one of the best ways to do it.
15. Create educational content with Instagram slides.
Similar to creating content that’s meant to be re-shared, you can also create educational content in the form of Instagram slides. Instagram slides have become a popular way to educate audiences on an idea or topic.
Think about what you can educate your audience on and then create a simple Instagram slide post with an engaging title, that entices users to click on the post.
With this type of content, you can share the post on your Stories, and then hopefully other users will be compelled by the content to share on their Stories as well.
16. Host an Instagram account takeover.
When you’re collaborating with influencers and other brands, think about hosting an Instagram account takeover. You can have an influencer take over your Stories for the day, and promote this on their own Stories.
Then, you’ll get their followers to follow along with the Stories and hopefully follow your account.
Additionally, you can ask an influencer or brand if you can take over their Stories, and interact with their audience as a way to promote your own account.
Quality Over Quantity Still Matters
Ultimately, it’s important to focus less on the number of followers you have, and more on the quality of content you create. Your audience will grow naturally if you put effort and time into creating engaging, informative, or inspirational content without worrying about “quick fixes” for boosts in followers.
Plus, if you think about it, your followers don’t continue to follow you because of the size of your audience. They continue to follow you because of the content you create.
Sure, maybe I’ve initially followed an influencer because she had 200K followers, which signified to me that she was worth following — otherwise, why would 200K people be looking at her content?
But that doesn’t mean I’ve continued to follow influencers and brands because of the size of their audience. I’ve unfollowed plenty of mega-influencers or brands with thousands — if not millions — of followers, simply because I was no longer impressed with their posts.
You want to play the long game on Instagram, and that starts with focusing on what you can control: the quality of the content you produce, the messages you promote, and the brand you build.
Ironically, I’m willing to bet the less you worry about the number of followers you have, the more community members you’ll attract.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in February 2016 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Today, marketing is all about personalization.It’s about reaching the right people in the right place at the right time. Account-based marketing (ABM) is no different — it’s a strategy that’s been growing in popularity in recent years. In fact, 94.3% of respondents to a 2020 State of ABM survey use an ABM strategy.
That’s why ABM is an important strategy to implement if you sell high-value B2B products or services to a finite number of companies with several decision makers. Using ABM automation tools is the key to scaling these efforts.
Here, we’ll show you exactly how to automate your account-based marketing strategy using ABM automation tools.

Learn More About HubSpot’s ABM Software

1. Scalable Acquisition Strategy
We know that anytime a process is automated, it’s scalable. When ABM strategies are automated, bandwidth on your marketing team becomes available. Your team can spend more time nurturing the accounts they’re responsible for and personalizing the sales cycle for the decision makers within the account. That way, new business can be acquired without the limitations of manually nurturing each account.
2. Shorter Sales Cycle
Consider this: When your sales reps have just a few accounts to target to close deals, they can become more selective about who moves through the sales cycle and when. When a specific marketing tactic works to generate leads in a particular account, the sales rep can shift their focus to that deal. ABM automation benefits sales reps by incentivizing them to work efficiently to close deals which leads to shorter sales cycles.
3. Better Marketing and Sales Alignment
For far too many marketing and sales teams, alignment between the two seems to be a goal instead of reality. An automated account based marketing strategy causes and requires alignment between these two business functions in order to close deals.
The marketing team is responsible for creating sales enablement content while the sales team is responsible for cultivating the relationships and closing deals. Without both of these parts of the puzzle working together, the ABM strategy would fail. Automating the strategy by producing content at scale and tracking accounts through the sales process using ABM automation tools like RollWorks keeps both teams aligned and achieving their goals.

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4. Stronger Customer Retention
Leveraging personalized marketing and sales materials for each account is a fundamental tactic used in account based marketing. But that can be difficult to maintain if your team is doing this manually. Eventually, the personalized materials transform into more general content and the relationship between your business and the account fizzles out.
With ABM automation, this doesn’t have to be the case. Automating emails and direct mail campaigns (just to name a few) throughout the account’s life cycle can strengthen the relationship, yielding improved customer retention and satisfaction.

1. Create your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).
Before you can get started with ABM, you’ll need to define your ideal customer profile. This is similar to a buyer persona, except it’s built around targeting entire organizations rather than individuals.
You’ll want to know what types of companies you want to target. For example, your ICP should include information on company size, revenue, industry, and location.
With software, like HubSpot’s ABM software, you can use ICP workflow templates to help you spot common traits that can be used to classify companies in your database by how well they match your ICP.
Ultimately, automation should help you identify and organize your target accounts. Once you’ve created your ICP, you should be able to use this information in your ABM software to manage your audience.
2. Set up your target accounts.
Once you’ve created your ICP, you should be able to set up your target accounts in your ABM software.
Tagging “Target accounts” in your software will enable you to manage your audience from a Target Accounts dashboard. For example, with HubSpot’s ABM software, you can tag accounts as target accounts and then rank them with the ICP Tier property. Your priority accounts will be marked “Tier 1,” while lower priority accounts will be marked “Tier 3.”
Additionally, a great ABM software will use AI-powered target account recommendations to automate the process of researching companies that are a good fit.
These types of tools will help you manage and then segment your lists so you can deliver personalized content to your target accounts.
3. Integrate your ABM, marketing automation software, and CRM.
Before you can build your ABM campaigns, you’ll want to integrate your ABM software with your marketing automation software and your CRM.
For example, with HubSpot, you can use many of the ABM software features if you have Marketing or Sales Pro.
Integrating your marketing tools is important in the automation process. If your ABM software doesn’t interact with your email marketing software or your ads tools, then you won’t be able to automate the process.
Additionally, if it doesn’t interact with your CRM, it’ll be impossible to know if leads become accounts and track the ROI of an account-based campaign.
By integrating these tools, you’ll have your ICP research, target accounts, content, and CRM all in one place.
4. Build your campaigns.
When you have your ABM software and marketing tools set up, it’s time to create your campaigns.
To start, you’ll want to decide what channels you want to use and what actions will trigger an automated workflow.
First, look at your target accounts and find out where they spend their time online. For example, you can build an ad campaign based on people’s job titles or companies on LinkedIn and Facebook.
Then, you’ll want to think about your customer journey and set up automated workflows. For instance, you can have a task created for a sales rep when someone who works at one of your target accounts interacts with an email, your website, or blog content.
5. Personalize your content.
You probably got started with ABM so you could personalize your marketing campaigns. To do this, you’ll want to create your content, and use your automation tools to segment your audience.
For example, with HubSpot’s ABM software, you can use company lists to create an ad audience or use company ad targeting for your LinkedIn ads.
With your ICP set up, you can create your content based on your target audience. The content in your ABM campaigns will be similar to other marketing content, except that you’re now targeting specific accounts and companies.
Ultimately, your messaging should address specific pain points, and appeal to solving your target account’s problems.
6. Tailor your engagement.
Another aspect of your ABM strategy will be collaborating with your sales team so they can tailor their engagement with target accounts.
A great way to do this is through automation tools. That’s why your CRM and ABM software need to work together.
For example, with HubSpot’s ABM software and Sales Hub, you can automate your follow up emails and tasks based on the prospect’s behavior.
However, remember that even though you’re focusing on automation right now, your sales outreach and content should still be personalized.
7. Set up a dashboard to assess ongoing efforts.
The last step to automating your ABM strategy is to track and measure your efforts. With ABM software, you’ll want to see information at-a-glance.
For instance, on your dashboard, you might include information on your target accounts such as company score, open deals, total pipeline, and the number of decision-makers identified.

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If your ABM software has company scoring available, you should use it. This is similar to lead scoring, where you assign a score based on the properties in your software.
Additionally, you should consider running A/B tests when you get started with ABM automation so you can see what messaging appeals to your ICP.
While ABM does require thoughtful planning and coordination, using ABM software tools — ideally ones that integrate with your CRM and marketing automation tools — can help you automate and scale your strategy.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in May 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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