Is there a real way to get famous on Instagram? And if there is, is there a secret to it? There actually is a way to be successful on the gram and the secret is, there is no secret. Just like any successful business (or diet plan, for that matter), getting the desired results takes planning, research, and hard work. Your lunch isn’t going to photograph itself, after all.

Brand Yourself

Know what you want to be recognized for. Do you want to show the world your baking talents? Or how about your life as a parent? Whether you’re a world traveler or you have a talent with make-up, pinpoint the focus of your account and then look for a unique angle to set yourself apart. Don’t let other people define your brand for you, be so specific and so prepared that your audience will know exactly what they’ll be getting when they scroll through your feed.  

Do Your Homework

You can’t set goals or know what to expect if you don’t know how the industry you’re trying to break into really works. Instagram provides useful information about it’s algorithms online, so that’s a good place to start. Then you should look into thriving Instagram accounts that are line with what you want your brand to be and see what they’re posting, how they’re interacting with their audience, and how often they’re posting. 

#Blessed

Hashtags can help define a brand. Creating your own hashtags will help spread brand awareness, which helps you build up your community of engaged followers. While it’s still a good idea to use other established hashtags as well (research shows that using more than 11 hashtags gets more engagement), having at least one or two of your own hashtags makes you look more professional. 

Check Yourself

People search for new content all the time using hashtags to find topics of interest. In order to be featured in the ‘top posts’ section on Instagram, your posts need to pull in a substantial amount of engagement in a short period of time. Check your hashtags within a few hours of posting, did they make the cut? This is a good way to do active research to see what’s working to your benefit and what is not. If your posts aren’t making it to the top of any of the top post sections, there’s a good chance the hashtags you’re using are too broad. Try using some that aren’t as well travelled to narrow the scope. Start out by being a big fish in a small pond, so to speak. 

Story Time

Think of building your Instagram feed in terms of curating an art gallery. You want the colors, themes, and overall feeling to coincide. Plus, it actually makes it much more simple to plan out content if you are able to narrow down what lines up with your branding in a clear and concise way. There are generally three reasons that people would engage with your particular Instagram, they want to be educated, inspired, or entertained. Keep this in mind as you brainstorm content while lining it up with your brand’s aesthetic and you will become and #InstaSuccessStory.