Instagram is one of the most popular platforms for promoting your personal brand, and, due to its visual focus, it is especially convenient for graphic designers. If you are one of them, we are here to give you a helping hand and share some tips on attracting potential customers.
Not a Step Further Without a Plan
It is naive to think that followers would hunt for your posts while you would be publishing them from time to time without any consistency (if you are not Banksy, of course). Moreover, most artists see their IG pages as a kind of portfolio, so they believe they should post final designs only, which might happen when pigs begin to fly. But both of the assumptions are false.
First, you need to plan a posting schedule and deliver fresh content regularly – daily or at least 3-4 times a week. And since we are living in the digital world now, you don’t need to disengage yourself from making art or hire someone to manage your account. Use automation tools like Buffer Publish, Later, or Planly to schedule posts and free graphic software like Crello to create stunning content in the blink of an eye.
Add a Personal Touch
Apparently, Instagram is the right place for you to display your art. But the platform is stuffed with designs, and, unfortunately, it is not enough to post lovely pictures anymore. Engagement rules, and you need to stir interest in your followers not only as a graphic designer but also as a personality.
So, don’t rely exclusively on your new works (although it will be great to show them as often as possible) – mix your professional posts with personal ones, revealing your individuality to the audience. Eventually, collaboration with a designer is usually quite a long and sometimes even intimate process, so it is important that a would-be customer feel comfortable and on the same page with you. Actually, 71% of customers prefer buying from brands that share their values. So, tell about yourself in the profile for your followers to feel that cooperation with you will be both pleasant and productive. But if you use the IG account for business purposes mainly, make sure that about 70-80% of posts are about your work.
Generate Quality Content
Proceeding from the above, you will need plenty of content, and it must be of high quality. It makes no sense to publish meaningless and lackluster posts just to stick to the schedule set, as it brings you neither a massive following nor better engagement.
Here are a couple of ideas for producing helpful, unique, and shareable posts:
- Show your working place.
- Tell about techniques.
- Share your sketches.
- Explain work stages.
- Give professional advice.
- Compare different tools.
- Capture “backstage” moments.
- Publish breakdowns.
If made creatively, such posts will arouse interest and prove your expertise.
As for personal posts, you can tell your audience what inspires you, show what your interests outside graphic design are, share your experience in various activities, and discuss any things you see fit for the type of community you are trying to create.
Use Different Formats
It may seem challenging to cover the above-listed topics with regular posts in the main feed, but, luckily, you are not limited to it. Stories and carousel posts are perfect ways to embrace more content and present it in the most digestible form. There is all the more reason for this as statistics say that about half of your potential customer base prefers learning about new products and brands through stories while carousels bear the palm of the most engaging type of IG posts. Moreover, you will get more followers if combining video pieces with images when crafting your content, as the public grows to like this combo.
Also, you will be happy to know that IG users are for longer captions nowadays since they add value to posts and encourage interaction. So, use words to the fullest by asking questions, providing a strong call-to-action, and commenting back, of course.
Cherry-Pick Hashtags
Hashtags can bring you new followers, but not all of them are equally suitable for this purpose. You may pick 5-6 general hashtags like #branding or #graphicdesign to accompany each photo, yet the chances are they will get lost exactly because they are too generic.
Thus, a more effective approach implies mixing broad hashtags with specific ones, for example, #pastelaesthetic or #handlettering. Don’t hesitate to seek digital help from hashtag generator services, such as Kicksta or Tailwind. Also, be sure to insert your own name into hashtags and use local hashtags along with those from popular art communities. Anyway, keep them relevant to the topic of your post, and don’t overload your content since long hashtags lines can scare IG users away.
Wrap Up
You need to be prepared for a long journey since growing a follower base on Instagram takes time and effort these days. But it is an achievable goal if you have enough commitment, so go for it!