Is there a fast and reliable way to grow on Instagram? Yes, there is.
According to a post by Salem King, an Instagram coach, and community builder, the fastest and reliable way to grow your account on Instagram is by joining a community. Forget building your community, for now, join an existing one in your niche.
Communities are everywhere on Instagram but only if you know how to find them. Don’t worry, later in this post, I am going to share some tips on how you can find communities to join on Instagram.
For now, let’s discuss Instagram marketing forums or communities.
What are Instagram Marketing Forums or Communities
You might first want to understand what an online forum is.
An online forum is like a website where people can meet to talk about issues on a particular topic. For instance, in a marketing forum, people discuss marketing issues and find solutions to each other’s marketing problems.
The messages in an online forum are usually longer than that of a chat in groups. Examples of online marketing forums are Warrior forum, Digital Point, and Blackhat forum.
If you remember the man called Abraham Maslow, you’d remember what he is famous for. The hierarchy of needs.
Positioned in the middle of the pyramid is the need for love and belonging. People want to feel connected and feel loved. They want a space where they can discuss their problems with people who would not only understand but also not judge them.
Luckily for us, we can find that connection online today. Yes, even on Instagram and that is where Instagram communities come in.
Instagram communities bring people with the same interest or goal or mission together and they get to interact with each other.
There’s barely any marketing forum on Instagram instead people look for communities related to their interests and join them. Henceforth, I’ll be using Instagram communities instead of Instagram forums.
Before I share with your some of the best Instagram marketing communities, I think it is important for you to learn how Instagram communities work.
How to Become a Member of an Instagram Community
Unlike online forums where you have a profile and probably an online room where you go to discuss certain topics, Instagram does not have that feature.
The closest Instagram comes to that is the Instagram group feature.
But not every community has a group on Instagram, so how do you join one?
- Identify the creator
- Connect with them in the DM
- Engage on their posts
- Use the community’s branded hashtag (if any)
- Stay in touch outside Instagram
Let’s take them one by one
Identify the creator
There is always someone who starts the community even though the community might grow more than what they expected.
Usually, the creator will make the goal of the community known in their bio so that you can know and be part of the community if you are interested.
However, sometimes, it might be a hashtag you need to identify. Some Instagram communities are built purely on hashtags. An example is #bloggercommunity which is a community of bloggers on Instagram.
If this is the case, all you have to do is follow the hashtag to keep seeing posts under that hashtag and engage with those posts.
Connect with them in the DM
On Instagram, relationships are built faster in the DMs. So if you want the creator of a community to notice you as a member, build a relationship with them via DM.
Comment on their posts
Unlike an online forum, Instagram does not have space where you can drop your questions and someone replies to you.
What you can do is to drop a comment under any post.
But you know the best part? The comment section is not just for you to drop emojis, you can be part of a community by just dropping your comments.
Many members of an Instagram community relate with each other using the comment section of the creator so it’s a good place to start if you want to be part.
Use the branded hashtags
Some Instagram communities have hashtags that are specifically for members. So you can use these hashtags in your posts, that way every member will be able to see your post.
#enatribe and #bossbabe are examples of community hashtags.
Stay in touch outside Instagram
You should understand that you do not own Instagram so the platform might do anything to your account or their policies.
Smart and active communities do not depend on Instagram, they find a way to keep their members connected even when Instagram is no more.
Look for other means to stay connected to the community. It could be through their blog, podcast, or even newsletter.
Okay now that you know how to join one, the next question would be what are the best Instagram marketing communities to join?
Best Instagram Marketing Communities
There are quite a lot of Instagram communities for marketers and every community has its own uniqueness and goals.
For some, it might be helping their audience sell more and others might be helping their audience stop their limiting beliefs.
Whichever it is, the audience in that community usually feels like a part of that goal and they would consider their community the best.
So, picking the best Instagram marketing community is almost impossible. However, there are some worth mentioning and joining.
Four Instagram Marketing Communities Worth Joining
Neil Patel
The brand Neil Patel is now a household name in the marketing industry. He was named among the world’s top 10 marketers by Forbes.
This guy is not just a brand, his page is a community for every marketer who wants to learn more about the industry and also connect with others. His community on Instagram is ever-growing, currently with over 200 thousand followers.
Gary Vaynerchuk
Gary is the CEO of Vayner Media, a global media agency. Gary’s community on Instagram has about an 8.8million people.
He is one of the numerous marketers that have been able to build their brand into a community.
Hubspot
Hubspot is another wonderful place to connect with marketers. They share tips that help their followers become the best.
Naija brand chick
This is a great community for Instagram marketers as well as business owners. With over 200 thousand followers, you can be sure to get enough knowledge from this community.
Why you should join an Instagram community
- Helps you create a connection with real people
- You become a thought leader
- Keeps you up to date with new development in your niche
- You get a lot of support from others
- Helps you gain insights on how to make your business better
- You can build your own community from an existing one
Let’s dive into all of these,
Helps you Create a Connection With Real People
Marketers usually use Instagram communities as a link that connects them with real people. Nobody loves a robot account.
If you are looking for a way to connect with people especially people with the same interest as you, join a community.
You Become a Thought Leader
Being a member of a community means you get to share your view and knowledge. If you use the opportunity well, you can become a thought leader in your industry.
Other members will want to ask for your opinions and from there you can build your own community.
Keeps You up to Date with New Development in your Niche
There is no better space to get updated on new development than Instagram communities. The purpose of a community after all is to share information that will help members grow.
When there’s a new change that might affect the growth of members, whether positively or negatively, the community will try to update each other.
You get a Lot of Support from Others
We all need support from others. A community works together to help each other grow so when you have a problem, there might just be someone with the solution in the community.
There is so much support for you if you join an Instagram community.
Helps you to Become Better
Yes, every Instagram community wants to help their member become better and as you join one, you can gain from them and become better yourself.
You can Build your own Community from an Existing one
Becoming a part of a community means you can connect with people and subsequently build your own.
Here are some tips to help you build an Instagram community
Tips to Help you Create an Instagram Community
Start with a goal in mind
It all begins with a goal or mission that you want a particular group of people to achieve. These people are connected by a common interest and they can relate with the goal you have in mind.
No one is going to be part of a community that they do not understand what it wants to achieve so as much as you know where you are taking the community to, you also need to let your members be aware of this goal.
For example, you might want to start an Instagram marketing community to help new marketers overcome the fear of selling. You should let them know from the beginning. This can be done by stating clearly the intention in your Instagram bio.
Align your goal with your brand and content
You need to let that goal reflect in your brand and content. Every post you make, let there be something that reminds members that this is where we are heading.
People need to be reminded and you can do that through your brand and content.
Take time to Build Relationships
Relationships are the bedrock of Instagram communities. You cannot have a community unless you have put in the time and effort to interact with like-minded people.
This is why joining an existing Instagram community is important. You get to meet people with common interests, and you build a relationship with them.
Quick Tips to Help you Build Relationships on Instagram
- Engage with their posts
- Watch and sometimes respond to their story creatively
- Send messages to them
- Share their posts
Stay consistent
A community whether on Instagram or anywhere else is not built in a day. It takes real effort and time to build an active community.
You need to be consistent, most especially in building a relationship and creating content that align with your goals.
One day at a time, that’s what it takes to build an active Instagram community.
But what are the features of an Instagram community?
Features of an active Instagram community
- Good engagement
- Communal support growth of one is that of others
- Have a common goal
- Branded hashtags
- Resources to help members grow
Let’s go deeper,
Good engagement
An active Instagram community has good engagement on every post. This is because members can relate to each post.
A good engagement does not necessarily mean thousands of shares and likes, it can be a very little amount of likes but made a huge impact.
Then it also depends on the content. Some contents perform better than others.
Have a common goal
Usually, the members of an Instagram community share a common goal. It is this goal that brings them together and makes others want to be part.
Branded hashtags
Although not every community has a branded hashtag but it is also a feature. A branded hashtag is a hashtag that is used only by a set of people.
Some Instagram communities want their members to use a hashtag so they put it in their bio. This makes it easier to see member’s posts.
As a member of an Instagram community with a branded hashtag, you can just search for the hashtag and connect with people that use or have used the hashtag.
Resources to help members grow
This is very important because the sole purpose of an Instagram community is to bring people with a commonality together and help them become better.
An active community has resources that will help members grow. This can be in form of eBooks, daily or weekly lectures on Instagram live, or video courses.
Some communities make these resources free and others sell them out to members.
Conclusion
There are communities everywhere on Instagram. Although some people confuse Instagram communities with an Instagram account with many followers. Although there is nothing really to differentiate them.
The main difference we can talk about is that followers are just numbers but members of a community are real people that constantly not only consume the contents but also engage every time.
Members of a community are always looking forward to new posts or actions so that they can be part of it whether that’s by having a conversation in the comment section or joining a live session.
Be part of an Instagram marketing community today.