Standing out from a crowd of talented graphic designers is a tough challenge. Not only is a presence on Instagram much more than creating an attractive feed but also many other factors for raising visibility and engagement. To establish a profitable presence on Instagram, graphic designers need to not only showcase their portfolio of design creative on Instagram but also take steps to optimize their accounts. Some handy tips on leveraging Instagram to the maximum:
Optimize Your Instagram Bio
The bio section is vital for all Instagram users, particularly if you are a graphic designer wanting to use Instagram to build your online presence for attracting business. The function of the bio is to provide a statement in brief regarding who you are, what you do, and what makes you different. You need to work within the limitation of 150 characters for all the information, including your name, the description of your skills, relevant hashtags, and a link to your website as well as a compelling CTA. With a business account, you get additional space for including your address, telephone numbers, email address, and other contact information. The trick is to make the bio section informative and crisp.
Interact With the Graphic Design Community
You must use Instagram not only to attract customers but also to interact with your peers and industry professionals. Ensure that you like, comment, and share posts by other graphic designers that you fund interesting. Make comments in such a way that it reflects your expertise and projects your domain authority. Make it a point to participate in community building with authentic, incisive, and honest observations. Show your willingness to debate points of graphic design without getting personal in any way.
Engage Your Followers Creatively
Not only is it important to post graphic designs of outstanding quality to showcase your skills but also you must take steps to promote your personal brand by encouraging users to follow you and engage with you. The higher the engagement, the better the loyalty and top-of-the-mind recall, and also you get more prominence in the feeds of your followers. Some of the most effective ways of driving engagement include writing catchy captions that not only serve to add value to the images you are posting but also pique the interest of the viewers. Asking questions or conducting opinion polls are also good for engaging with users, more so if you can also display your unique sense of humor. You can also buy Instagram likes and comments if you want to boost your engagement rate quickly.
Make it a point to share interesting content. Not only does it show that you are on the ball but also appreciate good work by others in the graphic design community. Also, ask followers to contribute user-generated content featuring your creations. It creates better engagement and also promotes authenticity and credibility. Boost the rate of engagement by holding interesting contests and giving away prizes that don’t cost much but are loved by the participants.
Collaborate With Other Graphic Designers
Bartering what you are good at with what skills you lack is a great way of interacting with your peers in the graphic design community. You can offer to do something you are good at in exchange for a reciprocal offer by some other designer who can give you something that you cannot do well. This kind of collaboration can make it easier for you to offer a comprehensive range of services to your customers. You can also identify Instagram hubs that showcase works by different graphic designers to feature your work. You can also include a trending but relevant hashtag in your posts to ensure better discoverability among people who may not know about you and your work.
Make Liberal Use of CTAs
If users just look at your posts without taking any action, your efforts on Instagram can go to waste. You should include crisp and compelling CTAs not only in your bio section but also in your posts depending on what you want your followers to do. For example, if you are holding a contest or inviting users to contribute content, you can invite them to take specific actions in your posts. Similarly, you can ask them to vote for their favorite graphic design, read your latest blog post, or check out an update in your profile, or just about anything else to promote engagement. Make sure the language of your CTA is clear and persuasive.
Conclusion
While spontaneity is a quality expected of graphic designers, for achieving success in driving visibility and engagement on Instagram, you need to be well organized and have a consistent approach. By planning your feed, you will be able to achieve the results you want with less worry. By dividing your content into specific categories as well as planning content for celebrating special days or events, you can be more prepared to market yourself better. The different types of content you post help to prevent user fatigue and also retain better memorability.
