We all have talents, dreams, ideas, and magic to share. More opportunities arise when we grow a community of people who buy into who we are and the value we bring.

Getting the following numbers isn’t just a metric—it’s about building real energy around what you’re creating in your business for your brand and your future.

Tired of chasing follower numbers? Let's focus on building a real Instagram community that connects with your brand and fuels your success. Here's your roadmap:

Step 1: Laying the Foundation - An Instagram Audit:

Conducting a thorough Instagram audit to understand your current standing is important.

An Instagram audit is a full review of your Instagram account to determine if your content fits your current brand or what you envision your brand to look like.

Discover your personal style, visual branding, and social media aesthetic.

Steps to upgrade your IG bio:

Update your profile picture to something representative of your or your brand.
Match your story highlight covers to your company or brand’s aesthetic.

Update your bio. Include important information here, like your location and brand, briefly.
Scroll through all of your posts. Are any out of date or no longer align with your brand’s message? You can archive these posts so they aren’t deleted forever but temporarily hidden.
Identify or reassess your content pillars.

Step 2: Building Your Identity - Content Pillars and Brand Voice

It is essential to think about your “identity architecture,” or the framework that governs how your identity is managed through your brand.

Let your identity architecture define your brand’s unique personality on Instagram.

To understand your brand’s identity, establish 3-5 core messages that resonate with your target audience and reflect your brand values.

Here is an example of core messages for a custom online bakery:

Quality - We seek to sell high-quality products that fulfill our wants and needs.
Integrity - We want to be transparent and communicative with our customers.
Fun - We sell all sorts of baked goods and want to make catering fun and easy to do!

Here are some more tips to develop your core messages:

Identify your brand essence: What makes your brand unique and valuable?
Define your target audience: Who are you trying to connect with? What are their needs and aspirations?
Craft a consistent voice: Maintain a consistent tone and style in your captions, stores, and overall communication.

Step 3: Film B-Roll Footage for IG Reels

Reels are an essential part of Instagram that can be used more effectively to increase engagement. Reels generally get 22% more engagement than normal posts.

Instagram Reel’s algorithm assesses posts on a handful of factors, including the following: the hashtags used, the quality of clips and sound, past interactions with your audience, and when your Reel is posted.

B-roll footage is also important to incorporate into your Instagram Reels. B-roll footage is additional footage that provides the viewer with more footage and information alongside the original or main footage.

B-roll footage can do various things for your Reels; it can add visual interest, offer a change of scenery, provide more details like explanations of the main footage, and more.

filming tips

Start with your phone camera

Always wipe off your camera when filming or taking photos for content creation. Don’t film reels with an Instagram filter; it can disrupt or hurt the quality of your video.

Filters

Try @tonestudioapp or @tezza and experiment with these resources. VSCO is an excellent app for filters or changing the lighting on photos.

Make sure your reels have engaging cover photos that are representative of the content in the reel.

Step 4: Use AI

AI can be used as a variety of tools, including the following:

Content analysis: Use AI to gain insights into trending topics, hashtag optimization, and audience preferences.
Planning and scheduling: Use AI-powered tools to plan your content calendar, schedule posts, and analyze optimal posting times
AI as a partner: Use AI as a strategic partner rather than a replacement for creativity and human touch is essential. Incorporate your ideas and interests and let AI do your busy work.

Step 5: Create Scroll Stopping Hooks

It is essential to capture viewers' attention within the first few seconds of your content to prevent viewers from scrolling past. Here are a couple of scroll-stopping hooks to use at the beginning of your posts and Reels:

Intriguing Question: spark curiosity by posing a relevant question about your niche.

Example: What’s something about you that no one knows?

Provocative statement: make a bold statement that challenges or piques viewers’ interests.

Example: I hate Instagram.

Opening with something bold will stop people from scrolling past and motivate them to watch or read the rest of the post.

Visually compelling visuals: leverage high-quality images or eye-catching opening shots in Reels.

Step 6: No Gatekeeping Posts

You’ve got to set up your content so that it’s so good that your existing community can’t help but save or share it. Figure out what your audience likes from your content.

Offer valuable tips, tutorials, or insights related to your industry.

Those saves and shares tell the algorithm gods that your content is really good, and then, ta-da, the algorithm pushes it in front of new eyes.

Talk to your Instagram family like they are your besties. Speak the language they speak, and answer the questions they didn’t even know they had in your hooks and captions.

Make your content about THEM. Don’t speak in fluff language.

Fluff language is words generally overused by AI. Words like “unlock, unleash, authentic, and passion” are frequently used in AI-generated writing.

Using your voice can make you stand out and be more original. The most important part is that you need to be YOU.

Oui, We Studio offers an “Instagram to Income Starter Kit” that can help you launch or relaunch you Instagram in only 7 days!

TL;DR

Staying engaged with your followers is a great way to maintain a good presence for your brand online.

It can be hard to reach people, but social media to do so and using AI to curate a perfect content plan is a great way to incorporate developing technology into your platform.

About the Writer: Maeve Sullivan is a student at Georgetown University studying English and Government. She is a west coast enthusiast and loves all things reading and writing. You can learn more about Maeve on LinkedIn.

Building a Thriving Instagram Community: Your Guide to Follower Growth