7 ways to build your community through Instagram

Instagram has become an amazing marketing tool for a variety of businesses, influencers, thought leaders, and organizations. The most successful users have found that the key is community building – which is no easy feat. 

I started my own Instagram side project that was founded to build a community organically. The concept is that every week a new Akronite takes over the Everyday Akron Instagram account to share their side of the city – features of the neighborhood they live in, what they like to do for fun, which of the Summit Metro parks they hang out at, where they work and so on. I host the account about once every three months to check in and encourage people to sign up and share other updates.

Like I said before, the account is about building a strong community, not marketing any products or services. However, I use nearly a decade of marketing knowledge and experience to run Instagram and other social media accounts, update the website, create blog posts, and more.

Over the four years that Everyday Akron has worked, I’ve found seven ways anyone can build a community on Instagram, even if it’s a for-profit venture.

Note: Before we dive in, when I say “community,” I mean developing a sense of belonging with followers, not focusing on how to get more followers on Instagram. Now let’s get to it.

1. Start conversations

Initiating conversations naturally seems to be the first thing you should start with. However, this is where a lot of Instagram users fall for.

There are two ways to start conversations. The first is on your own page. When you post a photo or video, ask a question or include engaging information that can spark a conversation with your followers. The other way is to comment on posts that people have tagged you in or that are relevant to your business.

Just like in real life, you can’t start a conversation with one line and leave. You should use follow-up questions and keep in touch with the other person. This may seem like a drain on your time, but if done well, you will nurture your followers and their relationship with your brand.

With Everyday Akron, I find that hosts who ask questions, tell a moving story, and simply respond to comments are the most engaged.

2. Go behind the scenes

Humans are curious. They also love shiny things. (Squirrel!) Many people who post on Instagram are good at flashy posts — sharing a photo of their product, a video of the service they provide, or even offering *flash sale*. As entrepreneurs and business owners, it can be intimidating to share how things get done behind the scenes. What if someone stole your idea?

However, that’s when the magic happens in your community. People want exclusive access to brands. They want to know how the product is built, what the full brand experience looks like, and who is actually managing the brand.

Real community is built on human interaction, information transfer, and engaging story sharing – not on a shiny product shot.

Everyday Akron hosts who share “behind the scenes” of their art or musical operations give followers a peek into the magic. They don’t share every minute detail, but just enough to remove the curtain and let people know how and why they do what they do.

3. Illuminate the unknown

This point is like going behind the scenes. However, what aspects of your brand or the people behind it can you highlight?

One of my favorite things about Everyday Akron is that I’m constantly learning about a new local restaurant, cafe, or business that I didn’t even know existed. I’ve also found that a lot of other people enjoy following the account for exactly this reason.

So what’s something you know like the back of your hand, but your followers might not have a clue about? Sharing this information can start conversations, increase brand loyalty, and encourage people to support your business.

4. Save resources

These resources are not necessarily directly related to your brand. (That’s what #3 is about.) Instead, what are the secondary resources that would help your community, but are not directly related to your work?

This year, more and more brands are starting to move away from the usual types of content (which are mostly centered around) to include resources about Black Lives Matter, general election voting, the coronavirus pandemic, and more. If there is a logical way for your brand to join the national conversation, go for it!

If not – and this path is usually much easier – share resources that will help your professional community. Can’t think of anything? Request! Your community members know themselves better than you. At Everyday Akron, weekly hosts are constantly sharing and requesting resources. It’s good if others can participate and help, which strengthens your community from within.

5. Enabling creativity

Instagram has gone from just a photo-sharing platform to giving users the ability to create all kinds of content: long videos, 15-second reels, Instagram stories, photo albums, and more.

As marketers or business owners who use Instagram, we can be overwhelmed with choices—especially when we’re already overwhelmed with our daily work. However, I would encourage you to try any and all of the features, balancing your content between the feed and the stories.

The main obstacle I have with potential Everyday Akron hosts is that they think their lives are boring. However, the account is called “Everyday Akron” and not “The Flashy Celebrities of Akron”. (Although LeBron, if you’re reading this, I’d love for her to host you for a week!) It’s just for regular folks. I encourage them to get creative, whether it’s posting their daily coffee from a different local coffee shop each day or posting from their dogs’ point of view.

So, how do you empower yourself to be creative? You might assume you need fancy cameras or phones to start posting videos, but you don’t. Good ideas can shine through rusty equipment.

6. Raise others

I hate to break it to you, but it’s not just about you. Posting about you and your brand relentlessly can be a chore. So let’s get rid of it!

There are several ways you can raise the level of others. First, you can simply share user generated content. (But be sure to give the poster original credit!) Second, you can donate time or money to causes that affect your community and then share that experience on Instagram. These days, followers want to know how you’re making a social impact.

Now, don’t just throw money at a nonprofit and ask for it to be celebrated. Social media users have an amazing ability to spot fake attempts to look good. Be behind an organization you care about. Find a way to raise the profile of people and issues in your community.

7. Listen to your community

Now that you’ve started to build a solid foundation for people interested in your brand, what do they want? It’s easy to get into the stream of content that is constantly pushing, but what if you took a step back and surveyed the people who consume that content? What do they want more of? What do they think is missing?

I recently did this when I hosted Everyday Akron. I asked what people wanted to know more about. Someone explained that she was moving to Akron soon and wanted to know what made the city so great. It’s one thing to learn about what to do where you’re going, but it’s another game entirely when you want to get to know people and energy. So I asked every day Akron followers, and got some great responses.

Since Instagram was having a hard time that week, I couldn’t share the answers from the Questions poster to Stories. I rotated all the answers and instead put them together and create a blog post. This post, “Why You Should Move to Akron, Ohio,” is now the highest-viewed post on the site. And I would probably never have made it if no one had said he was looking for that information.

Listen to your community. You might be surprised at what they have to say. (Excellent example: everydayakronpets should be a second, community-based account.)

When is your community built?

The question “When will the construction of your community be completed?” It is a trick question. It hasn’t been done yet. As your community grows, and the people within it change and develop, you will always work to nurture that environment. Even if this environment is Instagram.

You don’t have to tackle all seven suggestions in this post at once. But try to go through it again and again. After a while, you will be amazed at how you can strengthen and grow your community.

And a final note. Every community on Instagram will look different and have different ideas about ‘growth’. It may not be a numbers game for you. Instead, it can lead to increased positive engagement while building that sense of community. Don’t focus on the stats. Focus on goals that will support your community. And in return, your community will support you.