Thereâs no doubt that there is a massive space for fashion-related content on Instagram, with â#fashionâ being the fourth most used hashtag on the platform (beaten only by #love, #instagood, and #photooftheday â not a bad effort, right?). But, whilst the social media channel could potentially grow your fashion Instagram profile, you want to make sure youâre implementing the best Instagram practices, in order to stand out.
And, even though you may love fashion, you may not love the hard work that comes with growing your account quite so much. Good news though â this checklist should (fingers crossed) cut out the umming and ahhing, and help you build your account more efficiently, organically, and strategically.
Finding yourself stuck when it comes to generating organic growth on your fashion-based Instagram?đ
Find your nicheđ
So weâve established that there are a lot of accounts out there that post about fashion, which means the first step, before posting any content is to find your niche. You want to be offering content that is fresh, different, and something you wouldnât necessarily find on someone elseâs feed.
Once you attract your ideal audience, the content you produce is what keeps them engaged, so you want to leverage what makes you unique on your channel. Think about what would make you come back to a page. Whether itâs lookbooks, fashion hacks, or thrift tricks, make your identity and voice known and translatable through the content you create. You might even showcase items like a Swarovski necklace, for instance, to highlight your personal style. #InspođĄ
An example of someone who nails this is Emily Owen (@theglitterygoose on Instagram). On her account, the fashion blogger features original content and outfit posts that show both her style and personality. Her combination of a completely unique image and an open voice for her followers to get to know her on a personal level has allowed for the success that she has built thus far. Plan it outđ
This doesnât mean meticulously planning out everything you post a month in advance â that wouldnât be authentic. But, itâs great to organize the content you already have before you post, so you can map out how it would look on your feed (especially if youâre someone who loves a good insta-theme). Think about it: the way your feed looks is what makes someone initially decide whether or not they want to know more (by clicking on your posts), and eventually, whether they convert into a valuable follower of yours.
So, you want to make sure your page overall looks cohesive and makes sense for the niche youâve established. Quality content is super important for growing your fashion Instagram profile, but itâs even more important that users want to click on the content in the first place â and this stems from how your page looks overall. My personal favorite app that helps do this is Planoly, purely because the user interface is easy-to-use and cute (see, aesthetic is everything), however, there are loads of apps out there that can be really useful in helping you plan.
#InspođĄ
You donât need to have a direct âthemeâ for a good aesthetic, so donât fear if you canât keep up with having each piece of content in the same color-way. Take Emily Canham. Her Insta feed is well laid out and cohesive but doesnât follow an observable strict theme, it just works. A top tip if you are struggling, is to pay attention to color. If your last post is brightly lit and features a lot of red, you probably donât want your next post to be darkly lit and blue, get it? Phase it out, by making your next post feature a pop of red, and continue to do this until you get to your next color/lighting palette.
You probably already know that you should be using hashtags to grow your fashion Instagram account, but itâs really important that you know how to, if you want them to make an impact on your following. If you post in the right hashtag groups that target your audience, youâre casting your net out pretty wide for new followers to discover you. Buuuut, as weâve already established, #fashion is one of the most popular hashtags on Instagram â ever â so just using that one means itâs unlikely your post will be seen.
This is because thereâs a lot more competition, and you also might not have 6 million followers. If you post in niche hashtag groups that donât have too high a volume of posts and feature people with a similar follower count as you, youâre way more likely to be seen and youâd be surprised at how much little tweaks like this can up your game.
If youâre not sure how to select which hashtags are the best for your account, check us out. Flick suggests hashtag groups based on your page, engagement, and follower count so you donât have to manually research every single one. So essentially, you can put in the hashtag â#fashionâ and get 10 more fashion-related hashtags that youâll perform much better on. Youâll be given a list to choose from, showing the average number of likes and comments people receive when posting in those hashtags, allowing you to benchmark your own performance and work out which hashtag might allow your content to be seen. It works really well when it comes to upping your engagement too as youâre reaching audiences that are interested in the type of content you put out.
#InspođĄ
An example of effective hashtag use can be found in Luke Franks (@lukefranks1), who uses hashtags to push relevant content to the right people. This post, for example, featured mainly fashion-related hashtags with not a â#fashionâ in sight. If youâre not keen on overloading your captions with hashtags, learn from Luke and pop them all in a comment to keep everything nice and clean, but still reap the benefits of upped hashtag engagement.
Diversify your contentđ
Ok so hereâs another fun fact for you:
Did you know that video posts receive a 38% higher engagement rate than image posts?
By trying out new formats on your page you might up your engagement, but also offer your audience a range of content to choose from. If youâre a fashion blogger you might consider little video lookbooks or how-to-style tutorials. If youâre into longer-form videos, you can also take advantage of IGTV to do branded clothing hauls (who doesnât love a good haul?) or fashion challenge videos. Always make sure to tag the brands you feature â they might also repurpose your content for their owned media, leading to increased exposure â double win!
#InspođĄ
Pipo, AKA @pipodiy frequently shares quick styling videos on her feed which receive crazy-high engagement levels. She often partners with brands to show how to style a set of pieces for fashion inspirations, and the videos have grown her fashion Instagram account organically.
Interact organicallyđ±
If you want a good engagement rate, a genuinely receptive following, and to authentically grow your fashion Instagram profile then please pleaaaase shy away from follower bots. Most of the time people unfollow anyway because theyâre not specifically interested in your content, so itâs better to invest your time into organic growth.
One of the most effective ways to do this is to find accounts that are similar to yours and then engage with their following. Itâs likely that someone with the same interests as you, will have followers that might enjoy your content too. Engage with these accounts too, and donât be afraid to comment or chat with new people who live in the same Instagram field that you do. Iâve met some amazing people through Instagram, that Iâve gone on to shoot with or just have as a fashion event buddy.
Also, make sure to stay online after you post, and respond to every single comment that comes your way â it may seem like a no-brainer but itâs really important when it comes to showing your audience that you care. The best-performing accounts are those with a dedicated following who genuinely love their content.
#InspođĄ
Someone who is constantly interacting with and listening to her followers is Lucy Moon (@iamlucymoon). This has allowed her to develop a great fanbase, who she frequently has open conversations with about her content. Ready to grow your fashion Instagram account? Good luck!
Hereâs our handy tool to help you optimize your hashtag strategy and start seeing results.