To grow your business and drive brand awareness in 2024 and beyond, you need to take advantage of social media’s power — more specifically, of Instagram and its Explore page.
Getting on Instagram’s Explore page is about cutting through the noise and reaching new users who don’t yet follow your account. While it’s not a foolproof science, you have to be clever and consistent with your strategy.
If you are selling products on Amazon, Shopify, or other ecommerce sites, promoting your brand and products on Instagram is a sure-fire way to propel your business.
What is Instagram’s Explore page?
The Instagram Explore page is a collection of pictures, videos, and reels where users can discover content from accounts they don’t follow. Instagram curates content for its users on the Explore page based on their demographics, interests, and similar content they consume.
Instagram’s algorithm culls things you’ve “liked,” engaged, or interacted with, so if you typically consume and engage with boating content, you’ll likely see other boat-related content on your Explore page.
Getting your content on the Explore page can be a fantastic way to grow your following and increase engagement. But the question is, how do you get on the Explore page?
How to get on the Explore page and grow your Instagram following
Before you can start promoting products on social media, you first need to grow a loyal and engaged audience. Brands can do this by creating relevant, high-quality content on Instagram – not just product promotion.
For example, if you sell boat cleaning products, your account should consist of quality boating content that boat owners find entertaining, such as images or videos of boats in your area or videos of boats who just used your product. This will get you a lot more traction than pictures of your product with a caption such as “buy this now!”
Providing value or entertainment within each post will help grow your social media accounts exponentially.
If you’re constantly pushing your product in each post without providing value or entertainment, Instagram users who come across your account may be turned off by your content and not follow.
Tips for getting on the Instagram Explore page
Want to learn how you can grow your following and end up on the Explore page? Follow these tips!
1. Reels
Instagram Reels are the big thing right now and help accounts to reach thousands of people, even if you have a small following. If you’re not taking advantage of Reels, you’re missing out on significant post engagement!
The more people engage with your Reels, the more Instagram’s algorithm will push your content to users interested in similar content. Here are some tips for boosting engagement on Instagram Reels:
- Utilize photos. Even if you just take photos, you can add multiple photos to a Reel to create a slideshow with music as your unique content.
- Capitalize on trending sounds! Instagram has a giant library of songs and unique sounds you can use for your Reels.
- Follow trends! If you’re familiar with TikTok trends, the same trends move the needle on Reels. Can you incorporate your niche into an emerging trend?
- Use shorter reels. You have to capture attention quickly in a feed; aim for 7-15 second reels.
Reels will help you get more engagement from non-followers than you could with just your current followers.
2. Hashtags
Adding hashtags to your posts and Reels helps expand your reach and allows Instagram to better categorize your content. When you use hashtags, users who use the same ones or engage with other posts with those particular hashtags will be more likely to see your content on the Explore page.
For example, if you sell coffee, use hashtags like #coffee, #coffeebeans, #coffeemaker, #coffeelover, and so on. To get ideas on which hashtags to use in your posts, search for a related hashtag, and Instagram will show you other popular hashtags related to your search.
3. Tag your location
Anytime you create a post on Instagram, you have the option to tag a specific location. By adding a location to your posts or Reels, Instagram will be more likely show your content on the Explore page to other users in that area.
4. Increase engagement
The more people engaging with your content, the more it will be shown on the Explore page. One way to increase engagement on your posts is by adding some type of call to action in your caption.
You can write things such as “tag someone who would like this post,” “check out our Story for more information,” or “follow us for more!”
Another way to increase engagement is by responding to comments you receive. It’s not only a great way to increase engagement with your audience, but it also helps consumers build trust and a relationship with your brand.
5. Consistency
The tips above won’t help unless you consistently post content to your Instagram account. The more you post, the more likely Instagram will share your content on the Explore page — bringing more eyeballs to your brand and products.
If you can, try to post a reel, video, or image at least once a day. If you post sporadically, Instagram is less likely to share your content on the Explore page as they want to send users to active accounts.
What are the benefits of being on Instagram’s Explore page?
Let’s dive deeper into the benefits of being on Instagram’s Explore page.
More traffic
This is probably the most significant benefit of your content being on the Explore page: traffic! The goal of using social media for your business is to increase traffic to your to grow brand awareness and hopefully increase sales of your products.
The Explore page presents your content to other users who Instagram thinks will be interested.
Increased engagement
Always wondered how Instagram accounts are able to gain many comments, likes, and followers? It’s because their content was originally viewed on the Explore page by thousands of people.
As users discover your brand on the Explore page, your posts will likely receive more engagement. As your engagement grows, Instagram’s algorithm will push your content to more users.
Increased product visibility
The use of social media is a powerful way to grow brand awareness and visibility of your product offerings. As your following grows, you can start to promote your products through posts, links in your Instagram story, or create an Instagram Shop where users can purchase products directly from your account.
Consumers use Instagram to search for products
Did you know that consumers actually use social media to start their product searches? Yup! While most consumers (63%) start their search on Amazon, 18% start their search on Instagram.
This is why it is so important to have a branded Instagram account with consistent quality content. If a consumer goes on Instagram and searches for similar products to yours, your account will have a good chance of showing up on the Explore page — if you are posting consistently.
How to get on Instagram’s Shop page
If you want to sell products directly to consumers who follow or view your brand’s page, you need to set up an Instagram/Facebook Shop.
While using Instagram can be a great way to increase your Amazon sales, creating an Instagram Shop may help improve your conversion rate, as users won’t have to leave Instagram to purchase.
Users can also navigate to the Shop page and discover products from different accounts they follow.
READ MORE | How to Set Up a Facebook Shop
Grow your brand with Instagram!
We hope this article gives you a better understanding of how the Instagram Explore page works and how to get featured.
Do you have more questions about Instagram? Let us know down in the comments!
Want to learn more about how you can use Jungle Scout to launch, grow, and run your Amazon business? Click the “Learn More” button below!
Grow your Amazon business with Jungle Scout.
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Brian Connolly is an Amazon seller, ecommerce expert, and writer for Jungle Scout. He lives in the New Jersey Shore area with his wife and cat. When he isn’t writing advice online for aspiring and experienced Amazon sellers for Jungle Scout, he spends his free time boating, fishing, and selling boating-themed items on his Amazon business.
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