It seems that the Instagram trend isn’t going anywhere. After enjoying several years of steady growth, the website is now attracting a wider user base made up of individuals, brands, services and celebrities alike. If your business isn’t yet on Instagram, you should know that you may be selling yourself short; marketing on Instagram is becoming one of the most successful ways to engage with an audience and gain more followers. Once you get started, use these Instagram tips to ensure your success.

Use Your Most Identifiable Brand or Niche Name

When operating an Instagram for a product, service or business, always use your most publicly recognized name. For example, if you are a umbrella corporation with a single sub-company selling art supplies, your Instagram name should be either the name of the art supplies or the name of the sub-company selling the art supplies, not the name of the higher-tier umbrella corporation. If your umbrella corporation has more recognition, make a second Instagram for it and use that recognition to “pass down” followers to the next account by marketing it directly.

Gain Followers Through Contests

One of the easiest ways to gain followers on Instagram is to host like, share, comment contests. Post a photo of an item to give away, and then tell your current followers that they must like, share, and comment on the photo in order to be entered into the contest. Encourage them to share the contest with as many Instagrammers as possible. In most cases, the success of your contest is directly parallel to the popularity of your prizes, so choose specific niche products with a decent value whenever possible.

Use Link Trackers to Track Results

When you’re driving customers to your website, or to other social media marketing accounts, it can be difficult to track data between Instagram and other platforms. Use a service like bit.ly to shorten your links and you’ll make it easier for your followers to remember the link and enable yourself to track the outflow. These services track where traffic goes and where it comes from – information that can be incredibly valuable during a marketing campaign.

Create Hashtags to Track Public Chatter

Having a contest or marketing a product? Make a unique hashtag for it whenever possible. For example, if you’re selling hair products, you can create a hashtag that combines the brand name with the product: #LuxuriousBrandsBrushes. Another strategy is to inject emotion into your hashtags: #RelaxWithLuxuriousShampoo. Still another strategy is to make your hashtag your most recognized word, brand, or name.