First of all, you need to understand your competition’s approach on Instagram. Their content, their community, their style. You also need to look into other accounts your target market would follow – these are your ‘aligned accounts’.

You’ve likely done competitor research before, but have you done Instagram competitor research? What your competitors are doing on Instagram can give you insight into what kind of strategy and approach you need to take.

For example, if your biggest competitor is using Instagram to push their products constantly, maybe the market would respond well to a more personal approach.

If a competitor is getting high engagement rates and doing well on Instagram, this tells you what kind of content is resonating with the market and sets the bar for what you need to aim at.

Or maybe, if you’re lucky, the competition has neglected Instagram and you have a wide-open space to carve out for yourself.

It’s also important to remember that you can’t see everything from the outside. You can’t see how many shares or saves their posts are getting, you can’t see their direct messages, and you can’t see their overall marketing strategy. There are many different ways to use Instagram as part of an overall marketing strategy, so a gap you perceive in their Instagram may be taking place elsewhere in their marketing. Such as, in a paid ads campaign or email marketing sequence.

However, investigating the competition can give you a loose understanding of the landscape and help you make more informed decisions about your strategy. But now, for the best part!

You can steal your competition’s followers.

Imagine if you had access to your competition’s customer database and were allowed to contact them..

Well, on Instagram, you have just that! One of the first questions people always ask about Instagram is, “How do I find my target market on Instagram?” The answer: hashtags, businesses and accounts that share your target market, and your COMPETITORS!

Spare a little time each day or week, and hop on over to your competition’s Instagram page. Engaging with the people who engage with them can help you build your initial, targeted following.

All you have to do is open up the comments or likes, then go down the list visiting each account and liking a few of their posts. If their account is private, then you can skip them. If you cannot see the likes, you will be able to view them – if you are following them – or someone else you follow has liked the post. So use your personal account to like the post first, if no one else has.

Aligned accounts

Aligned accounts are another excellent way to find and get in front of your target market. Aligned accounts can be other brands or businesses, public figures, influencers, publications (like blogs or magazines), organisations, clubs, niche or meme accounts, and so on.

It’s important to understand who the other types of accounts your target market follows, as this gives insight into the overall community they are a part of.

If you’re in a niche where most of your target market have private accounts (happens a lot in retail, like clothing or kids) this is a great strategy to focus heavily on. The other option would be to run paid ads.

So what are you waiting on! Spend a few hours on Instagram searching for your competition, and align your account with those your target market are following.

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