Growing an Instagram meme page is not as straightforward as you may imagine, but it can yield a lot of money when done correctly. If building a large following for an Instagram meme page is your goal, following these steps can help you ensure success.
1. Find Your Niche
This is probably the most important step. Find a small category to focus on when building a following from scratch. Think of a topic, and then go one or two steps further. For example, don’t pick general animal memes for your page. First, pick an animal, and then narrow it down further. If you want to do cats, for example, you could then narrow it down further to cats being mean or cats being dumb. Choose a category where you can find content that isn’t over-saturated with established meme pages.
When finding your niche, make sure to search for as many buzzwords as possible to find pages doing something similar. If you find a page with millions of followers already, give up on that niche. If you can only find a couple with 100k followers, that may be a good place to start.
2. Stay Consistent
This is the second most important step. In order to grow, you should be consistently posting. You don’t have to post a lot — maybe two or three times a day — but make sure you don’t forget about the page. When you post consistently, Instagram’s algorithm will recommend your posts to users following similar pages, which can then boost your following. Your followers will also come to expect your posts, and you risk having them unfollow you if they don’t hear from you as much.
You also should make sure you are consistent with your niche. If you are running a cat-themed page, don’t post dog memes. Your followers are expecting a certain type of content, and they may unfollow you if you aren’t providing that content.
3. Find Good Sources for Content
Instagram meme pages very rarely post original content. This content is found on websites like Reddit, Twitter and even sometimes other Instagram pages. Make sure you are finding good quality memes that your followers would enjoy, and that you aren’t reposting any you’ve already posted.
Instagram introduced Reels, which is a TikTok-like system that users can scroll through. Posting Reels is a great way to increase engagement and followers. You can post videos or TikToks relating to your niche as Reels, and you may be surprised by the results. Make sure you select the option to also post the Reel to your grid. Otherwise, fewer people can view it.
If you can, it is also important to give credit to the creator if it is obvious. If the meme creator is unknown, do not go out of your way to try to find them. It has likely been circulating the internet for years.
4. Partner With Bigger Pages
This will cost you some money, but if you can find a page that loosely relates to your niche, you can pay them for a shoutout. This is a great idea to help jumpstart your initial following. If you find a page with a bigger following, you can gain some of their followers by paying them to create a post advertising your page.
For pages with around 50k followers, offer around $10-$15 for a shoutout post. For pages with 100k-200k, a fair price is around $25-$30. Pages bigger than this will likely not even want to talk, but you can attempt to reach out if you have the cash to invest.
If you do want not to spend any money paying for shoutouts, you can comment on memes that relate to your content. Make your comments witty and not self-promotional, or you run the risk of getting blocked by the page. You don’t want to sound like a bot.
5. Don’t Excessively Advertise
Once you start to get a good following, you may receive DMs from other pages or companies wanting you to advertise their product for some money. Do this very sparingly, if at all, if you are still trying to grow your page. In my experience, nothing gets followers to hit that unfollow button more quickly than seeing advertisements, especially multiple within the same week. Advertise sparingly, and once you hit the 100k mark, slowly begin rolling out more as you post more content. You will have more of a cushion to lose followers at that point.
You can certainly still advertise as a smaller page, but try to limit yourself to once per week. If you are doing a post, set the terms to 24 hours. This way, new users looking at old memes you posted will not see a bunch of advertisements and decide not to follow your page. Most advertisers understand and will abide by this rule, and it is very common in the world of Instagram.
6. Don’t Overdo It
It can be very addicting to look at the stats, see your numbers go up, and want to post more and more. Always remember: Less is more. Even if your followers love your niche, they do not want to see it 100 times a day. Limit your posting and your stories to an appropriate amount. Post no more than three times a day, and make sure they are spread out throughout the day. You can be a little more liberal with stories, but don’t have a story that consists of more than 10 posts. Most people won’t want to click through all of that, and the more they skip through your story without viewing all of your posts, the less Instagram will recommend it to them.
Learning how to use Instagram to grow a meme page isn’t complicated, but it can be slightly tricky. Following these suggestions can help get you to where you want with your page, but remember it can take time — probably several months — to see any substantial growth. Don’t get discouraged, because consistency can bring results.
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