Boost Your Reach With Other Small Businesses - Instagram Engagement Groups

What are Instagram engagement groups?

 

They are private group conversations with a limited number of users (usually from 15-20, but can range to thousands) who are all aiming for Instagram growth and engagement.  Niche-specific engagement groups are the most popular ones and can range from fashion to photography and cars to health. 
All group members help one another by following engagement behavior defined by their groups (often referred to as “pods”). The three main kinds are:

• Like only: members only like each other’s posts
• Comment only: members only comment on each other’s posts
• Like and comment: members like and comment on each other’s posts

Unfortunately, it’s not easy to join an Instagram engagement pod – some require payment and have group rules you must follow. And not all pod group rules are the same, as some require you click a certain number of members’ links while others need you to engage with a certain number of posts in a day.

How to find Instagram engagement groups

Your Explore Page is the best place to start since it populates content from accounts similar to that of yours. A general rule of thumb is to look for related accounts with content that has high engagement. This can be a good indicator that these accounts may be related to engagement groups.
Off of Instagram is where most of the pods are though (we’ll explain why later). Explore the following communities to try your luck:

• Telegram has also been a growing online cloud community for finding niche-specific engagement pods
• Reddit has a thread dedicated to Instagram pods
• Facebook also has large groups you can search for
• WhatsApp is also a source for finding groups
• Search Twitter for related hashtags
• Just Google

How to join Instagram engagement groups

The thing with engagement groups is…they’re not easy to join since most are private or in secret. The the easiest way to try is to DM (direct message) a high-engaging account on Instagram that relates to your niche or product and sees if it is part of an engagement group that you can join. 
If you happen to be accepted, you’ll be part of what is known as an Instagram DM Group. These are the most common pods to join. On Facebook and other noted platforms, you have to either send an invite request or message to a group to see if you will be accepted.

List of Instagram engagement groups

Aside from the standard like-only, comment-only, or like and comment pods, some pods have specific requirements as touched on earlier.

• Dx groups: Usually designated with a number such as “Dx20” or “Dx10” mean you must comment and like the last (insert number) links posted in the group to join. So a “Dx20” group, for instance, would require you to like the last 20 links posted in the group.
• Time-limit groups: These pods are labeled with time constraints, most commonly “24HR” to designate the time length in which users can drop their links or profile handles. All members must engage with the pod’s members’ posts within that time frame.
• Post notification groups: A simpler and more traditional take on upping engagement, these type of groups are generally a DM chat group and require members to turn on notifications for all members. So, once a member posts something, everyone in the chat will be notified so they can go like or comment.

Free engagement groups on Instagram

Want to cut the search and find the right groups for your Instagram marketing? Start with the pods below:

From Facebook:

• Instagram Marketing Mastermind PODS
• Fitness Instagram POD!
• Instagram Growers – For Mommy Bloggers Only
• Comment Pods of Instagram: Dogs Edition
• Instagram Pod: Health, Outdoor Life, Fitness, Natural Living & Nutrition
• Instagram Follow/Like/Comment Pod

From Telegram

• 24H LIKES ONLY
• BOOSTUP Powerlikes
• Engagement Groups
• BLOGGERS | Dx5 | L&C
• Creative Instagram Hub

It’s a good idea to join multiple pods to see what may work best for you (ex. One niche pod and one more general like/follow one).

Paid Instagram engagement groups

Whether a group is paid or not completely varies. You could stumble across a group on Facebook or DM an an account on Instagram to find out you have to hand over money to join that pod. However, you can have greater peace of mind and a higher return on investment if you pay for a well-known engagement service. Two well-known ones are:

1. Wolf
2. AiGrow

Something to keep in mind: with paid services, you are essentially guaranteed engagement since pod members are required to follow and like your content (some of this is even automated with certain services). Members will be penalized if they don’t engage. With some free pods, you have to rely on other group members to manually do their part of the deal. There is no guarantee that members will like your stuff (some just earn engagement from other members and leave the groups — this is known as “leeching”).

Are Instagram engagement groups worth it?

So one thing is clear — finding the right pods is not easy. There’s a laundry list of things to consider:

1. You have to network and search platforms and apps
2. The groups have to be quality and reliable
3. Many have requirements to acceptance, or you have to pay to ensure quality service
4. Even if you are accepted, you have to abide by the group rules and spend time liking, commenting and engaging with other member accounts.
5. Some groups have time limits (ex. 24 hours only to comment on all users’ posts; you only have 30 minutes to join)
6. Depending on the pod you are in (if it isn’t niche related), you could be interacting with accounts, not at all related to your brand. This in turn can make your engagement look questionable to users who stumble across your comments.

With all these barriers, you might start asking: are these pods and groups even worth the trouble?
The answer is mixed. A few years ago, outlets such as Buzzfeed reported Facebook (the parent company of Instagram) cracking down on engagement groups. The reason was that the activity in engagement pods was viewed by Facebook to be manipulative of Instagram’s algorithm make your account seem high-engaging (when in fact, it really wasn’t). Due to this, people started fearing that if detected by Facebook for engaging in engagement groups, their accounts could be shadowbanned or deleted. That is why many users steer clear of Instagram DM groups and Facebook groups and gravitate towards external resources such as Telegram and WhatsApp to avoid Facebook’s monitoring eye.
However, that doesn’t mean that joining Instagram pods is a waste. There’s always a chance that you can hit it off with the right niche and building good relationships with other pod members. It’s a strategy that can help boost your engagement such as likes and comments if done with the right people.

 

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How to Find a Niche Product For Your Drop Shipping Store - 3 Great Ways

As you know, we use AliExpress as the main source of items and suppliers for our dropshipping store. Still, when it comes to choosing suitable products, it can actually be challenging to scan through this platform and go through all the hundreds of thousands of items.
This is why we actively use additional sources of information. Even though we don’t import any items from these alternative sources, we look at them really carefully to understand how we can enhance our product strategy.
Here is the list of the ways we use to find highly popular niche products that see a huge demand.

1. How to Find Niche Products on Pinterest: analyzing buyable pins

Pinterest is, as its’ founders state, a “catalog of ideas” where people get inspiration and a good mood. But besides that, Pinterest is a great marketing tool for companies because it helps advertise and promote various trends. You can make good use of it too, searching for the most buyable products:

• Log in or create your account
• Turn it into a business account
• To make sure you got all the settings right, go to your profile settings

Now you are ready to do magic and find the most buyable pins!
A pin is a little post with an image. People save the pins they like to their virtual ‘boards’.

• Go to the home page and type your keyword into the search box
• Click on the ‘Buyable Pins’ tab

• Analyze the goods shown. Even though you can’t rank them by popularity, you can see how many people saved certain goods to their boards (the more the better), and what are the names and image styles of the most popular products. Use this information wisely, and your dropshipping store will contain only the best goods.

• In addition, you can use search results shown in ‘All Pins’ tab – the same information is available here too. Please note: these are NOT buyable pins, so, it doesn’t mean that people save these pins to their boards because they want to buy it.

2. Finding Niche Products on Ebay: exploring the most watched products

We use a special service provided by watchcount.com that shows the most-watched eBay items/auctions.

• Go on http://www.watchcount.com/mw2.php
• Type the keyword into the search box (you can also use categories to filter search results)
• View how many people watched the product you are searching for on Ebay and what goods are the most popular. It’s simple!

3. Use Amazon to Find Niche Products to Dropship: figuring out the best selling products

Actually, the Amazon website is a great place to monitor top goods. Just enter a keyword into the amazon.com search box and filter the results.



There are 2 ways to do that:

1. Filter by customer reviews

Your search results are ranked now by-products’ rating according to customer reviews.

2. Filter by relevance

Voila! You are shown the best-selling niche products on Amazon! It’s really worth analyzing popular items representation and placing similar products in your store.
Using these websites to look for the most popular products, we achieve many goals:

• We always stay updated about the preferences of our potential buyers
• We study the newest trends and learn more about new products to dropship appearing in this niche
• We create just the perfect store where every customer can find something to their liking
• We gather data about the top selling items so that we can make good-looking and informative product pages

 

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10 Tips To Boost Your Instagram

 

What’s the reason to boost your Instagram engagement?

To date, the most visited websites worldwide are social networks. Tons of people use them every day for chatting, sharing photos, and so on. Moreover, they are extremely popular not only among teenagers but among the users of all ages. What does it mean for you as an eCommerce business owner? In fact, it gives you an opportunity to use social networks to promote your business.

How you boost your Instagram and use it for the benefit of your business?

#1 Create a brand

A strong brand is extremely important for any type of business. And, especially, if you deal with eCommerce. 
Building a memorable brand image, you enjoy a whole range of long-term benefits. For example, you get the opportunity to establish an emotional connection with your followers. After gaining a loyal audience, you will find it much easier to introduce and promote new product offerings and raise awareness about your business through word of mouth.

#2 Optimize your Instagram bio

An Instagram bio that is written in a proper way is a vital element of your Instagram monetizing strategy. For you, as the account owner, it means the chance to tell your potential clients all about your business while keeping it short and to the point. You have only 150 words to do this. That’s why we are eager to give you several tips on how to optimize your Instagram bio!
First of all, specify the niche where you conduct your eCommerce activities. It will help the Instagram users find your account faster and easier. 

#3 Think of how to boost your Instagram followers

The number of followers of your Instagram business account is also extremely important. Take one step at a time and start small: first of all, try to get 1,000 subscribers.
Achieving this milestone, you’ll be able to proudly write that you’re a micro influencer in your Instagram bio 
There are multiple ways of how to boost your Instagram likes and the number of followers. For example, you can launch a giveaway, pay more attention to your posts’ content, and even use awesome semi-automated software to enhance your Instagram activity.

#4 Use social proof and user-generated content

Social proof plays a huge role in your brand image creation and support. The posts containing authentic reviews from your clients can also contribute greatly to your Instagram monetizing strategy. In fact, they can improve your conversions significantly and influence the number of both immediate and long-term purchases. 
 Social proof helps them make their purchasing decisions quicker and influences their loyalty to your brand.

#5 Use hashtags to boost your Instagram likes

The right hashtags let Instagram users find your posts more quickly. The reason is simple: hashtags contain a clickable link that makes it extremely easy for people to navigate through billions of posts. 
When running an account on Instagram, you should know that it’s allowed to use up to 30 hashtags in one post.
By the way, if you want to interest as many potential clients as possible, you should use more broad hashtags.

#6 Make entertaining posts

One of the main purposes of your business Instagram account is to inform its visitors and followers about your products and services. Still, it’s a great idea to mix these product-oriented posts with educational, entertaining, and fun entries to keep your audience interested, engaged, and curious to follow you.
 Instagram’s primary idea is to share photos. It means that when people check their Instagram feed, they just want to have fun and see something interesting and catchy. So, give them what they want, and they will be more likely to subscribe!

#7 Post videos

If you’re wondering how to boost your Instagram with ease, think about shooting different types of videos! Demonstrating your products in use, educating your followers and sharing something valuable with your audience, you interest your potential clients and give them the unique content they’re here for. Using this marketing strategy, you have an opportunity to increase the level of loyalty to your company.

#8 Use Instagram shoutouts

One of the most common, convenient, and profitable ways of promoting your business on Instagram is making Instagram shoutouts. 
Why do choose shoutouts, but not official ads?  People are tired of intrusive advertising. Instagram shoutouts, in their turn, don’t really look annoying, and in some cases they are not perceived as ads at all 
What is an Instagram shoutout?

An Instagram shoutout is a way of advertising your products or services by means of posts in a popular blogger’s account.

In fact, there is nothing difficult about it. You need to find a blogger who’s popular enough in the same niche you deal with. This blogger will promote your business in his or her account. Please pay attention to the fact that there is no need to chase the bloggers with several million subscribers! They often ask to pay quite a lot for the promotion, and your ad campaign risks to become unprofitable. 

#9 Run contests

If you want to drive more potential customers to your Instagram account, you can try running contests and giveaways. Remember that they lead to a short-term boost in sales and traffic, and the effect doesn’t always last for a long time.
However, it’s a great tool if you want to attract the audience’s attention in the run-up to some special event, holiday, etc.

#10 Offer discounts and bonuses

Giving discounts and bonuses is still a great way to draw attention to your business. However, we don’t recommend you give them for doing nothing
For example, you can make them available only for those who follow your account. 

 

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