Tips & tricks: Setting up an Instagram page for your car

If you want to get going on Instagram with a car influencer page then I've got all the advice for you in this blog. Starting a page on Instagram can be easy to begin with; you'll gain followers quick if people love your car but keeping them followers rising is a real skill. In this blog I hope to bring you some useful tips that may help you on your journey to becoming a car influencer.

So as you may have read on my homepage, I set up my Instagram page @s200rdy (previously @starlight_works56) in September 2019. I thought; I love my car, I love taking pictures of my car, why not give it a go on Instagram to see if anyone loves it too? I mean c'mon, you don't buy a bright blue MINI to go under the radar do you? You want to it to be seen.

Setting up your page: Keep it simple

So you've decided on setting up an Instagram page to take pictures and share them with the world. It's time to think of a username. So as I previously mentioned, I didn't really keep my username simple, I thought I'd put the colour, model and generation of MINI in my username. It stayed there for a good 12 months before I thought I'm changing my car soon so I best change the name before I become unrecognisable with a new car and new username. I'm now proudly, @s200rdy - the same 7 digits as the numberplate featured on the front of my car.

I remember getting some username stickers done from the very talented Mitch @24sevenphotography of my @starlight_works56 username and putting them on my car. No way on Earth was someone going to see my username on the side of my car and remember to follow me once in a *safe location* to use their phone. The same goes for Instagram, if someone wants to tag you or get in touch with you, they've got to remember that username you've created. Keep it simple. I would definitely think of a nickname or something you can associate yourself with, maybe even your registration plate like mine. You can put some keywords into a username generator but remember, keep it simple!

Your first post: Give your followers a journey to follow

So the username has been chosen, time to get going and get posting *argh scary*. My first post, in September 2019 was actually photos taken in July 2018 on delivery day. I thought I might as well start from the beginning and wait until my further posts to show people what the car is like now. I kept my caption fairly simple, with a Hiiiiii along with some slightly cringe hashtags; one of them being #fresh. Since then, I've learnt of an app called Hashtag Expert that generates up to 30 hashtags based on a keyword you input. For example, I put in '#minijcw' and it gives me the 29 best related hashtags to get me maximum reach from people searching on Instagram by hashtag. Copy and paste them all into your notes app on your phone and you don't really need to visit it again. So with your first post, try show people where you've been (if your car has been in your life a while) OR if you're new to your car then show them your first impressions of your car. I definitely like seeing peoples before and after pictures of their cars; the mods and personalising you can do to your car to make it your own is money well spent! It's worth tagging certain brands in your posts, for example I always tag MINI and MINIUK in my posts; in 2020 @MINI shared one of my posts to their 1.5 million followers and it was a proud moment. Make sure your pictures are on point and you'll get noticed!

Gaining followers: Get from zero to 100 real quick

Page, done. First post, done. Get some followers! I'd always say get your first post done and then get following; who wants to follow back a page without any idea of what they're looking at?

SO, to get followers you need to get following yourself! Firstly, I'd have a look at Instagrams 'Discover people' page, they normally find people based on your hashtags. I wouldn't just press the follow button repeatedly though. Have a look at their profile, check they're active as you don't want to be following people who've lost their Instagram mojo. I'd recommend following around 100 people to start with and see where it gets you! Don't be worrying if people don't follow back straight away, those with a lot of followers do find it hard to keep up with new followers. I'm not saying I have lots of followers but I just have a look at my recent followers once or twice a week. If you're struggling to find people to follow on the Discover Page then head to someone with a similar account to yourself and check out who they're following! That's what I did. You'll find that those people will share the same interests as you and you'll hopefully get gaining some followers.

Keep them followers: How to keep your followers sweet!

You've done the hard work, won them followers over with your one post of your pride and joy. There's only really one way to keep your followers on Instagram; content, content, content. You've got to get posting regularly, and by regulary, I mean daily! Go out, get pictures of your car and get going! I'd try dedicating just a few minutes of your evening to post on Instagram. Chose a picture out of your camera roll, upload it, copy and paste them hashtags and think of a cringe caption (You've got to love them). In the community you'll see daily hashtags, feauturing posts that people love to post on that given day. The examples I have are #TailendTuesday #WheelWednesday #ThrowbackThursday and #SideshotSaturday - stick to these and you'll get in a nice rhythm with your posts!

Sharing your followers posts is a great way to interact with your followers, all it takes is a share to your story and a tag. You're meeting new friends that share the same interests and hobby as you, what's more to love? You'll find yourself gaining followers pretty quickly if you keep your posts regular and your activity noticeable; get liking, sharing and saving to keep them followers going. You may find it slowing up one day but keep going!

Anyway! I hope I have managed to pass on some of my knowledge to you, I do appreciate this is my first blog so I might just be talking waffle but I think you'll be able to pick something up out of it! I also appreciate YOU taking the time to read it and if you've got any feedback, be sure to drop me a comment, a message on here or on Instagram!

Take care folks

Stay safe (Pandemic and all that)

Tom Stordy @s200rdy