Instagram is taking the world by storm, and to this end, more and more brands are jumping at the chance to reach new audiences using this effective platform.

One of the industries that need as many fans as they can is the sports and fitness industry. Many brands in this niche that have embraced this platform are doing well and expanding their reach fast. This is why you need to take advantage of this platform as a basketball team. SpireUSA gives you various ways to grow your fan base organically.

Today we look at how you can grow your fan base on Instagram, connect with your audience and make them your loyal fans.

If you though hashtags are just for a select few, you need to check again. This is the most important strategy you can use to grow your fan base. Hashtags make it possible for your content to be discovered because the users you expect to follow you are using the hashtags to search for content.

Make sure you use hashtags that relate to basketball. The hashtags need to be discoverable and easy to use. Don’t use many, 5-10 are enough to earn you the exposure you are looking for.

You also need to try and come up with your hashtag that relates to your team.

You can create a contest on Instagram to generate awareness for the basketball team. The branded hashtag that you come up with should serve as the promotion tool. You can have a contest where the fans choose what image is the best, or one that requires the fans to answer a trivia question regarding the team. Not only does this make the fans more knowledgeable about your team, but it also makes them engage more with you.

Your team might not be as large as the New York Knicks or Chicago Bulls, but there is no reason to avoid influencers to help you achieve your goals.

The kind of influencers you need to choose should relate to basketball. Most of these have a small audience but record high levels of engagement which is ideal for your goals.

Apart from assisting you to promote your team, the influencers also help promote any branded items that you sell to raise money for the team.

There is nothing as great as showing you your loyal fans are, with the intention of letting them share the posts with their friends and peers. You can identify a few fans and allow them to say why they love supporting the basketball team. You can capture their answers in a screenshot and share it on your account (with their permission). Make sure you tag them in the post so that they don’t feel that you have exploited their responses.

You need to use different types of content to your advantage. Instagram lets you post images, captions, videos and other kinds of content. Make sure you use the different kinds so that you give the users a wide choice to choose from and proper content delivery.

To leverage the power of using different types of content, make use of Instagram Stories. These stories let you post different images and videos throughout the day so that you enjoy high engagement levels.

Make use of videos more, because it has been known that videos offer a higher level of engagement compared to photos.

Managing a basketball team is not as easy as you think, especially when you have a small fan base. What you need to do is to take to Instagram and draw more fans to the team through a proven strategy.