Adam Gonzalez is the Co-Founder of Model Connect. Model Connect is one of the top modeling Instagram growth agencies in the world. They grow models followings remarkably overnight. This helps them garner attention from modeling agencies. Model Connect is revolutionizing the modeling industry with their marketing strategies.
Over the years Instagram has changed many industries, but one of the industries that has been dramatically changed and has been the least talked about one is the modeling industry.
Before it came out 3 years ago, models had almost no power. They were immensely at the will of modeling agencies, this platform changed that.
With careful, but powerful social strategies, models can now grow significant following overnight, giving them enormous leverage, turning power dynamics of the industry upside down.
Look AlexisRen, for example: A 60-second video posted by her obtained over 8.7 million views. Models like Alexis are growing massive followings with millions of followers and views every day. These audiences have allowed models to independently make money, rigorously eliminating the past dependency on modelling agencies.
Model Connect, they turn models into Instagram Influencers. Equipping them with strategies and techniques to successfully achieve viral growth. These growth methods range from technical tips to use the algorithms to your benefit , to psychological tricks to develop follower engagement.
There are several unique strategies they apply to make this happen. Here are 3 of them that anyone can use to become an influencer:
1. Engagement pods
For a post to go viral it must be deemed “high quality” by the algorithm. The algorithms judge the quality of posts by looking at the engagement ratios amongst other things.
Engagement ratios are stats that count, for example, how many people saw the post and then engaged with it, i.e. comparing total reach to total engagement. The higher this number is the better quality the post is, as judged by the algorithm. The “high-quality” posts will then be featured on the Explore page. This is the secret to posts going viral.
Using their network of models, they create engagement pods. Within this, each model likes and comments on each others’ newest posts within three hours of it being uploaded. The result of this algorithmic manipulation is viral posts! Their models’ posts hit the Explore page, often receiving millions of views and likes as a result.
Engagement pods are most effective when the accounts involved are within the same niche, e.g. models with models. If, for example, you’re a comedy influencer, you should partner up with meme pages and other relevant influencers for the best results. The objective is to have accounts in your engagement group that have followers that would be a relevant audience for you.
2. Fake questions
Having your posts shown first in your followers’ feeds is very important. Algorithms decides what posts to show you based on your relationships with the accounts you follow (among other factors, too). If you recently engaged with an account, you’re more likely to see a post from that account vs. an account that you haven’t engaged with. Relationships are ranked in the algorithm according to a hierarchy. For instance, only liking the posts of an account shows a low-level relationship. However, if you frequently comment on the account, it indicates a deeper, richer relationship — meaning you’ll be shown that account’s posts more frequently and higher up in your feed. The strongest relationship indicators come from saving posts and sending direct messages (DMs).
In light of this, they train their models to frequently ask easy, quick to answer questions in their Insta Stories. An example of this might be: “What shall I have for lunch?,” “what’s your favorite emoji?” or “what song do you recommend?” These simple questions, often requiring only one word replies, have generated thousands of DM threads for our models and their followers, significantly increasing their long-term organic reach and engagement. This strategy can be applied to any niche to improve your long-term organic reach. Focus on developing the relationships you have with existing followers. Create easy, low effort openings for your following to engage with you in more and more meaningful ways. Create polls in your Insta Stories and ask questions to create a dialogue. For instance, if you’re an e-commerce company and you just launched a new product, don’t just insert swipe up links in to your Insta Story with prices. Instead, ask your audience what they think of the new outfit, toy or whatever your product may be. Spot opportunities to create a conversation whenever and wherever possible.
3. Re-engagement
It’s not all about growing as fast as possible. To go viral consistently, it is important to maintain a heavily engaged following. Once their models gain a follower, they don’t just focus on getting more. They incentivise long-term engagement from each follower, rewarding follower engagement on behalf of our models. To do this, their team looks diligently through comments left by followers, and then likes and replies to these comments for them. This creates a deeper relationship and rewards follower engagement. They then create “super fans” for models by further liking the personal posts of their most engaged followers.
To maintain an engaged following they also identify “ghost” followers. These are followers that haven’t engaged with a model’s last 30 posts. After identifying these ghosts, their team engages with them on their model’s behalf. This then converts these otherwise ghost followers into newly engaged followers.
Re-engagement campaigns work for all niches, and it’s something they highly recommend. Identify your least engaged followers and reignite the spark in your relationship!. Be sure to also reward your most loyal followers engagement by liking and replying to their comments. Doing this helps to maintain these relationships, and thus retains a long-term engaged following for you.
These tricks to unlock viral growth aren’t just limited to models, though. By experimenting with ideas like these any influencer can go viral, unlock more organic reach and grow a genuinely engaged following.