Hello, polers! Are you hoping to build a fitness Instagram account but finding it a challenge? Well, you’re not alone. Instagram is one of the toughest platforms out there for social influencers. This article will give you tips and information on building a Pole dancing Instagram account in 2019.

You will learn

• How to brand yourself on Instagram
• How to connect your Instagram profile with your online presence
• Tips for taking better photos for Instagram
• Tips for engaging with other similar users on Instagram
• How to use hashtags to your advantage
• What things to avoid when trying to build a Pole dancing Instagram account

How to Grow a Pole Dancing Instagram Account

Instagram has hundreds of millions of users, with hundreds of thousands of pictures being uploaded per second. You have a lot to compete with on Instagram.

In order to stand out, you need to clearly definite who you want to target.

Choose a Theme

There are plenty of general lifestyle bloggers and Instagrammers out there. If you want to make a name for yourself on Instagram, you need a theme or a niche to focus on.

In this case, pole fitness. But, even within pole fitness, there are many themes you can choose:

• Pole dancing with kids
• Male pole dancers
• Pole dancing around the world
• 40/50/60+ Pole dancing
• Pole dancing with a disability
• Pole dancing outside in nature
• Chinese pole

Or, different styles of pole dancing:

• Contemporary dance
• Theatrical/artistic
• Athletic/acrobatic
• Erotic/sexy

Try to pick a style and let that be your theme. Of course, you can deviate from the theme from time to time. But let your follows know you for a particular style. For example, “That’s Jane, she’s a Pole dancer who always has these artistic black and white photos,” or “That’s Sam, who always posts freestyle videos to random songs!”

Get yourself known for something specific.

Create your Personal Brand

To be successful on Instagram, you need to think about your personal brand. If you want to reach out to bigger brands in the future for potential collaboration, you get they’ll be googling your name before working with you.

Clean up your entire social media presence and digital footprint. Update your Facebook privacy settings to hide anything embarrassing.

Position Yourself

Choose what tone you will take when talking to your audience, and stick to it. Keep your language consistent, on-message and professional.

Your Instagram biography is very short, so make the most of it. Put in key points about yourself so users can see at a glance what to expect if they follow you.

If you have multiple profiles on the web, e.g. Twitter, YouTube or Pinterest, use the same profile photo so your personal brand is instantly recognisable.

Your Instagram bio is also the only place where you can add a link. So, use this opportunity to link to your own website, YouTube channel or other content you want to highlight.

If you don’t have a website yet, check our guide on how to get started with your pole fitness blog or website.

Great Photography

Instagram is all about great photography and visual marketing. You don’t have to invest in a big camera right away, most smartphones pack a punch in the camera department and are absolutely fine for getting started on Instagram.

A tripod for phones is a good idea for pole dance photos and videos, and you can pick one up for under $10.

Read our guide to better pole dancing photos using just your phone.

As you get more advanced, think about composition, lighting, backgrounds and creative’s ways to make your subject stand out.

Millions of photos are shared on Instagram every day, try to get your style across by consistently posting on-topic, creative images.

If you’re already well-versed in photography, you’ll know that a great photo is down to the skill of the photographer, not the price tag on the camera.

For Instagram, your pictures will get cropped to square, however, you can drop your images to be slightly landscape (horizontal) or slightly portrait (vertical). If you choose portrait/vertical pictures, remember that most people use Instagram on their phones, so vertical images take up more screen space and will be visible for longer. For a scrolling user, this is more likely to stand out than a horizontal or square photo.

Composition

Think about your composition of the photo before taking it, plan things out in advance. Consider your theme, your grid, and what will look good on the small screen. Instagram will compress your images, so you may lose some detail when uploading.

If you take photos specifically for Instagram by planning in advance, rather than just sharing random photos, you’ll notice that you get a better response.

Avoid filters if you can; use subtle editing in Lightroom or an app called Snapseed (it’s free, unlike Lightroom) to really make your images pop.

Engaging Descriptions

Give your Instagram posts engaging descriptions, write little stories or ask your audience a question, to encourage them to leave a comment.

Don’t just write a single sentence description with a tonne of hashtags, give people something interesting to accompany your photo.

If you can’t think of anything, use an inspirational quote, or talk about something the picture reminds you of.

Hashtags Galore

…or just 30 – the maximum allowed by Instagram for a single post. So, choose your hashtags wisely.

Don’t just go for the most popular hashtags, they may be popular but they get less engagement! You want to ensure maximum visibility and engagement.

Here is a choice of some #poledancing related hashtags to try:

**Be aware – In 2019 it’s common for Instagram to be “shadow banning” many hashtags relating to pole dancing, as well as many other topics. You can tell if you’ve been “shadow banned” by searching for the hashtag you’ve used and seeing if your image is shown. At the moment, I don’t know of a solution as I myself have been a victim to Instagram’s shadow banning tactics.**

#wildwoman #makemefeel #freestyledance #pole #poledance #poledancing #poledancer #polefitness #fitfam #polefit #polesport #upartists #poledancersofinstagram #girlswithmuscle #nodaysoff #girlswholift #workoutmotivation #fitnessmotivation #poledancersofig #acroyoga #strengthtraining #livewithoutlimits #nopainnogain
#poleart #stretching #oversplit #split #pain #amazing #happiness #training #poledancenation #polelife #polelove #poletrick #polegirl #exotic #fitness #fit #fitnessmodel #fitnessgirl #sport #sportlife
#poledancersofinsta #poleboys #poleflow #flexible #flexibility #polecombo #splits #poletricks #yoga #floorwork #unitedbypole #pdtricks #poledancerofinstagram
#befit #lightandpole #polephoto #polepose #poleaddict #nailedit #dance #aerialist #passionforpoledance #poledanceart

Also think about hashtags related to:

• Your location (for example, #poledancersofnewyork or #poledancersoflondon)
• Seasonal events (4th July, Halloween, etc)
• Your personal brand (e.g. our hashtag would be something like #polefitfreedom)

You should type out your hashtags in a note on your phone, then paste them into the very first comment, immediately after posting. If your description has hashtags in it, remember that the maximum number of hashtags you can use is still 30. If you’ve used 5 hashtags in the photo description, then you can use a further 25 hashtags in the comments. Instagram will not let you post anymore than this.

Keep your hashtags relevant, just because you’re allowed 30, it doesn’t mean that you have to use 30 just for the sake of it.

Tag Others in your Images

A great way to get noticed is to tag people and brands in your Instagram photos.

On vacation in Italy? Tag the Italian tourism board in your post.

Dancing on an X Pole in your local studio? Then tag X Pole and your local studio in your post!

Brands are more likely to notice you if your content is high quality. Only tag brands in your absolute best content.

Also, look for curated feeds (accounts who repost other user’s content with a credit back to them) and tag them for a chance to be featured.

• Polefitnessvideos
• Polefitnesspics
• Poledancersofinstagram

Engage with Similar Users

Leave meaningful comments on other people’s posts. Not just “Great shot!” Instead, leave thoughtful and meaningful comments of a few sentences, or ask relevant questions to start a discussion.

Each time you post, try to comment on 5-10 other posts with the same hashtags as yours. If you leave meaningful comments, you’re much more likely to get noticed.

Instagram rewards active users of its platform. Be active. Like and comment on lots of pictures in a non-spammy way. Leaving the same comment on ten photos in a short space of time is a quick way to get yourself banned.

Other General Tips

Here are a few more quick tips of growing your pole dancing Instagram account:

Don’t Spam

Don’t leave spammy comments on pictures or post to often. It’s a sure way to lose followers and annoy people.

Be authentic and meaningful in your engagement with others on Instagram.

Avoid Bots

Bots are everyone on Instagram. If you get followed by a bot account, just ignore them. Don’t engage with Bots, their accounts will be deleted soon enough!

You can usually tell a bot account, they don’t seem to be run by humans – put it that way! They comment on 1000+ posts with the same thing in 10 minutes… just ignore them.

Follow/Unfollow at your own risk

This is a well-known tactic, you follow loads of accounts, gain a handful of followers in return over the next few days, then unfollow most of the accounts you followed (the ones who don’t follow back)

Loads of people do this, but it is annoying and people do notice. So, use this tactic at your own discretion. Don’t use any apps that automate the follow/unfollow tactic, as Instagram is clamping down on this, treating it as ‘bot’ behavior.

Use Instagram Stories

Instagram stories are great! You can real-time engagement with your followers.

Stories let you show your followers a glimpse into your life and give them a chance to get to you know. Be personable and people will appreciate it.

So those are our top tips for building and growing a Pole dancing Instagram account. Are you a successful Instagrammer? Leave a comment below to share your advice with our readers.

Set yourself Goals

Set goals for yourself on Instagram to work towards, just like you set pole goals for yourself. This could mean gaining 20 new followers per-week, for example. Or aiming to post every day for a month. Set goals that are realistic and achievable, so that you’re not setting yourself up for disappointment.

If you don’t achieve your Instagram goals, you can look back to evaluate why this is, so you can improve for the future.

Numbers Aren’t Everything

Don’t get hung up on follower numbers, seriously. Engagement is much more important. It takes a lot of people to want to ‘follow’, so keep on being consistent and engaging with your existing followers.

---

Are you a pole dancer who loves Instagram? Leave your comments below to share your tips with our readers on how to grow their Pole Dancing Instagram accounts!

Happy poling!

Pin this Post

This post contains affiliate links. That means that, at no extra cost to you, we may receive a small commission if you buy a product using one of the links on this page. Read our full disclosure here.