How To Get More Instagram Followers

Instagram is one of the most popular social networks, making Instagram followers a coveted commodity for those on the platform. Whether you use Instagram as a personal platform or to promote a brand, business, or blog, everyone wants more Instagram followers. 

Creating and managing a thriving Instagram account is not easy work, however. With so much competition for users attention, it’s important to have a strategy in place to attract and retain new followers on Instagram. If you’re looking to grow your Instagram account, there are a few different ways to achieve your social media goals. 

How To Grow Your Instagram Followers 

If you’re looking to gain more Instagram followers, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve compiled the most effective ways to increase your Instagram following, with both free and paid solutions. Check out the best ways to grow your followers on Instagram to better promote your brand. 

These are the Best Ways to Get Followers on Instagram

1. 1. 1. Set Goals and Create a Strategy
      2. Use a Growth Service
      3. Optimize Your Profile
      4. Share Engaging, Quality Content
      5. Determine a Posting Schedule 
      6. Write Better Captions
      7. Stay on Brand
      8. Use Hashtags and Location Tags
      9. Try Video Content
      10. Engage with Followers
      11. Share Instagram Stories 
      12. Write Calls to Action
      13. Work with Influencers
      14. Collaborate with Brands
      15. Host Contests
      16. Promote across Platforms 
      17. Use Analytics 

 

Set Goals and Create a Strategy

Before you begin growing your Instagram account, figure out what you’re planning to achieve. Do you just want a higher follower count and more likes? Are you trying to drive traffic to your blog or website? Do you want to become an influencer with brand partnerships?

It’s important to set goals so that you can work towards them. It’s also good to create a strategy early on so that you have a plan in place, rather than just creating Instagram posts and hashtagging away.

One major factor to consider when creating your social media strategy is a target audience. Who do you want your content to reach? What type of Instagram users would be interested in your content? Determining an audience would help you tailor your Instagram content for those users.

 

Use a Growth Service 

Instagram growth tools help grow your followers for you, so you can focus on creating engaging content. If you’re looking for a hands-off approach to growing your Instagram followers, a growth service is the easiest way to go. These are typically paid tools, but for a small monthly fee you can watch your followers grow in huge numbers with little effort on your part.

Instagram growth tools use various methods to target and attract potential followers. Typically, you have to provide your account manager with details about your account, like your niche or industry, location, and target audience. From there, they’ll target accounts that are likely to be interested in your content and get their attention by following them, or liking or commenting on their posts.

Our favorite growth service for Instagram is Social Buddy. We use Social Buddy because it is safe, reliable, and provides amazing results. It’s also affordable compared to many competitors. Learn more about Social Buddy here.

 

Optimize Your Profile

If you’re new to Instagram, it’s important to make sure your profile is complete and optimized for success. Even if you’ve had an Instagram account for years, you may not realize that your profile isn’t optimized for growth.

First of all, make sure your profile is public. If your account is private, then only your followers can see your posts, which will make it difficult to attract new followers. Set your privacy settings to public so that new followers can find you easily. You should also make your Instagram a business account; it’s free, and you get access to Instagram Insights to learn more about who is visiting your profile.

Second, make sure that your profile is complete. A complete profile has a profile picture, a bio, and at least one post. Pick a profile picture that best represents you or your brand. Many businesses choose to use their logo. If you’re running a personal account, choose a high quality, professional photo of yourself. 

When writing a bio, make it easy for new visitors to understand what your Instagram is all about. If your Instagram is a business page, be sure to include specifics about what your business provides, as well as a location and hours if you have a brick and mortar shop. You can add hashtags to your bio as well, which can help followers better understand what you’re interested in or what industry you’re involved in. 

Instagram allows profiles to include one link. Use this opportunity to link to your website or to a specific page that you’re promoting. Tools like Linktr.ee make it possible to include a portal to various links so that followers can navigate through to your website more easily. 

 

Share Engaging, Quality Content

This may seem like a no-brainer, but if you want to get more Instagram followers, you need to share interesting and engaging Instagram posts. No one wants to follow an account that shares unoriginal content, blurry images, or boring posts.

Determining your brand identity and sticking with it will help you get more followers on social media. Once you know your goals and the type of content you want to post, it’s time to do the work to create amazing content.

Make sure your Instagram posts are engaging, interesting, and use high quality images and captions. Creating engaging content can be the most difficult part of growing and maintaining and Instagram profile, but this is what it’s all about!

 

Determine a Posting Schedule

It’s important to create a posting strategy for your Instagram account. Many users are unsure about how often they should post, when they should post, and so on. Planning out a post schedule will help answer these questions and ensure that you stay on top of content creation.

There isn’t a rule about how often to post – it really depends on your account, your followers, and your engagement. If you only post once a week, you might want to try posting more often. If your followers are liking and engaging with your content, keep it up.

If you find that posting every day doesn’t yield great engagement rates, try posting less frequently. Track engagement to see how often you should post.

As far as the best time to post, it really depends on when your followers are online. The Instagram algorithm doesn’t list posts chronologically on feeds anymore, but it’s still better to post when you know your followers are online and ready to interact with your content.

Try out different times during the day and during the week, and track which dates and times yield the best engagement. The best time to post is dependent on your account and when your followers are active. Learn more about the Instagram algorithm to better understand where your post will appear on Instagram users’ timelines. 

Once you know how frequently you want to post and what times work best for your account, create a schedule. If you can, plan out your posts in advance and use scheduling tools to queue the next posts for publication. Most large accounts schedule posts in advance to better maintain a content calendar. This can give you better insights into your content marketing strategy, and you won’t be scrambling to come up with posts each day. 

 

Write Better Captions

Your photo captions are more important than you may think. While the image or video content is obviously important for visual purposes, you’ll need engaging captions to really gain followers and make an impact.

Make sure that your captions are thoughtful, interesting, and on-brand. You want to write captions that will encourage social media users to like, comment, share, or follow you if they don’t already.

Again, consider your audience and who you are speaking to when you write captions. The right captions will help you get more followers by making readers want to see more from you!

 

Stay on Brand

Pick a theme, niche, or topic for your Instagram account and stick with it. If followers are interested in your brand, they follow it expecting to see on-brand content. Be sure to find your brand voice and stick with it.

Don’t post irrelevant content – stick to what you know. If your account is all about makeup, it would be off brand to share a picture of your breakfast – no matter how good it was. 

Try to develop an Instagram aesthetic; this can be done by posting the same type of content, using similar or complementary colors and filters, and creating an all around theme for your account. The examples below show how an Instagram with a consistent aesthetic looks more appealing when you visit their profile. 

         

Consistent branding makes it easier for followers to recognize your brand, and contributes to your brand’s style and voice. If you want to achieve brand loyalty with your followers, you’ll need a clear and consistent brand identity. 

 

Use Hashtags and Location Tags

Hashtags are underrated, as they are one of the best ways to increase the visibility of your profile. If you’re not using hashtags, you should start. 

Pick hashtags that are relevant to your brand. Users that follow that hashtag or are interested in similar content are more likely to see your posts if you add a hashtag to it.

Using the same makeup account example, you could add a hashtag like #MakeupIdeas or #MakeupTutorial so that it’s easier for makeup enthusiasts to find your post and then follow your account. Using hashtags can also help your posts appear on the Instagram Explore page, which can seriously skyrocket your impressions, likes, and followers. 

Location tags are also useful, especially if your brand or business is local. Local followers are the people who will actually come and patronize your business, so it’s a good idea to target those users. Use location-based hashtags, and tag your posts with a location. This can help you appear on local Explore pages and increase your impressions with people in your area.

 

Try Video Content

Studies have found that videos often get better a engagement rate and more views than the standard photo Instagram post. If you haven’t tried it before, consider creating videos to share on your Instagram profile! Mixing up your media can help draw more attention as well.

One way to create videos on Instagram is to go live on your story. “Going live” involves livestreaming a video of yourself for your audience to watch in real time, or you can save it for them to watch later. Live streaming on Instagram typically sends a notifications to your followers that you are doing so, meaning that more people may tune in and watch this type of content.

 

Engage with Followers

Engaging with your followers, and with others on Instagram, is key to attracting and retaining followers. The best social media accounts make their audience feel included and heard. Engage with your followers and they’ll be more likely to engage with you in the future.

Comment on similar accounts in your industry to create relationships – if they don’t already follow you, this very likely will prompt them to do so. When users comment or respond to your posts, answer back so that they feel heard. Start conversations to create relationships with your followers so that they are more likely to keep following you.

You can also use interactive Instagram stories, polls, or even direct messages to better engage with and understand your audience.

 

Share Instagram Stories

Instagram stories were not a part of the original platform, but they have become huge since they launched. Stories last 24 hours, although they can be added as highlights on your profile to keep permanently. 

Many users today prefer to watch Instagram stories over scrolling through their feeds, so posting stories should be a key part of your Instagram strategy. Stories are a great way to share short-term promotions, promote products or services, or share less formal posts. If something isn’t post-worthy, it might make a good addition to your story instead. 

Instagram stories also have a lot of interactive features mentioned above, such as polls, questions, hashtag challenges, countdowns, quizzes, and more. This makes it easy to engage with your followers directly and even learn more about their preferences for your future posts.

 

Write Calls to Action

Every post should include a caption, and hopefully that caption is compelling and interesting. When possible, you should use your caption to tell a story that will draw in your readers. Every caption should include a call to action, however. 

Your calls to action will depend on your posts and your brand. If you’re selling clothing, a call to action could be “Check out our online store!”, “Visit our website for the latest deals”, and so on. For bloggers, the call to action might be “Read my latest blog post – link in bio!”. 

Create captions that match your brand voice, but don’t forget a CTA so that followers know what to do next. You could also include a call to action to follow your account, or to tag a friend so that your posts get more visibility. Calls to action direct your readers to take your desired next steps, which can lead to better engagement and, in turn, more followers. 

 

Work with Influencers

Try reaching out to influencers in your niche to collaborate on posts or even a project together. Influencer marketing is huge on platforms like Instagram. An influencer with a large following can help you reach more followers yourself, and help get your name and brand out there.

Try starting with smaller influencers before reaching out to any mega-influencers. Ask for a mention, for them to share something you posted, or even just ask for tips on how they grew their Instagram following!

 

Collaborate with Brands

Is there a brand that fits with your brand, or something that your followers may be fans of? For example, if you’re a makeup guru, you could try to work with popular makeup brands.

Working with well-known brands in your niche can help get your name out there and give your Instagram profile some credibility. Look into affiliate programs, sponsorship programs, and other collaboration possibilities for brands that match your style.

Another way to get involved with a brand is to provide them with user-generated content. If a brand uses a certain hashtag or holds a contest where Instagram users can send in their own pictures to be featured, participate! You could potentially get a mention from a brand with a huge audience, which can drive followers to your page.

 

Host Contests

Contests are one of the best ways to quickly attract new followers. Hosting contests like giveaways or special deals is an easy way to get more people to follow you. You can set contest rules that include following your account, sharing one of your posts to their story, or tagging friends in the comments so that more people see your post, follow you, and enter the contest by tagging even more friends.

You can also hold contests for user generated content. This type of contest involves asking users to post something and tag your account or use a hashtag to enter the contest.

One popular example of this is YETI coolers. They use the hashtag #BuiltForTheWild to collect user-generated content that they can then post on their account. This makes it easy to attract followers to your brand, and also helps generate content to post if you’re running out of ideas.

 

Promote Across Platforms

Most brands and businesses are on all forms of social media today, including Instagram but also Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and even Pinterest. Promote your Instagram account on all of your online platforms to drive followers from one network to another. You should also promote your Instagram on your website so that web visitors can find and follow you. 

Take advantage of all of your online platforms so that you don’t miss out on any potential followers. 

 

Use Analytics 

Finally, use data-driven evidence to learn how to gain more Instagram followers. All Instagram business accounts get free Instagram Insights, which offers metrics like gained followers, best performing posts, and audience demographics. Take advantage of these analytics, or invest in others to learn more about your audience and to learn which posts perform best.

By analyzing your performance, you can learn more about what works and what doesn’t work. Use the available data to improve upon your Instagram performance and you’re sure to get more followers.

 

Final Thoughts

Use these Instagram tips to gain more followers and promote your brand online.