No matter where you are from, Instagram will continue to grow as a social media platform, which means the best time to start growing your Instagram followers is now.
Instagram has individually accounted for tons of e-commerce sales and has allowed people to prosper on the platform. People have been able to create living and amass popularity off the platform. Therefore, it is essential that everyone tries to dive into the Instagram population.
How To Get More Followers On Instagram:
- Choose The Perfect Instagram Content
- Create An Original Instagram Theme.
- Creating Amazing Instagram Content.
- Respect Your Community.
- Post On A Regular Basis To Instagram.
- Create A Stellar Instagram Bio.
- Use The Power Of Geo-Tagging Places.
- Use The Best Instagram Hashtags.
- Network, Network, and Network on Instagram.
- Leverage Other Social Media Networks.
If you aren’t already aware, Instagram has received exponential growth over the last couple of years and it is expected to continue amassing tons of growth. Instagram has over 500 million users and the number continues to rise.
Growing an Instagram following isn’t as easy as most seem to make it out to be. It requires a ton of hard work and dedication to reach the levels of Instagram success.
For this reason, most people either give up on growing their Instagram followers or stop posting to the platform altogether. So… I’ve got to say if you want to reach a high level of success on the platform you need to be dedicated to your Instagram followers and get ready to put in a lot of hard work and dedication.
Now that I have introduced you to the Instagram game, below are tons of strategies that we use to grow our Instagram followers and will work for you as well.
How To Get More Instagram Followers:
Step 1: Choosing the perfect content for your desired audience.
Now that we’re diving into how to grow Instagram followers, sit back grab a cup of coffee, and get ready for this in-depth guide.
As everyone always says the first step is always the hardest. When you first set out on your Instagram venture it is critical that you have put some time and effort into your page. What we mean by this is that you must have a plan when trying to conquer Instagram.
When you are trying to grow a massive following on Instagram you are going to need to make sure that your page resonates with your desired audience. It doesn’t make sense to push out a ton of garbage on the platform that no one really wants to see. Therefore, you are going to need to find a niche to dive into.
Definition of a niche: denoting or relating to products, services, or interests that appeal to a small, specialized section of the population.
Some niches that kill it on Instagram are Health and Fitness, Travel, and, Motivational and Inspiration based content.
As you may have noticed these niches do amazing on Instagram due to the fact that there is a wide variety of people from around the world that can relate to these niches. Therefore, people have the ability to gather the eyes of thousands if not millions of people who are interested in the same subject.
With that being said, you are now going to want to figure out which type of content is best for the niche you selected.
Content that produces great results on Instagram normally is based upon quotes, food photos, or great photography.
Now, make sure that the content you produce for the platform is based on what people want to see. Make sure you don’t post a ton of spam on the platform; otherwise, you won’t grow your following and Instagram won’t produce any results for you or your business.
Remember, Instagram is a social network that is a tad bit different from Facebook and Twitter. People are searching for things that draw attention. They want to see content that is going to stick with them. Such as a picture of an amazing meal or an inspirational quote that will motivate them.
Sometimes people get caught up in the platform and don’t realize that their “Instagram Followers” are actual people. Always remember that your audience is real and they have the ability to view your posts and purchase your products. Your “Instagram Followers” are not simply just a number with no value on a random internet page.
With that said, you are going to want to make sure that you make the user experience amazing.
How Are Instagram Users Going To Become Followers?
Step 2: How are users going to find your content?
When setting out to dominate on Instagram and grow your following you must be aware of how people are going to get to your account. When you are starting out, you are in the same position as millions of other accounts. You need to focus on what is going to make you different than the millions of other Instagram accounts.
If you are truly trying to grow your Instagram followers you need to consider how people are going to find your Instagram content. Whether that means someone is going to click on an Instagram hashtag or maybe an account they follow will promote your page. Regardless, you need to think about how to draw someone’s attention to your page.
Once you have chosen a niche and have an idea of the content you want to create. You are going to need to continue pushing out content. Therefore, people have a reason to keep coming back to your page for more. This is what differentiates an account with millions of Instagram followers and an account with thousands of Instagram followers.
A problem most people have when setting out on their Instagram venture is that they don’t have a consistent theme for their page. They pretty much post whatever they feel like. Therefore, they don’t have good engagement and haven’t been able to develop an Instagram following.
However, there is an issue when you create a ton of Instagram content. You don’t want to appear as if you are copying another account, which means you need to put in the extra mile to create unique original content.
Some ways people are able to create a consistent original theme…
1. Create all original content…
Some people are designers and know how to use software such as Photoshop or other online design spaces to make content. However, you can also use other online services to have your content designed for you.
For example, you can hire designers from Fiverr.com.
2. Use audience-driven content…
An easy way to create a ton of content on Instagram quickly is to have your followers post about your product or service. You can do this by promoting a hashtag.
For example, if you own a business and are trying to make an Instagram feed off of your follower’s posts simply ask them to post a photo on Instagram of your product or service and tag the hashtag in exchange for a discount on your product or service.
Therefore, you will then be able to go through the hashtag and pick out the very best posts to then re-post on your own Instagram account.
Starbucks does this in a great way where they ask their followers to post photos with their products. If they like the photo they post it on their main account and tag the user.
3. Re-post from niche-based accounts…
We do not recommend this way of growing your Instagram following because the content that you are publishing to the platform will not be original.
If you decide to re-post other accounts’ content make sure that you tag the account where you got the post or else you may build a bad reputation for yourself on Instagram.
Figure out what works best for you…
Through trial and error eventually, you will figure out which type of content works best for your page on Instagram to continue the growth of your following.
Step 3: Create Amazing Content For Your Instagram Followers.
So now that you have an idea of how you want to structure your Instagram account. Your Instagram page might look dull with outdated posts and not much content. Hopefully, you also decided to go with creating original content.
Now that you’re trying to get the eyes of Instagram on your page you will need to create content, that your Instagram followers will love. Otherwise, those followers are going to disappear and you will be left with nothing.
Once you know which type of content your followers enjoy and engage with you can go about creating more similar content.
So you may be asking… how does one create amazing content?
Well, actually creating original content on Instagram is not that difficult and can be done quite easily.
1. First, you are going to want to find a photo that you can manipulate.
You can do this by either taking a photo of something or finding a license-free photo online. Some places you can find free online photos
Note: Make sure that you are not taking images from Google Images as there may be copyright on those images or belong to another person.
Some great resources to get license-free photos are… Pexels, and Pixabay.
2. Second, now you are going to want to make that photo unique.
Don’t be scared if you are unaware of how photoshop works or if you have never taken a design class in school. We live in the 21st century which means there are tons of resources available to us.
Simply head over to Canva.com sign up for an account and you will enter the designer dashboard.
Once you are in Canva you will then be able to create amazing posts with their design software. You can take the photo that you got above and set it as the background for your Instagram post.
3. Third, you’re all set to post custom content on Instagram.
Now that you have the image you want your Instagram followers to see, simply head over to the Instagram account and begin posting.
Growing Instagram followers at first may be difficult due to the lack of content posted on your page. However, have you ever heard that content is king? Well, the same goes for Instagram in a sense. Basically, your following somewhat resembles your amount of Instagram followers.
Therefore, if you continue to post on Instagram with the original content we created above you will eventually see your Instagram statistics rise.
If you are unaware of where to find your Instagram page statistics or how to check your Instagram followers head over to SocialBlade.
Once you are on SocialBlade you will be able to see your live account growth and see how many followers you are amassing.
Step 4: Respect Your Community
As said above, when you people set out on their mission to grow their Instagram followers… they think of their followers as just numbers instead of actual people. If you have that mindset there is no way you are going to succeed at growing your Instagram followers.
When you are actually trying to grow your Instagram followers you must understand that these are actual people instead of just metrics on a screen.
With that said, you aren’t going to want to push anyone’s buttons by posting unrelated content or spamming the platform. If you post a ton of photos a day you will spam your follower’s feeds, which gives them a reason to unfollow you.
Therefore, you are going to want to attack their feed in a stealthy way, by posting amazing content and not a ton of it. You don’t need to post 5 times a day to start growing a following. All you need is 1 or 2 posts a day that really resonates with your audience.
People will then respect your account and turn into long-term followers. These long-term followers will create loyalty to your account and will think of your page in high terms.
Engage with your loyal followers…
In order to start growing a massive following on Instagram, you need to put yourself in the position of a follower. What that means is that you need to envision yourself in their spot.
Some good questions to ask yourself…
What brings them to your account?
What keeps them on your account?
Why are they engaging with your account?
What could you do to impress them?
Some great answers to these questions are engagement. Engagement on Instagram is the key to exponential growth. If people respect what you are doing on the platform and see you as an actual brand or person you will receive more Instagram followers.
What I mean by that is that if you go and comment back towards all the people that comment on your photo they are more likely to stay in your community and help you grow your account.
When you engage with your followers by either asking them questions or responding to them you are creating loyalty and this will keep them coming back to your account. They will also be more encouraged to engage more in the future continuing your growth on Instagram.
Step 5: Post On A Regular Basis On Instagram.
I’m sure you’ve seen those pages on Instagram that come out of nowhere and amass a large following only to stop posting. Once they stop posting there is no reason for people to continue following that account. Therefore, they are likely to unfollow the account and you have just lost a follower.
To avoid having this happen to you, you are going to want to set up a posting schedule. Luckily there are tons of online tools that you can use to schedule your Instagram content, which will then lead to more exposure and help grow your Instagram followers.
Your aim here is consistency, when you post a couple of photos daily you are consistent with your content and your Instagram followers will continue coming back.
Luckily you don’t need to always have posts and captions ready to post on Instagram you can schedule them and then receive a notification on your phone when it is actually time to post.
Check out our social media scheduler!
Another tip is that you should make sure the time and day of your post are scheduled for the perfect time. What I mean by this is that you can see what time your account receives the most exposure and use that to your advantage.
Use Iconosquare.com to find the best time for your posts. When you know when your Instagram followers are online you can receive the best exposure and engagement.
Step 6: Create A Stellar Instagram Bio
What is the first thing someone sees when they arrive on your Instagram profile? You’re Instagram Bio. Therefore, creating a stellar Instagram bio is essential if you are trying to grow an Instagram following.
Make sure that you use your Instagram bio to its full potential. How you can do this is by creating a CTA.
What is a CTA? A CTA is a “call to action” basically it is what is going to draw the attention of a person to click through to another place or to do something.
Therefore, you can make your bio promote a link that followers towards a landing page or a sales page.
Also, make sure that your bio encompasses what your page is about and gives your followers a little information about yourself. This will basically be the deciding point when someone visits your page if they should follow you or not.
Your Instagram bio is one of the most important parts of your page and it should explain who you are, what you do, and why someone should follow your page.
Here’s another tip: Make sure that your bio includes keywords that people are searching for on Instagram. Therefore, if you include tags like “Entrepreneur” or “Coffee Shop” when people search those terms you’re account is likely to appear.
Step 7: Make Sure To Tag Locations.
Most people don’t take the time or effort to tag locations in their photos. However, you can go the extra mile and attract the attention of tons of new people by tagging locations in your photos.
Do you know what the best part about tagging locations is?
Well, you don’t even necessarily need to be in the location you tagged!
You could tag a photo to almost anywhere in the world and people from the designated area will be able to see, comment, and engage with your photo and your account.
Before you tag just any random location you may want to look at other photos posted in that area. This allows you to get a good idea of the post volume for a certain location and the likelihood that your post will appear at the top of the page in the featured posts section.
Locations provide an easy way to grow your Instagram followers and most people don’t take the time or effort to include them in their photos.
Step 8: Use Hashtags To Grow Instagram Followers
Hashtags are one of the most important parts of the social media platform. Regardless, of whether you believe they are irrelevant or not you would be surprised how many people actually click through hashtags to find other interesting content.
Therefore, if you are truly trying to grow your Instagram followers and increase the reach that your account receives try targeting certain hashtags.
Before anything else, you are going to want to find hashtags that are closely related to your account. You can do this by finding the relevant hashtags that accounts similar to yours tag their photos with.
Once you are aware of which hashtags other accounts use… check them out. Therefore, you can figure out the volume that each tag receives and the likelihood that your post will end up in the popular section of the hashtag.
The hashtags that you add to your posts all depend on the niche you are trying to target and the type of posts that you include under your profile.
Regardless, you can tag up to 30 hashtags under each photo!
Of course, it all depends on which hashtags you include, but you will eventually pick up traction and start developing more exposure, and grow your Instagram followers through the hashtags.
When you are posting photos to Instagram that include a ton of hashtags make sure that you do not add them directly to your description of the photo. If you do that you will look like spam to your followers.
Therefore, you can go about this in a sneaky way…
Basically, after you post a photo on Instagram copy and paste your hashtags into the comment section of your photo. This will allow your post to still be tagged under all of the hashtags, but it will make your hashtag use less obvious to the normal Instagram user. It will allow you to increase the reach and potential growth with your Instagram photo and also attract more Instagram followers.
Step 9: Network With Similar Accounts.
A great way that you can start growing your Instagram followers is to reach out to similar accounts. Once you get in touch with people who are producing content similar to yours you can network with them and start building up connections.
Once you have some connections with similar accounts you can exchange SFS with them.
Basically, an SFS is an Instagram-related term that means “Shoutout For Shoutout” essentially what happens is that both accounts with similar audiences give each other a shoutout. Therefore, both accounts will receive exposure from the audience of the other account.
This means that the followers of the account that you are getting a shoutout from will head over to your page and check out your bio and the amazing content that we created above.
Everyone grows and is helped when you network with similar accounts and people will be willing to return the shoutouts you give them.
If you are really trying to build your Instagram followers, you are going to need to reach out to influencers in your niche. They will either allow you to do an S4S or will ask for money in order for you to receive a shoutout on their page.
Either way will work, but if you are trying to go directly down the SFS path you are going to want to make sure that the accounts you reach out to network with have similar following’s as your page.
However, if you are looking to just purchase exposure from a larger page. Simply, direct message the page and ask to purchase a shoutout as they have normally made these types of exchanges before.
There are also a couple of online services you can use to gain shoutouts. Some of the most well-known services for these are ShoutCart.com and Fiverr.com.
When you use an online service for these it minimizes the potential for a scam. Scamming is a huge part of the Instagram network as people are always trying to scam others into either paying them for an account with a large following or someone may ask for money for a shoutout and then never deliver the shoutout.
With this said, using those online services you are going to minimize the risk you are taking when trying to receive a shoutout. However, most accounts on Instagram will actually provide you with a shoutout, just be careful and cautious when doing deals directly with users.
Step 10: Leverage Other Social Media Platforms.
A good first step when you are trying to build your Instagram following is to leverage other social media platforms. What I mean by this, is that you are going to want to cross-promote your Instagram posts or Instagram profile on your other social media accounts.
You can do this by sharing your posts on your Facebook or creating a CTA on Twitter and Facebook that pushes people over to your Instagram profile. The more sources you have connected to your Instagram profile the more Instagram followers you are likely to gain.
With this said, you can use the other networks to your advantage and start receiving tons of growth through them. If you post daily on the main social media networks Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are likely to see your Instagram followers continue to grow.
Here Are Some More Great Tips To Growing Your Instagram Followers:
1. Join An Engagement Group
Most people are unaware of the fact that if you have large accounts or accounts with relevant followers commenting on your post, your post is normally boosted to their follower’s Instagram explore pages. A great way to get accounts in the same niche to comment on your posts is to join Instagram Engagement Groups. These are certain Instagram DM Groups with accounts that post similar content to yours. Once you join one of these groups all the accounts in the group like and comment on the photos you share with the group. These groups are a great way to drive more engagement and promote your content.
2. Contribute to Instagram Stories
Instagram stories allow you to have your content featured in all your follower’s stories. You can include a CTA in your story to promote your new recent post. Therefore, all of your followers will see the post and click on your most recent post. These can also be used to engage with your audience via Instagram Polls and drive traffic to certain posts or accounts.
3. Host an Instagram Contest
Contests on Instagram help drive new valuable followers while also increasing overall account engagement. You can great a contest where you select one of your followers who comments on a photo. Therefore, you will entice your followers to engage with the photo while also increasing engagement. You can also ask them to tag their friends for a chance to win. This results in your account getting more exposure and your post receiving tons of engagement.
4. Engage With Your Followers
An overall way to boost your Instagram engagement is to engage with your followers. If you have some spare time over the weekend, go on Instagram and leave some likes and comments on your follower’s posts. This will bring them back to your account and establish you as a real person.
5. Repost Your Best Posts
Discover which posts of yours receive the highest engagement and copy those posts. Literally, once you have a killer post simply wait a couple of weeks and reuse the post! There’s nothing wrong with posting content again. Just make sure you delete the old post.
Conclusion:
Hopefully, you learned something in this guide that you didn’t already know. Growing an Instagram following requires a ton of hard work and effort. That’s why you don’t see tons of massive accounts. If you follow all of the tips and tricks that we included in this guide you will be able to start growing your Instagram followers and eventually grow your following.
We can’t guarantee that these methods will work 100% for you or your niche because as we all know everyone is different and some accounts will perform better than others. Regardless, you should know…
- What is your niche?
- Am I willing to put in the time and effort?
- Are you committed to growing on Instagram?
Well, if you know the answers to the questions above we can officially say that you are ready to start mastering Instagram and grow a ton of Instagram followers.
If you haven’t already make sure to follow us on Instagram @RankUpSolutions