It’s no news that Instagram for business is expanding with new options. Approximately 90% of Instagram’s 1 billion active monthly users follow a business account, which numbers over 200 million. Growing your Instagram following can help you raise brand awareness, build relationships, and attract more customers to your business. In this post, we’ll go over a few strategies to help you get those followers, from creating a follow-worthy Instagram profile to using contests and staying true to your brand.
When I originally started, my Instagram feed was a mix of personal and professional interests. The tipping point occurred when I reviewed my posts and discovered that content centered on behind-the-scenes insights into my professional life had higher attention. This led me to refine my content strategy to focus on my professional journey.
Key Takeaways
- It’s crucial to target organic followers who actively engage with your content while avoiding fake and ghost followers who offer no real engagement.
- Consistently publishing high-quality, entertaining, and original content that resonates with your target audience is essential for growing your Instagram following.
- Employ a variety of hashtags and optimize your Instagram SEO to increase visibility and attract followers who are genuinely interested in your content.
- Encouraging user-generated content and collaborating with influencers can significantly boost your credibility and follower count.
- Developing a unique Instagram style, crafting engaging captions, and regularly updating your bio link are key strategies for making your profile more appealing and follow-worthy.
Types of Instagram Followers
Before we discuss how to get Instagram followers, let’s speak about who you want to attract. There are three categories of Instagram followers, and you should avoid the first two.
#1. Fake Followers
Fake Instagram followers are typically bots or phony profiles that inflate your follower count. Fake followers do not engage, and engagement plays a role in how Instagram’s algorithm directs new viewers to your feed.
#2. Ghost Followers
The majority of these “ghosts” are inactive users. These followers aren’t engaged with your material; therefore, their engagement levels may be skewed. This indicates that if you want to grow, you should consider removing ghost followers from your list.
#3. Organic Followers
Organic Instagram followers are your active audience—the ones who find and engage with your profile. There are a few sub-groups among your legitimate followers that you should pay attention to.
#4. Customers
These followers have made a purchase and frequently check your Instagram for product updates, sales, and discounts. To increase customer engagement, spotlight your products on Instagram and provide exclusive deals.
#5. Competitors
Some organic followers are following your competitors. They can compare brands before making a purchase or conducting research. To engage these followers, draw inspiration from competition content when creating Instagram content. You could also wish to use certain hashtags or geographical tags to increase your visibility within this demographic.
#6. Influencers
Micro and nano influencers are Instagram accounts with 10–75K followers. These niche influencers can lead to beneficial collaborations and greater revenue for your business. To recruit influencers, create continuous, high-quality material tailored to a certain demographic.
Now that we’ve discussed who you want to follow your business, I’ll show you how to get their attention.
How To Get More Instagram Followers For Free
The secret to getting more quality Instagram followers that will help your business grow? Patience. Finding your specialty and cultivating a community takes time, trial and error, and effort, but the results are well worth it. Here are the 23 best ways to get more Instagram followers:
- Choose the proper handle.
- Make sure it’s a business profile!
- Give people a reason to follow you!
- Remove the dull bio link.
- Focus on quality followers.
- Make use of all forms.
- Publish great stuff consistently.
- Focus on entertainment.
- Cross-promote your account
- Do your Instagram SEO.
- Develop your own Instagram style.
- Write good captions.
- Run Instagram giveaways.
- Get local.
- Use a variety of hashtag types.
- But do not take them too seriously.
- Have an engaging or actionable branded hashtag.
- Go all in on influencer marketing.
- Encourage user-generated content.
- Analyze your competitors.
- Social media management tools
- Design and photo editing tools.
- Instagram Advertising
#1. Give people a cause to follow you
Instead of (or in addition to) simply stating your credentials, slogan, or value proposition in your Instagram bio, provide a clear picture of what potential followers can expect if they follow you. For example:
- Follow dog training advice and prepare for a cuteness overdose.
- Follow me if you’re interested in ensuring your financial future using binary options.
- Your go-to for quick marketing tips and creative, unique memes.
- Cooking suggestions for the culinary handicapped.
#2. Choose the proper handle.
First and foremost, ensure that your Instagram handle is as close to your business name and other social media handles as possible. This guarantees that your account is easy to remember, find, and recognize.
#3. Make sure it’s a business profile
An Instagram business profile provides data that shows you who your followers are, what material they prefer, and whether you’re gaining or losing them. If you haven’t already switched, go to the hamburger in the top right corner of your bio, select Settings, and then switch to Professional Account. Choose a category, provide your business information, and you’re ready to begin.
Read Also: How Does Instagram Work? The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide Explained
#4. Remove the dull bio link
This is valuable Instagram real estate. Do you want a link to your homepage? Yawn. The best Instagram bios update their bio links at least twice a week, linking to new or popular content, discount codes, landing sites, and other resources.
Better, you might utilize a tool like Linktree to distribute many links to valuable destinations such as website pages, blog articles, discounts, and more An effective link tree may demonstrate your value and attract followers.
#5. Focus on quality followers
There are one billion Instagram users (literally). But do you want disinterested bystanders who don’t add value to your account? Fickle followers who unfollow as quickly? I didn’t think so. You want followers that:
- Comment, like, and share your posts.
- Appreciate your content and give yourself a sense of purpose.
- Convert to leads and customers.
- Help you get more excellent followers.
If Instagram followers are candy, you are not attempting to break open a pinata and pounce. You want to create a box of high-quality chocolates while also building a community.
How To Get More Instagram Followers With Your Content
Now that your profile has been adjusted for profitable and wonderful followership, it’s time to begin drawing additional people to it. To get more Instagram followers, use content and originality.
#6. Make use of all forms
The variety of formats on Instagram sets it apart from other popular social networking networks. These capture the user’s attention and allow you to highlight various parts of your business. Take advantage of:
- Feed posts feature high-quality photographs and videos.
- Stories are stuff that is short-lived, fresh, and spontaneous.
- Reels are videos with an emphasis on amusement.
- Lives: real-time videos, ideal for instructionals and AMAs.
A person is more likely to form an attachment to and follow you the more aspects of your business they become acquainted with.
Read Also: How To Repost on Instagram: Advanced Reposting Techniques to Boost Engagement
#7. Publish great stuff consistently.
This applies to your entire social media marketing approach, not just Instagram. The importance of strong content is self-evident, yet consistency can easily get overlooked. One amazing post may earn you a follow, but now you’re in the spotlight. They are seeing your content regularly, and if you cannot continue to produce what drew them in in the first place, you will get unfollowed. So, what makes for amazing Instagram content?
- Useful: related to your sector and your target audience’s requirements. Tips, information, news, and thoughts.
- Thoughtful: addresses their values, lives, and personalities.
- Interactive: makes you enjoyable to follow! Polls, questions, livestreams, contests, and shareable material.
- Entertaining: attracts and maintains attention. Attractive design, movement, emotion, comedy, video, and boldness.
In Mailchimp’s account below, we see a lovely mix of posts that cover everything: helpful how-tos, meaningful customer spotlights, a small business support campaign, an interactive piece on personal development, and an amusing video with DJ Khaled.
#8. Focus on entertainment
The entertainment component is becoming more essential. When Instagram unveiled how its algorithm works last summer, it announced that it would move its attention to “full screen, immersive, entertaining, mobile-first video” content. Entertaining content does not have to be action-packed or funny. It simply needs to be interesting. creative, original, and expressive.
#9. Do your Instagram SEO
SEO is more than just getting more Google searchers to visit your website. Instagram’s search tool now supports standard keyword searches in addition to account or hashtag searches. This has made Instagram SEO much more crucial, so make sure to
- Target keywords in your captions and bio.
- Add your location to Instagram.
- Add alternative text to photos.
#10. Cross-promote your account
Cross-promotion is one of the most effective techniques to market your Instagram account. Include links to your social media profiles in your website’s footer, email layouts, and signatures. Print your handle name and display it in a nice frame in your office. Tell your Facebook page visitors how to locate you on Instagram. Cross-promote your branded hashtag through receipts, print ads, and relevant events.
Do not presume that people will locate your Instagram account or hashtag. Direct them to it.
#11. Develop your own Instagram style
The beauty of design is that there are an infinite number of ways to be unique. Choose a different style for your posts so they stand out in the newsfeed. Users follow accounts that provide content that they can interact with rather than simply view. Oatly is an excellent illustration of this.
To construct your unique style, you must first establish your entire brand. Your positioning, voice, brand colors, target audience, and offerings will influence your Instagram style.
An attempt at a viral challenge failed owing to a misalignment with my target audience’s interests. It showed me the value of staying loyal to my brand voice rather than just following trends.
#12. Write good captions
The image may be the main attraction of a post, but your Instagram caption may sometimes make or break its impression on potential followers. What is a good caption? Originality. What distinguishes something original?
- Wit
- Humor
- Inspiration
- Meaningful stories
- Self-deprecation
- Relatability
- Storytelling
- Intrigue
National Geographic, for example, excels at driving engagement and sharing on Instagram by combining stories with photographs. Whatever you decide, attempt to stay in that style so that your followers will stick with you.
There are unlimited possibilities for innovation. Avoid generic wallpaper subtitles and instead paint something visually appealing.
#13. Run Instagram giveaways
These are probably the ideal Instagram follower attractors. First and foremost, who doesn’t enjoy receiving gifts or being recognized with awards? Knowing that you run them regularly will ensure that you get a following. Second, entering the contest may require you to follow or tag a friend. Simply make sure the prize is something that will appeal to your ideal clients. Remember that you want to build a quality following.
#14. Get local
Your Instagram marketing approach should aim to get followers by creating content that resonates with both your ideal customers and your local geographic community. People are naturally drawn to familiar things, and they enjoy seeing aspects of their identity portrayed online. Here are some ways of doing it:
- Post photos and videos of local sites and attractions.
- Share news and niche recommendations.
- Join in on local activities. Search for your town or city, then tap “places” in the search results to discover what’s going on.
Instagram hashtags serve numerous uses. They supply information, inject comedy, categorize messages, and weave a web of content that may take consumers anywhere. Here’s how to direct them to the follow button in your bio.
#15. Use a variety of hashtag types
Hashtags on Instagram are similar to keywords on Google. They might be broad or long-tail, large or low volume, location-specific or global, and have a variety of intents. Let me show you:
- Broad: #dogsofig.
- Long-tail: #dogtraining101.
- Local: #DogsofSouthie
- Low intent: #smartdogs.
- High Intent: #dogtrainerboston
- Evergreen: #ClickerTraining
- Trending: #valentinedogs.
- Branded as #chewydogs.
Really precise hashtags are similar to long-tail keywords in that they have more intent and help you locate the proper people, although wide hashtags can get you in front of more people overall. To increase your following on a platform as large as Instagram, you’ll need a combination of both.
#16. But do not take them too seriously
So, while the long lists of hashtags at the bottom of posts are useful, should you include them in all of your posts? Not unless you want your followers to get tired of seeing them and believe you’re desperate. Choose your hashtags carefully, vary the number you use in each post, and have fun with them. Some hashtags are just decorative, while others are used for humor or brand voice. Some have nothing to do with your brand and are simply enjoyable.
For example:
- twothingsthatdontmix
- oneoftheseisnotliketheother
- mylifeinanutshell
- youhadonejob
- neveragain
#17. Have an engaging or actionable branded hashtag
In the spirit of fun, create a branded hashtag that is appealing to followers. In other words, rather than simply utilizing your business name or a behind-the-scenes hashtag, create something that your followers may use in their posts.
Take UPS’s Instagram account, which uses the excellent #upsdogs hashtag. Anyone may contribute! More posts with your hashtag equal more exposure and followers.
How To Get Instagram Followers From Other Users
Influencers, your customers and followers, and your competitors are the three sorts of Instagram users who can help you get more followers. Let’s go exploring.
#18. Go all in on influencer marketing.
We’ve all heard that being mentioned by an influencer may get you a lot of followers, but this doesn’t happen overnight. Influencer marketing is a thoughtful strategy. You will want to:
- Research: Create a list of influencers who are both approachable and relevant to your target audience.
- Start little: Target smaller accounts and build relationships to work your way up.
- Be authentic: Choose one and get to know them well for a week or two. Turn on notifications for their postings, look up their content elsewhere on the internet, and interact with their account. Take your time and develop an interest in them, not their followers. When you reach out, your request will be more enticing, increasing your chances of establishing a long-term relationship.
#19. Encourage user-generated content
No matter how good a business is, its promotional content can never be as effective as that of its customers. Enter user-generated content—posts from other users that include your handle and/or location, as well as mentions of your business name in the descriptions or hashtags.
Whether a user sees UGC on your account or someone else’s, your credibility will get a boost, and your chances of getting their following will increase significantly. Here’s how to promote more of it:
- Create a fun-to-use branded hashtag, as suggested above.
- Make your place Instagram-friendly with a great photo opportunity.
- Engage with and repost user-generated material (see seven different ways to repost on Instagram here).
- Run contests in which entrants share photos of themselves using your product or service.
#20. Analyze your competitors
Have you got a rival you can’t seem to catch up with? Conduct a social media competitive study to determine what they post, how frequently, when, and in which formats. Follow them closely for a week to catch any sophisticated methods they use. You might get suggestions about what, how, and when to post on Instagram to gain more followers.
Tools To Help You Get More Instagram Followers
So, you already know that to gain more Instagram followers, you must first understand your target audience, communicate with them, and generate captivating content. The problem is that you’re probably managing multiple social media accounts for your business, and the more followers you get, the more difficult it can be to grow your plan. Here are some free resources that can assist you:
Although automation may be the polar opposite of genuine involvement, social media management solutions are intended to help you streamline your strategy. You may use them to remain on top of conversations, post frequently through scheduling, track your competition, and sometimes get deeper insights than the native platform.
#22. Design and photo editing tools.
Instagram has its own set of filters, stickers, stamps, and special effects to help your visuals appear their best, but you can also use other design and editing tools to obtain the distinctive style you desire. Furthermore, you can use templates to ensure consistency and create more amazing content efficiently. My top pick is Canva, but there are other free options available, such as Afterlight and Facetune.
#23. Instagram Advertising
This is the only paid strategy in this post. Instagram’s organic reach has always been deemed high. But don’t get too enthusiastic; we’re talking about 9%. This means that your posts will only reach 9% of your total followers.
Advertising, on the other hand, allows you to get in front of thousands of relevant users. In addition to the CTA button, readers can browse your bio directly from your ad. Now, you shouldn’t advertise just to get more followers, but if the platform is perfect for you, it’s a nice bonus.
Tips For Various Types of Instagram users.
For novices, focus on creating a consistent theme that matches your brand or personality.
For revenue, use Instagram Shopping to showcase your products in creative ways and with shoppable tags.
For brands, develop a narrative around your products. Share customer anecdotes and explain how your product fits into their lives.
How to get more Instagram followers (The Bad Way)
I do not recommend buying Instagram followers. I don’t encourage services that sell “followers” or “likes.”
As the social environment gets more crowded and competitive, marketers are willing to take risks for quick results.
I’ll say it again: companies should not purchase Instagram followers. Nobody should.
Why you should not buy followers on Instagram
Here are some of the reasons why purchasing followers to build your account is a huge mistake.
Your actual followers understand what fraudulent followers look like.
Privacy concerns and social scams have made consumers hyper-aware of unusual behavior. In summary, individuals today are spam detectors.
A sudden increase in follower count is a red flag. Not to mention how bots clog your account with spam followers. This all harms your reputation and prevents you from developing an actual Instagram following.
2. Fake followers contribute nothing to the table
You’re concerned about your Instagram numbers, and rightfully so.
However, your follower count is meaningless unless your “followers” inspire engagement. You might appear “bigger” at first glance, but who cares? Consider how an exaggerated follower count may affect your engagement rate on the platform.
3. If nothing else, buying Instagram followers violates the TOS
There are no surprises here.
Consider Meta’s previous direct action against buying involvement. They’ve gone so far as to close down companies that sell likes. That is because this practice violates the platform’s terms of service:
“Please help us stay spam-free by avoiding intentionally collecting likes, followers, or shares, publishing repetitive comments or content, or contacting people for commercial purposes without their permission.“
My Future Predictions For Instagram
Based on current patterns, I believe short-form video content will prevail. Features like reels and stories are gaining popularity, and adapting content to new formats is critical for engagement.
Conclusion
Listen, obtaining more Instagram followers is not going to happen by accident.
And, contrary to popular belief, there is no single method to making it happen.
My Instagram experience has taught me that there is no one-size-fits-all method. It’s all about knowing your audience, trying new strategies, and being true to your branding. I hope my experiences and thoughts can aid you on your path to Instagram success.
The recommendations above can help you lay the groundwork for an organic following that interacts with you.
- How to Improve Your Instagram Growth Strategy
- Best HashTags For Instagram In 2024: My Hashtag Strategy That Grew My Instagram 10x
- Useful Tips On How To Get Followers On Facebook in Nigeria
- 5 Ways To Engage Followers And Be At The Top Of User Feeds on TikTok
References
