The social media presence of many organizations is built on Instagram. The platform has been shown to increase traffic, enhance sales, and keep customers interested. And as a result, 59% of marketers intend to increase their Instagram expenditure this year. However, you’re not the only one if you’re not satisfied with your Instagram growth and engagement.
As more and more brands join the marketplace, there is heated competition. Thing is, taking steps to grow your audience is absolutely worth it. That’s because the bigger your audience, the more opportunities to delight your customers.
Are you ready to modify your online presence to draw real and natural Instagram followers? Here we explain how you can accomplish this goal.
9 easy steps to increase Instagram followers
This post is about growing an organic following before we get into the details. The distinction does matter, though!
But we’ll say it anyway: building an authentic audience will need some work. Here are our top ten suggestions for growing your Instagram following ethically.
Optimize your Instagram account
Take into account how your Instagram account is set up before you start worrying about how to gain followers. Do you think your profile “looks the part”? Start by taking into account your:
- Your Instagram bio should contain a branded hashtag, phrase, and/or tagline
- Photo on your profile
- Your bio’s URL (and where it points to)
Your brand’s identity on Instagram is defined by these particulars. They affect the discoverability of your account, which is more significant. Creating a follower-friendly profile entails:
- Having a username that is easy to find. Keep to your brand name or the name that is most similar to your current social media handles. If your name is too long, abbreviate it to a variation that members of your audience would be familiar with.
- Creating a professional profile image. Ideal logos are of the right size. You should be able to read any text in your profile image on a smartphone.
- Minding where you point your bio link. This is essential if you want to convert Instagram followers into real traffic or clients. You can only direct social traffic this way to your website and marketing campaigns.
Keep a consistent content calendar
On Instagram, engagement is important. In other words, if you post at random on Instagram, it’s unlikely that you would gain followers. Building your audience involves producing valuable content. Consistently doing this is what keeps people on board. Don’t let the cobwebs build up on your Instagram account.
Because of this, maintaining a consistent publishing schedule is essential. You don’t have to adhere to a rigid quota when it comes to posting frequency. The majority of brands publish frequently. This also corresponds to our own investigation of posting frequency.
Schedule Instagram posts in advance
There is no denying that the Instagram algorithm controls a brand’s reach. Even so, posting at the right times might still increase the exposure of your content. Any effort you make to increase engagement is beneficial.
This demonstrates the benefit of planning Instagram content. Brands can schedule Stories, Carousels, Reels, and Posts with Sprout’s newest technologies. In the end, Instagram scheduling tools enable you to achieve the aforementioned cadence. Cross-posting content from other networks is useful in this situation as well.
Engage with customers, brand advocates, and influencers
Engaging your audience is key to learning how to increase your Instagram followers. And one of the easiest ways to achieve it is by answering their posts and reposting them. A strategy for expanding your own audience is to collaborate with influencers who already have a large following. Content producers may expose your brand to your target market and foster continued interest in your goods.
Promote your Instagram account wherever you can
If getting more Instagram followers is your objective, don’t be afraid to promote your account. Additionally, there is no one-size-fits-all method for promoting your Instagram account. Here are some suggestions:
On your website and in your marketing emails, use social media icons. Social network icons help you engage with customers and make it simpler for people to find your business.
On your home page or product pages, display an Instagram feed. On-site UGC feeds are dedicated to several e-commerce firms (see below).
Share announcements or material from Instagram on other social networks. You could, for instance, mention a forthcoming IG Live on Facebook or TikTok.
Post Relatable content
Filters, captions, content types, and post times, are all important to your Instagram. Even so, it only scratches the surface. There are so many factors to take into account, right? The unpredictable nature of Instagram’s algorithm is not helpful. In terms of format and timing, what works for one brand might not work for another. For instance, several companies vouch for Carousels. Reels is the focus of others. Both strategies are viable. On Instagram, you’ll see right away that some material performs better than others. Because of this, testing is crucial.
Oh, and keep your ear to the ground with new Instagram trends. That way you won’t miss out on platform-wide opportunities to hop on trending content formats.
Make meaningful conversations with your audience
Consider this: 60% of marketers employ Instagram as a service platform. The platform is ideal for interacting back and forth with fans. Similar to this, many well-liked post concepts revolve around posing queries and having a discussion for a good reason.
Followers are free to ask impromptu inquiries, express concerns about shipping, or give positive feedback on purchases.
Find Suitable Hashtags
Hashtags on Instagram have been a mainstay of the app for, like, ever. However, they are no longer as powerful as they once were.
You won’t gain any new followers by stuffing hashtags into your posts. especially with all the commotion on the platform. Be proactive by concentrating on hashtags particular to your sector that matter to your clients.
It’s crucial to comprehend how Instagram uses hashtags. You get immediate access to comprehensive performance and usage data with hashtag analytics tools. It only takes a few taps to choose which hashtags to use.
Take measures to impress your followers
Making your Instagram followers pleased will result in an increase in audience size. The top Instagram accounts have communities and followers. The following pointers serve as the foundation for a follower-friendly account. Put them into action in a way that is consistent with the tone and principles of your brand. At all costs, avoid coming across as needy, solemn, sales-driven, or robotic.
How to get Instagram followers for free is heavily reliant on building a genuine community. This entails cultivating relationships with customers for numerous accounts. A plus is a content that shows off your personality and the people behind your brand. This comprises:
- Humorous content
- Inspirational content
- Resharing content with good captions
- Behind-the-scenes photos and videos
- Posts that raise awareness for social causes
Conclusion
You must understand that increasing your Instagram following won’t happen by chance. There isn’t a magic bullet to make things happen, despite what you may have heard. You may lay the groundwork for an organic following that interacts with you by using the aforementioned advice. With a robust publishing and analytics tool like Sprout, putting these suggestions into practise is significantly simpler.
Would you like to see our toolkit in action? Try it out for free right now to decide for yourself!
