HOW TO GET MORE INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS

How To Get More Instagram Followers Whether you’ve just launched a one-person company or are part of a 100-person team, if you want to grow your business in 2020, you need to know how to get more Instagram followers.

Why? Because 500 million people are active on Instagram daily, and 79% of them search the social media platform for a product or service.

To get you started, we’ve plucked 21 winning strategies from successful Instagram accounts that will help you get more followers.

The competition is fierce, however. You’re up against over 25 million other companies with Instagram accounts. And forget about taking shortcuts, like buying likes and followers. Those shady tactics will not work and can actually damage your business.

1. FIND YOUR TARGET INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS

When you find the audience that is interested in the type of content you create, your fan base will grow quickly.

Instagram Insights, the platform’s analytics tool, provides a lot of useful information, so you can learn more about who these people are.

Example Instagram analytics

Narrowing down your current audience based on their demographics also makes it easier to go after potential new followers with similar characteristics. You don’t want to spend time targeting an audience under 25 if your product doesn’t appeal to them.

Once you’ve defined your audience, it’s time to look at the type of content that will prompt them to engage.

2. USE HIGH-QUALITY IMAGES

Instagram is a visual platform, so using high-quality images that stand out is table stakes for getting more followers.

Imagine this post popping up as you scroll through your feed. This is the type of content brands are up against on Instagram.

Now, we’re not saying that you need to create art for every post, but quality should be considered.

Use filters and tools like Layout or Boomerang to create images that differentiate your brand. The more attention-grabbing your image is, the more it will attract new followers.

3. FIND THE RIGHT HASHTAGS

Hashtags are one of the primary sorting functions for Instagram content. Targeting specific keywords in hashtags can significantly increase your reach.

Here’s an example from men’s grooming brand Beardbrand.

While you can use up to 30 hashtags per post, Beardbrand uses only eight here.

If an Instagram user searches for any of these topics, this post will show up.

Research your market and understand the hashtags that your customers and competitors use.

Start by taking a look at the best hashtags to use for every day of the week. Then, experiment with the ones that make the most sense for each post.

Just make sure you’re targeting a specific interest group and not just using all the hashtags you can think of. And if you want to use a lot of hashtags, you can always add some in a comment after you post, so your caption doesn’t look like a hashtag yard sale.

.4. Join the Conversation with Your Instagram Followers

Instagram is a social network, so engaging with your followers is a critical part of how you grow an audience

Look at how White2Tea, a direct-to-consumer tea brand, does it.

Potential followers might ask a question on one of your posts to learn more before choosing to follow your account. Chatting with them directly is your chance to show some personality and provide answers.

Your comments go a long way towards building trust with not only that follower but also anyone else who sees the exchange. It’s your opportunity to make the brand feel more human.

5. USE INSTAGRAM ADS FOR MAXIMUM REACH

Instagram lets you create feed and story ads to promote your profile.

Men’s health brand Wiser Minds uses IG ads to promote content about supplements.

Instagram ad via Wiser Minds

By using ads to promote a blog post their target audience would care to read, Wiser Minds is building a funnel that will increase their Instagram following and attract people to their website.

Use both feed and story ads to create campaigns that broaden your reach, increase brand awareness, and boost your posts in the feed. When you target the right audience with these ads, you increase your chances of finding new followers.

6. ADD STICKERS TO INSTAGRAM STORIES

Instagram story stickers are interactive visual elements you can add to your Stories.

This post from Driveway Art, a company that sells stencils you can use to decorate your driveway, is a great example of how you can add stickers to your Instagram story.

Instagram Story via Driveway Artco

When viewers click the Paw Driveway Art Stencil, they’re taken to a product page where they can buy the item shown in the story. They’ve also included an account sticker that links to the original photographer’s account—an easy way to credit the content’s creator.

The list of stickers you can use seems to grow every day. Here are some popular stickers for marketers:

• Product – like the one Driveway Art used
• Location – a geotag that helps you connect to local audiences
• Quiz – an interactive sticker that allows your followers to answer questions
• Hashtag – works the same way as hashtags in posts

Stickers make Stories more engaging and useful. That’s important for brands since 62% of IG users say they become more interested in a product after seeing it in their Stories.

7. SHARE USER-GENERATED CONTENT

In Instagram, user-generated content (UGC) is content, such as videos and photos, that has been created and posted by unpaid contributors and is relevant to your brand.

UGC shared by the U.S. National Whitewater Center

If someone tags your brand in a fun post, share it on your profile. Sharing tagged posts helps people see how current followers feel about your brand and can lead to stronger relationships with potential influencers. Not to mention, it’s free content to fill your feed.

By showing how current followers and customers enjoy your products, you’re adding to the social proof of these user-generated posts. Just make sure you’re always getting permission before posting. It’s polite and lets the follower know how much you appreciate them sharing their story.

8. LAUNCH CONTESTS

Instagram allows you to run contests from your posts and Stories. To do it, you simply offer some type of reward in exchange for an action, like commenting on a post or tagging a friend.

Consider the contest run by FishTrack, an app that helps you find the best fishing spots.

To enter this contest, followers were asked to tag the Instagram accounts of the two brands involved. That means those two brands will become visible to the network of every person entering the contest. Plus, both brands will have plenty of new UGC to share on their own accounts.

Contests on Instagram are also a great way to get more engagement on your posts. And engagement is one of the factors the Instagram algorithm uses to prioritize posts in your feed.

What’s an appropriate prize for your contest? It should be valuable enough to make people want to enter but also specifically chosen for your audience. That way, the people who enter are more likely to be interested in what you sell.

9. WRITE AN ENGAGING BIO

Your bio is where you get to display valuable information about your brand, like a link to your website or a description of what you offer.

See how toymaker LEGO does it.

LEGO’s Instagram profile page

Including your branded hashtag and a link to your homepage in your bio is also a good idea. Instagram doesn’t allow you to link through posts unless you use Instagram Shopping, so your bio is your chance to send people to your home page.

Notice also how LEGO keeps their bio short and to the point? Your Instagram profile should be focused on a single goal, like introducing your brand or directing followers to your website.

11. TELL A STORY WITH LONGER CAPTIONS

Stunning and creative photos may be the way to grab Instagram users’ attention, but a great caption is how you’ll keep it.

What’s great about Patagonia’s caption is that it not only tells an interesting story, but it also motivates you to click a link and learn more.

There are lots of ways to write captions, and shorter captions are great most of the time. But sometimes you can engage visitors more and longer with a great story.

Remember, though, that only the first 125 characters are visible on mobile until you tap the ‘more’ button, so put the most important information at the top of your caption.

12. FIGURE OUT THE BEST TIMES TO POST

People interact with Instagram throughout the day. The best time to post depends on when your audience is most active on Instagram.

Instagram analytics on peak follower engagement times (image source)

Start by testing out times based on Instagram Insights to figure out which times are best for your target audience.

Some Instagram content types are more affected by posting times than others. For example, Stories will bring in more followers during peak hours, whereas posts can gain traction over a few days.

Think about how these times impact your ability to engage with your audience as well. If you’re running a promotion or encouraging comments, you need to be there to reply to any questions.

13. FOLLOW AND ENGAGE WITH OTHER BRANDS

Even with an Instagram business account, you can follow other brands and comment on their accounts.

By posting a comment on Vitruvi’s post, Hilma became visible to Vitruvi’s audience of over 100k followers. They also created a connection with another brand that could, in return, follow Hilma’s account as well.

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14. TRY INSTAGRAM TV FOR LONG-FORM CONTENT

Instagram TV is a platform where you can show video content that’s longer than the 60 seconds allowed within the feed.

IGTV allows you to showcase your brand to users without time constraints, so they really understand the value of your account and are likely to follow it.

15. COLLABORATE ON LIVE VIDEO

Instagram allows you to add one additional person to live videos, giving you the opportunity to co-create content with influential people in your space.

Considering that 80% of Instagram users say they’d rather watch a live video than read a post from a brand, it’s worthwhile finding ways like this to make them more engaging. Want more? Here are eight great ways you can use Instagram Live Video to attract new Instagram users.

16. HOST INSTAGRAM TAKEOVERS

Invite guests to temporarily take over your Instagram account to get new followers interested in your brand.

Here’s a great example from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.

By having a successful alumnus take over their Instagram account, MIIS shows prospective students what they can accomplish with their degree, not to mention giving followers a reason to come back and visit their account several times to see what’s being posted.

Like UGC, takeovers are also a great source of fresh, original content that’s interesting to your audience. Make sure you announce the takeover ahead of time, so followers know to tune in at a particular time.

17. ADD GEOTAGS TO YOUR POSTS

An Instagram geotag is a location tag you can add to your post or story. The tag appears at the top, underneath your Instagram name. Geotags help people find your account when they’re searching Instagram by location.

Scroll through GoPro’s account, and you’ll see that they use geotags on many of their posts.

When a user clicks on the geotag for Trolltunga, Norway, in another post or searches for that location on Instagram, they’ll be exposed to GoPro’s post. It’s a free way to have your posts discoverable in a different way.

Geotags also help businesses with physical locations reach their local customers and global brands target people in select locations. So, if you’re rolling out a new product in select markets, you can hyper-target locations with your Instagram posts.

In Stories, you can add clickable location stickers, which function much the same way as geotags.

18. TAG PEOPLE TO BOOST AWARENESS

Tagging is when you link out to another Instagram user’s account in your caption.

Travel luggage brand Away does this well. Have a look at this example.

By tagging blogger Olivia Murray in this post, Away encourages her to share the post with her followers. That way, both Away and Murray benefit from each other’s audience. Not only that, but Murray joined in the conversation in the comments.

All that extra engagement will only help Away’s chances of landing in more users’ Instagram feeds in the future.

19. CREATE STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Instagram Stories disappear from your feed after 24 hours, but you can pin Story Highlights to your profile page, so users who are new to your brand can view them.

Take a look at Airbnb’s profile page, and you’ll see how they use Story Highlights to promote their brand and engage their followers.

Instagram Story Highlights via Airbnb

With their Story Highlights, Airbnb gives their hosts a spotlight, shares design tips, and promotes many of the experiences you can book through their platform.

Instagram Stories see higher engagement than regular posts. It helps you provide timely updates and create longer narratives about your brand. Story Highlights helps you give a longer life to that valuable, but ephemeral, channel.

20. CREATE CUSTOM AR STORY FILTERS

Augmented reality (AR) filters are effects you can layer over the photos you post to Instagram. While AR filters are fun for users, they become useful for getting new Instagram followers when you make your own custom filter.

Look at this example from Prada.

Prada’s Acronym custom AR filter

When someone uses the Prada filter, they’re shown a link in the upper-right hand corner to the brand that created it. Plus, everyone who sees that AR-enhanced post is given a button to try it themselves.

For Prada, that means the potential for viral reach for their brand.

21. AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, POST CONSISTENTLY

Being on Instagram is all about visibility. So it makes sense that you’d want to post more often, so users see you more often.

Take Fitbit as an example.

Fitbit’s Instagram page

Fitbit posts to their Instagram page, on average, once per day. They’ve also grown their audience to over 700k followers. While there are several reasons why Fitbit’s page is popular, their posting consistency helps.

How can you be sure? Because research shows that brands that post more get more likes and comments. Since engagement is a key factor in Instagram’s algorithm, posting consistently gives you an advantage when you’re trying to get more followers.

ELEVATE YOUR BRAND BY GAINING MORE INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS

Use these strategies, and you’ll be able to leverage your growing audience for increased brand awareness and loyalty. A larger audience means you’re able to share information about your products with more potential customers.

Not to mention, a significant follower count makes your business look credible to users, so it may very well encourage people to explore your account and follow it.

Once you gain more followers, you have the power to significantly boost brand awareness on Instagram. You’re able to share information about your products with so many potential customers at once and share it with their networks.

Not to mention, a significant follower count makes your business look credible to users, so it may very well encourage people to explore your account and follow it.

By using the strategies listed here, you’ll get more Instagram followers quickly and be able to leverage this huge audience for more brand awareness and loyalty.

credit:hootsuite