Step 2. Create great content Design a gorgeous Instagram grid Sure, this might seem obvious, but it’s critical when thinking about getting followers on Instagram. Every post on your Instagram grid must be high-quality and visually engaging. When new users visit your profile, the content should make them want to see more (and click Follow). Give commercial photographer @nelsonmouellic a round of applause for this visual feat. Write compelling, long captions
Instagram is a visual social media platform, but great Instagram captions help you get more reach and engagement. Here are some key strategies to keep in mind: Put the most important words up front. If the caption is more than 125 characters long, users must tap “more” to see the whole thing. Make the most of those first words to inspire that extra tap. Ask a question. This makes it easy for your audience to leave a comment. That increased engagement will help make your account visible to more people. Use emoji. Emoji add a bit of variety and can make your caption more enticing. Just make sure you use those emoji correctly! Try different caption lengths. Our data shows that long captions are more likely to improve engagement, but ultra-short captions can also be very effective when the visuals speak for themselves. Will Tang of Going Awesome Places posts great photos with detailed captions that tell the story behind the shot. His Insta bio calls him a “creator of ridiculously detailed itineraries and guides.” That means this caption approach is very on-brand.
Post content that’s meant to be re-shared Your audience wants to engage with content that’s useful and inspiring. So when planning your posts, think about types of content that other people might like to share. People love sharing infographics. Feed that desire by supplying your followers with your expert insights. If someone embeds your Instagram posts in their blog, you’re exposed to a whole new audience of potential followers. People can also re-share your posts in their Instagram Stories. These posts are clickable, so anyone who wants to know more can click through to your original post. It’s another easy way to expand your reach to new audiences and potential new followers. For example, here’s how a Hootsuite post about LinkedIn demographics looks when shared to my Instagram Story. Hootsuite LinkedIn demographics story re-share Embrace Instagram Stories If you want more Instagram followers, you need to use Instagram Stories. Half a billion Instagram accounts use Stories every day, and 45% of the most-viewed Stories are from businesses.
People who use Stories are highly engaged. Plus, you can use the hashtag and location features in your stories to expose them to people who do not already follow you. Watch the video below for a few more Instagram Story pro tips. Make the most of Stories highlights Put a lot of effort into an Instagram Story and not quite ready to say goodbye after 24 hours? Pinned Stories highlights are a great way to introduce your brand to people who visit your profile. So pack those highlights with great info and content to show new visitors why they should follow you. Don’t forget to customize the cover photos on your highlights, too. Supplement company Vega keeps things on-brand and plant-friendly with their custom green highlights. Post consistently
Instagram Follower Vs FollowingYour existing followers want to see content from you. That’s why they followed you in the first place. So give them what they want! When users interact with your posts, those engagements tell Instagram’s algorithm that your content is valuable. Those interactions will then boost your reach. So giving your existing followers something great to interact with can help bring in new Instagram followers. How often should you post? According to our analysis, between 3-7 times per week. Post at the right time Instagram uses an algorithm, not a chronological feed. But timing is still important to the algorithm. Hootsuite’s social team found that the best time to post on Instagram is between 8 AM -12 PM PST or 4-5 PM PST on weekdays. But your audience might have different habits than ours. A tool like Hootsuite Analytics can show you the best time to post for your audience based on past engagement, impressions or traffic.
Hootsuite analytics dashboard showing Instagram followers online by hour Source: Hootsuite Analytics Try Hootsuite for free. You can cancel anytime. Start testing various times and measuring results. For example, if you’re a retail brand, you might want to test posting during lunch Schedule your posts and stories What if the best time to post to your account is 3 AM? (Hey, it happens.) Use a social media management tool like Hootsuite to schedule and publish directly to Instagram. Scheduling your Instagram posts in advance allows you to plan a cohesive grid that tells an overarching story. It also allows you to dedicate time to creating excellent captions rather than trying to come up with something witty on the fly.
You can also use Hootsuite to schedule Instagram Stories. Hootsuite Planner showing scheduled Instagram Stories Step 3. Make yourself findable Use relevant hashtags to reach new users Sadly, the text of your Instagram posts isn’t searchable. But your hashtags are. Using hashtags thoughtfully can be a good way to get followers on Instagram for free. You can even create your own branded hashtags. Relevant hashtags can help people find your content. Instagram users can even follow hashtags. That means your hashtagged content may appear in the feeds of people who do not yet follow your account.
50 InstagramYou can include up to 30 hashtags in an Instagram post, but don’t go overboard. Instead, do some experimenting to learn how many hashtags work best for your particular account. Avoid hashtag gimmicks such as #likeforlike, #tagsforlikes, or #followme. These may give you a temporary boost in followers. But those people aren’t interested in what makes you and your content special. They’re not going to help you build a meaningful, engaged audience on Instagram. Instead, focus on using highly targeted hashtags specific to your photo, product, or business, like stylist Dee Campling does in this #wfh shot. Tag your location If the location of your post or Story is clear, it’s worth adding a location tag. It’s another easy way for people to find your content on Instagram.
If your business has a physical location, tag it and encourage customers to do the same. Users can then click on that location and see all photos and Stories posted from your store, restaurant, or office. For example, here’s what you get when you search for the location of Van Wonderen Stroopwafels in Amsterdam: Amsterdam location tag page on Instagram with top posts Source: Instagram If you’re posting from a conference or event, adding your location can help you connect with other attendees. This will expose your account to a highly relevant group of new potential Instagram followers.
Tag relevant users It’s easy to tag Instagram users featured in your photos. Just use an @-mention in your caption or Instagram’s tagging functionality within the post. Hootsuite Instagram post tagging a partner in the caption (as an example of how to get more Instagram followers) Users are notified when they’re tagged, so tags encourage them to engage with and share the post. Your post will also appear on the Tagged tab of their Instagram profile. You can also tag users in your Instagram Stories. Then, they can post shared content to their own Story with just a couple of taps. If they do so, their viewers can click through to your account. Hootsuite Instagram Story that tags a user (as an example of how to get more Instagram followers)
Buy 20 FollowersBe careful, though. Tagging someone just to get their attention isn’t a great idea. Instead, only tag users featured in your photo or relevant to your post’s content. Some potentially relevant users to tag might include: Customers Suppliers Other relevant businesses Colleagues or employees Someone who taught you a skill or told you about something you share in the post Anyone who appears in the photo Encourage others to tag you Another way to introduce your Instagram account to a new audience is to ask other Instagram users to tag you. When they tag you in a post, their audience sees your handle and can click on it if they want to learn more.
Your bio is a great place to ask people to tag you on Instagram. For example, Visit the USA asks Instagrammers to tag them for a chance to be featured on their account. Visit the USA's instagram bio Source: @visittheusa on Instagram Cross-promote your Instagram account on other networks If you want to get followers on Instagram for free, you need to make it easy for people to find you.
Your Instagram profile should be easily discoverable. If you’ve already built a following on another social network, let those fans know about your Instagram account. Share a link to your Instagram profile and give your existing social followers a reason to check it out. (Like an Instagram-exclusive coupon code, event, or contest.) When BlogHer hosted Jameela Jamil for an Instagram Live, they made sure to promote it on their Facebook Page as well. If you’re just starting your Instagram account, make sure to post some content before you promote the account elsewhere. Aim for a minimum of 12 posts.
This means when someone lands on your profile there is sufficient content to portray you and/or your brand. Keep in mind that your posts should complement each other to create a cohesive grid and feed aesthetic. Having a nice layout for your images really matters. Yes, each individual image works for driving engagement from your existing Instagram followers who see the posts in their feed. However, the overall grid look is one of the most important things (if not the most important) in helping you get followers on Instagram. It shows that you take your brand seriously, and lets them know that they can expect similar quality content consistently. If you’re stuck deciding on a style for your feed, check out this article for inspiration ✨
instagram feed Accounts that use consistent colour palettes and go the extra mile planning their feed will get followers on Instagram more quickly than those who don’t! If you decide to go with 12 initial posts, I’d suggest posting them within 2-3 days at least. It depends on how often you’re planning to post in the future, but I personally think that having all 12 posts published in one day doesn’t seem organic at all. (This, however, is just my personal preference, and if you’re super anxious to start, then knock yourself out and post all of them immediately). In every post, include a lot (30 per post) of different hashtags to make your initial posts more discoverable to potential followers. It’s important to show good engagement on your posts right from the start. I suggest choosing both hashtags that have very little post shares (maybe like 1k-20k), as well as very popular ones (10mil+). Chances are that you’ll start getting Instagram followers from this activity alone! The most important thing to remember is that your hashtags are relevant to the content of your post. For more hashtag tips, check out:
💡 The All-In-One Guide To Instagram Hashtags 💡 Takeaway: Create an attractive bio with an incentive to follow — an offer, the posts themselves, or both Engage with people and brands that might be interested in your content on a regular basis Work on your first posts to develop your own style/layout Research more and less popular hashtags, pick out as many relevant ones as you can, and use them on your posts. Moving on… Explore the data behind your Instagram account. Find the best time to post on Instagram Track your follower growth overtime Understand your post engagement TRY INSTAGRAM ANALYTICS NOW Step 2: Growing to 1,000 Instagram followers Once you have that initial traction, the following strategy will really give an extra boost to get followers on Instagram. Here’s what you do: Identify some of the bigger accounts(50k+ followers) that are similar to yours or are in the same industry with the same target audience you’re trying to reach. Check if their followers are real (some great tools for that: Fameaudit, SocialAuditPro) If the majority of their followers are real, open up their follower list and start following these accounts (I personally suggest to follow accounts that have a real human in the profile picture, instead of a logo)
Start checking who’s not following you back and unfollow these accounts. There’s plenty of apps for both Android and iOS for this exact purpose — just give it a search. Ideally, at least 20% of the people that you started following, should follow you back. The more followers you have, the ‘healthier’ your follower to following ratio is, the more attractive your feed looks, and the higher the follow-back percentage is going to be. People are more inclined to follow back Instagram accounts that: Look real Have more followers than the account is following Have a lot of followers* Have a nicely designed feed of posts In addition to the follow/unfollow strategy, you should start interacting with these bigger accounts (as long as they’re not direct competitors). Firstly, turn on post notifications for these accounts. Every time they post something, be the first to like and leave a comment. There’s already too many “This is so true”, “That’s dope man”,“Awesome post” type of comments out there because of engagement bots. They have become very easy to spot and most Instagram users know that they are not genuine:
Bulk Follow InstagramGET FOLLOWERS ON INSTAGRAM Generic comments like this are often from accounts using a follower or engagement bot, and therefore don’t count as genuine engagement So try to write something related to the caption or the post — the more human you are, the better! Although AI writing assistants like Jasper AI are all the rage now, It is better to ask specific questions or add your own opinion. This will prove to other Instagram users in your community that you are genuinely interested. get followers on instagram Examples of short comments related to the caption on one of my posts. To reach 1000 followers, I would suggest combining the follow/unfollow strategy together with the strategies covered in the previous step! Secondly, when you start reaching the 1000 follower mark, it’s a good idea to start thinking about scheduling your Instagram posts. This will give you more time to create content, engage with your audience, and continue to get followers on Instagram. Scheduling and managing your Instagram content with Hopper HQ means you can post straight from your desktop, visually plan your Instagram feed, and save loads of time! Photos, videos, carousel posts, captions, first comments can all be scheduled in advance so you never need to rush for last minute posts again.
Sign up for a free 14 day trial today to test it out — you won’t want to go back to doing things manually. Takeaway: Identify the key accounts that are similar to yours and follow them Turn on post notifications for these accounts Leave a comment as soon as they post Follow their real followers Plan your social media posts. Visually plan your posts. Drag and drop everywhere. Step 3: Growing to 5,000 Instagram followers Now that you have a good foundation for growth, it’s time to accelerate even faster. I’m not saying you should stop doing what you have been doing previously. I think those methods are great even if you have passed the 20,000 follower mark. However, adding other methods from this point forward might give the same if not better results with less effort.
Firstly, you should start using engagement groups. If you haven’t heard about them, then you should read the following article, to understand what engagement groups are and how they work: Increase your Organic Reach on Instagram with Engagement Groups. Secondly, consider investing in ads. If you’re building a brand (and not just posting pictures of your cat), Instagram ads will come in quite handy at this point. Thirdly, definitely start scheduling your Instagram posts. Once you’ve reached this stage, every minute you invest into your Instagram counts. Check out this step by step guide to scheduling on Hopper HQ. Plan & schedule social media ahead of time. Video, gallery & image posts Calendar, feed & grid preview Instagram, Facebook & Twitter START PLANNING YOUR POSTS NOW To run ads on Instagram, you need to switch to a business account. If you don’t have it yet (or if you don’t know whether you have it or not), there’s a very easy way to activate it:
Buy 1000 Instagram Followers $1Go to your profile and click the settings button next to Edit Profile Scroll down until you see Switch to Business Profile (if you already have a business account, you will find Switch back to Personal Account) Click it and follow the instructions to set up a business profile (FYI – you will need a Facebook page that you are an admin of). Switch to business profile Where to switch to a business profile You can promote your existing posts, or link your account to Facebook and create an ad from the Facebook Ads Manager panel. Try different targeting options, and see which one gets followers on Instagram the quickest or increases engagement (depends on the post and goal). I would suggest making short video ads and choosing Instagram Stories as the ad placement. This is still a relatively underused placement, which probably yields in better bang-for-the-buck ratio than the regular feed posts would. If you need any help with running the ads, hire a freelancer or heck, even shoot me a message on Instagram, and I’ll give you a quick intro! Finally, if you have established relationships with Instagram influencers, don’t forget about them… Influencers are real people too! If you want to approach an influencer about working together, be genuinely interested in what’s going in their lives. If you’re not on the shy side, record a short video of yourself as a conversation starter, and send it to them as a direct message. You’ll definitely stand out from other accounts who they might be having conversations with. If you select multiple accounts as recipients, be sure to not create a group chat, but send it to them separately. Otherwise, it doesn’t seem very personal.
You might be asking, “How does this help me get followers on Instagram”? Well, it’s quite simple, actually. When you view your notifications on Instagram, you’ll notice a Following tab. It’s where people go to spy on what their friends are up to on Instagram — what photos they like, which accounts they’ve started following, what comments they’ve left, etc. If you haven’t ever used it, you should start ASAP. get followers on instagram The ‘Following’ tab I don’t have hard evidence to back this up, but this BuzzFeed article suggests that 67% of Instagram users use it. If these influencer accounts keep liking and commenting on your posts, there’s a good probability that their followers will see. It’s a great way to help you get followers on Instagram because naturally, people want to know what their friends and idols are into, so they’ll go and check it out. If the content is similar to what they already like anyway, it’s likely that they will start following you as well. The world of influencers is a little daunting if you’re still building your brand and trying to get followers on Instagram, so check out this Simple Guide To Instagram Influencer Marketing in 2020 to learn all you need to know.
Join and use engagement groups Run ads to drive traffic to your profile and posts Build quality relationships with influencers Hitting the 10,000 follower mark on Instagram is magical ✨ That number is so big that it doesn’t fit in the dedicated space, so it’s shortened to 10k. Additionally, you get the huge perk of being able to add links to your Instagram Stories. This opens up an amazing opportunity to start monetizing your Instagram account. Here’s one article on how you can go about doing it with e-mail: How to Monetize Instagram. Keep doing everything you have been doing so far to get followers on Instagram. Of course, if something seems like it’s not giving any returns, then stop doing it and focus on things that have the most impact! You should revisit your Instagram marketing strategy at every stage of this guide to make sure you’re staying on track! Now, since you have a quite nice follower base, you should think of ways to have them help you with promotion: Tag a friend One of the best ways to get people promoting your content is by simply asking them to tag their friends. This can actually be done with any post you make. It works well with emotionally powerful content — quotes, funny and/or inspiring videos, posts about animals etc. In your post caption, you can include something like “Tag a friend”, “Tag someone who inspires you”, “Tag someone who should be doing this” and so on.
Buy Ig Followers IndiaThe content needs to be really good though. That’s the key here. If it’s not emotionally moving, it’s not likely people will tag others! get followers on instagram Examples of the ‘tag a friend’ caption Host a giveaway Offer a prize that your followers can’t refuse! It can be books, gadgets, hats, shirts, Amazon gift cards, a product you sell, etc. I’m not gonna go into great detail about this, so here’s an article on how to run an Instagram contest, in case you’re interested. get followers on instagram Run a giveaway contest to help get followers on Instagram. Takeaway: Encourage your followers to become brand ambassadors Create posts where they can ‘tag a friend’ Run a giveaway to increase your reach As with previous milestones, everything we covered before can surely be used to grow your account and help you get followers on Instagram.
However, I want to give my final suggestions that I have seen give good return, especially when you have grown your account over 10k followers. Like I said, having your account Instagram follower number over 10k is magical. It builds credibility and you’re definitely not another random account out there anymore. That being said, you should start thinking about creating a voice outside of Instagram. Having more than 10k followers opens up opportunities for monetization, and you should take advantage of them and focus on building your whole online presence rather than just an Instagram account. I mean sure you can do that, but it really comes down to your end game. Start thinking of your Instagram as a business. What problem are you solving? What value are you delivering? What do your followers “get” from your posts? When you have identified these things, search where your potential audience hangs out and start delivering value. Here’s some ideas what to do: Answer relevant YouTube comments Help people in relevant Reddit subreddits Answer relevant Quora questions Talk with people on relevant Facebook groups Post content on relevant forums Write articles for blogs that your audience might follow These are just some examples of how you could be driving traffic to your profile and working to get followers on Instagram. Like Warren Buffet said, “Never depend on a single income stream”. So why should you only depend on the Instagram ranking algorithm to get followers on Instagram?
Now, this might seem like a lot of work at first. But once you’ve got the hang of it, it becomes relatively easy. Alternatively, you can outsource most of these things. Before you get back to watching Taylor Swift’s latest music video, let me just give you one last method – shoutouts. You can agree on different ways to make the shoutouts. For example they can be as regular posts, video post shoutouts, or shoutouts in Stories. Shoutout post example Here’s an example of a shoutout post There’s a reason I haven’t mentioned them yet. In my own experience, getting shoutouts when your account is still small, can be expensive and quite useless. Sure you can do S4S (shoutout for shoutout) with someone who has similar content and is of similar size even when you both have just 100 followers. But in my opinion, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to start promoting other accounts while your own account is still in early stage. I feel that it’s a little off-putting to your followers.
