How To Increase Followers On Instagram

The year is 2012. 

You’ve just come home from a long day at work or school and to unwind you open up your new Instagram app. 

After scrolling through your feed consisting of posts shared by your friends and family, you decide to upload a photo of your lunch that day with the hashtags #lunch #food #yum. 

You only have 80 followers and will probably only receive 20-30 likes on your lunch post, but you don’t care. Life’s good. 

Fast forward a decade, and we’ve become a society centred around numbers. We’re always looking for new ways to increase followers on Instagram, earn that small endorphin boost, and give our time on the platform some purpose.

However, for many, Instagram has become a full time job. A job for which the number of Instagram followers they have, matters. For these people, their follower account can determine their influencer status (i.e, micro, mega, celebrity) and, therefore, affects which companies approach them for brand deals. 

If you are looking to increase followers on Instagram, whether it’s for business purposes or for your own personal gain, you’ve come to the right place. We will share with you our proven strategies for organically growing your account without using spam accounts or bots. 

Tips for gaining more followers on Instagram

1. Optimise your account

Before thinking about how you will gain more followers, it is important to ask yourself:

Does your profile look the part?

To determine this, you should take into account:

1. Your bio 
2. Your profile picture
3. Your bio link

These details will define your brand’s identity straight away to any newcomers to your profile, so craft them well. 

Your bio

This should include:

1. A clear description of what you do
2. Hints of your personality
3. A call to action 
4. A link 

Your Profile Photos

Make your profile picture professional with an appropriately-sized logo. Any text on your profile picture should be legible on a smartphone screen.

Your bio link

This is crucial for turning followers into meaningful traffic or customers. It’s your only way to funnel social traffic to your site and/or promotions.

2. Create great content

Sure, this might seem self-explanatory, but high-quality, thoughtful content is what will increase followers on Instagram. 

Consider the following:

Design an aesthetically pleasing Instagram grid

When new users visit your profile, your content should make them want to click on each individual post and, eventually, click that follow button. 

@juniperoats does this perfectly with her neutral-toned grid. The overlapping of each section of the grid is what captures the newcomer’s attention and makes them want her posts displayed in their Feed.

Post content that is meant to be re-shared

When planning your posts, think about content that might inspire others to reshare it.

For example, people love sharing infographics. You could lean into this by providing some expert insights and if someone embeds this into their blog or reposts it onto their Instagram Stories, you’re exposed to a whole new audience of potential followers. 

Embrace Instagram Stories and Reels

If you want to increase followers on Instagram, you must use Stories. 

Half a billion Instagram accounts use Stories every day and 45% of those most-viewed are businesses. 

You can use the hashtag and location features in your Stories to expose them to people who do not already follow you.

The same applies to Reels. 

Viewers in the Reels feed are fed high-interest content from users they follow and users they don’t, leading to increased engagement. This means that any Reels you create can reach far beyond your follower list. 

For the best results:

1. Use trending sounds
2. Use keywords and hashtags in your descriptions that best describe your video content
3. Keep your Reels short and snappy
4. Create original content
5. Add on-screen text for those watching without sound
6. Aim for high-quality video footage

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by MADE BY MITCHELL (@madebymitchell)

3. Make yourself findable

This is an essential step for increasing followers on Instagram, as your efforts to reach those outside of your following list are just as important as catering to those who already follow you.

There are several ways you can increase these efforts:

1. Use relevant hashtags: check out our blog for hashtagging best practices
2. Tag your location
3. Tag relevant users
4. Encourage others to tag you
5. Cross-promote your Instagram account onto other platforms: TikTok is a major platform to do this on

6. Embed Instagram posts in your blog: like this 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Socially Powerful (@sociallypowerful)

7. Instagram QR codes: this way you can promote your account on physical materials like packing slips and product packaging.

8. Aim for the explore page: check out our blog to know exactly how to do get on the explore page!

4. Engage with your community

Finally, in order to increase followers on Instagram, you must engage with your community. 

You can do this in several different ways:

Follow relevant accounts

When you follow someone on Instagram, there is a high chance that they will check out your feed and consider following you back.

Remember: keep an eye on your follower ratio, as it’s important for credibility.

Engage with existing communities

Do this by liking, commenting on, and sharing content from other credible users within your community. This will help draw attention from the right people.

Work with influencers in your niche

60% of consumers say they’d follow a brand on Instagram if it was recommended by an influencer, so if you’re not already, we highly recommend hopping on this bandwagon!

Use interactivity features in your Stories

Stories offer plenty of features to help engage your followers; such as polls, questions and chat stickers. If users come across your Story from a hashtag or location page, they will be able to engage with your content straight away. 

FAQ

How can I increase my followers on Instagram, fast?

1. Optimize your account
2. Create great content
3. Make your account findable
4. Engage with your community

Our Influencer marketing agency and Social agency are located worldwide, with our agency network based in the USA, UK, UAE and China.

If you want to receive our industry insights, visit our Influencer Marketing & Social Media blog.

@ Socially Powerful

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