How do I increase my Instagram Follower? It is a very frequently asked question among the users.
With 1 billion active users, Instagram is a great place to be at right now.
The problem?
There are so many amazing creators out there, that you can spend countless hours trying to create content of value and still stay under the radar.
That’s right, just working hard is no longer enough.
You also have to work smart, which means to learn and do the things that play well with Instagram’s algorithm, and turn it from your biggest foe to your best ally.
So, are you reading this because you’re just starting out and could use some help? Or, have you been around for a while but your Instagram follower growth seems to stall and you’re looking for a way to boost your numbers?
Regardless of where you currently are in the Instagram landscape, below you’ll find 11 proven tips which will help you to blow up your Instagram follower and create a tribe of loyal fans who engage with your posts.
Let’s jump right in.
1. Work on your aesthetics
We had to start with the obvious.
Your feed needs to look good and provide value in your niche, for people to feel the urge to follow you.
If your Instagram is filled with personal content, choosing a set of similar filters or presets and creating a flow by color coordinating your photos will ensure your feed’s easy on the eyes.
But what if you’re a business and you’re mainly publishing quotes and tips?
You can still find your aesthetics, just think of Instagram as an extension of your branding.
@foundr and @berlinartparasites are two great examples to illustrate this point.
2. Show personality
If people decide to become and stay your followers, they’ll do so not just because you’re posting valuable content, but because they also like your personality and the fact that you’re connecting with them on a deeper level.
Instagram allows you to share your thoughts and showcase your personality in the description of every image you post.
Use it wisely, and in no time, you will have thousands of Instagram followers who loves not just your content, but you, as a person, as well.
3. Be consistent
I know, I know – you’ve heard this one so many times before.
But that’s because it’s true!
Many people don’t make it on Instagram and social media in general, because they give up before they accurately target their audience and before they find the approach that works for them.
That doesn’t mean that you should publish an image every day.
For some brands and creators, every day works.
For others, ten times a day works even better.
And then, there are some that see the greatest impact when they post once a week.
The only way to find out what works for you and your audience is to play with it.
But regardless of the frequency of publishing content, you need to stay consistent.
So, if you’ve decided to publish every week, make sure that you show up every week.
No excuses.
Allowing your audience to know what to expect from you will create a sense of accountability and trust. And this, as you may already know, is the foundation of every great relationship.
Extra tip: I know that it can be hard to keep up with social media when you’re doing a lot of different things, so my best tip to you would be to check out some of the scheduling tools for Instagram that allow you to automate the process and ensure that you stay active even when you’re running short of time.
The best way to be consistent is by scheduling your Instagram post
4. Optimize your name
I’m surprised that not a lot of people talk about this tip, especially since SEO is such a popular topic right now.
You see, Instagram has its own Search option, and what I always recommend is for users to optimise their profiles so that they show up in the results.
So instead of just writing your name in the Name tab, also add what you do.
Let’s say I want to show up when a user searches for a copywriter.
In this case, I’ll edit my name so that it looks like this:
And then, I’ll perform a quick search of my wanted keyword to see how I rank…
… and voila: there I am:
Cool, right?
5. Take advantage of Instagram Stories
Ever since Instagram introduced the Stories feature, they’ve become the go-to place for a lot of Instagram users and creators.
Stories are great because first they are designed to start interactions and boost engagement – be it using polls, questions, or by the possibility to “react” to a story…
… and second, stories are raw, genuine, and allow us to peek behind the curtain.
We all know that life’s not Instagram and that everyone publishes only photos that are in alignment with their niche, and stories allow us to see everything in between.
Check out how this travel blogger lets us into the ‘not so glamorous’ parts of her life:
The more you use this feature the more your Story viewers will end up on your Instagram profile, and if you’ve done everything else right – a lot of them will probably turn into followers, or if they’re already following you, become loyal fans.
For more info on how to use Stories to boost your marketing, see here: Instagram Stories: 16 Killer Tips to Stand Out
6. Always use geolocation
Every time I post a photo, I make sure to include my location.
Over time I’ve found that many people can find me this way – just by the location where the photo was shot.
Extra tip: Add the location at the same time when you’re posting the photo, in order to show up in the Recent tab of the location explore page, and boost your chances of showing up in the Top tab.
7. Let’s talk about hashtags
Always. Use. Hashtags.
I mean it.
Using hashtags will allow you to reach a huge pool of potential followers!
Still not convinced?
Take a look at the insights below:
These insights are from a photo where I didn’t bother to use hashtags.
4000 is still a decent number since I didn’t use a location or description either. But who knows how high this number could be if I did everything correctly?
Now, with one of my recent posts, I made sure to do everything right, and I’ve managed to reach almost 30 000 people and boost my engagement rate to nearly 20%, all because of hashtags!
For this tip to be effective, you can’t just add #whatever #hashtag #comes #to #mind.
Here’s how to play hashtag game right:
- Mix the size of your hashtags
A lot of users’ first instinct is to go for the most widely used hashtags, like, say, #travelgram (107M posts).
But guess what?
When you compete with millions of other users, your content will likely get pushed down and never reach the hashtag’s explore page.
What you want to do instead is to make sure that only 20% of your hashtags are big ones.
The other 80%?
Go for niche to medium hashtags that are relevant to your community.
The great thing about niche hashtags is that they are followed by people that are genuinely interested in such content.
As a result, the chances of these people visiting your page, engaging with you and become your followers will be much higher as opposed to just using generic hashtags.
- Switch up your hashtags
Another important thing to note is that finding one set of hashtags that works for you is not enough.
Using the same hashtags on every photo you post can only work against you.
To avoid your posts being marked as spam, make sure to create a couple of groups of hashtags using the 80/20 rule that I mentioned above, and then rotate them as you publish new posts.
Did you know – Instagram Creator Account breaks down post to post analysis, reach, impressions and engagement.
8. Get in engagement pods
Engagement pods are a public secret – a lot of Instagram users enter engagement pods on Telegram to exchange likes and comments and make their Instagram appear more popular than it is.
This, however, is not a sustainable strategy, as the exchange of likes is usually done by bots, so although engagement pods can give you real likes, they can’t help you achieve your ultimate goal, and that is for your content to matter, and for your Instagram to grow.
That said, there is a way to use engagement pods to boost your Instagram growth: find creators within your niche and connect with them to create a support group.
These pods are usually created directly on Instagram (in DMs).
Here’s how they work:
When a member of the group (usually it’s up to 15 members per group) posts a photo, they let the other members know.
Then, all the members will engage with the post as soon as possible. Usually, this means liking the post, leaving a comment and as of recently, saving it.
These kinds of pods work because the group is small and all the members are handpicked, so you can be sure that the engagements you get are genuine.
The goal of these engagement pods is not to boost the number of your likes, but to maximize your chances of showing up on the explore page, by immediately engaging with your content and showing Instagram’s algorithms that your post is relevant within your niche.
9. Capitalize on saves
Saves are the hot new engagement metric everyone talks about.
When someone saves your content, it shows that it’s relevant and valuable, so Instagram will likely push your posts on the explore page and enable you to reach more people.
To ensure you get saves,
- Ask your supporters within your niche (the members of the Instagram pods you’re in) to save your posts
- Ask your close family and friends to always save your posts, and finally,
- Include strong CTAs in the description of your published content asking your audience to save your posts.
Of course, just asking won’t do – you need to show what the audience would get if they went ahead and saved your photo.
Let’s say, for example, that you’ve just traveled to Hong Kong, and found a really nice restaurant.
In your post, you can talk about how amazing this restaurant is, and then ask your audience to save it, to make sure that on their next visit to Hong Kong, they don’t forget to visit this venue as well.
10. Host giveaways
There’s nothing that gets people’s attention faster than free stuff!
Giveaways are a great way to spread the word about your Instagram presence and get new followers.
Here are a couple of the most common giveaway rules:
- Require users to follow you in order to be eligible to enter the giveaway
- Ask users to follow the company that sponsors your giveaway (this one’s used if you’re a creator and the giveaway is in a partnership with a business that provides the product that you’re giving away).
- Ask users to like and comment on your photo. You can get more specific about the comments, asking users to either comment with their favourite emoji, write something, or tag a friend.
Always make sure that you explain the rules of the giveaway and when and how the winner will be chosen.
11. Engage!
We’ll finish with the oldest rule in the book:
If you want to get something, you need to give something in return.
Or in this case, if you want engagement, you have to give engagement back.
Take some time every day to engage with your community.
Like photos and leave thoughtful comments that show you’ve seen and read the content.
A lot of these people that you engage with, will visit your profile and if they enjoy what you do – they’ll likely become your followers.
Another great tip is to engage with your competitor’s community.
Take a look at the users that like and comment on your competitor’s photos.
These are the people that are already interested in products, services, and content similar to yours, so by engaging with them you’re letting them know that you exist and that you can offer exactly what they like.
Last Notes
The battle for attention on Instagram has grown ever stronger.
The only way you can grow your Instagram followers is if you focus on these key takeaways:
- Get your name in front of as many people as possible by using geolocation and hashtags
- Stay consistent by finding a publishing schedule that works for you and your audience
- Make people like you by showcasing your personality and valuable information or everyday details in the description box under each image
- Connect with your peers and build a strong support community that will be the first to engage with each one of your posts (and vice versa)
- Engage with your community to show them that you genuinely care about making a connection
- Be generous with your followers and give them the opportunity to win stuff for free
Oh, and one last thing:
Don’t forget that we’re all on social media to get inspired and be amused, so make sure that you have fun while doing all of the above.
Because, if you don’t truly enjoy creating your feed, you can’t expect others to enjoy spending their time on it.
