Photo by Lance Matthew Pahang on Unsplash
Are you looking at your Instagram account wondering why you’re not getting more Instagram followers? How come you’re doing everything right but not seeing much growth? In this guide, we’re going to cover how to increase followers on Instagram.
Firstly, let me start by saying buying Instagram followers – even from people who claim they’ll give you real Instagram followers – is the worst thing you can do for your account.
Buying Instagram Followers
If you’re a creator or an influencer, the only result of having fake followers is a lower engagement rate; ultimately making brands you want to work with less likely to reciprocate. Because brands want to be sure they’re getting a good ROI, they would rather collaborate with an account that has fewer genuine followers than a massive account with tons of bogus followers.
Either way, most accounts on Instagram will have a reasonable amount of fake followers, even if they didn’t purchase them. Because many bot accounts follow numerous accounts so that when they do follow people who’ve paid for the follow, it doesn’t seem fake.
FOOLPROOF GUIDE ON HOW TO INCREASE INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS
#1. Get Your Content Reposted On A Feature Account
Feature accounts repost content with recognition to the original poster. These accounts span a variety of niches and their sole purpose is to curate content that they think people within that niche will find interesting. Find a handful of feature accounts that repost content like yours. You can usually find these accounts using the hashtag #featured or a variation of this hashtag.
#2: Tag Brands That Repost Content
If you want to gain followers quickly, always tag brands that repost content from people who tag them. Lush Cosmetics is a great example of a brand that reposts UGC (user-generated content) to their Instagram account.
Some brands also post user-generated content on their stories, so even if you don’t get a place on their main feed, you can still get followers from appearing in a story.
Some brands that post user-generated content have millions of followers – Lush is an example – however, other brands might only have a few thousand. Try getting reposted by larger and smaller brands to determine which strategy brings you maximum results. Lastly, when you’re going to tag a brand in a picture and to ensure it’s aesthetic, spend time planning the photograph.
You can also look at other user-generated content the brand posts to get an idea of what they prefer. Who knows, by doing this you may also get recognition from a brand for your hard work and could get a freebie or brand deal?
#3: Use Geotags
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Geotagging your location works similarly to including hashtags on posts. Except by geotagging a location it’s more likely to appear in peoples recommendations, people who have an interest in content from that location.
Additionally, Instagram enables users to search for content based on a geotag so your content will be seen by more people than your followers. From this broader audience, you could get a few followers.
#4: Get On The Explore Tab
The goal is to get in front of as many eyes as possible. Getting in front of more eyes is how to increase followers on Instagram. Because the more people see your images, the more likely the people who do see your images are going to like your images. If they like your images, your images are going to be recommended to them again. If you’re consistently appearing in their explore tab or recommendations, then they may end up following you.
But to ensure the pictures they’re seeing will prompt them to follow you, you should work on your grid and profile. You can learn the fundamentals of creating a grid and profile that increase followers in the Ultimate Instagram Blueprint.
#5: Post Consistently
Consistency is key. Once you learn when is the best time to post, consistently post at those times and on the days when you get the most engagement. Not only will you retain the followers you have already, but by posting consistently you’re creating a pattern that is easy for followers and potential followers to engage.
The only way to ensure you’re posting consistently is to use a scheduling app.
#6: Maximize Your Instagram Insights
If you have a creator or business account, Instagram will give you insights about who engages with your posts and what posts they like. Everyone always mentions that this information is important but no one ever tells you why or how you can use this information.
The information Instagram gives you through insights is only going to help you curate and create better content because:
- You know what type of people follow you.
- You know what posts those people are most likely to like.
Therefore, when you’re planning content for your grid, you can direct the content to appeal to a specific demographic. Even if you only have a few followers, appealing to a very specific demographic enables Instagram to better recommend your images to people who aren’t following you.
Essentially, maximizing your Instagram insights is probably the best method when you want to know how to increase Instagram followers.
#7 Use Relevant Hashtags
Think of hashtags as an index. There is a specific purpose to including hashtags and that’s to ensure that people who follow that hashtag see your images. Therefore, when you’re using a hashtag you need to think about who is following that hashtag. Are the people following that hashtag the type of people you want to attract to your account? Are they the type of people who are going to find your content fascinating?
This is also why you should constantly change your hashtags they apply to the image you’re posting. Even if you’ve found a handful of hashtags that bring you the best results, remove the hashtags that aren’t relevant to your post. Additionally, you should continue searching for hashtags that are going to produce new viewers for your post.
There you have it! Seven foolproof methods detailing how to increase Instagram followers.
