Finding out how to get more followers on Instagram is on the mind of everyone who thinks of taking their social media presence at least semi-seriously. More Instagram followers lead to quicker and more efficient overall growth and they open a window for financial opportunities.
Luckily, there are tons of ways to get more Instagram followers. Some of them are fully legitimate, run no risk of a ban. Others could be gray area approaches to social media strategy that might have an impact on reputation or a potential suspension. And there’s always the dark side - bots, growth services, and other tactics.
Picking out the proper way to approach your Instagram growth is a personal choice. All of the strategies are worthy of attention. Just keep in mind that some of them might have negative repercussions.
15 ways to get more Instagram followers
Bots
There scarcely be any impressive social media growth if it weren’t for bots. They are the backbone of most gray hat and black hat approaches to Instagram growth. In fact, bots and growth services (which use the former) compose the bulk of all quick and efficient strategies.
Instagram bots can work through a multitude of ways. Generally, they allow automating most of the time-consuming tasks such as posting, story viewing, commenting, liking, etc. They are widely used by social media managers that have multiple Instagram accounts.
They do have, however, quite a steep learning curve. It’s not as easy as pressing a few buttons and gaining tons of Instagram followers. Bots have to be managed with carefully crafted user-generated content, integrated with proxies, and lots of know-how. A slight misstep can lead to an Instagram account or even several getting banned.
Growth services
There are several types of Instagram growth services. Some of them are basically highly experienced bot users that take care of all the hassle required.
Usually, they have lots of social media accounts, which are sold as new Instagram followers. Unfortunately, they don’t produce an engaged audience and social media platforms are the most likely to ban these botted accounts over time.
On the other hand, there are growth services that don’t sell Instagram followers, likes, or anything similar. They provide a dedicated account manager that does all the Instagram marketing for the buyer. They only have to create content that is unique and relevant to their target audience.
Growth services are best used for those who want a helping hand quickly and efficiently. They will often cost, however, more than any other Instagram strategy. For those who don’t want to spend a lot, luckily, you can get more Instagram followers without breaking the bank.
Instagram profile optimization
It may not seem like much, but creating a well-crafted Instagram profile allows owners to get more Instagram followers and improve their chances with the other tips outlined throughout the article. Remember, the photo, bio, and other details are the first impression. If you want to get new Instagram followers, your profile has to be fully optimized.
Doing so, however, is not at all complicated. Over the years, a certain trend in creating an Instagram profile emerged. While everyone understands the importance of photos, having a clear Instagram bio is still a mystery to some.
A perfect Instagram bio should have 3 key elements:
- A one-to-two sentence description.
- A call-to-action.
- A link to your website.
Implementing these elements will greatly improve the likelihood of building an engaged audience. Instagram users will be able to instantly know whether they should follow a profile or not.
Instagram ads
Ads on social media networks are probably the only legitimate way to grow accounts without risking a ban. Instagram is no different in that regard.
Like ads on other social media platforms, they reach a much greater audience than your regular account ever could. While the spend might be high, especially with some target audiences, the amount of likes and followers you can net might be unmatched.
It does take some expertise to make the most out of ads in order to get more Instagram followers. As such, many people involved with influencer marketing might look for a social media manager or PPC specialist for these tasks.
Post consistently
It’s no secret that Instagram has an algorithm that might prefer some creators over others. While no one knows exactly how it works, there are several trends that have been noticed.
If you want to stay at the forefront of the Instagram algorithm, posting consistently is a necessity. The platform, like many others, likely rewards users that create highly engaging Instagram posts. There’s only so much you can squeeze out of a single Instagram post, so you’re best off producing them on a regular basis.
Additionally, getting a lot of high quality content out is nearly impossible. Most influencers opt to experiment a bit with Instagram posts. You may want to mix in some memes, jokes, or other easy-to-acquire content with regular high quality Instagram posts.
Collaborate with other users
There’s a reason why your favorite influencers are constantly collaborating. If the combined target audience is not identical, it’s an incredibly efficient way to get more Instagram followers without putting in much effort.
Collaborations usually generate tons of content that can be used in various ways such as Instagram stories, posts, reels, etc. Additionally, if the audiences overlap, there’s likely to be a surge of new Instagram followers with each post or story made.
As such, collabs are one of the most effective strategies. Unfortunately, they are rarely accessible to users without thousands of Instagram followers. If you’re just building up your profile, other strategies might have to be used.
Buy followers
While buying followers is against Instagram’s Terms of Service, that’s the cheapest, quickest, and most efficient way to scale up a profile. They don’t generally interact with your content, however, they can serve as a launchpad for further Instagram growth.
Additionally, the Instagram algorithm might catch on and start promoting posts, thinking that the growth is organic. Finally, there’s something to be said about social proof. If your Instagram profile has a lot of followers, it might entice others to do so as well.
Write great captions
While Instagram is a highly visual and photo-focused platform, images are not the end of the story. Captions on stories and photos draw a lot of attention and likes, which means that taking time to think of something catchy can bring new followers over the long-run.
Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to create terrific captions each and every time. Humor always works, but it might not be applicable to each photo. It’s also fairly difficult to think of good jokes if you post consistently.
Thus, it’s recommended to generate catchy captions whenever inspiration strikes. It helps if a lot of content is planned in advance as there’s more time to mull over the possibilities for captions.
Develop a content strategy
Posting consistently is not enough. While most influencers have an idea of what they want to post, few have developed an explicit content strategy.
Marketing everywhere else relies on developing a plan, at least for the upcoming quarter. Content on these platforms is no different. Any Instagram marketing strategy should take into account everything you’ll be posting for at least a while.
There are numerous benefits to having a strategy, however, the most important one is being able to understand your audience better. If you know exactly what Instagram stories and posts will be deployed, they can be tracked and measured. Eventually, you’ll get a better understanding of what works and what doesn’t.
Make use of hashtags
Instagram was one of the social media networks that popularized the use of hashtags. While they have their roots in Twitter, almost every Instagram user has made use of them at some point.
Hashtags are essentially free promotion. They are not as effective as growth services or buying followers, but they also take almost no effort and cost nothing. Relevant hashtags will attract attention through the search feature, which is a great way to increase your follower count.
Discovering the best tags can be slightly difficult. Yet, since there’s no real penalty for using them in Instagram content. You can only get punished for using hashtags if you use some banned ones. Other than that, all Instagram content and hashtags are fair game.
Collect data
If you treat your profile as a business account, tracking all relevant data becomes a necessity. There’s only one good way to make business decisions and that way is data-driven.
There’s a plethora of opportunities to collect data. Manual collection, by following likes, new followers, etc., is always an option. Even with such a simple method, you can get a lot of great Instagram insights.
Then there’s all the social media management tools out there. All of them provide some form of data and analytics, most of which is collected and parsed automatically. Users only need to extract the Instagram insights they need.
Tagging relevant users
Whatever your industry is, you’re not alone in it. There’s always someone else doing the same thing (or, at least, doing something similar). As such, the audiences likely overlap but are not identical.
Tagging a relevant Instagram account on a related post or image is likely to generate attention. Unless it’s some superstar, the Instagram account in question often responds in kind. Generating conversations in such a manner lets users build a community around both accounts.
In turn, such conversations can bring in new followers to both accounts without any collaboration. User tagging is much more accessible to every Instagram account. There’s basically no limit on the size of the Instagram audience while these factors might matter in collaborations.
Finally, tagging is a great way to cross-promote something without getting too involved in content production. There’s no need to take time creating something like Instagram stories, a simple comment and a short conversation below a post is enough.
Running Instagram contests
Contests and giveaways have always been the bread-and-butter of social media marketing. It can be understood as the process of buying engagement for a specific cost (which is the prize) that is paid off later.
They are an attractive option because most prizes are cheap, but generate a lot of new followers. While most of them are not highly valuable, more followers, especially from the target audience, is almost always better.
Additionally, contests can be customized heavily to bring better marketing results. Some companies require participants to use their branded hashtag. Others may ask users to repost something on their Instagram feed. The possibilities are endless.
However, it’s important to note that while it’s possible to ask for users to make Instagram posts, use a branded hashtag, create unique designs, etc., each such request will likely reduce overall participation. As such, it’s often best to stick with simple things that may raise brand awareness - sharing, commenting.
Find the best time to post
People can’t spend their entire day on social media. Your Instagram followers are no different as they will be occupied with jobs, sleep, or otherwise busy. Finding out the best time to post on your Instagram feed means getting more likes and comments per post.
While it may seem like nothing more than a simple optimization that doesn’t lead to more potential Instagram followers, the algorithm will think otherwise. Since there’s more audience engagement and interaction every time you post content, your profile will look more valuable to the algorithm. With more attention, every post and Instagram story will lead to increasing returns.
Eventually, you’ll be getting more followers on Instagram due to posting at the right time. Again, it’s one of those optimizations that are not hard to do, but net a lot of gain in the long run.
Use Instagram scheduling tools
As a corollary to the above, you won’t always be able to post at the perfect time. Life gets in the way of the perfect posts whether Instagram users like it or not. That means missing out on getting more followers on Instagram.
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Savvy developers have solved these issues. Tools that allow users to schedule Instagram posts are available nearly everywhere. Some of them come with botting features for an even better push for followers on Instagram. Others are simple addons to the basic Instagram posting experience.
Using these tools is highly recommended. If you already know the best posting time, you can make the most out of every Instagram post you make.
