How to get real and active followers on instagram

Get More Real Instagram Followers in 10 Steps

Instagram is the foundation of so many brands’ social presence. The platform is proven to drive traffic, support sales and engage customers.

And that’s why 59% of marketers plan to up their investment in Instagram this year.

But if you’re not thrilled with your Instagram growth and engagement, you’re not alone.

Competition on the platform is fierce as more and more brands get on board. Thing is, taking steps to grow your audience is absolutely worth it. That’s because the bigger your audience, the more opportunities to delight your customers.

Ready to tweak your presence to attract authentic and organic Instagram followers? This post breaks down how to make it happen.

10 ways to increase Instagram followers

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, this post is about building an organic following.

And yes, the distinction matters!

Some brands want to take shortcuts when it comes to trying to get more Instagram followers. We don’t pretend that pay-for-play sites exist.

That said, these services aren’t worth it for brands long-term. The Instagram algorithm weeds out low-quality accounts and phony engagement from paid bots.

But we’ll bite: there’s definitely some legwork involved in growing your audience authentically.

Doing so it worth totally worth it, though. Below are our ten best tips for getting more Instagram followers the right way.

1. Optimize your Instagram account

Before you worry about how to get followers, consider how your Instagram account is set up first.

Ask yourself: does your profile “look the part?” For starters, consider your:

Your Instagram bio (including your slogan, tagline and/or a branded hashtag)
Your profile picture
Your bio link (and where it points to)

These details define your brand identity on Instagram. More importantly, they impact your account’s discoverability. Building a follower-friendly account means:

Having a search-friendly username. Stick to either your brand name or whatever’s closest to your existing social handles. If your name is too long, shorten it to a variation your audience would recognize (ex: Cold Stone Creamery’s account is @coldstone).
Making your profile picture professional. An appropriately-sized logo is ideal. Any text in your profile picture should be legible on a smartphone screen.
Minding where you point your bio link. This is crucial for turning Instagram followers into meaningful traffic or customers. It’s your only way to funnel social traffic to your site and promotions.

Linking to your homepage is fine but not always ideal. To encourage more meaningful interactions, a social landing page that points to multiple links can help.

This gives your audience total control of how they engage your business next. That means a better experience for your followers.

The best way to optimize your account is to follow a proven Instagram marketing strategy. Download our free guide to get started.

2. Keep a consistent content calendar

Momentum matters on Instagram. In other words, you likely won’t get followers on Instagram if you post at random.

Creating content and providing value is what builds your audience. Doing so consistently is what helps you keep them. Don’t let your Instagram account gather cobwebs.

That’s why sticking to a regular posting schedule is crucial. In terms of when and how much to post, you don’t have to stick to a set-in-stone number. Most brands post daily or near daily. This tracks our own research on how often to post as well.

For reference, below is a breakdown of the best times to post to Instagram. “Optimal” engagement is during the mid-to-late morning and early afternoons during the week.

If you’re worried about your posts not getting seen enough, we get it. Consider how features like Stories can get more eyes on your content if it wasn’t seen the first time.

3. Schedule Instagram posts in advance

There’s no denying that brands are at the mercy of the Instagram algorithm for reach. Still, posting at the right times can still give your posts more visibility. Anything you can do to maximize engagement is a plus.

This speaks to the value of scheduling Instagram content. With Sprout’s newest tools, brands can schedule Stories, Carousels, Reels and Posts.

Scheduling content in advance ensures control and organization. Instagram scheduling tools ultimately help you hit that cadence we mentioned earlier. The ability to crosspost content from other networks helps here, too.

You can also use Sprout’s ViralPost feature to nail down your timing, too. Our platform analyzes your engagement history and identifies the best times to post.

Perfect your Instagram content plan with Sprout Social

In addition to scheduling a complete picture of your Instagram content calendar, Sprout offers even more features to perfect your brand’s feed.

Share IG-approved visuals with your team using our Asset Library, or test out our grid preview feature to make sure every aspect of your presence is true to your brand style.

Get a hands-on look at these features and more with a 30-day free trial of Sprout.

4. Engage with customers, brand advocates and influencers

Figuring out how to get more Instagram followers means engaging your audience.

And one of the best ways to do that is through responding to and republishing their posts.

Enter the power of user-generated content. UGC campaigns build social proof by showing followers you’re invested in them. For example, Drunk Elephant regularly regrams their followers’ posts. They gather content with their #BareWithUs and #DrunkBreak hashtags.

Partnering with influencers with an established following is another way to grow your own audience. Content creators can get your brand in front of your target audience and build ongoing awareness for your products.

5. Avoid fake Instagram followers

There’s a big difference between fake and legitimate followers on Instagram.

We get it, too. For the sake of quick growth, it might be tempting to purchase followers.

But the drawbacks outweigh the benefits 100%. Why? Because fake Instagram followers…

Confuse your potential organic followers. An inactive, low-engagement account with a big following is suspicious. This can be a turn-off for fans that’d otherwise follow you and engage.
Provide no monetary value to your business. Think about it. Your bot followers can’t buy your stuff, can they?
Generate no buzz: If you have 10,000 fake followers, how many are going to engage with your posts? Does it really even matter if your posts are brimming with spam comments?

Real people have the ability to share, like, comment and engage with your Instagram posts. Additionally, real followers actually appreciate the time you spend interacting with them.

For example, Lush Cosmetics takes the time to answer questions and engage followers all the time. This results in customers regularly returning to share shout-outs and positive comments.

6. Showcase your Instagram everywhere you can

Don’t be shy about promoting your Instagram if more followers are your goal.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to promoting your ‘gram, either. Here are a few ideas:

Add social media icons to your website and marketing emails. Social media icons make it easier for people to find your business and help you connect with customers.
Feature an Instagram feed on your homepage or product pages. Many ecommerce brands have dedicated UGC feeds on-site (see below).
Reshare Instagram-specific content or announcements on other social channels. For example, you could talk about an upcoming IG Live via TikTok or Facebook.

7. Post content that followers actually want to see

Easier said than done, we know.

Filters. Captions. Content types. Post times. That doesn’t even scratch the surface.

There are so many variables to consider, right? It doesn’t help that Instagram’s algorithm is fickle. What works for one brand might not work for the next in terms of format and timing.

For example, some brands swear by Carousels. Others are all-in on Reels. Both approaches can work. You’ll quickly find on Instagram that some content performs better than others. This is why testing is so important.

Instagram’s native analytics are surprisingly powerful. That said, investing in Instagram analytics tools will take things to the next level.

For example, Sprout makes it easy to benchmark and analyze Instagram content across accounts. Rather than second-guess what’s working and what’s not, our reporting spells it out for you.

Be confident in your content strategy by analyzing those variables we mentioned earlier.

And if you’re unsure where to start, try analyzing your competitors. A staggering 90% of brands say that social media data helps them keep up with competing social accounts.

You obviously shouldn’t copycat your competitors. That said, you can take notes on what they’re doing or posting that drives engagement. Sprout’s Instagram Competitors report can provide a breakdown of what’s working in your industry. A little competitive research can go a long way.

Oh, and keep your ear to the ground with new Instagram trends. That way you won’t miss out on platform-wide opportunities to hop on trending content formats.

For example, Reels are popping off right now. Our data shows that 66% of consumers want to see more short-form videos from brands. In terms of trends, Reels should be on your radar.

8. Make meaningful conversation with your audience

Food for thought: 60% of marketers use Instagram as a service channel.

The platform is perfect for going back and forth with followers. Likewise, many popular post ideas center around asking questions and engaging in a dialogue for a reason.

Off-the-cuff questions, shipping concerns or praise for products are all fair game from followers. Check out how Cometeer responds to all of the above on their Instagram posts:

Being supportive and responding promptly shows people that you care.

You’d be surprised at how your Instagram followers increase once you start acting more personable. Our Index research shows that 89% of consumers will buy from a brand after following them on social. Every interaction counts.

Again, try to respond to as many questions or comments as possible. Doing so could make or break someone becoming a long-term follower or a customer.

9. Find hashtags where your followers hang out

Instagram hashtags have been a staple of the platform, like, forever.

That said, they don’t hold as much weight as they used to.

Dumping hashtags into your posts isn’t going to net you any new followers. Especially when there’s so much noise on the platform.

Be proactive by focusing on industry-specific hashtags relevant to your customers. For example, Lashify regularly posts content to the #LashEducation hashtag. Tags are less general and competitive than #beauty. Becoming more visible within these types of tags is meaningful for brands in the right niche.

Understanding how your hashtags perform on Instagram is critical. With Sprout Social’s hashtag analytics tools, you have direct access to in-depth performance and usage data. Figuring out which hashtags to use is just a few taps away.

10. Take steps to delight your Instagram followers

When you make your Instagram followers happy, you’ll see the payoff in audience growth. The best Instagram accounts have fans and communities (hint: not just followers).

The tips below are the building blocks for a follower-friendly account. Put them into practice in a way that aligns with your brand voice and values. Avoid coming across as needy, solesy sales-driven or robotic at all costs.

So much of how to get Instagram followers for free is about creating an authentic community. For many accounts, this means building customer relationships. Content that highlights your personality and the humans behind your brand is a plus. This includes:

Inspirational content
Humorous content
Re-sharing UGC with unique captions
Storytelling posts
Behind-the-scenes photos and videos
Posts that raise awareness for social causes

How to get more Instagram followers (the wrong way!)

Disclaimer: Sprout Social does not endorse purchasing Instagram followers. We don’t recommend services that sell followings or “Likes.”

As the social space becomes more crowded and competitive, brands are willing to take risks for the sake of instant results.

We’ll say it again: brands shouldn’t buy Instagram followers. Nobody should!

Why you shouldn’t buy followers on Instagram

Here are some reasons why buying followers to grow your account is a serious mistake.

Your real followers know what fake followers look like

Social consumers are getting savvier. Privacy concerns and social scammers have made people hyper-aware of weird activity. In short, people today are spam-detectors.

A sudden follower spike is a red flag. Not to mention having bots stink up your account with endless spam followers. This all damages your reputation and keeps you from growing an authentic Instagram following.

Fake followers bring nothing to the table

You’re probably worried about your Instagram metrics and understandably so.

That said, your follower count doesn’t mean much if your “followers” don’t drive engagement. You might look “bigger” at a glance but who cares? Consider how your engagement rate on the platform will suffer if your follower count is inflated.

If nothing else, buying Instagram followers violates TOS

No surprises here.

Consider how Meta has taken direct action against buying engagement in the past. They’ve gone as far as to shut down companies that sell likes. That’s because this practice violates the platform’s terms of service:

Help us stay spam-free by not artificially collecting likes, followers, or shares, posting repetitive comments or content, or repeatedly contacting people for commercial purposes without their consent.

How are you growing your Instagram following?

Listen: getting more followers on Instagram isn’t going to happen by accident.

And despite what you might have heard, there’s no silver bullet solution for making it happen.

The tips above can help you build the foundation for an organic following that actually engages with you. Putting these tips into action is so much easier with a powerful publishing and analytics tool like Sprout.

Want to see our suite of tools in action? Start a free trial today and see for yourself!

How to gain real followers on Instagram (without paying or cheating)

If you want to grow your brand, generate more leads, and attract more sales with Instagram, you need engaged followers. But scoring thousands of Instagram followers isn’t as easy as the Kardashians and Hadids make it look.

What’s more, buying followers or using bots to boost your likes and comments no longer flies. While your stats may spike short-term, you’re not going to get the ROI you need to make Instagram worthwhile.

You need followers – real, genuine followers – that care about your brand. Their values align with your values, and your solutions solve their problems.

Contents

Ready to make it happen? First, you need to understand the why.

Why do users follow an Instagram account?

It’s a loaded question, and there is no one right answer. Your why will depend on several factors: the niche you serve, the audience you’re targeting, and how you plan to provide value. Let’s take a closer look at each.

Know your niche

A local solicitor isn’t targeting the same people or curating the same content as a tech startup, beauty influencer, or fashion label.

The niche you serve will inform every facet of your Instagram strategy – from the people you follow and hashtags you use to the content you create and times of day you post.

Check out other successful businesses operating in the same niche as your own. These don’t have to be direct competitors – if you run a local painting business on the Central Coast, there’s value to be gained by examining the profiles of popular interior designers and home renovators around the world.

Know your audience

You cannot produce follow-worthy content and grow an engaged Instagram fanbase without first understanding who your target audience is. Consider these factors:

• Demographics – where do they live, who do they work for, and how old are they?

• Pain points – what problem do they need to be solved?

• Values – what motivates them to trust and purchase from a brand?

• Interests – what kinds of accounts are they already following?

• Behaviour – when, how, and why do they use Instagram?

Building a three-dimensional persona of your target audience will help you create and curate content that appeals to the right Instagram users. Plus, you’ll need a robust persona to action several tips in this guide.

Know your value proposition

Instagram users don’t want to be sold to. They want value.

Your value proposition will likely fall into one of three categories:

1. Inspiration

Instagram is a visual platform, and that makes it an ideal vehicle for inspirational content – think hair styling before and afters, motivational quotes, aesthetically appealing interiors, and once-in-a-lifetime travel destinations.

Perfect for: Brands with an aspirational product or service serving niches like tourism, beauty, fashion, and wellness.

2. Education

There’s more depth to Instagram than initially meets the eye. With the right approach, you can tap into your expertise and deliver educational content that makes your brand’s profile worthy of followers. How-tos, product tutorials, and fun facts are all reasons for your target audience to stick around.

Perfect for: Brands that deliver professional services or specialty products, such as cookware manufacturers, house cleaners, and accountants.

3. Entertainment

While inspirational and educational posts and videos should also entertain, content for enjoyment’s sake has its place on Instagram, too. Consider publishing memes, interviews, product teasers, and behind-the-scenes tours.

Perfect for: All brands on Instagram, but especially those that don’t have a visual or tangible product or service.

Bringing it all together and defining your

why

Your niche, audience, and value proposition are moving parts of the same machine. Clearly defining these three factors will help you understand why your page deserves a fraction of Instagram users’ limited attention.

But, there’s one more question to consider:

Once you’ve grown a solid foundation of followers, what do you want them to do?

You (hopefully) aren’t kick-starting an Instagram profile just for the sake of it. Maybe you want to sell more gluten-free cookies, secure more recommendations for your Airbnb, or help your garden maintenance team stay front-of-mind the next time your customers and prospects need their lawn mowed.

The trick is to align your Instagram strategy with real, revenue-driving business outcomes. This North Star will guide you as you experiment with the best and fastest way to grow on Instagram.

17 of the best ways to gain Instagram followers

Here’s how to gain followers on Instagram.

1. Create a brand voice and aesthetic

You already know the importance of consistent branding. But Instagram isn’t the place for shiny corporate logos. It’s a platform for connection and authenticity, an opportunity to humanise your brand and form a genuine relationship with your audience.

Think about how you’d like to position your brand on Instagram, keeping your audience and niche in mind. What kind of voice are you wanting to project? What story are you hoping to tell?

This voice will underpin every piece of content you publish, creating a linking thread that weaves your posts, Stories, Reels, and IGTV videos together.

Beyond voice, you’ll also want to maintain aesthetic consistency across your content. That means using a similar colour scheme, editing your images in the same ways (or using pre-sets), and, if you use text in your posts, keeping fonts the same.

How does all this help you grow your Instagram following? The effect is two-fold:

1. Branding consistency looks professional. It builds trust and credibility, and it demonstrates the legitimacy of your business.

2. Your voice and aesthetic theme differentiate your brand in your followers’ feeds. Users are bombarded with content, but thematic consistency helps your brand become instantly recognisable.

2. Post regularly

If you want to know how to gain followers on Instagram, here’s the secret: post regularly. And we don’t mean post three times a day for one month and then never again; we mean commit to a posting schedule you can maintain long-term.

Persistence pays off. According to an analysis of over 100,000 Instagram posts, daily posting grows Instagram followers four times faster than posting once per week.

Here’s why:

• Your followers hit the follow button for a reason – they want to see content from your brand.

• When you publish high-quality, optimised content, your followers interact with it.

• High engagement sends signals to Instagram’s algorithm.

• The algorithm opens your posts up to even more users – some of which are not following your brand.

• More exposure results in new followers.

Simple, right?

3. Post at the right times

Instagram may not show posts in chronological order in your users’ feeds, but when you hit publish (or schedule) still matters. Timing is a key factor in Instagram’s algorithm.

No two audiences are alike, and when you should post depends on your followers’ activities.

There are several ways to go about this:

• See what the research says. Head over to our Best Instagram Marketing Tips article and jump to Tip #22 for ideal times to post by industry.

• Check your analytics (you’ll need a business or creator account to do this – find out how to switch to a business profile on Instagram). Open Insights, tap “See All” next to “Your Audience,” and scroll right to the bottom. You’ll see the “Most Active Times” graph (screenshot above). Keep in mind, this information is only relevant if you already have followers that fall into your target audience.

• Use your common sense and experiment. Again, think about your target persona. What does their weekday look like? What does their weekend look like? How can you use their demographics to inform your posting schedule? Be sure to track your results.

4. Optimise your profile for search

Most copy in your Instagram profile isn’t searchable, but some parts are; your name and username are searchable. It’s crucial these two pieces of information directly relate to your brand, and in some cases, even your business’s location.

Your name can be anything you want, and you’ve got 30 characters to play with. You don’t want to stuff your name with keywords, but including your number one target phrase may prove helpful by increasing search discoverability.

If you run a bakery in Byron Bay, for example, you might want to include keywords “bakery” and “Byron” in your name.

Your username is the same as your Instagram handle. Ideally, keep it consistent with the usernames you use on other social platforms like Facebook and Twitter. If possible, make your username your brand name, ensuring anyone looking for your brand specifically can find it fast.

5. Use hashtags

Your Instagram profile and post captions may not be searchable, but hashtags absolutely are, making them an essential element of any follower growth strategy.

Here’s what you need to know about using hashtags:

Use relevant hashtags

One of the easiest ways to gain Instagram followers for free is to bolster your posts’ organic reach with relevant hashtags.

Every single piece of content you publish should include hashtags that reflect the post’s subject matter, potentially include your business’s location, and mirror what your audience is likely searching for.

The concept of search intent has long been a mainstay in SEO best practices. Put simply, search intent refers to the motivation behind a search query. For example, if someone types “best mascara” into Google, they want a review and comparison of different mascaras to determine which is worth buying. They don’t want a night out make-up routine with the phrase “best mascara” shoved in wherever possible.

If you want to use hashtags to win followers, use this theory to inform your hashtag choices. For example, don’t post a photo of your café’s Sunday brunch special and use #yoga just because it’s popular. People searching #yoga on Instagram aren’t going to follow your café.

Use the right number of hashtags

You can use up to 30 hashtags per post, but we wouldn’t recommend it. The sweet spot is around 11, but you can use more or less depending on your goals, target audience, and content.

Avoid spammy hashtags

Gaining followers on Instagram may be your goal, but there’s no need to tell the world about it. Avoid #followback, #like4like, and #followme like your reputation depends on it – because it kind of does.

Anyone searching those sorts of hashtags is looking to build their own following. They aren’t going to engage with your posts, and they certainly aren’t going to purchase your bespoke graphic design service – no matter how many fire emojis they comment.

6. Write a compelling bio

According to Instagram, two in three business profile visits come from non-followers. That means two-thirds of users that land on your profile are ripe for conversion.

The most effective tool in your arsenal? Your profile.

In 150 characters or less, your profile should tell visitors what you sell, where you’re located (if you are a local business), and what makes you different to your competitors. Make it short, punchy, and easy to digest.

Be sure to include a link to your website and appropriate contact buttons (email, phone, directions, and text).

7. Publish exceptional content

Obvious? Yes. Essential when learning how to grow your Instagram following fast? Absolutely.

If you don’t publish really good content on Instagram, you don’t give users any reason to follow you. It’s that simple.

Every single post you push out into the Insta-verse must be visually striking, engaging, and topped with a sense of authenticity. Plus, it should lean into your value proposition.

Excellent content compels profile visitors to hit the follow button, but that’s not all. Remember what we said in Tip #2? High-quality content with high levels of engagement is strengthened by Instagram’s algorithm with greater organic reach. More reach equals more followers.

Whichever way you slice it, your content has got to be good. You can follow every other tip in the guide to a T, but you won’t see results if your posts get lost in the crowd.

8. Craft captions that trigger engagement

Yep. It’s true that Instagram is a visual-centric platform. But if you want to know how to grow followers on Instagram, you’ve got to learn to craft captions that trigger all-important engagement.

Here are a couple of best practices to follow:

• It’s writing 101, but always put the most critical part of your message up-front. If your caption is over 125 characters long, users must tap “more” to see the rest. Those first 125 characters have to be good enough to inspire action.

• Use emojis sparingly to stand out and catch scrollers’ attention.

• Prompt engagement by asking your followers a question. We’ve said it before: engagement is key to unlocking broader reach and scoring new followers.

• Experiment with the length of your captions. Captions can be quite long – up to 2,200 characters. Give long-form storytelling a go and see if that resonates. Or trial super-short one-liners, even one-worders.

9. Tag your brand’s location

Location is another searchable element of Instagram. By tagging your brand’s location, you can reach audiences living in, interested in, or visiting your area.

To tag your location in a post, tap “Add location” on the same screen where you write your caption. Either enable location services or manually search your location. That’s it!

10. Target the Explore feed

As Instagram puts it, Explore (accessed by tapping the magnifying glass at the bottom of the app) is where “you can find photos and videos that you might like from accounts you don’t yet follow.” Incredibly, half of all Instagram accounts browse Explore every month.

You want your posts, Stories, Reels, and IGTV videos to land in your target audience’s Explore feed – that much is clear. How to get there is a little muddier, and there are no guarantees.

Here are three tips to improve your likelihood of scoring a coveted position in the Explore feed:

1. Post when your followers are active because Instagram rewards timeliness. Recency wins you more engagement, which is the first prerequisite for earning a spot on the Explore feed.

2. Browse the Explore feed yourself and pinpoint the similarities between high-performing videos and images.

3. Look at Instagram Insights to determine what kind of content best resonates with your audience. Maybe it’s carousels or long-form IGTV videos. Maybe your inspirational quote posts are bottom of the rung and ready to retire. Continuously optimise your content strategy to build engagement levels.

11. Follow others

Following relevant accounts is one of the fastest ways to grow on Instagram. When you hit follow, the user is notified, prompting them to check out your profile and follow back if they like what they see.

You can find relevant users to follow in several ways:

• Use your competitors as a guide. See who they follow by tapping on their following count on their profile. Don’t just spam follow everyone – vet each user for relevancy before committing.

• Target users that follow your competitors. You can view your competitors’ followers by tapping on their follower count on their profile. These users are already following an account similar to yours, so they may be more likely to follow back.

• Browse Instagram’s suggestions by navigating to your profile, tapping the burger menu in the top-right corner, and selecting “Discover.”

Before you follow thousands of unsuspecting users, remember to maintain a balance between the number of accounts you follow and the number of accounts that follow you. This ratio is essential for maintaining trust and legitimacy.

Finally, don’t follow an account, wait for them to follow you back, and then unfollow them instantly. That’s a pretty bad look, and it likely won’t help you in the long run.

12. Encourage users to tag your brand

Another way to get more eyes on your brand is to encourage other users to tag your account in their posts. Their audience can then see your brand name, and if they want to learn more, they can tap through to your profile.

Add a line prompting users to tag you on Instagram in your bio.

Here’s a great example from @Australia.

13. Partner with other brands

The right approach to a collaborative partnership on Instagram could help all brands involved win more followers, so don’t be afraid to make the first move.

To get started, consider brands you work with already. Maybe you own a florist, and when your clients ask for wedding cake recommendations, you always pass on the contact details of a particular baker in your local area. Or perhaps your hair salon is next door to a café that supplies your staff with their much-needed morning coffees. How can you capitalise on this relationship on Instagram?

One of the most common strategies is to run a joint competition, with a prize pack containing products and services from several companies. Each company then promotes the competition to their audience.

14. Leverage Instagram Stories

Every day, half a billion Instagram accounts publish and watch Stories. That’s not all – according to Instagram, one-third of Stories lead to a direct message. If you want to reach a broader audience, your brand must embrace this popular feature.

Just like posts, use hashtags and location features to increase your Stories’ organic exposure. Post when your target audience is most active, too. Remember, Stories can appear in the Explore feed.

15. Use IGTV

IGTV videos can be up to 60 minutes long, allowing you to create more in-depth, immersive video content. You can give a product tutorial, share behind-the-scenes exclusives, or interview a team member – the possibilities are limitless.

You can also start an IGTV series. If a user stumbles upon one instalment of your series and enjoys it, they are likely to hit follow.

Finally, it’s worth mentioning IGTV’s (quite literally) huge presence on the Explore feed. IGTV videos appear four times larger than photos.

16. Share your Instagram handle on other channels

If you want people to follow your Instagram page, you’ve got to make it easy for them. And one of the best ways to do that is to promote your Instagram handle on other channels.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• If you’ve already built up an engaged following on another social platform like Facebook or Twitter, ask your fans to follow you on Instagram, too. Don’t forget to share a link to your profile or your handle.

• You are probably already doing this, but make sure you have links to your social profiles on your website, typically in the footer. Double-check they work – one pesky typo could be costing you followers.

• Promote Instagram-specific events via your blog, email newsletter, and other social channels. If you’re running a competition on Instagram or starting a Live in 30 minutes, shout it from the rooftops.

If your Instagram profile is brand-new, aim to publish around 12 posts before sharing your account via other platforms.

17. Embed your Instagram posts

Are you an avid blogger? Fantastic. You can embed relevant Instagram posts directly into your blog articles, enhancing your content and gently promoting your account to your readers.

Embedded Instagram posts are clickable, making it quick and easy for a reader to click-through and (hopefully) follow.

To embed an Instagram post:

1. Visit your profile on your web browser (your URL is instagram.com/USERNAME).

2. Click on the post you’d like to embed, and then click the three dots in the top-right corner.

3. Select “Embed” and click “Copy Embed Code”.

4. Paste the code into the backend of your website.

You can embed any publicly viewable Instagram post – not just your own.

Now, it’s your turn

There is no one best way to gain Instagram followers. It’s about implementing several proven strategies, monitoring your results, tweaking, optimising, and following your target personas’ evolving expectations.

Building an engaged network of fans is not rocket science, but it does take time. Be patient and focus on quality, and you’ll soon find yourself surrounded by followers all too happy to tap like, comment, and buy.

How to get followers in 2022 on Instagram: from 0 to 10,000

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As practice shows, the first 10,000 subscribers are the hardest to get. The reason is simple: people are reluctant to subscribe to little-known pages. But nothing is impossible. We have compiled 14 tips for you to help you grow your profile from scratch within a year.

#1 Join mutual PR groups / Liketme

How can a little-known page quickly gain followers? Join mutual PR groups, this tactic is best for promoting new accounts.

It works like this. A group of participants is recruited, after which everyone sends a link to their post. All members of the group like and comment on each other's posts, thereby increasing the reach. When there are a lot of likes and comments under your post, it arouses the interest of other people: they want to see what is there.

Sounds nice. But. There are many groups for mutual PR and on various topics, for example, about travel, fashion, etc. To attract your target audience, join such groups on the topic of your page. And to keep the attention of new subscribers, you should also subscribe to them.

This is a short-term strategy for developing a page from scratch that will not increase sales, but will increase brand trust and awareness.

#2 Repost someone else's content

To promote his store, Nicole Martins Ferreira, an SMM specialist, started using the Repost for Instagram app to repost other people's content.

One of these reposts got 52,862 views, 1,264 comments and 9,147 likes. It was a big hit, Nicole didn't even have 10,000 subscribers at the time. But remember, according to Instagram policy, you need to request permission to repost from the author of publications. Otherwise, there is a risk of getting banned.

Why reposts of other people's content, and not publications of your own? Newbies don't have such good content, and reposting - what could be easier?

What content to repost? Use hashtags to find the most popular posts, share the ones that got you the most engagement. This is the simplest and most effective strategy for beginners.

#3 Ask followers to share photos

It's much easier to promote your Instagram page if you have a product or service that your customers share on their profile. If you post content with your customers, it will increase your social security and credibility.

If you haven't had any clients yet, you can contact an influencer (blogger) that suits your niche and order a review of your product. It is better to choose bloggers who have about 5,000 subscribers. Such accounts have a much lower cost of advertising and a more engaged audience.

You can also offer cooperation. For each completed sale through a referral link, you pay a commission to the blogger.

If you already have clients, you can ask them to tag you in their story or feed in exchange for a gift or a discount. Once you have enough clients, you don't have to ask anymore, they will tag you for free.

#4 Create a consistent style and stick to it

Yes, sounds like " blah blah blah " . Let's figure it out.

Often people subscribe not because of the published content, but because of the anticipation and the ability to predict what your next post will be.

Let's say you run a corgi page and post cute pictures and videos of him every day. Users who come across your content may notice that you always have cute corgi photos. They will subscribe and start following your page, waiting for new cute corgi posts.

Sticking to a single style or theme is more than a branding game. We are talking about the psychophysiological component of emotions: the expectations that your existing and potential subscribers create. They want and expect to see more content of the same type or style every day.

By sticking to a consistent style, you build confidence and trust in your brand, which in turn helps increase your following.

#5 Use hashtags

Many social media experts recommend using 5 to 11 hashtags. Don't be afraid to ignore such advice!

Start experimenting with hashtags and eventually you'll figure out which ones are right for your brand.

Why not use 30 hashtags? You can add all these hashtags to the first comment under the post, which few people will see.

Is your goal to increase coverage? Then this is the easiest way. With hashtags, your posts will rank higher for keywords, which increases your reach.

If you want to reach your target audience, then you should avoid generic hashtags like #love or #life, use niche hashtags.

#6 Use location tags

Increase your reach with « Location Tags » , it indicates the city or place where the video or image was taken.

If your business is in a specific city, you can use these geotags to make it easier for people to find and follow your Instagram account.

Locations have their own feed, stories and hashtags - use this sticker and your content will be automatically added there.

#7 Start blogging

Do you have a blog? Start running it on Hashtap or Yandex.Zen.

You can add links to your YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook accounts to your blog post. The more people who read your blog, the more likely they are to go to your social media pages and follow.

This is more of a long term strategy and you may not have a blog. But the faster you start it and add links to your social networks, the more likely you are to gain subscribers.

#8 Follow competitors' followers

To promote your account, you need to find people who follow your competitors' pages.

Do you know your competitors? Find them! Then study their profile, content and who comments on their posts, highlight your target audience. Start chatting with them.

It's best to choose smaller competitors to start with, as larger ones may have good loyalty programs that you may not be able to afford at the moment.

#9 Work with bloggers

Why bloggers? Every blogger has his loyal followers. By running ads with a blogger, you are guaranteed to get new subscribers and, most likely, sales.

But when choosing a blogger, carefully study his profile, exclude cheating subscribers. Sign an agreement so that the blogger cannot use bots. Due to the rapid influx of fake followers, you can get your account banned. You do not want this?

#10 Giveaways

Giveaways are another effective way to promote your account.

If the draw is published on the site, you can make a subscription to your social networks a mandatory condition for participation. This is how you unlock your account.

If you don't have many subscribers, you can post about the draw in free groups and blogs. You can also negotiate with bloggers - you send them a product, they review it for free and talk about the draw. Many agree to such conditions. Result? Hundreds of new subscribers in all social networks.

If you don't have your own audience yet, this is a great way to attract new subscribers. And to attract the target audience, you need to choose a blog from your niche.

Is your goal to promote your account? Then this strategy is for you if increasing sales is not.

#11 Collaboration with other brands

While you are at the start of your page promotion, collaboration with other brands is a quick way to build a target subscriber base. You just repost and tag each other's profile.

You don't have to do anything but repost. New subscribers will write to you first.

#12 Instagram Tips/Guide

Instagram Tips is a new way to share educational content in the form of tips and hacks. In the IG guide, you can add: a title, description, video or image, as well as use already published posts in the feed.

There are 3 guide formats available:

Places - collections of interesting places, objects, etc. in your city or some other city.
Products - collections of products that you sell on your Instagram.
Posts - your existing posts on the same topic, collected in one place, to which you can add titles and comments.

If you have interesting and useful tips, they will be shared with them. This will increase your engagement and reach, and with them the number of subscribers.

#13 Use Instagram analytics

« Embedded » Instagram analytics gives incomplete information about your followers.

Connect third-party analytics services to get more data. Many of these services are free.

Best free analytics services for Instagram:

Sprout Social
DataFan
Popsters
Live Dune

All these services collect highly informative statistics on subscribers and your content. To figure out your target audience, analyze metrics such as engagement rate, number of new followers, unsubscribers, and inactive accounts. Use this data to better understand your audience.

A very loose translation and adaptation of an article from the Oberlo blog.

Christina

Kerbs

Yandex.Direct and Google Ads certified specialist. Knows everything about medical marketing and coffee varieties.

How to get followers on Instagram: TOP-8 ways without cheating

900 million active users go to Instagram every day, put likes, subscribe and buy. So that you understand the scale: 146 million people live in Russia. Big and small businesses come to Instagram, everyone wants to gain followers for their account and start earning.

I have already told you how to start a blog on Instagram, now let's see what are the ways to attract subscribers to this very blog.

From this article you will learn:

Is it possible to gain subscribers for free?

It is quite possible to advance by yourself, but you will spend a lot of time and effort. Mass following, mass liking, hashtags were popular ways of promotion in the early days of Instagram. Three years ago, it was enough to have beautiful photos and a connected service that follows people, and they subscribe in response.

In 2019, free promotion methods are not as effective as Instagrammers would like. Every day, three to five shops, showrooms, and sms people subscribe to the accounts of ordinary people. Users are used to it, but I would say that these schemes are rejected by ordinary people.

Do not make free methods the basis of promotion.

Not signed? Instagram consultation will help you understand why your account is not growing. Fill out the form and see you soon.

We attract live readers on Instagram

Let's agree on the bank - we are gaining subscribers WITHOUT CHARGING. I am totally against this method. You can create the appearance of activity by winding up likes and followers, but there will be no sales in such an account. Comments, by the way, too.

Here THIS can be subscribed to you if you use cheat. Do you think Instagram will like such subscriptions? 🙂

Remember - real people buy, but bots don't.

Development of an account from scratch starts with a content strategy. Answer 5 questions:

Who is the target audience of the project - gender, age, interests, product needs?
Who are your direct and indirect competitors?
What are their differences, disadvantages, advantages over your product?
What do you sell? List all services
Why buy from you? What is the difference from competitors?

I hope you will not be lazy and answer strategic questions. The next step in self recruitment is content production.

Take attractive photos, write posts that are interesting to the target audience, boost activity in the comments. Content is why you should subscribe to a blog.

Put yourself in the shoes of new readers. If, while reading the posts, your jaw is yawning... If looking at the visual tape, you want to run away... Then you are clearly doing something wrong.

To gain followers on Instagram, first work on the content.

9 ways to get your first 1000 subscribers

1. Mutual PR, joint activities with other Instagrammers .

Find accounts where the target audience hangs out and agree on mutual PR. In addition, you can broadcast live, exchange guest posts, share Stories.

If you have 300 followers, it makes no sense to negotiate a VP with a 15K account. Mutual PR should be of interest to both parties.

2. Marathons on Instagram .

Bloggers run free marathons - this is a great opportunity to learn new things and meet someone for cooperation. Participate in marathons, communicate with others, agree on moves.

3. Activity with major bloggers .

Bloggers who write about Instagram publish fees for the VP, mutual commenting, liketimes and other interactives. Join activities. And also leave interesting and smart comments under the posts of major bloggers to be remembered by readers.

4. Advertising with bloggers .

A great way with its own pitfalls. Trust me, you can get promoted if you make a really cool service, product, or admirable content.

5. Targeted advertising .

Yes, I can definitely hear the indignation: “Zarina, but I heard / read / one grandmother said that if there are less than a thousand subscribers, people will not subscribe” .

Trust me, people won't subscribe if the content is shit. And if you get into the pain of the target audience with content, then it doesn’t matter how many readers you have. Target is a good solution for introverts and for those who do not have time for other activities. Yes, you may spend more money, but you will quickly reach the cherished 1000 readers.

6. Reels .

Take off the rails! First, don't be afraid. Everyone starts somewhere, the main thing is to start acting. Reels are great for recipes, tips, before/after, humor, dancing. Choose a trend, adapt it to your niche, remove it, add hashtags and collect free traffic to your account.