How to get real followers and likes on instagram
Get More Real Instagram Followers with These 10 Tips
Instagram has become a cornerstone of many brands’ social presence, driving profitable traffic to landing pages, growing conversions, and building an engaged audience.
If your Instagram presence isn’t quite as robust as you’re hoping, it might be time to learn how to sharpen up your strategies for getting real, organic followers on Instagram. The larger your audience grows, the more opportunities you have to engage with users and create unique experiences for them.
The organic distinction is important: sometimes brands take the easy way out when trying to get more Instagram followers. Pay for likes and follower sites are everywhere, but these shortcuts are never worth it, as the Instagram algorithm regularly gets updated to weed out paid, low quality accounts and interactions.
Not to mention, the number on your Instagram following ultimately means nothing if it doesn’t represent an engaged fan following that makes purchases, visits your landing pages, and advocates for your brands with friends and followers. Start building your presence up the right way with these tips on getting more Instagram followers.
Before you set out figuring out how to gain followers on Instagram, one of the most important steps is to have your account fully optimized. Think of your brand’s Instagram bio as the “homepage” to your account.
Without a bio, image captions, a proper username or profile image, how will people know the account belongs to your brand? It might seem obvious, but on Instagram your bio and image help form the foundations of your brand identity. The link in your bio is your one spot to drive Instagram traffic to your site, so optimizing your account is essential.
If you’re uncertain where to link, try marketing or product pages that relate to specific keywords, hashtags or campaigns on your Instagram account. Linking to your homepage is OK–but why not give users a cohesive experience when moving from your bio to a site? This has led to the popularity of IG link landing pages that host relevant links to the last few pieces of content mentioned on a brand’s feed, and “link in bio” posts that help direct audiences to those links.
Additionally, keep your username as search-friendly as possible, which usually means sticking close to your actual brand name. If your business name is longer, shorten it to something your audience would recognize. Don’t add numbers or special characters to your username, and if possible keep it in-line with other social media handles you already have.
The best way to optimize your account is to create and follow an Instagram marketing strategy. Download our free guide to get started.
2. Keep a consistent content calendarThe worst thing you can do when trying to get followers on Instagram is to post content at random, haphazard times. If you’re lucky enough to get users following you in the beginning, you don’t want to make them forget they followed you in the first place.
To combat this, keep to a regular posting schedule. Typically, brands shouldn’t post more than a few times a day to avoid spam, but whatever your cadence, keep it consistent.
Approximately 200 million Instagram users log on daily, so to cast your net even wider, try publishing a few times throughout the entire day.
In fact, our very own research on the best times to post to Instagram pinpoints the top times to post for multiple industries, or you can follow our research of the best times across all topic areas below:
Sticking to a schedule will help you build a consistent experience for your followers and keep them in the know of your brand. But if you’re wondering how you’re going to remember to publish at these different times in the day, we’ve got you covered with Sprout’s scheduling and optimal times features–read on for more details.
3. Schedule Instagram posts in advanceWhile the Instagram algorithm has changed to show users more content they like, posting at the right times can still give your posts more visibility by increasing the overall engagement they receive.
There’s a lot your brand can do to raise visibility, and now with Sprout Social, scheduling Instagram content is one of them.
With our newest tools, we can help your brand schedule Stories, Carousels and Feed posts through an easy process.
By scheduling content in advance, your entire team can see campaigns and schedules more efficiently. It’s always smart to build out content in advance and with our Instagram scheduling tools, you can reach your audience and maintain a consistent flow of content at the same time.
You can also use Sprout’s patented ViralPost feature and let us do the work for you. ViralPost analyzes your own account’s engagement history and identifies the optimal times for you to post algorithmically.
4. Get partners and brand advocates to post your contentPerfect 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.
When you’re learning how to get more Instagram followers, it’s important to know the value of your audience. The larger your follower count grows (organically), the more buyers and interested customers you will have.
The best way to get customers to follow you is to get in front of them and be present. It’s critical to be present on your own Instagram as well as others. Try sponsoring user-generated content to get your brand in customers’ feeds. You can also hold Instagram contests to get your brand
out to a larger audience. These types of campaigns build social proof by showing your fans are invested enough to repost your content or create their own UGC.
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A post shared by Urban Outfitters (@urbanoutfitters)
Another way is to get your handle in front of a much larger audience.
Try to work with larger Instagram accounts in your industry, like notable influencers in your space, to share your content to their audience.
Just make sure you’re providing something of value. The last thing you want to do is seem too salesy. Find marketing collaborations and co-marketing plans with other businesses to build your Instagram audience.
5. Avoid fake Instagram followersThere’s a huge difference between an Instagram account having fake and legitimate followers. It might seem tempting to simply purchase Instagram followers, but the backlash outweighs the perks of organic follower growth.
Fake Instagram followers tend to:
- Deceive new followers: If users come to an inactive Instagram feed with tens of thousands of followers, it will lower the account’s credibility. Don’t trick people into following you. Build trust and long-lasting relationships for better engagement.
- Have no ROI: It might seem easier to buy followers, but your acquired bot or unmanned new followers won’t be purchasing anything.
People follow brands on Instagram for a reason–they like what you’re posting or your company in general. These are actual spenders and bring monetary value to your business. - Create little-to-no buzz: If you have 10,000 fake followers, how many are going to comment, like and share your content? More than likely, these bot or fake accounts will be cleaned up by Instagram, deleted and make your posts seem like engagement graveyards.
Real people have the ability to share, like, comment and engage with your Instagram posts. Additionally, these users enjoy when there’s someone on the other side responding.
For example, Lush Cosmetics takes the time to answer various product questions, which results in users coming back, following or possibly sharing with others. These interactions will always have more value than a set of inactive followers.
6. Showcase your Instagram everywhereHow are people going to find an account unless you promote your Instagram? Make sure your Instagram account is listed with your website and other social networks.
Creating visibility and awareness is one of the best ways to get discovered. If you truly want to get more Instagram followers, let people know where to find you. You could add social media buttons to your website and blog to help promote social shares across all your networks as well as show people where to find you on Instagram.
Follow #MoMAPrimeTime on Instagram today as we celebrate the last day of Summer Camp for 200 New Yorkers, ages 65+! https://t.co/RNyV7Ibr9y pic.twitter.com/64SvbUaWLL
— MoMA The Museum of Modern Art (@MuseumModernArt) June 23, 2017
Another great idea is to cross promote across your social media accounts. The Museum of Modern Art regularly spreads awareness about its Instagram through Twitter. You can easily leverage your other social networks to direct users to your Instagram.
However, make sure that you’re not just asking for a follow. Instead you should try to promote unique content on your Instagram so users have a reason to follow you there.
Fortunately, with Instagram adding a ton of new content and video features like Stories, IGTV and Reels, you have a great opportunity to build followers through creative content.
While this is easier said than done, it’s smart to learn what content your followers want to see. You’ll quickly find on Instagram that some content performs better than others. This is why testing is so important.
Whether it’s filters, captions, content types or post times, the smallest detail can make all the difference. Keep your ear to the ground with new Instagram trends so you know you’re posting popular content.
To take your analysis a step further, your brand should invest in Instagram analytics tools. This will make it easier to track, benchmark and analyze Instagram content across accounts.
Be confident in your content strategy by analyzing different filters, captions and more to see what works best with your audience. If you’re unsure where to start, try analyzing your competitors.
You shouldn’t directly copy your competitors, but it’s smart to take notes on what they’re doing or posting that drives engagement. A little competitive research can go a long way. You can use our Instagram Competitors report to get a look at what’s working for other brands in your industry.
8. Get the conversation startedOne of the best ways to make users aware of your Instagram is through conversation. According to the 2020 Sprout Social Index, consumers want to engage with visual-first content like photos (68%) and video (50%), followed by 30% who want to engage with text posts. Instagram is the perfect fit for this audience profile, pairing eye-catching visuals with captions that can be just as engaging when you perfect your Instagram caption copywriting skills.
People are continuing to use social media as their contact reference for brands, whether its for off-the-cuff questions and chat, serious customer care queries, or praise for their favorite brands and products.
And for your business, you need to be supportive and communicative on Instagram.
Try to respond to as many questions or comments as possible, because it could mean the difference between getting a new customer, follower or improving your relationship with your audience. Our Index research also showed 89% of consumers will buy from a brand after following on social, so it’s important to secure the attention and loyalty needed to convert a visitor to your profile into a follower.
9. Find hashtags that convertOne of the most tried-and-true ways to get followers on Instagram is through hashtags. For years hashtags have served as an essential tool for discovery and allowed us to extend our social reach. As a marketer, you want to build your community by gaining followers and hashtags provide just that.
For starters, find hashtags that are not too populated. Social Media Examiner points this theory out by explaining how the hashtag #love has more than 184 million photos connected to it.
Trying to highlight your Instagram content in a sea of millions of pictures and videos is not an easy thing to do.
You have to find hashtags that people in your target audience are more likely to check. If a relevant connection is made, these users will be more likely to follow your account. Unique, branded hashtags are one way to group posts around hyper-relevant content to your brand and campaigns.
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A post shared by M&M'S (@mmschocolate)
For example, M&Ms does a great job at focusing hashtags to an event where they are participating. By using hashtags like #mmspotlight, the brand targets its audience more directly where the spotlight concert event happens and creates awareness.
Understanding how your hashtags perform on Instagram is also just as critical to using them.
And with Sprout Social’s hashtag analytics tools, you have direct access to hashtag performance and usage data to see what’s working best.
Don’t go blindly into the hashtag universe, know what you’re tagging so you can build your following.
10. Make your Instagram followers happyLast but not least, when you make your Instagram followers happy, you see the payoff in audience growth. We’ve given you plenty of tips for brainstorming and scheduling content, so put them into practice in a way that feels real to your brand voice. In other words, avoid seeming needy, sales-driven or robotic.
For many accounts, this means sprinkling in posts that are legitimately designed to bring a smile to followers’ faces and build customer relationships. Don’t forget to provide content to your followers as if they were friends on your personal feed: this might include posting memes, inspirational content, or just re-sharing interesting photos or artwork (all properly credited, of course) that can give your followers a little mental pick-up during the day.
More tips for your Instagram presence
Developing an Instagram following is a multifaceted process. Knowing the ins and outs of best practices on the network will help your strategies be more effective. Learn more with these guides to some of the most important IG essentials:
- How to promote your Instagram: 13 ways that actually work
- 9 Instagram post ideas to spice up your account
- How to regram on Instagram
- How to get more Instagram Likes
- How to craft an impactful Instagram bio for business
Instagram continues to grow in popularity with audiences, so taking advantage of these tips to get followers will help you increase your reach. If you’re ready to put Sprout’s powerful tools behind your Instagram management, start a free trial today.
10 ways to get real followers and engagement on Instagram
Instagram is an incredibly dynamic and fast-growing social media platform.
The number of brands joining and growing customer engagement on the platform is boosting up as we speak.
But Instagram business accounts see just 1.46% growth in monthly followers on average, which means growing your Instagram follower count can feel like a slow, tedious game. While you can buy fake followers, they won’t serve any real purpose besides a quick ego boost.
Keep reading to learn ten different strategies you can use to grow your real follower count on Instagram and drive real engagement.
Table of Contents:
- What is Instagram engagement and why do you need it?
- Strategies to grow your Instagram followers today
- Time to Grow Your ‘Gram
What is Instagram engagement and why do you need it?
When your audience interacts with your Instagram content in some way — such as a like, comment, share, video view, or DM — instead of simply scrolling past, it counts as engagement.
While there is no universal way to measure Instagram engagement, an accepted way is to add up the average likes and comments that you receive per post and divide it by your total number of followers.
You can also consider views, DMs, etc., based on what’s important for your brand.
Engagement is a clear sign that your Instagram content is resonating well with your audience. And that’s great, but what about people who haven’t yet followed you? How do you reach them effectively and compel them to follow and engage with your brand?
Strategies to grow your Instagram followers today
Here are ten powerful ways to drive real followers and engagement on Instagram.
1. Optimize your bio
Located under your username, your bio is prime real estate on your Instagram profile. Most potential followers who visit your profile check out your bio description first. So you better make these 150 characters count.
Here’s how to craft a bio that drives more followers:
Your Instagram bio is equivalent to your website’s homepage — it should straight away convey that this is your brand’s genuine account where you actively post fresh content.
Back up your bio with a high-resolution logo.
Sprinkle a few emojis as an alternative to bullet points if it fits your brand’s style, but don’t overboard with emoji usage.
Your in-bio link is the only way to drive people to see your website or a particular landing page, so use it wisely. Instead of always pointing to your homepage, it’s a good idea to change the link anytime you wish to increase sign-ups for an event, showcase a new product launch, or even attract visitors when you start a blog for content promotion.
You can also include a branded hashtag that tells people which hashtag to include in their posts to catch your attention. And when anyone clicks on the hashtag, they’ll see user-generated content from your fans.
2. Find the best time for you to post on Instagram
Read that subheading again, with an emphasis on for you — you’ll often find people saying that a specific time and day is ideal to get the best possible engagement and reach for your content.
In truth, however, there is no all-embracing answer to the question “what’s the best time to post on Instagram?”.
You’ll have to experiment with different posting times and track engagement to figure out the best times for your audience and niche.
Instagram makes this easy. Use Instagram Insights (available on the Instagram mobile app) to learn more about your followers (age group, gender, most active times, etc.) and performance.
On your business profile, tap “Insights”, scroll to “Your Audience”, and then click “See All.” At the bottom, you’ll find your audience’s most active times.
Next, think about when your content will be most relevant. For instance, a quick follow-along workout video may garner more engagement outside of work hours when people are likely trying to squeeze in a workout session.
Besides using this feature, it’s a good idea to do your own research on audience behavior (for example, check out your competitors’ post timings vs. engagement) and survey your customers about their social media preferences.
Once you find the ideal times to post for your particular audience, use social media scheduling tools to plan, schedule, and automate your Instagram posting and get detailed analytics reports on your content performance.
3. Post regularly and dynamically
A recent study across 14 industries suggests that on average, businesses share four Instagram posts per week. Aiming for this number is a good starting point.
But ideally, to gain more followers and engagement, the more you post, the merrier. If you’re able to share one post daily, you’ll likely see far better results. That’s because the more content you put out, the more opportunities you have to be noticed and shared.
That being said, quality is always a priority over quantity. Never cut corners in terms of quality just to get something out daily. And it’s safe to say that Instagram success is all about posting visually enchanting content, so consider using high-quality photo editing software to create stunning images rather than posting plain, unexciting photos.
Put simply, establish a posting schedule that keeps you on track to post at least four to five days a week without compromising quality. As you gain traction, try to take it up to one post daily.
Moreover, be dynamic with your content types. Over the years, the platform has evolved greatly, with new ways to share content such as Stories, IGTV, and Reels. Take Instagram Reels for example — announced in August 2020, Reels is one of the newest content types and Instagram always pushes its new features.
Since its launch, Reels has taken over a good chunk of the Explore page and appears larger than standard photo posts. With over 200 million people visiting the Explore page each day, that extra visual real estate can substantially boost the number of people you reach.
Source: InstagramSimilarly, Stories is now one of the most popular Instagram features that lets you publish quick daily visuals that disappear after 24 hours. Stories are easy to post without needing much prep, show up on the top of your followers’ homepage, and prove that you’re an active brand.
Source: Whole Foods on InstagramExperimenting with a mix of content formats not only enables you to reach different audience segments with different preferences (and thus gain more followers) but also helps you solve the common puzzle “what to post on Instagram” and ultimately, stay consistent in posting.
4. Become familiar with the Instagram algorithm
While you can find full-fledged guides on beating the Instagram algorithm, at its core, the Instagram algorithm essentially favors content that satisfies the following six signals:
- Interest: How much a user prefers the post based on past engagement
- Timeliness: How recent the post is
- Relationship: The accounts a user frequently engages with
- Usage Frequency: How often a person checks Instagram
- Following: The number of accounts a user follows on the type of content they post
- Session Time: How long does the user spend on Instagram
The algorithm strives to showcase content that’s more engaging for each individual user. So the more engagement (likes, comments, and shares) you’re able to garner, the more likely your latest content will be discovered by potential followers.
Be sure to initiate conversations (see Knix’s example below) with your posts and respond to comments.
5. Showcase your brand voice
Besides staying in the know about the latest deals and discounts, one of the biggest reasons people follow brands on social media is to know more about their personality.
Instagram is not the place to constantly post sales pitches, and potential followers would likely never hit the follow button if that’s all you have to offer. Instead, think about your brand voice and showcase that in your Instagram content.
If you haven’t already, think of your brand as an individual and ask yourself — what’s your brand’s personality? Is it playful and cheeky? Or is it inspiring and straightforward? Keep that voice consistent across all your content marketing, be it on Instagram or your website’s blog.
And regardless of what kind of brand voice you adopt, your content should reflect your brand’s passion for its mission.
For instance, Kate Spade and Privacy Please are direct competitors with opposite brand voices.
The former has a more inspiring personality, whereas the latter has a rather edgy one.
Though they’re niche rivals, both of these brand’s voices work well to attract and retain their individual audience. So, be original with your voice and incorporate it in all your content.
6. Write amazing captions
Gorgeous visuals work to capture your audience’s attention — amazing captions work to keep it. Use these 2,200 characters available to give more context to the photo or video you post.
Here are a few tips to write great Instagram captions:
- Keep important information first
- Incorporate keywords to improve the odds of appearing on the in-app search results
- Use emojis and light humor to showcase your brand’s personality
- Encourage people to share their thoughts
- Structure longer captions with bullets or emojis to improve readability
- Mention other accounts (whenever possible) to increase reach
- End with a descriptive call-to-action (see Airbnb’s example below), such as “Check out the link in bio to browse the summer catalog.
”
Also, make sure to diversify your captions so they don’t feel robotic and automated. Try different formats such as question-answers, recommendation requests, personal stories, tag-a-friend, share-your-content, etc.
Source: GoPro on InstagramSource: Airbnb on InstagramAnd while it’s a good idea to keep the caption crisp and to the point, try different lengths based on the content you’re sharing. For example, long captions may work well for descriptive stories, while a short and snappy one may work better to showcase a product. The sweet spot of engaging caption length is in the 500-1,000 and 1,000-2,000 characters range.
Oh, and don’t forget to…
7. Use smart hashtags
Hashtags are similar to keywords in the sense that they help users find content on a particular topic. They are typically used in the captions or comments of a post and when included sensibly, they can help your content reach a larger audience, thus improving your brand’s visibility and odds of gaining new followers.
With the right hashtags, your content is more discoverable via search or filtering when users tap on the hashtag from another post. Users can also follow hashtags on their favorite topics and the top content with that hashtag will show up in their Instagram feed.
For instance, if you wish for your post to reach people who are into running but are also mothers, you could use the hashtag #runningmom. And as mentioned earlier, creating and promoting a branded hashtag (such as Lululemon’s #thesweatlife) in your bio and posts is a smart way to encourage your community to produce free, user-generated content.
Mention’s latest report suggests that the average Instagram post has 6.93 hashtags, but the optimal number of hashtags to get the highest engagement rate is just one. So just because you can include up to 30 hashtags in an Instagram caption, doesn’t mean you should.
Looking for a quick way to find relevant Instagram hashtags? Check out our free Instagram Hashtag Generator.
See below how LEGO uses hashtags that are relevant to both the post and the brand (#LEGO). They also use a neat blend of popular and specialized hashtags. #Holidays, for example, has over 60 million posts associated with it. #RebuildTheWorld has just under ten thousand posts, and many of them are LEGO-related. Also, #ChristmasDecor is a more niche, targeted hashtag.
So, create relevant, targeted hashtags with smaller, yet still sizeable followings rather than only using all the popular generic hashtags on a broad topic. Also, it’s a good idea to group your go-to hashtags by category so you can readily add a few relevant ones to each post.
8. Collaborate with influencers and brand advocates
An effective way to reach new audiences and gain new followers is to join forces with influencers in your niche who already have a notable following. But standard influencers with a near-celebrity status and hundreds of thousands of followers often have exorbitant price tags per promotional post and often, low engagement rate.
So your better bet is to collaborate with micro-influencers — who have a smaller but stronger social following of between 1,000 to 100,000 followers and are regarded as trustworthy experts in their niche. Some examples include travel vloggers, food bloggers, fitness enthusiasts, etc.
They are considered more authentic and have more intimate relations with their followers. They connect on a much deeper level with their audience and thus, have far better engagement rates. Plus, you can easily figure out if their follower base and engagement are real or fake.
So with a micro-influencer, you can have a low-budget (such as by offering your best product or subscription for free) yet a highly impactful partnership that may also turn that luminary into your brand advocate for years to come. The collaboration exposes your brand to a bigger audience in the right light and boosts engagement for your content.
Source: Macy’s collaboration with Brooklynn Prince on InstagramBesides, such partnerships give you a chance to showcase your brand’s values and personality through association, as the people you associate with say a lot about your own brand.
Find out how Mention can help you find the best influencers to work with!
9. Promote your Instagram everywhere
Don’t limit your efforts to promoting your business on Instagram only. If you have a respectable following on other social platforms, a decent-sized email list, or steady website traffic, try to funnel those people to your Instagram profile.
Make it easy for people to find your Instagram, by adding your account’s link to:
- Email footers
- Website footer and/or sidebar
- Bios on other social platforms like Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube
- Social media posts from team members
Many businesses feature their Instagram accounts through live feeds as well, as Casper does below. This also helps boost their social proof and may encourage the visitor to give the brand a follow.
10. Don’t be afraid to get local
Last but not least, location tagging on Instagram is a useful feature you can use to gain more followers for your local business.
Instagram is a platform for discovering new products, travel destinations, retail brands, cafes, etc. — and many users geotag their posts.
If you tag your post with a location, it has the potential to surface when a user searches the location or keyword under the Places tab. Not only does this bring you more local exposure but posts with a tagged location result in 79% higher engagement than posts without a tagged location.
Source: Macy’s collaboration with Brooklynn Prince on InstagramAnd so, include your whereabouts whenever you can across all content types — carousel posts, videos, Stories, Reels, etc. Also, create a location tag for your business. Once people start to check into it, you can see all posts tagged with it and learn how your local community is talking about your business.
Time to Grow Your ‘Gram
Any strategy is only as good as its execution. It’s time to put all these points into practice. While you’re at it, check out our latest Instagram Engagement Report that features data and insights collected from over 100 million Instagram posts.
It’s time to start growing your Instagram today!
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.
TOP 16 ways to get likes on Instagram: fast, free, a lot
Likes on Instagram are one of the main goals of any account, from a simple user to an online store. But why? Likes are an indicator of coolness, success, if you like. Companies that promote their products and services need likes to earn money, win an audience and brand loyalty. For bloggers, a large number of likes helps in promotion and popularity, as well as in attracting potential advertisers.
Therefore, without preludes - I have collected for you the most popular ways to get likes on Instagram with and without services.
how to get likes through services
Another way to get likes is cheating. But, we do not approve of this method, because apart from a beautiful figure you will not get anything. And besides, this beautiful figure will resolve within a week. As a result, all the cheated subscribers will either run away or simply lie dead weight, bringing absolutely nothing to your account.
In the first table, we have collected the TOP of proven services that you can safely use.
| Service | Free version | Cost |
| TmSMM | Yes | from 0.19 ₽/like |
| Likemania | No | from 0.14 ₽/like |
| TapLike | No | from 0.5 ₽/like |
| LikeInsta | No | from 0.40 ₽/like |
| PrSkill | No | from 44 ₽/1000 likes |
In the second table you will find exchanges that will help you not only get likes on comments and posts, but also earn money on them.
| Service | Free version | Cost (per like) |
| Socpublic | No | from 0.2 ₽ |
| Unu | No | from 1 ₽ |
| TaskPay | No | Non-fixed |
| VKserfing | Yes | from 0. 1 ₽ |
Buy a small number of actions. It is better to spread the process over several days. This will protect you from blocking and suspicion from subscribers.
Important. Using wrapping, you do not see the real picture of which post is entered and which is not. You just create the illusion that everything is super in your account. Therefore, do not abuse, but look for real problems and solutions.
how to get likes yourself
Likes cheat services are an easy method, but not the only one. There are other ways to get likes on Instagram without cheating. But they are more likely to help attract an audience to your profile and at the same time increase the number of followers on Instagram. The rest already depends on how you manage it: the quality of the content, expertise, design, etc.
1. Quality content
Content quality is the first thing you should worry about if you want to collect hundreds or even thousands of likes.
It is not only about a beautiful picture, but also about the text. It should be meaningful, without water and, of course, it should attract the eye and desire to read everything to the end. If you lack writing skills, then you can hire a copywriter whose job is to write quality posts.
As for the visual, the opinions of Instagram experts differ on this matter: some believe that the photo and text in one post should be inextricably linked, others argue that the main thing is that the photo does not stand out from the overall picture of the profile. In any case, the photo should be aesthetic, eye-catching, but not pretentious.
2. Keywords and hashtags
Another way to attract an audience and, accordingly, likes, is to use keywords and hashtags. But first things first.
Key words - the very words by which you can be found by potential subscribers. For a clothing store, these are "dresses", "shoes", "suits". For a flower shop, this could be words like "bouquets", "flowers", etc.
Previously, it was enough to clearly define the topic of the blog, write who you are and what you do, what the blog is about, and so on. However, it is not suitable for beginner bloggers. You need to come up with a capacious description that will make your account unique and evoke emotions. Do not get carried away with writing in a hat, be brief, but understandable. In addition, Instagram only skips 150 characters.
On the left is an example of how not to fill out a profile header, on the right is an ideal profile headerAs for hashtags, their use will help increase coverage, “fly in” recommendations and, of course, attract new subscribers. Of course, this will work if the hashtags are relevant to the topic of your post.
Do not overuse high-frequency tags: your post will be lost among thousands of others. It is advisable to use low-frequency tags, under which there are at least 10 thousand tags and mid-frequency - from 10 to 500 thousand.
They belong to niche search and are more likely to attract the target audience.
3. Geotags
Geotag all your publications. On the map, this will look like a place of interest that can be visited for several reasons. For example, you sell your services there. Geotags can also be placed by your clients (not necessarily bloggers) who maintain their Instagram pages for friends and acquaintances. The person will see the mark on the map, read the post, look at your profile and, if he likes it, subscribe.
Even if you don't have a business, geotagging still makes sense. They help users who are interested in the life and blogosphere of the city. But the main factors determining whether a person subscribes or not remain the thematic niche of the profile and the quality of the content. Subject to all these conditions, this is a great way to gain targeted followers on Instagram for free.
An example of a geotag in a publication4.
Publication time The question is quite broad. However, we can say that the timing for publishing content directly depends on your audience. What are we talking about? To determine the best time to post posts, you must form a portrait of your target audience: gender and age, geolocation, what she is interested in, and so on.
For example, you own an online cosmetics store. Your target audience is mostly girls from 18 to 24 years old, students. It is logical that they will not be active in the morning, which means that there is simply no point in publishing content at 9 or 10 am: the coverage will be minimal.
Based on your target audience, the optimal time for publishing posts can be considered the period from 17:00 to 22:00, since at this time the audience will be most active. If your audience is quite wide - mothers on maternity leave, students, teenagers, etc., then the only way to find the right time is to experiment.
Post at 12:00 one day, post at 17:00 the next day, and so on. Then track the activity in the profile statistics and choose the best time to post.
Related:
Instagram statistics: how to see + 52 metrics5. Publication of different formats
So that your subscribers do not get bored, dilute your feed with different post formats. You will see that the activity on your publications will increase.
- Carousel
Why is it necessary to do it now? Yes, just to keep the user on the page longer and show Instagram, they say, look at what good content I have, they spend a lot of time on it.
The Instagram carousel allows you to break the boundaries of the standard social network image format and, as it were, expand the screen. Thus, you can upload panoramic photos and they will not look cropped.
An example of a seamless carousel on Instagram- Video
And in general, the approach to video content.
Agree, they noticed behind themselves: they stumbled upon a video - even in an unfamiliar account - and froze. Why? Because it's beautiful, cool, cool transitions, bright shots, etc. So if you really care about how to get more likes - invest in this business: hire a specialist and do not spare money. Or read about how to edit video on Instagram.
- Reels
Facebook on Instagram has its Tik Tok analogue - Reels. In this section, you can post videos lasting from 15 to 60 seconds. Track trends, participate in challenges. Here you will find an audience and draw attention to the blog.
Instagram seeks to promote a new content format. The algorithms of the social network are more favorable to videos made in Reels and display them more often in recommendations.
Reels section on Instagram6. Target
Targeted advertising is a useful tool that allows you to target an audience that may be interested in your product or profile.
We will not talk about targeted advertising in detail here, we have already written articles about this.
I can only say that in order to get a bunch of likes, you can promote your photos, and select transitions to the profile as the target action. So users will like your other posts.
Related:
Targeted advertising: 5 types + description (instruction)When setting up a target on Facebook, do not forget to clearly indicate the terms of the advertising campaign and limit the budget. Otherwise, FB will drive you into debt, constantly writing off funds for advertising.
Note. If you will set up different targeted advertising, I recommend doing this through the service Getuniq . The passage of moderation is easier, and there is also a bonus when replenishing the budget. But about this shhhh
7. Advertising with bloggers
Native advertising format is now popular, when a blogger does not directly talk about you, but reposts any of your publications or leaves something like a review post, where he mentions your profile .
Blogger subscribers rely on his authority and go to the specified account. And they like it, of course.
Life hack. If you want a guaranteed result, then discuss the terms of cooperation and submission with the blogger in advance. But before launching an ad, be sure to request the blogger’s up-to-date statistics and check him for cheats, for example, in LiveDune.
8. Repost posts in stories (and old ones too)
A very useful way to collect more likes is to repost posts. This will work effectively: some subscribers may simply not notice your new post due to Instagram algorithms, so it is useful to duplicate the post in stories.
Reposting old posts will not hurt either: it will help to collect additional likes from your new subscribers and increase the coverage of publications.
9. Crossposting
If you want your brand to be on several sites at once, but there is no time to create original content, then crossposting will come to your aid.
To make it clearer, cross-posting is the automatic or semi-automatic placement of one message on several sites and services.
How else can you get likes?
Ways to get likes are not limited to a standard set of points, so below I have selected for you methods that are no less effective than those that we have already listed.
1. Hype, trends
Follow the news and build your posts based on them, express your position. If you react quickly, you can collect the asset in your account.
Kings of Hype Oksana Samoilova and DjiganLifehack. No need to “build happiness on someone else’s misfortune”: be constructive and don’t hype on tragedies. Ask subscribers to express their opinion with likes and comments.
2. Audience Engagement
The good old "like like a brother" or "repost please" has not gone away and still remains one of the easiest ways to raise an asset.
In the end, there is nothing wrong with asking your audience for help in case your asset sank. Just in case, I leave for you a duty phrase that works with a bang: "Support me with a like if ....";)
3. Bloggers commenting
Find those bloggers who have your target audience, turn on notifications about publications in order to respond quickly and have time to check in during the active time of the post. Read it and write your opinion on the topic.
Life hack: Use subtle humor in the comments, it always works well for the audience. In addition to the post itself, comment on the opinions of other users to draw more attention to yourself.
4. Mailing in Direct
To purposefully attract the attention of your audience to the post, you can use sending messages in Direct. The content of the messages can be different: ask people to like or describe your offer. Newsletter can be done both manually and with the help of services.
We wrote about all this in detail in the article.
Related:
Direct mailing: 30 services + 4 steps how to make Direct mailingJust don't get too carried away with such mailings. Firstly, quickly discourage users from yourself, and secondly, for non-compliance with the limits, you run the risk of flying into a ban. Per day from one account it is permissible to send 70 letters to subscribers and 50 letters to users who are not subscribed to you.
Interesting. You can optimize communication with customers on Instagram using MyBotan. The chatbot will automatically send a welcome message, talk about promotions and reply to messages. And also, save data about the client and his applications. Agree this will facilitate the work in the social network? Click and test 3 days for free -> MyBotan
5. Contest
Try running a contest among your subscribers. Play a gift, and indicate likes as conditions for participation.
By doing this, you will well increase the involvement among your subscribers and will be able to attract new ones.
Related:
Contests on Instagram: how to run + secrets of engagementLife hack. The time of the competition should be such that everyone has time to participate, but not too long, so that people do not get tired of waiting for the prize. Optimal 5-7 days.
6. Giveaway and Liketime
Giveaways are an activity when bloggers/shops gather, donate gifts to participants and raffle them among the most active. Budget and duration vary. To get the coveted likes, become a sponsor of the giveaway.
Lifehack: Choose giveaways that guarantee no more than 25% of your current audience. This will save the engagement rate. That is, if you have, for example, 10 thousand subscribers, then the maximum give for you is with a guarantee of 2500 people coming. The organizers of quality giveaways can be found on Telegram.
Liketimes are often held by bloggers, and usually the conditions are as follows: like a certain number of publications, comment on the publication, go to the page of the one who commented before you and be active there.
Life hack: Participate only in those activities that take place at the moment. For example, the lighttime started an hour ago, the correspondence in the comments is active. You can participate. If a post with a like time was posted two days or a few hours ago, the chances of getting your likes in response will be less.
7. Activity chats
Activity chats - communities in which those who want to get likes and other activity mutually gather. You like - and you like in response. You can find them on Instagram itself, but it’s more convenient to do it through Telegram, there are many similar chats. Read more about activity chats in our article.
By the way, if you didn't know, you can still see who likes whom on Instagram
Related:
Instagram activity chats: how to find + FAQ Life hack: Join chats with about 20-50 members.
This increases the likelihood that people completing tasks will not be repeated, and you will receive likes from different users. And one more thing: do not join 20 chats at once. You simply will not have time to be active everywhere. Better choose a couple with simple rules without instant blocking.
Briefly about the main thing
In summary, we can say that the number of likes directly affects the life of your Instagram account. The more likes - the more popular your account, which means that the chance of being noticed by advertisers increases. The same applies to those who do business on the site - a lot of likes means trust and loyalty to the brand.
Accordingly, whatever way you choose to collect likes, first of all pay attention to the content that you publish. Yes, the services will increase your likes, help you bring your publication to the TOP, and other ways will attract subscribers. But this will all have a temporary effect if you do not pay attention to the quality of your posts.
