Getting more Instagram followers can open up a lot of new doors for your brand. If you have a website, then more users will come from the social media platform to check out your homepage . This can be great for getting more clicks or creating more conversions.
Do you know what strategies to take to build your following? This guide has everything that you need to know for getting new followers , so be sure to check it out.
Although you can now buy Instagram followers from reliable vendors like Buzzoid, we’ll discuss some free, organic methods to grow your following on Instagram.
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1. Engage With Users on the Platform
It helps if you think of Instagram as a community. You will want to find users who post content that interests you and interact with their content. The interaction could be any of the following:
- Liking their Instagram posts
- Sharing their posts on other platforms
- Commenting on their posts
- Following their account
This is a natural way to draw more followers who are interested in that same kind of content to your Instagram page . It is a great first step to putting your foot in the door of a community.
This also does a few more things for you. First of all, when that other account gets a notification that you interacted with them, they might interact back. So, be sure that you have some quality content up when you start your account.
Second, it also means that you will be seeing more of their content if you followed them. That can be a great way to get inspired to make your own content and stay up to date of what is happening in the community.
While building your following, you can interact with your current followers. This lets them know that you appreciate them. Good ways to do this are leaving positive comments on their posts, following them, and liking their posts.
2. Promote Your Account With Users who Share Similar Audiences With You
When you have a relationship with some other users who have a similar audience to you, you will want to ask them to do a cross-promotion. That would include promoting each other’s accounts. You can think of cross-promotion as a type of social network or Instagram marketing .
The best approach is to make natural content when it comes to cross-promotion. You will want to make everything feel normal and unlike spam. You will also want to avoid doing too many cross-promotions, as they make the ones that you do less impactful.
Influencers and marketers use this method a lot in their content. They will post sponsored images and the brand that hired them will repost that image to their account. Through cross-promoting, both groups reach new audiences - hopefully growing their followers.
Speaking of influencers , use Instagram influencers with a similar niche as you to cross-promote with. This will expose you to their followers, allowing you to reach new audiences . Use influencer marketing to your advantage.
Hashtags can be helpful in these promotions. If a user were to check out a hashtag and saw your promotional content, they might follow you. Always be sure to use specific hashtags appropriately for this extra benefit.
3. Run Contests for Increased Engagement
Another way to increase engagement is to run an Instagram contest or giveaway. Do this by asking people to like, comment, or follow you for the chance to win a reward. Everyone loves free stuff- so this naturally increases activity on your posts.
Another popular method to try is asking your followers to add their own content. User-generated content or UGC is a great way to get the word out there. This might include a hashtag you make that they can also use. For example, users might post something with your hashtag and follow your account for a chance to win.
4. Experiment With Instagram Stories
It can be hard to master the Instagram algorithm with photos. Try a different type of content to up your follower count instead. Instagram Stories are a way to share a behind the scenes look at your brand. Instagram is known for beautiful photos, but the story feature can be used for anything that you want- it disappears in 24 hours. That makes it a great place to post your less polished, but still important, photos.
Snapchat can be an amazing example of how this works. Users respond to this content and engage with it in different ways than traditional posts. Overall, stories are great for building brand awareness , appeal, and even loyalty.
Stories allow you to share videos and images with your following, but they also allow for
interactive polls. Polls are perfect for building engagement and learning more about your audience. When you are verified or get over 10,000 followers, you can add a link to your brand’s website in the story as well. This is a great way to interact with real people and real followers .
How a Brand Can Use Instagram Stories
No matter what you are posting as a story, you will always want to be authentic. Stories are meant to be less polished and not scripted. You can use this to get followers you might be missing out on otherwise.
Stories give you a way to share Instagram content you might not be able to in your photo gallery. Is it someone’s birthday at the office? Is your team doing a challenge? Maybe there is a dog at the office today that you want to show off! perhaps you found a meme relevant to the brand.
Use stories to increase your number of followers . Thinking of the stories feature as “behind the scenes” is the best way to use it. You can give followers insight into a product launch, while making them feel included- like they are in on the secret.
Plus, you can use the 24 hours aspect as a brand loyalty program. If a user checked out the story, you might consider putting them in a contest to win something from your brand.
Polls are also a great feature for brands to make use of. They can be used for an audience to let you know what they think of your products, the content you post, and much more. They are a fun way to get some feedback from your audience and keep them engaged.
Add stickers , gifs, and relevant hashtags to the stories to give them more context and curate engagement.
5. Use Instagram Live
Instagram posts don't just have to be photos on the Instagram feed . Instagram allows you to share live videos , also known as streaming. Though Instagram photos are great, these videos go away when you stop recording, so they can be a good way to reach your audience and gauge their interest at that time.
They can also interact with you while you are streaming, allowing you to converse with them directly- nothing better when it comes to engagement! This experience lets brands share real moments with their audience, making them feel more human.
The live videos can include more features if you want. Popular options are live Q&As or adding music to the stream. Questions and Answers are great for engagement and give your audience a way to talk to you about their wants and needs when it comes to your brand.
Streaming is developing constantly across all platforms. If something interesting is happening with your brand, then you can start recording. Your followers will love to see what you are up to on a daily basis.
6. Share Your Profile Across Platforms
You can put a follow button on your brand’s webpage to redirect the user to your Instagram account . You can use a badge or icon to hyperlink to your Instagram profile easily. It will usually look like the icon for Instagram- a small, square camera.
If your brand has a physical store, you can print a card with your Instagram and website on it- encouraging the customers you meet in person to follow you.
Promote your Instagram on other social media platforms your brand uses too. If a person is already following you on Twitter, they will follow you on Instagram too, without a second thought. You just need to let them know that you have one. Use your other sites as a way to find potential followers and hone in on your target audience .
Encourage your followers from other platforms to follow your Instagram by including a link in your bio and posts- anywhere that they can easily find it.
Always be sure that you are promoting your brand and content as much as possible. This will be helpful in building your following and giving you a stronger base of followers to interact with- creating a community around your brand.
7. Post User Generated Content
User-generated content ( UGC ) refers to posts made by people who follow you, usually promoting your brand in some way. It is similar to cross-promotion but allows your followers to be more engaged with you.
Plus, if your followers see a normal person promoting your product online, they are more likely to believe the product is good than if they see a famous person promoting it. UGC is a great way to show your followers that you appreciate them as well.
So, if you want to increase your brand’s awareness, this is one of the best ways to branch out.
How a Brand Can Use UGC
A brand can use UGC to earn more trust. Whether you are offering a product or service, consumers want to know they are getting what they pay for. Showing them that your service is quality can earn their trust.
Modern generations spend a lot of time online- so they know exactly how to find content on your brand. If you want them to buy from you, you will want to be sure that what they find is good. Consumers have been known to trust the opinions they find online about brands.
UGC can even be used to inspire brand loyalty. The users who make content about your brand are likely your number one fans. By promoting their content, they see that you care, and are going to be more likely to stick around.
Since you are running your brand’s Instagram, you probably realize that it can be difficult to always have posts ready and on tap. Making new, engaging content all the time is exhausting, but if your followers are excited about making it, let them! You can save the UGC they make and post it slowly over time.
This way, you will never run out of relevant material to post. As a bonus, your followers will have many more opportunities to engage with you.
Best Practices for UGC
Always ask for permission. Your best option is to use your hashtag to collect and sort through UGC . Even if someone is using your hashtag , be sure to ask their permission before you share their post.
Be sure to let them know that you will credit them anywhere that their post is shown. Let them know you appreciate them making content about your brand and keep them excited about your products.
If you do not ask for permission, you might find yourself facing copyright infringement. Even though it is your product, you do not have a right to the image of the person or the photo itself as a brand.
You may consider offering the user something of value as well. If you want your followers to provide you with UGC , then you can give them something through a contest.
Many Instagram users make UGC for views and likes on their own profiles- so you do not want to miss out on making your own hashtag . You should be getting submissions constantly by those who want to be featured on your site. Having an original hashtag is an important part of the best practices for UGC .
Once you’ve uploaded a photo with a caption, consider the option to buy Instagram likes from Buzzoid to improve the chances of your photo reaching the Explore section.
Finally, whether or not you use the content, you can learn from it. It is a great way to research your audience and lets you know who to improve your digital marketing strategy.
You might see users using your products in ways you never imagined, so use it as an opportunity to broaden your horizons and reach more people through creative methods.
8. Diversify Your Audience
Of course, you have a target audience and demographic , but try to diversify your audience. If you start to diversify your audience, you will resonate with many different kinds of users. There's no way to be on the trending page if you only have one audience type. As your followers grow, it can be harder to tell what they may find appealing.
If you have 200k followers, you probably realize that they are from different places in the world, have different hobbies, and different types of careers. Instead of making content to appeal to all of them at once, use Instagram analytics tools to split them into more manageable sub-groups.
From there, post content that will appeal to each sub-group. Not every post you make has to appeal to a majority of your following, but you want to connect with everyone individually. This demonstrates that your brand has values and cares about their followers.
Make posts that reach a different group in your audience every so often and you should be able to keep more niche followers interested and sticking around.
Instagram captions should be short, sweet, and to the point. Try adding a call to action in it, or insert a clickable link into your Instagram bio . Don't be afraid to add in an emoji either. Curating unique captions will increase the engagement rate .
9. Apply for Verification
When an Instagram account is verified, it is marked by a blue dot. This is also called a badge and it will be displayed beside your username. When someone searches you and sees that blue dot, they will know that you are exactly who you say you are.
This is important on the internet, where people might practice catfishing- where they pretend to be someone else. Having your account verified means that more people will be sure to put their trust in your brand.
Instagram does have a lot of requirements to earn the verification badge, but the platform does allow any user to apply for one. You will want to start the process early on, so you can get the badge as soon as possible.
Always Remember…
You will want to keep in mind that quality is better than quantity. It is a business account after all. You need to focus on the followers that you have and making quality content for them to enjoy- no matter how many of them there are. Let your content drive traffic and foster follower growth . Your business profile will grow if you put effort into making content.
If you just use some quick fix to get more followers, it is going to be short-lived or full of bots. People will unfollow you quickly. Real engagement requires real people , so be sure to work hard on your posts.
The followers you have are not sticking around because you have a large audience. They are there to see what content you are going to make next. If you suddenly start making lower-quality content , then your followers might start to drop off.
Long term followers are interested in your brand’s story. They will engage with you and visit your website. Without them, your brand would be going through a tough time, so be sure to let your current followers know how much you appreciate them now and again.
However, post content on a regular basis . Use a posting schedule to help you manage the load and consistent posting. To make sure that the new content is like the top posts, use templates, and a killer Instagram strategy to keep the content fresh and quality.
Conclusion
Social media marketing doesn't have to be hard. It is important to build a long term strategy on your Instagram account to gain followers. You want to focus on making high-quality content , promoting your brand with a good message, and building your brand’s story.
Overall, the less you worry about the numbers and the more you engage with your community, the better your brand is going to do on Instagram. There are many ways to increase engagement, which we listed above, so be sure to try them out.
If you have any questions, please reach out to us. We would love to hear from you