Instagram has become one of the most popular social media platforms being used today. It has become so popular that companies have started to engage in collaborating with celebrities, content creators, and “influencers” on Instagram to promote their products and services. It’s certainly a game-changer in marketing, and one that a lot of companies quickly adapted to. With so much going on in Instagram now, you must certainly up your game to gain more followers. Here are tips that will guide you on how to get more followers on Instagram.
Have Creative and Consistent Content
Instagram users have become more particular with the accounts they follow. Even if what you are posting is related to the interests of a user, if they don’t find your profile appealing, then they’ll just pass your account over. Having a certain aesthetic – that is look and feel – to your account will help keep the consistency in your profile. It also establishes your brand. Of course, do not forego creativity just to keep the consistency. Find the balance between these two to pique the interests of the users, especially your target audience.
Make Interesting Captions
Don’t limit your creativity to the photos that you post. Make your captions interesting as well – you can be informative, witty, engaging, compelling, or funny. Don’t be afraid to tell stories. They can add value and contexts to your feed. A great caption also increases the “share-worthiness” of your post.
Take advantage of the fact that you can also use captions to engage with the users, especially your followers, by having calls to actions or even hosting contests. Use your caption to let your followers know that you want them to participate in your brand as well.
Use Appropriate Hashtags
Hashtags will help to categorize and promote your post. Using correct and quality hashtags will also help you to reach your target audience. Make sure that the hashtags are purposeful – that is, they relate to the image you posted, your brand or, your advocacy. Don’t input hashtags just for the sake of it.
Having your own hashtag will also make your brand more recognizable. Make it creative and promote it on your website, your other social media accounts, e-mails, newsletters, etc. so that users will be able to recognize and use your hashtags. Use your hashtags effectively and use different, related hashtags varyingly in your feed.
Use Instagram Stories
Instagram stories is a great way to share other content to your followers without compromising the aesthetic in your feed. You can also use it to cover events that you are a part of, introduce new products, or just let your followers into what’s happening during your day. The “Swipe Up” feature allows you to link your story to a web page. You can use this to promote new content.
Stories also serves as another means to engage with followers. The ability to create polls, for example, is a great way to gauge the interests and thoughts of your followers. The use of Instagram story templates has become a trend, too. This is another great way to engage with your followers and it doubles as a promotion when they re–post your template.
A recent feature that Instagram added to the stories is the Highlights. Stories disappear after 24 hours, but you can keep your stories available for as long as you want by adding them as a highlight. Categorizing them will also keep your stories organized and interesting.
Promote on Your Website and Other Social Media Networks
Cross promotion is an essential tip on how to get more followers on Instagram. It lets your existing friends and followers know that you have an Instagram account they could follow. Having other accounts elsewhere in the Internet will also increase your visibility to more users which is already a good promotion for your brand and your Instagram account. You can post a link to your Instagram account on your website and other social media accounts such as Facebook and Twitter. Since you can also link various social media accounts to your Instagram, use that to your advantage so that you can simultaneously post new content to all your accounts.
Follow and Collaborate with Like-Minded Content Creators
Following and collaborating with creators who have similar content to yours or who are interested in what you are promoting in your feed will help widen your horizons in terms of the users you are able to reach. This would be especially advantageous if you are able to collaborate with a user who has a large following. Through collaboration and participating in the community, you are making your presence known to your target audience.
Consider Instagram Ads
Instagram ads will help promote your profile to your target audiences who might not be able to stumble upon your profile. This gives you more visibility and it’s a more straightforward than, say, expecting your target audience to find you when they search for hashtags.
Instagram has made and is continuously making updates and improvements to their application. Get familiar with these updates so that you can use them to further promote your account, improve the aesthetics of your feed, and engage with the community and with your followers. It is also important to get real followers instead of relying on bots because it gives you more credibility. Stay patient and creative and remember these pointers on how to get more followers on Instagram.
