Building up a real, organic following is crucial to increasing your brand awareness and engagement on the giant photo-sharing platform. A huge following comprising active, real users will amplify your prestige and visibility, plus help you establish relationships with real people. In this guide, we’ll walk you through 10 effective steps to get more real Instagram followers and take your social media presence to the next level.
1. Optimize Your Instagram Profile
The first thing any user sees is a profile; hence, this is something that needs to impress, yet make a statement. Let your profile picture, bio, and username be to the point with your brand. Your bio should descriptively tell who you is and what to expect from your content. Place keywords and relevant hashtags in your bio for better discoverability of the account.
Key Points:
- A clear profile picture representing your brand or persona.
- SEO-optimized bio with relevant keywords and hashtags.
- Include a website or landing page link in your bio that will drive traffic back to you.
2. Publish high-quality, engaging content regularly.
Obviously, to attract real followers, your content needs to be outstanding. Uploading striking photos and quality videos, along with interesting stories, will intrigue people and make them want to follow you. The key here is to be consistent: posting consistently with the intent of keeping your audience hooked-and maybe sharing it.
Tips for Better Content:
- Use bright, high-resolution images that are visually striking.
- Create a consistent look or feel that characterizes your brand.
- Mix it up by posting a variety of content on Instagram Stories, Reels, and IGTV.
3. Use Relevant Hashtags
Hashtags are among the best ways to make your content discoverable. Relevant and trendy hashtags on your posts surface in search and reach more audiences. Avoid over-popular hashtags, wherein your posts might be lost within the flood of content.
How to Use Hashtags:
- Use a mixture of popular, niche, and branded hashtags.
- Don’t use more than 10-12 hashtags per post, as it may seem spammy.
- Do research on trending hashtags within your industry or community.
4. Engage with Your Audience
The algorithm of Instagram favors more engagement; hence, it is essential to engage your followers. Reply to comments, like other people’s posts, and participate in other people’s activities in your niche. It creates a community sense, and that will make many people want to follow. The more you engage, the more your posts will appear on your followers’ feeds.
Ways to boost engagement:
- Use your captions to invite responses by asking questions.
- Run giveaways or contests where the user has to engage with your post.
- Partner with influencers or accounts to cross-promote each other.
5. Leverage Instagram Stories and Reels
Keep your followers engaged with quick, bite-sized content on either Instagram Stories or Reels. From behind-the-scenes content to polls and daily updates, stories capture it all. Meanwhile, reels can boost your visibility by showing fun, engaging short-form videos.
How to Effectively Leverage Stories and Reels:
- Publish daily updates about your stories to keep top-of-mind.
- Tell stories and engage your audience through polls, quizzes, and questions.
- Create fun, entertaining Reels, or educationally informative ones showcasing your persona or expertise.
6. Partner with Influencers within Your Industry
Influencer partnerships expose your account to new, larger audiences when partnering with those that align with your brand. Find micro-influencers whose followers are highly engaged and match your target audience. Authentic collaborations feel natural to their audience and will develop the urge to follow your page.
Influencer Collaboration Tips:
- Choose influencers whose values are a good match for your brand.
- Clearly negotiate the collaboration terms in terms of content type, number of posts, and compensation.
- Encourage the influencer to create authentic content that connects with their followers.
7. Posting at Optimal Times
To maximize the reach of your posts, it’s important to post at times when your audience is most active. Use Instagram Insights to analyze when your followers are online and schedule your posts accordingly. Posting at optimal times will increase engagement and visibility.
Finding the Best Posting Times:
- Check patterns of audience activity in your Instagram Insights.
- Experiment with different posting times and closely monitor performance.
- Use scheduling means like Later or Hootsuite to post on time.
8. Run Instagram Ads
It’s worth noting, however, that while organic growth is great, running ads on Instagram can hasten follower growth. Ads can be targeted towards very specific demographics, interests, and behaviors, ensuring your content is seen by the right people. Paid ads may often be what gets one’s account to the pace in growth desired.
Key Reasons to Advertise on Instagram:
- Reach a targeted audience beyond your current followers.
- Amplify your visibility by sponsoring posts in feeds and stories.
- Drive traffic to your profile or website using call-to-action buttons.
9. Cross-Promotion to Other Platforms
If you’re active on any other social media or a website, use it to your advantage by promoting your Instagram account. Cross-promotions allow you to drive traffic from one platform to another, hence gaining a following of interested users.
Cross-Promotion Ideas
- Share your Instagram posts on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Include your handle in the e-mail signature and newsletter.
- Do promotions for Instagram by guest blogging or making guest appearances.
10. Be Consistent, Patience Pays
- Building up an organic following will take more time and effort.
- Keep posting regularly and continue the hard work of engaging with your audience. Yes, organic growth is slower; however, the followers one gains are truly loyal and far more active on the account. Avoid taking the shortcut of buying followers, which might harm the credibility and long-run engagement of an account.
Long-term growth strategies: Pay more attention to the quality rather than the quantity of followers.
Stay updated on Instagram’s latest features and trends.
Regularly measure account analytics to track the growth and make strategy adjustments.
Conclusion
You’ll need a strategic approach, great content, and engagement to grow a real following on Instagram. These 10 steps will help you get real followers who show interest in your brand and will engage in your content. Yeah, it takes time, but it’s worth it if you aim to have real rewards from an Instagram community that’s loyal to you. If you want to grow even faster, you might consider supplementing with services that help your instant visibility and organic engagement, like Instant Famous.