Did you know that Instagram is a super popular social media platform? Lots of people use it, like over a billion every month! That means it’s a great place for brands to share their stuff with really interested people.
If you’re not getting as many likes or comments on your brand’s Instagram posts as you want, or if you want to learn new ways to get more followers, you’re in the right spot.
Today, we’ll talk about nine ways to get more Instagram followers. We won’t talk about sneaky tricks or shortcuts, but real things that famous brands on Instagram do.
Table of Contents
1. Leverage the Instagram Algorithm to Your Benefit
Understanding how the Instagram algorithm works is the first step to making your Instagram content better and getting more followers.
Usually, only a small percentage of people who follow you will see your posts in their Instagram feed. This can be confusing for marketers. There are a few reasons why this happens:
- Lots of content: There are so many pictures, videos, stories, and GIFs on Instagram. It’s hard for people to see everything.
- No more chronological feed: Instagram doesn’t show posts in the order they were posted. Instead, they show what they think you’ll like the most. This doesn’t always include brand posts.
- The 10% rule: When you post something new, Instagram only shows it to 10% of your followers at first. They want to see if people like it. If it gets lots of likes and comments quickly, then they show it to more people.
But don’t worry! There are ways to use this information to your advantage. You can do things to make sure Instagram shows your posts to more people. Here are the things that matter to the algorithm:
- People engaging with your posts: Likes, comments, shares, views, and saves are important.
- People sharing your posts directly: When someone sends your post to their friends, Instagram likes that.
- Building relationships: Instagram wants to show you content from people you know and like.
- Making your posts relevant to each person: Different people like different things, so your posts should be interesting to them.
- Being consistent: It’s better to post regularly than at a specific time of day.
- People searching for things: If your content matches what people are searching for, it’s more likely to be shown.
- How much time people spend on your post: If someone spends a long time looking at your post, Instagram thinks it’s good.
In the next strategies, we’ll show you how to use this information to make great posts and get more followers. Also, you can learn more about how you can understand Instagram algorithms work.
2. Upload User-Generated Content (UGC)
Have you ever found an Instagram account for a brand and wondered how they have so many followers and such cool pictures? It can be hard for brands to make great content and get people to like and comment on it.
But there’s a way to solve this problem. It’s called user-generated content, or UGC for short.
Here’s how it works: Brands find really good pictures and videos made by regular people or influencers on the internet. Then, they share those pictures and videos on their own social media pages or other places. They always give credit to the person who made it.
The first thing you need to do is decide what you want the content to show about your brand. This might change as you learn more about what your audience likes.
Here are some questions to help you figure out what kind of user-generated content to use:
- What interesting stories do our users have to share?
- What makes our brand or product special?
- How do we want others to see our brand or product?
- What do people in our community enjoy doing the most?
Once you have an idea, you can ask Instagram users and influencers if you can use their content on your account. They often say “yes”! And if you’re looking for how to become a UGC creator as well, you can learn by clicking on the link.
3. Reels Content is Important!
In 2020, Instagram introduced Reels, and they quickly became really popular, especially because of the Covid lockdowns happening all over the world.
Reels are a lot like TikTok, and Instagram is focusing a lot on Reels to keep up with TikTok’s popularity. If you want to get more followers on Instagram, using Reels is a great idea.
When people scroll through their Reels feed, they see content from people they don’t follow. This means they can discover new accounts that they might like based on their interests.
If your brand posts on Reels, it’s important to understand the Reels and TikTok culture. Pay attention to popular sounds, themes, and styles so you can fit in and be part of the fun. Make sure your brand has a strong personality and show that in your Reels to make them entertaining and interesting.
You can also learn the secrets to making your Instagram Reels go viral in no time!
4. Make a Giveaway
One way to make your audience really happy is to have a giveaway. On Instagram, giveaways mean you can give something away for free if people do something like follow you, like your post, leave a comment, or share it with others.
If you do the giveaway right and have creative ideas to run Instagram giveaways, it can help more people know about your product or service. It can also help you build a group of followers who really like what you do.
And the best part is, it can help you reach new people who are friends of your current followers. Amika is a brand that does really cool giveaways that people love. And entering them is easy!
To have a successful giveaway, you need to do a few things:
- Set a goal: Decide what you want to achieve with the giveaway. Do you want more fans, more people to engage with you on social media, or more sales? Choose a goal that helps your business and make a budget for it.
- Make it easy to enter: You want it to be simple for your audience to enter the giveaway. Ask them to do basic things like follow your Instagram account, like the post, and tag a friend in the comments.
- Choose an awesome prize: The prize you offer should be really exciting for your audience. It should be worth at least $100 and can be something you sell, a special experience, or a free service.
Remember, running a giveaway is a fun way to reach your goals and make your audience happy!
5. Craft an Unforgettable Brand Stories
A lot of brands post cool stuff on Instagram, but sometimes they forget to tell a story that connects everything together. Your username, Highlights, filters, and the pictures and videos you use all help show what your brand is about.
If you want more followers on Instagram, it’s important for your brand to not just be relatable, but also become a part of your customer’s identity. People should feel like your brand understands them as a person. To create a memorable story for your brand, you should focus on:
- Themes and styles: The ideas and looks that show up in your content.
- Colors and visuals: The colors and images you use.
- Voice and tone: How you talk and what you say.
- Words and hashtags: The phrases and tags you use.
Just like the clever creators at Pixar said, “Great stories are universal.” To tell a good story, you need to understand people’s emotions, what motivates them, and how they think.
One way to know if your brand’s story is easy to understand and interesting is to tell it to a friend or family member who hasn’t heard it before. Watch their reaction and see where they pause or have questions.
Keep simplifying and improving your story until it’s amazing.
6. Do Not Underestimate Popular Hashtags
One of the best ways to get more followers on Instagram is by using hashtags. Hashtags are like special words that help people discover your posts and let your brand reach more people.
But using just any hashtags won’t do the trick. You need to use the right ones, you need to know how to use Instagram hashtags effectively.
So, which hashtags should you use? Just like on Twitter and other social media sites, Instagram users have their favorite hashtags. If you use the most popular ones in your photos, videos, and Stories, you have a better chance of getting new followers and being found by more people.
One helpful tool we like is called AllHashtag. It tells you which hashtags are most popular on Instagram right now. We analyze the hashtags they use and see which ones work the best. This gives us important information that we can use to improve our own posts.
Remember, you can use up to 30 hashtags on Instagram, but it’s best to use between 3 and 15. This way, your posts feel real and not like spam. It also helps get more people engaged with your content.
We also have a list of the most popular hashtags of the month or year, so we can easily schedule them with our Instagram posts.
7. Go All In on Instagram Stories
I don’t know if you feel the same, but I spend a lot of time looking at Instagram Stories. It’s just as fun, if not more, than looking at the regular posts.
Instagram has over a billion people using it every month. Did you know that 86.6% of those people share Story content every day? That’s really amazing! And it’s a great opportunity for your brand to get more followers.
Instagram Stories can help brands a lot. They let you do more than just post regular pictures. You can use cool features like hashtags, location tags, polls, countdowns, and more. These things help more people see your brand and what you’re doing.
With the correct strategy, you also can drive more conversions with Instagram stories.
8. Boost High-Quality Content & Products with Instagram Ads
In 2015, Instagram started showing ads and it changed how marketers do their job. They can use the same system as Facebook to reach a lot of people who really like Instagram.
Instagram has different ways for brands to run ads, depending on what they want to do. Brands can choose from options like:
- Making people more aware of their brand
- Reaching as many people as possible
- Getting more people to visit their website
- Getting people to download their app
- Getting people to like and comment on their posts
- Getting more people to watch their videos
- Getting people to give their contact information
- Getting people to buy something from them
Brands can also choose who they want to show their ads to. They can pick things like age, where people live, what they like, what pages they follow, what language they speak, and more. Brands should try different combinations of pictures and who they show the ads to until they find what works best.
You can also learn our 5 Important Tips to Create High-Performing Instagram Video Ads.
9. Share Content Regularly
Just like with other social networks, there are two important things for a strategy to work:
- The kind of things you share
- How often do you need to post on Instagram?
Both of these things are important for your success. You should post really good stuff on Instagram regularly.
Why? Because the things you see on your feed are not only from the people you follow. They’re also based on the things you’ve liked and looked at before. If the Instagram algorithm thinks you’ll like something, it will show it to you more.
So, what you see on Instagram is a mix of everything you’ve done. It’s the people you follow, the things you do the most, the people you’re tagged within pictures, and the stuff you like, comment on, and watch.
Conclusion on 9 Ways to Get More Instagram Followers
Instagram is a super popular platform with over a billion monthly users. If you want more followers, we’ve got you covered!
Discover nine real strategies used by famous brands. Learn about leveraging the algorithm, uploading user-generated content, using Reels, hosting giveaways, creating brand stories, using popular hashtags, maximizing Instagram Stories, running ads, and sharing content regularly.
Get ready to boost your Instagram game and gain more followers!
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