If being obsessed with growing your Instagram is wrong, we don’t want to be right. We all know social media success can take many forms; engagement matters most, the real prize is the friends we make along the way, blah blah blah.
However, the fact remains, that having a big, devoted audience of loyal followers makes all the difference when it comes to your Instagram marketing strategy. And because of such, we’ve compiled a list of the best ways to attract real people, keep the followers you have, hack your way into organic Instagram growth, and increase brand awareness while you’re at it.
For tried-and-true strategies, we tapped industry expert Lauchland Lee, Social Media Manager of TurfLiving — a fitness studio, retail space and cafe all in one — for her best Instagram growth strategy.
Bonus: Download a free checklist that reveals the exact steps a fitness influencer used to grow from 0 to 600,000+ followers on Instagram with no budget and no expensive gear.
Why is Instagram growth important?
Does growth matter? On social media, yes. You should always be looking to up your follower count and reach more people because:
- Your brand will be more visible. As your account grows, and your followers and fans like, comment on and share your Instagram content, your brand presence will grow, too.
- Your overall engagement will improve. Followers are more likely to engage with your content than strangers, so the more followers you have, the more likely your content will be interacted with.
- You’ll look more authoritative. Follower count isn’t everything, but it can indicate your brand’s reliability to potential customers and potential brand partners. A little clout can go a long way.
- The algorithm will favour your content. Instagram’s algorithm ranks content higher depending on who users follow, so the bigger your community of followers, the more likely your content is to be recommended to non-followers.
- New followers lead to new customers. A follow on Instagram can be the first step to a sale: once a user follows you, they’ll see what your brand offers on the regular, and they’ll be consistently reminded that you exist and have a product or service worth buying.
- You can communicate with your target audience. Establishing a community of followers on Instagram makes it easier to connect with your audience in real-time. It’s a modern, efficient way to share information.
- You can brag to your boss. Follower count is a simple metric of success that’s a must-cover in your next social media management report, and big numbers will state loud and clear what a great job you’re doing.
- Your competitors are doing it. Even if you’re not working on growing your targeted audience on Instagram, your industry competitors are: keep yourself in the game by continuously improving.
How to get followers on Instagram: 21 fool-proof ways
1. Partner up
Partnerships with creators and collab posts with other brands expose your biz to a new audience and a ton of new potential followers.
“It’s got to be intentional,” says Lee, explaining that Turf only collaborates with people and businesses that align with the brand’s values. For example, a partnership with Wilson sporting goods was a great fit.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C9NNxnogVOp
2. Get into Reels and carousel posts
Part of upping your follower count and reach is creating posts that are engaging.
While still photos are beautiful, Reels and carousel posts (posts with more than one photo or video) are more engaging—users are more likely to like, comment on and share content that is dynamic, like the AirBnb Reel below.
3. Post consistently
One factor that the Instagram algorithm values highly is novelty. New posts usually rank higher than old posts, as the platform requires constant content to remain exciting and engaging.
Posting consistently (and at optimized times) shows both Instagram and its users that you’re dependable.
And let’s face it, social media is a numbers game—even the most popular Instagram accounts have posts that don’t perform well. “Not every single thing has to be a hit… it’s the consistency that’s really important,” says Lee. Posting often gives you more chances to get more reach and, in turn, more followers.
Posting consistently can be time consuming and overwelming, but you can schedule your posts and save time with Hootsuite.
4. Engage with your audience
Instagram is a place to connect, and your relationship with your audience shouldn’t be a one-way street (or any relationship you’re in, for that matter—if they wanted to, they would).
Turf’s replies on this collab announcement are a great example of hopping into your comments section.
Source: @turfliving
Reply to comments on your posts and Reels, engage in the DMs when your followers like your Story and be as responsive as you can to messages. This lets your followers (and potential followers) know that you care, reminds them that there are real humans behind the screens and builds trust.
5. Prioritize keywords
Using the right keywords will make your Instagram posts more SEO-friendly and help the Instagram algorithm show your content to people who will be interested (and, importantly, likely to follow you).
If you’ve got a case of keyword writer’s block, you can use Hootsuite’s Owlywriter AI tool to help you come up with creative caption ideas.
To get all those juicy SEO-smart words in—but keep your captions concise, fresh and varied—use hashtags as another hint for the Instagram algorithm. Target hashtags (and keywords, mentioned above) help your content pop up organically on user’s feeds and on the explore page.
Instead of telling potential followers how great your brand is, show them: share your customer success stories with pride and exhibit your awesomeness for all of Instagram to see.
Sharing this kind of content helps grow your follower base because it provides evidence of your success—it also helps to build community, bond with the customers you already have and assert your account as a place to connect.
8. Host contests or giveaways
Host a contest or giveaway to give Instagram users an incentive to follow you. It’s one of the easiest ways to gain followers, fast. (Just make sure that following you is part of the entry process.)
This is a great way to see a boost in your follower count, but make sure you have a well-rounded social media strategy to keep those followers once the contest is over.
9. Participate in trends…
Hopping on a video trend or trending audio will help your Reel rank higher on Instagram’s algorithm, because the algorithm favors current and popular content with users. Just be sure you’re looking at the trend through the lens of your brand.
For example, there’s this “on fire” Instagram trend:
Turf participated in this trend, too. “You have to find your own little hook,” says Lee. For this modern cafe, the hook was nine milk alternatives.
10. … or make your own trends
As Gandhi probably once said , “be the trend you wish to see in the world.”
If current Instagram trends don’t suit your brand, you can make up your own—that’s what Turf did with this class-cancelling Reel.
“Don’t solely rely on trends out there, because a lot of those get really saturated,” advises Lee. A fresh, original, trendsetting Reel will set you apart, helping you grow your follower base organically.
Relatability is key when you’re starting something new: be relatable and take a risk. “There’s a lot of opportunity to have fun—just trust your gut,” Lee shares.
11. Use original branding
“I gotta warn: what we do takes a lot more time,” says Lee with a laugh. Turf’s social content doesn’t use the fonts that come with Instagram, so it appears visually different from many other posts on the app. The unique design makes the content stand out, in a good way.
“Your sense of brand is so important,” adding that consistent, brand-specific language also helps to create content with a cohesive vibe (Turf uses words like “bonkers” and “whackadoodle”).
Having an original, distinct look will draw more viewers (and more followers) to your content. It takes more time and effort, but it’s worth it (and hardworking design and editing tools can make the job a little easier).
12. Post user-generated content
User-generated content (content that’s created by your customers, then shared by you) feels like cheating… repurposing photos and videos that other people already made? Score.
User-generated content, like the post above, proves to your audience that you’re engaged and listening (and that you think they’re great photographers).
Though, don’t forget to always ask permission to repost content—most of the time, users will be thrilled that you want to show off their photos or videos but on the off chance they don’t, it’s always best to ask.
Plus, users will often re-re-share UGC, giving your brand more opportunities to reach that user’s community and appear on the feeds of a fresh audience.
That’s something that Lee keeps in mind when posting UGC to Turf’s insta. “We want Turf to always feel like a community hub, and that comes down to our social,“ she says.
Humanizing your brand will help you gain more followers because social media users value authenticity (especially Gen Z).
Turf often shares personal posts from fitness instructors, exciting achievements for the brand, and even birthday cakes on the brand’s anniversary. “Honestly, we’re just so genuinely excited by our wins,” says Lee.
Building your audience through authenticity will also help you find loyal followers for your brand. Sometimes, it’s more about quality than quantity.
“We care about community engagement—not in the sense of how many likes we are getting, but in how many people we are bring together,” Lee says.
14. Plan ahead (but not too far)
Part of posting consistently, showing up for your audience and gaining a loyal follower base requires planning ahead and scheduling your content.
Hootsuite’s calendar tool can help you schedule posts in advance across platforms.
Lee says she usually plans content a week ahead but reviews her schedule often to make sure the posts make sense. For example, she cancelled publishing a sun-safety post because it happened to pour with rain on the day the post was scheduled.
“We work on a schedule, but at the same time, you have to read the room,” she says. Posting content that’s out-of-touch won’t do your follower count any favors, so leave room to be flexible.
15. Be funny
Everyone’s a comedian!
No matter how elevated or serious your brand is, you can likely find room for some playfulness in your Instagram strategy. Posting content that is genuinely entertaining will help grow your follower base because Instagram users will see value in your content: it makes them laugh.
Then, all that’s left to do is slide some sneaky marketing in. The Reel above posted by a London restaurant does it perfectly. No notes.
Another way to be valuable? Share advice or instructions that will improve your audience’s lives. Helpful, free, and functional advice is rewarding for users, and they’ll follow you for more of that sweet, sweet info.
17. Be timely
This goes hand-in-hand with both planning ahead and being useful: the more current your content is, the more users will want to follow you in order to remain up-to-date.
If you’re a dependable source for news, updates and current info, following you is a no-brainer.
Being timely doesn’t necessarily mean sharing news or pop culture, it can be as simple as keeping your social media audience informed about what is going on in your industry or community.
18. Use Shops and Calendars
“At the end of the day, you don’t want to desensitize people to the fact that you’re selling a product” Lee points out. Features like Instagram Shops and event reminders prompt viewers to engage with your products or scheduled events.
Source: @turfliving
These features give folks new to your brand more areas to explore and more information about what you offer (and more reasons to follow you).
19. Show the hard stuff
It may seem counterintuitive, but sharing some of the less glamorous parts of your brand can actually help you grow. Again, social media users value authenticity, and some of life’s trickiest moments can be the most relatable.
Sharing the bad and the good will give your audience a genuine reason to support you, whether that’s through a sale or a follow.
20. Fake it ‘till you make it
At the beginning of this blog post, Turf’s social media manager shared a collaboration with Wilson as an example of a great partnership. But partnering with a big brand can be intimidating, too.
“We were like, ‘okay, we’re collaborating with Wilson, let’s turn it into a campaign, make it big, make them want to re-share the content,” the social media account manager says. “There shouldn’t be an awareness of how small your team is or how small your business is—just show up strong.”
Through a combination of email newsletters, Instagram stories, Reels and posts, Turf showed up for this collab in a major way, leading to more of Wilson’s supporters taking notice and following the small business.
21. Ask for follows
Finally, there’s the old-fashioned way—if you want followers , just ask! A clear call to action might be all it takes to get more supporters for your brand.
Tell your viewers what kind of content you make, why it’s great and let them know that the only way to keep up with your brand is if they follow you. Easy, right?
Save time managing your Instagram presence using Hootsuite. Schedule and publish posts directly to Instagram, engage the audience, measure performance, and run all your other social media profiles — all from one simple dashboard. Try it free today.
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