Whether you’ve just launched a one-person company or are part of a 100-person team, if you want to grow your business in 2020, you need to know how to get more Instagram followers.
Why? Because 500 million people are active on Instagram daily, and 79% of them search the social media platform for a product or service. That’s a giant audience actively looking for the things you sell.
To get you started, we’ve plucked 21 winning strategies from successful Instagram accounts that will help you get more followers.
Read on to get your Instagram education, motivation, and more than a little inspiration.
Fact: some of the most successful companies in the world leveraged Instagram to build incredibly fast-growing businesses. Beauty brand and D2C unicorn Glossier, for example, focused their social media efforts on Instagram and have acquired 2.8 million followers since 2014.
The competition is fierce, however. You’re up against over 25 million other companies with Instagram accounts. And forget about taking shortcuts, like buying likes and followers. Those shady tactics will not work and can actually damage your business.
No, if you want socially driven growth like Glossier, you’re going to need solid strategies to get more Instagram followers the right way.
Luckily, Instagram continues to create more ways to engage and grow your audience. The trick is keeping up with these new options and learning how to use them to your advantage.
1. Find Your Target Instagram Followers
When you find the audience that is interested in the type of content you create, your fan base will grow quickly.
Instagram Insights, the platform’s analytics tool, provides a lot of useful information, so you can learn more about who these people are.
Example Instagram analytics
Narrowing down your current audience based on their demographics also makes it easier to go after potential new followers with similar characteristics. You don’t want to spend time targeting an audience under 25 if your product doesn’t appeal to them.
Once you’ve defined your audience, it’s time to look at the type of content that will prompt them to engage.
2. Use High-Quality Images
Instagram is a visual platform, so using high-quality images that stand out is table stakes for getting more followers.
Just look at this image from graphic artist Kilian Eng.
Imagine this post popping up as you scroll through your feed. This is the type of content brands are up against on Instagram.
Now, we’re not saying that you need to create art for every post, but quality should be considered.
Use filters and tools like Layout or Boomerang to create images that differentiate your brand. The more attention-grabbing your image is, the more it will attract new followers.
3. Find the Right Hashtags
Hashtags are one of the primary sorting functions for Instagram content. Targeting specific keywords in hashtags can significantly increase your reach.
Here’s an example from men’s grooming brand Beardbrand.
While you can use up to 30 hashtags per post, Beardbrand uses only eight here.
Of these, one hashtag is branded (#Beardbrand), four are product-related (#beard, #mensgrooming, #beardstyles, #beardcomb), and three are specific to the post (#model, #beardmodel, #KeeponGrowing).
If an Instagram user searches for any of these topics, this post will show up.
Research your market and understand the hashtags that your customers and competitors use.
Start by taking a look at the best hashtags to use for every day of the week. Then, experiment with the ones that make the most sense for each post.
Just make sure you’re targeting a specific interest group and not just using all the hashtags you can think of. And if you want to use a lot of hashtags, you can always add some in a comment after you post, so your caption doesn’t look like a hashtag yard sale.
4. Join the Conversation with Your Instagram Followers
Instagram is a social network, so engaging with your followers is a critical part of how you grow an audience.
Look at how White2Tea, a direct-to-consumer tea brand, does it.
When someone made a comment about wanting this teapot, White2Tea took the opportunity to reply in a humorous and human way.
Potential followers might ask a question on one of your posts to learn more before choosing to follow your account. Chatting with them directly is your chance to show some personality and provide answers.
Your comments go a long way towards building trust with not only that follower but also anyone else who sees the exchange. It’s your opportunity to make the brand feel more human.
5. Use Instagram Ads for Maximum Reach
Instagram lets you create feed and story ads to promote your profile.
Men’s health brand Wiser Minds uses IG ads to promote content about supplements.
Instagram ad via Wiser Minds
By using ads to promote a blog post their target audience would care to read, Wiser Minds is building a funnel that will increase their Instagram following and attract people to their website.
Use both feed and story ads to create campaigns that broaden your reach, increase brand awareness, and boost your posts in the feed. When you target the right audience with these ads, you increase your chances of finding new followers.
6. Add Stickers to Instagram Stories
Instagram story stickers are interactive visual elements you can add to your Stories.
This post from Driveway Art, a company that sells stencils you can use to decorate your driveway, is a great example of how you can add stickers to your Instagram story.
Instagram Story via Driveway Artco
When viewers click the Paw Driveway Art Stencil, they’re taken to a product page where they can buy the item shown in the story. They’ve also included an account sticker that links to the original photographer’s account—an easy way to credit the content’s creator.
The list of stickers you can use seems to grow every day. Here are some popular stickers for marketers:
- Product – like the one Driveway Art used
- Location – a geotag that helps you connect to local audiences
- Quiz – an interactive sticker that allows your followers to answer questions
- Hashtag – works the same way as hashtags in posts
Stickers make Stories more engaging and useful. That’s important for brands since 62% of IG users say they become more interested in a product after seeing it in their Stories.
7. Share User-Generated Content
In Instagram, user-generated content (UGC) is content, such as videos and photos, that has been created and posted by unpaid contributors and is relevant to your brand.
When people visit the U.S. National Whitewater Center, they often post photos of the grounds and activities available there. The USNWC, in turn, shares those posts on their Instagram account.
UGC shared by the U.S. National Whitewater Center
In this example, a visitor posted a beautiful image from their outdoor yoga experience, and the USNWC used it in their story.
If someone tags your brand in a fun post, share it on your profile. Sharing tagged posts helps people see how current followers feel about your brand and can lead to stronger relationships with potential influencers. Not to mention, it’s free content to fill your feed.
By showing how current followers and customers enjoy your products, you’re adding to the social proof of these user-generated posts. Just make sure you’re always getting permission before posting. It’s polite and lets the follower know how much you appreciate them sharing their story.
8. Launch Contests
Instagram allows you to run contests from your posts and Stories. To do it, you simply offer some type of reward in exchange for an action, like commenting on a post or tagging a friend.
Consider the contest run by FishTrack, an app that helps you find the best fishing spots.
To enter this contest, followers were asked to tag the Instagram accounts of the two brands involved. That means those two brands will become visible to the network of every person entering the contest. Plus, both brands will have plenty of new UGC to share on their own accounts.
Contests on Instagram are also a great way to get more engagement on your posts. And engagement is one of the factors the Instagram algorithm uses to prioritize posts in your feed.
What’s an appropriate prize for your contest? It should be valuable enough to make people want to enter but also specifically chosen for your audience. That way, the people who enter are more likely to be interested in what you sell.
9. Write an Engaging Bio
Your bio is where you get to display valuable information about your brand, like a link to your website or a description of what you offer.
See how toymaker LEGO does it.
LEGO’s Instagram profile page
In this bio, LEGO connects with their fans by noting that their Instagram page is where “everything is awesome.” That’s a reference to the LEGO movie fans would understand.
Including your branded hashtag and a link to your homepage in your bio is also a good idea. Instagram doesn’t allow you to link through posts unless you use Instagram Shopping, so your bio is your chance to send people to your home page.
Notice also how LEGO keeps their bio short and to the point? Your Instagram profile should be focused on a single goal, like introducing your brand or directing followers to your website.
10. Show a Lot of Personality
On Instagram, your brand’s personality shines through every photo and comment you publish. Make sure it’s the personality you want followers to see.
Fast-food chain Wendy’s is a classic example of a big brand that doesn’t shy away from expressing a personality.
Instead of just posting photos of their newest combo meal, Wendy’s shares creative images and memes that make people want to return and see what they’ll post next. And of course, Wendy’s is also famous for their spicy comebacks to comments.
The lesson? You can’t be boring on Instagram. There are thousands of brands vying for attention from followers, so you need a distinct message to stand out. Just remember to stay true to your brand; authenticity is equally as important.
11. Tell a Story with Longer Captions
Stunning and creative photos may be the way to grab Instagram users’ attention, but a great caption is how you’ll keep it.
Patagonia’s Instagram feed is filled with expertly crafted examples of story-based captions.
What’s great about Patagonia’s caption is that it not only tells an interesting story, but it also motivates you to click a link and learn more.
There are lots of ways to write captions, and shorter captions are great most of the time. But sometimes you can engage visitors more and longer with a great story.
Remember, though, that only the first 125 characters are visible on mobile until you tap the ‘more’ button, so put the most important information at the top of your caption.
12. Figure Out the Best Times to Post
People interact with Instagram throughout the day. The best time to post depends on when your audience is most active on Instagram.
Instagram analytics on peak follower engagement times (image source)
Start by testing out times based on Instagram Insights to figure out which times are best for your target audience.
Some Instagram content types are more affected by posting times than others. For example, Stories will bring in more followers during peak hours, whereas posts can gain traction over a few days.
Think about how these times impact your ability to engage with your audience as well. If you’re running a promotion or encouraging comments, you need to be there to reply to any questions.
13. Follow and Engage with Other Brands
Even with an Instagram business account, you can follow other brands and comment on their accounts.
Here’s how Hilma, a purveyor of natural remedies, does it.
By posting a comment on Vitruvi’s post, Hilma became visible to Vitruvi’s audience of over 100k followers. They also created a connection with another brand that could, in return, follow Hilma’s account as well.
Just how well does this strategy work? Sia Cooper, aka Diary of a Fit Mommy on Instagram, used it to add tens of thousands of new followers to her Instagram account.
14. Try Instagram TV for Long-Form Content
Instagram TV is a platform where you can show video content that’s longer than the 60 seconds allowed within the feed.
Eyeglass maker Warby Parker uses IGTV to great effect.
In this video, Warby Parker exposes an important voice in the LGBTQ+ community, showing their commitment to the issues that matter to them and their followers.
Those viewers can then choose to scroll through the brand’s additional videos and find more content they like or go directly to the Warby Parker profile for more information on the brand.
IGTV allows you to showcase your brand to users without time constraints, so they really understand the value of your account and are likely to follow it.
15. Collaborate on Live Video
Instagram allows you to add one additional person to live videos, giving you the opportunity to co-create content with influential people in your space.
Sweety High, a publication for tween and teenage girls, hosted a live video with actor Jeremy Ray Taylor.
By using the live video split-screen, Sweety High was able to keep both the host and a guest visible during the interview—a more pleasing arrangement for viewers. Plus, viewers can comment and ask questions in real-time, giving them a way to engage with celebrities and experts few other platforms offer.
You can also encourage guests to share the event with their followers before the live video, allowing you to tap into their audience as well as yours.
Considering that 80% of Instagram users say they’d rather watch a live video than read a post from a brand, it’s worthwhile finding ways like this to make them more engaging. Want more? Here are eight great ways you can use Instagram Live Video to attract new Instagram users.
16. Host Instagram Takeovers
Invite guests to temporarily take over your Instagram account to get new followers interested in your brand.
Here’s a great example from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.
By having a successful alumnus take over their Instagram account, MIIS shows prospective students what they can accomplish with their degree, not to mention giving followers a reason to come back and visit their account several times to see what’s being posted.
Like UGC, takeovers are also a great source of fresh, original content that’s interesting to your audience. Make sure you announce the takeover ahead of time, so followers know to tune in at a particular time.
17. Add Geotags to Your Posts
An Instagram geotag is a location tag you can add to your post or story. The tag appears at the top, underneath your Instagram name. Geotags help people find your account when they’re searching Instagram by location.
Scroll through GoPro’s account, and you’ll see that they use geotags on many of their posts.
When a user clicks on the geotag for Trolltunga, Norway, in another post or searches for that location on Instagram, they’ll be exposed to GoPro’s post. It’s a free way to have your posts discoverable in a different way.
Geotags also help businesses with physical locations reach their local customers and global brands target people in select locations. So, if you’re rolling out a new product in select markets, you can hyper-target locations with your Instagram posts.
In Stories, you can add clickable location stickers, which function much the same way as geotags.
18. Tag People to Boost Awareness
Tagging is when you link out to another Instagram user’s account in your caption.
Travel luggage brand Away does this well. Have a look at this example.
By tagging blogger Olivia Murray in this post, Away encourages her to share the post with her followers. That way, both Away and Murray benefit from each other’s audience. Not only that, but Murray joined in the conversation in the comments.
All that extra engagement will only help Away’s chances of landing in more users’ Instagram feeds in the future.
19. Create Story Highlights
Instagram Stories disappear from your feed after 24 hours, but you can pin Story Highlights to your profile page, so users who are new to your brand can view them.
Take a look at Airbnb’s profile page, and you’ll see how they use Story Highlights to promote their brand and engage their followers.
Instagram Story Highlights via Airbnb
With their Story Highlights, Airbnb gives their hosts a spotlight, shares design tips, and promotes many of the experiences you can book through their platform.
Instagram Stories see higher engagement than regular posts. It helps you provide timely updates and create longer narratives about your brand. Story Highlights helps you give a longer life to that valuable, but ephemeral, channel.
20. Create Custom AR Story Filters
Augmented reality (AR) filters are effects you can layer over the photos you post to Instagram. While AR filters are fun for users, they become useful for getting new Instagram followers when you make your own custom filter.
Look at this example from Prada.
Prada’s Acronym custom AR filter
When someone uses the Prada filter, they’re shown a link in the upper-right hand corner to the brand that created it. Plus, everyone who sees that AR-enhanced post is given a button to try it themselves.
For Prada, that means the potential for viral reach for their brand.
21. And Last But Not Least, Post Consistently
Being on Instagram is all about visibility. So it makes sense that you’d want to post more often, so users see you more often.
Take Fitbit as an example.
Fitbit’s Instagram page
Fitbit posts to their Instagram page, on average, once per day. They’ve also grown their audience to over 700k followers. While there are several reasons why Fitbit’s page is popular, their posting consistency helps.
How can you be sure? Because research shows that brands that post more get more likes and comments. Since engagement is a key factor in Instagram’s algorithm, posting consistently gives you an advantage when you’re trying to get more followers.
Elevate Your Brand by Gaining More Instagram Followers
Use these strategies, and you’ll be able to leverage your growing audience for increased brand awareness and loyalty. A larger audience means you’re able to share information about your products with more potential customers.
Not to mention, a significant follower count makes your business look credible to users, so it may very well encourage people to explore your account and follow it.
Once you gain more followers, you have the power to significantly boost brand awareness on Instagram. You’re able to share information about your products with so many potential customers at once and share it with their networks.
Not to mention, a significant follower count makes your business look credible to users, so it may very well encourage people to explore your account and follow it.
By using the strategies listed here, you’ll get more Instagram followers quickly and be able to leverage this huge audience for more brand awareness and loyalty.
This is definitely a great guide. It really does boil down to consistency and giving people what they want to see!
If you are not posting at a regular interval you are simply not going to be in their mind. So, follow the hashtag tips and tricks, the interaction with target audience, but most importantly, keep disciplined about posting more interesting content.
Got my 2200 follower in about 6 months and now it growing really slowly how to get it going faster? @flashyprofessionals
great guide.
Is there something more like influencer marketing on Instagram which is different and software like Instagress one can use sometime but carefully.
Consider http://bit.ly/engageinsta – it helps you manage your Instagram account with scheduling and better engagement!
If you already have a Facebook page with good enough likes you can target these users through Instagram. Running a contest in such a scenario helps.
I am about to promote my personal Instagram account, and at the moment I have 724 organic followers.
Hope if I try to follow your advice this number will grow.
This is an awesome, honest and very useful article! Thanks a lot.
My name is smilez2perfect on Instagram and I have almost 300 followers. I make funny skits and have been working hard. I have been having issues with alot of people following and then I’m following its so annoying. I have been working hard to get 3 or 4 followers a day.
Very nice article. I like the go horizontal idea and it’s consistent with what creative pep talk is saying to do with influencer marketing and collaboration of late. I also enjoyed the 20 minutes a day regimen…definitely going to try that for a few weeks and see if engagement improves.
Thanks for taking the time to write this!!!
New to instagram i was accused of spamming when i tryed an app to generate more followers on. I was unable to use app it didnt recognize my user name n dude said u was spamming this article gave me an idea how to better use instagram n how to organically get followers Very informational page iv found with u guys
This is one of the best and interesting article because it’s informative and well researched, hopefully, this will help to increase my follower, thanks again and keep up the great work!
Have you tried using Hashatory? It is a marketing tool that helps in building Instagram following.
Well, I have a new business site. I paid $200 to a coach for some training. It’s basically a 10 hour a day thing. And really formulated, this is if you buy no followers. He even coached to like 19 people every 15 minutes. Then unfollow the following hour, then follow again the next hour…I just don’t have time for this and don’t see any way a small business should even bother to compete with all these high number accounts unless they are teens and don’t have to earn an income. I was also given the information, above. But basically, the only way to grow organically with engagement, is to spend all day and night on the app. That’s just unhealthy. I also have noticed watching all the youtube videos, that many of these influencers, although they said not to buy followers, “did it in the past — but they didn’t know” you can even join comment groups without at least 500-5000 followers. I have a feeling a lot of people are sneaking a little bit. (500 bought followers here and there.) The clean rules only work for people who already are in the “game”…even if they did it the “wrong” way a few years ago “oops”…yet now they are winning. I have even heard reference to buying accounts to get ahead. It’s not a nice app to promote a new business that’s for sure. Not a fan of all the shady ways to earn fans. Even with my original self-created niche content, it’s going to take me years to build up my followers…. End of rant. 🙂
Thx for the information, what a great article
A very nice article, I will definitely try this tips on my insta account
Very good post. Nice info provided
This is such a great article and cover some of the key strategies on how to grow your instagram account organically. Key is to be patient and experiment with your quality content and good niche based hashtags. This is the same which we started doing at crayon.blocks
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Interesting stuff to read. Keep it up.
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I have a successful meme page on Instagram with 197k followers and still counting. This is what it looks like to others when they visit my Instagram page but the struggle I had 1 year back when I started my page was so demoralizing. No matter what I post, how good I post or how unique I post, it was not reaching to enough audience resulting poor quantity of followers and neither likes nor comments on my posts. Then I found wizboost com. It unbelievably boosted my followers in no time and the journey of my meme page to become a successful page begun. Thanks to Wizboost.
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Amazing Articles! I tried Your tips and Let’s see if we can get interaction from users. However, I have also purchased 2k Instagram Followers from a company and got pretty good appreciation.
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thank you
Lovely this article! this is very helpful for me and other who wants to know how to get real instagram followers.
Thank you for this article. Growing a new Instagram followers is kind of getting seed funding for your startup. You can also create your custom retargeting audiences based on Instagram post engagement, customer email lists, Instagram video views, Instagram followers and more.
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Hi There,
I really love your guide to getting the 1000 Instagram followers in just one month and thanks for sharing with us.
Regards,
Basit
Great Article
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This is such a great article! You need to have patience – if you grow your following authentically – it takes time but it is worth it! This is the same which we are doing at fgatelier
Needful tips to improve my business Instagram account followers. You were briefly explained the opportunities to expand the brand through Instagram marketing. I will try these all tricks and let see how it’ll impact my followers count.
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The concept of cinemagraph is very interesting to me. I would love to implement these tactics to promote my blogs Instagram page. Thanks for these tips.
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Hi,
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Such a helpful article! tips are relevant in 2019, too. We have a new blog, where we also try to be useful to our audience, helping with the choice in the field of drawing and give interesting tips. It’s time to get an instagram acc! I understood this thanks to your article.
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I am a professional blogger, and I value Instagram a lot. The reason I can say this proudly is because I use WizBoost com as my Instagram account automation tool. Wizboost is so amazing that I can schedule my posts according to my desired time and I don’t need to be online all day for that too. A mobile-friendly awesome tool for Instagram.
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