Methods to Get Extra Followers on Instagram: 17 Concepts for 2024

Instagram is greater than a spot to attach with pals, share trip images, or add a foolish video of your canine. Since its inception, the social media platform has grown right into a powerhouse advertising and marketing channel, utilized by manufacturers in all places to attach with potential clients. 

Meta’s picture and video sharing app has additionally springboarded the careers of numerous creators who monetize their private manufacturers via their content material. Should you’ve ever considered leveling up your presence on Instagram or beginning a enterprise on the platform, you’re in the appropriate place.

Greater than 1.35 billion customers browse Instagram every single day, hungry for visible inspiration and traits. How do you get their consideration?

On this information, discover ways to create content material that wins actual followers (not bots) and to extend engagement in your Instagram posts, Tales, and Reels.

Methods to develop your Instagram: 17 methods to get extra followers

1. Incorporate Reels into your content material combine
2. Cross-promote content material
3. Optimize your Instagram profile
4. Work with creators and influencers
5. Construct your private model alongside your small business
6. Present up on characteristic accounts
7. Construct a hashtag technique
8. Submit on the proper occasions
9. Interact along with your rivals’ followers
10. Collaborate with appropriate accounts and creators
11. Use location tags to spice up native discovery
12. Set up your Instagram Tales in Highlights
13. Ask for extra followers in Instagram posts
14. Run a giveaway
15. Share user-generated content material
16. Use Instagram Reside
17. Attempt Instagram Adverts

Entrepreneurs say Instagram is the second most vital social channel for advertising and marketing, behind Fb, and 80% report that they use the channel to advertise their companies. Getting essentially the most out of your advertising and marketing {dollars}, nonetheless, begins with constructing a loyal and engaged viewers of followers on Instagram.

Whereas follower rely is just one success indicator on Instagram, rising followers can unlock monetization alternatives for influencers and supply companies with precious social proof. 

1. Incorporate Reels into your content material combine

Instagram began as a photograph sharing app, shortly entering into video with its Tales characteristic. Tales are a extra intimate type of vertical-format video, viewable solely to pals, followers, and guests to your web page. Reels, nonetheless, are public-facing, providing extra attain via Discover on Instagram and, due to this fact, viral potential. 

Manufacturers and creators ought to take into account including Reels to their Instagram technique attributable to their excessive engagement charges in comparison with Instagram posts. Common likes on Reels is 42% increased than that of posts, and Reels see 4 occasions the variety of shares over posts. 

“Reels give anybody the chance to achieve new goal audiences,” says Trilce Jirón Garro, proprietor of social media advertising and marketing company TBS Advertising. “Creators can produce community-driven content material that builds belief, beneficial properties followers, and makes gross sales over time.” 

Reels supply manufacturers and creators an opportunity to be extra candid and human. To create content material for Reels, maintain the following tips in thoughts:

• Hold content material distinctive and trend-driven. Determine traits on Instagram, TikTok, and throughout the net and put your individual spin on them. This will increase the prospect your Reels will go viral and get in entrance of recent audiences.
• Make content material relatable and easy. Not each Reel must be a Hollywood movie. Decrease high quality movies can carry out in addition to (if not higher than) Reels with excessive manufacturing worth.
• Educate your viewers. Discover the steadiness between schooling and leisure in your Reels. This could be a mixture of how-to movies, suggestions, business information, humorous takes on viral traits, and product demos.

“Don’t promote your merchandise via Reels content material,” says Trilce. “Share details. Present suggestions concerning the business you’re in. Entertain viewers.” 

Residence model Tarte Gelatina has nailed this format, remodeling product launches and even order packaging into entertaining clips.

To grasp what works and what doesn’t, don’t overlook to faucet into analytics constructed proper inside your Instagram account. Utilizing Instagram Insights for Reels, you’ll be able to see patterns and perceive totally different spikes in engagement that have an effect on your visibility on the platform. That approach, you’ll be able to double down on the content material varieties that deliver extra engagement and followers. 

📚 Learn extra: Methods to Use Instagram Reels to Market Your Shopify Retailer

2. Cross-promote content material

Cross-promoting entails posting related content material throughout numerous social media channels (or Instagram accounts). It’s a tactic used to avoid wasting time and sources. It’s additionally efficient at rising model consciousness and rising an viewers on Instagram. 

Whether or not it’s a short-form video or a prolonged tutorial, you’ll be able to enhance the attain of your Instagram content material by testing it on different platforms. And, if certainly one of your TikTok movies goes viral, attempt it (or the same idea) on Instagram.

Why is that this vital? Whereas a few of your viewers could overlap, you should have distinctive followers on every social app. “There are totally different individuals on totally different platforms,” says Hugo Amsellem, angel investor and adviser at Jellysmack. “The overlap is barely 10% to twenty%. You’re not going to repeat the identical message to the identical individual throughout totally different channels.”

In an interview with Trendy Retail, Nadya Okamoto, founding father of way of life interval model August, mentioned, “As we’ve grown on TikTok from August, we’ve additionally grown to 175,000 followers on Instagram.” Actively posting on a number of platforms has affected August’s buyer acquisition price (CAC), permitting the model to steer away from paid media as its fundamental acquisition channel. 

TikTok isn’t the one channel you’ll be able to cross-post on. The Instagram Reels format interprets properly to YouTube Shorts and Pinterest Tales. Should you’re cross posting, nonetheless, be sure you perceive the preferences in every neighborhood and tweak to accommodate.

3. Optimize your Instagram profile 

Instagram customers will doubtless uncover you thru your content material when it seems on the Discover web page. In the event that they’re compelled to study extra, they’ll navigate to your profile. It is a important step in gaining a brand new follower. That’s as a result of a powerful model is a sign to potential clients and followers that your account is for them (or not). 

Your Instagram profile is certainly one of many touchpoints alongside the shopper journey. Your model ought to due to this fact present up in the identical approach it might in your ecommerce web site, different social channels, your product packaging, and buyer communications. 

The whole lot out of your avatar to your Instagram bio to your content material grid issues. “Your Instagram feed serves because the billboard in your model. It’s a buyer’s first touchpoint with you and captures the essence of your model,” says Trilce.

Ask your self:

• Do the weather successfully talk some extent of consistency via persona, filters, colours, or format? 
• Am I taking full benefit of the clickable hyperlink in my bio? 
• Does the general mixture of components successfully seize my model?
• Does my Instagram bio take full benefit of this area, conveying the appropriate tone and data?

On Letterfolk’s Instargam profile, constant colour palette and graphics give the account an expert look. The grid options a mixture of inspiration, merchandise, and buyer appreciation, providing guests a style of what to anticipate.

When Instagram customers click on Letterfolk’s hyperlink in bio, they’re taken to a web page with a number of choices, together with a shoppable grid that mirrors its content material. 

You may even set up branding in your Reels grid. Creator @alokvmenon makes use of a constant captioning and titles model to present their content material a cohesive look and assist guests determine Reels they wish to watch. 

💡Tip: Use a software like Later, or use Instagram’s native scheduling characteristic to plan and schedule Instagram posts and Reels to create the look and format of your feed. 

4. Work with creators and influencers 

Whereas Instagram advertisements can get you attain, partnerships with influencers can add belief and credibility to your paid promotions. One survey discovered that solely 38% of shoppers belief content material from manufacturers, whereas 61% mentioned that they belief influencer suggestions. 

When including influencer advertising and marketing to your technique, make sure the partnership is a match for each your model and the creator. The higher your audience aligns with the creator’s follower base, the extra doubtless you’re to search out success with the marketing campaign. 

Instagram influencer advertising and marketing examples

Residence items model Sarah Ellison partnered with well-liked drag queen Courtney Act on a design collaboration and paid Instagram content material. This boosted the model to Courtney’s 1.2 million followers.

On this paid partnership, cleansing model Mrs. Meyer’s Clear Day teamed up with DIY creator Tina Le Mac to create content material related to each the model and Tina’s followers. 

Frank Inexperienced constantly works with influencers of all sizes, together with celebrities {and professional} athletes, to create branded content material campaigns like this one:

On this paid advert by style influencer Darnell Bernard, a Dr. Martens placement blends seamlessly with the creator’s different style-focused content material, making the partnership one which feels pure. 

💡Tip: Use affiliate marketing online networks or Influencer marketplaces to match with creators which might be already open to working with manufacturers. 

5. Construct your private model alongside your small business

Should you run a founder model (mainly, a model with a powerful tie to its founder’s story), construct out your private model’s Instagram account alongside that of your small business. 

Harnessing each the corporate account and your private account can enhance model recognition, follower counts, and gross sales. It’s a tactic that works for style label ANINE BING. Along with the model’s personal Instagram profile, the corporate’s founder additionally drives engagement and consciousness via her private Instagram account.

One other nice instance of utilizing your private model to drive followers to your small business account is Katie Sturino. The physique positivity influencer shares well-liked content material sequence like “Supersize the look” the place she creates plus variations of celeb outfits on her Instagram account. 

Sometimes, she additionally options her model Megababe’s merchandise, nudging her followers to the model web page.

6. Present up on characteristic accounts

Sure Instagram accounts, usually referred to as characteristic accounts, are people who curate the very best content material in a particular area of interest—and a few have an enormous following. If you will get placement on these accounts, it has the potential to ship new Instagram followers to your profile. 

There are characteristic accounts for each area of interest: journey, style, images, pets, and extra. For instance, @discoverearth curates journey content material from creators and photographers all over the world for greater than 6.6 million followers.

The primary picture right here, shot by Instagram person and aerial images model KG Airview, was amplified to Uncover Earth’s following—an viewers that’s an in depth match for its personal.

To get picked up by these accounts and have your content material broadcast to tens of millions of Instagram followers, use frequent hashtags that these accounts use, tag them in related content material, or try their particular submission pointers. 

It is a nice solution to acquire new followers on Instagram who already have interaction with content material like yours. 

7. Construct a hashtag technique

Your objective on Instagram is to have interaction your present viewers regularly whereas additionally rising your account. Posting constant and fascinating picture and video content material will maintain present followers loyal, however how do you appeal to new followers along with your Instagram posts? 

Utilizing hashtags is one solution to present up in search outcomes for customers on the lookout for content material like yours. A standard technique is utilizing well-liked Instagram hashtags that customers usually search. These hashtags, nonetheless, are typically saturated.

On the time of writing, these are the highest 10 hashtags on Instagram:

1. #love
2. #instagood
3. #style
4. #photooftheday
5. #lovely
6. #artwork
7. #images
8. #comfortable
9. #picoftheday
10. #cute

The hashtag #love has been utilized in greater than two billion posts. The possibilities of standing out from different well-liked accounts utilizing this tag are slim—and it could not even be related to your model. 

A greater technique is discovering hashtags which might be related to your model and content material. Analysis hashtags and key phrases inside your business and get to know which hashtags your audience is utilizing. 

A social media hashtag generator software like Iconosquare or Later may help you discover hashtags for your small business account. These are paid apps that enable you to generate instructed hashtags primarily based on recognition and relevance. 

Should you’re on a price range, you’ll be able to nonetheless discover related hashtags by typing goal key phrases into the search bar within the Instagram app. Attempt totally different key phrases that describe your model and merchandise, constructing out your hashtag key phrase listing as you go.

Doing competitor analysis is one other hashtag discovery tactic. Take a look at the content material of your high rivals on Instagram. What hashtags are they utilizing on their hottest posts? 

Making a hashtag listing

Your key phrase and hashtag analysis ought to lead to an inventory of tags you should utilize constantly throughout your content material. For instance, in the event you run a males’s sock enterprise in Toronto, your remaining listing of related hashtags may appear like this: 

• Model key phrase hashtags: #mybrandname #mensfashion #mensaccessories #mensgoods #style #mensstyle #instafashion #menswear
• Product class key phrase hashtags: #happysocks #corgisocks #socks #sockswag #socksoftheday #sockgame #socksofinstagram #happysockday 
• Location-specific key phrase hashtags: #Toronto #TorontoFashion #TorontoFashionBloggers #madeinCanada

Retailer these teams of key phrase hashtags in a handy location like a notes app or Google Doc. This makes it simple to repeat and paste into content material, even on the go. Some Instagram scheduling instruments even allow you to save caption templates (together with hashtags) for one-click captions.

Unbiased bakery Small Scale Bread makes use of hashtags related to the product, location, and season in its Instagram submit saying new fall goodies.

✏️ Notice: To bump older content material, you’ll be able to add hashtags to feedback or use the edit characteristic on Instagram so as to add them to the captions after posting. 

Utilizing hashtags in Instagram Tales and Reels

Don’t overlook to make use of hashtags in Reels and Tales, too. In Instagram Tales, you should utilize hashtag stickers (which could be discovered within the Instagram Stickers menu when making a Story) or simply hashtag straight in your submit captions.

Since customers can comply with hashtags, your Tales on Instagram have an opportunity to be seen by people who find themselves following that hashtag—not simply your account followers. 

Hashtags in Reels are added on the third stage of the Reel creation course of. Add your video and edit it earlier than continuing to a display screen the place you’ll be able to add location tags, hashtags, and person account tags.

8. Submit on the proper occasions

A strategic strategy to your social media content material calendar entails analyzing person habits and your account’s efficiency to find what content material works finest at what occasions. Whereas there are a selection of social media instruments for manufacturers, Instagram’s personal built-in analytics can supply loads of insights right here.

Should you’re simply beginning out, attempt consulting the very best occasions to submit on Instagram primarily based on advertising and marketing analysis. Chances are you’ll discover, nonetheless, that your individual viewers doesn’t comply with this commonplace. That’s why it’s vital to tweak your strategy as insights roll in. 

To automate the duty of posting on time, think about using a social media scheduling software to routinely publish your posts when your viewers is essentially the most engaged—even when it’s if you’re sleeping.

📚 Learn extra: Uncover the Finest Time To Submit on Instagram

9. Interact along with your rivals’ followers

Your direct rivals’ followers are an excellent focus in your efforts. In spite of everything, they’ve already indicated they’re concerned about a product or model like yours. 

The 5 sorts of engagement on Instagram are:

• Observe a person
• Like a submit, Story, or Reel
• Touch upon a submit
• Tag a person in content material
• Ship a direct message

Participating along with your audience is an effective way to indicate that you simply’re open to two-way communication and constructing a relationship with followers and clients. Eighty-eight p.c of shoppers say that authenticity is a vital issue when selecting to help a model. Engagement is an effective way to indicate there’s an actual human behind an account—not only a bot auto-posting content material.

10. Collaborate with appropriate accounts and creators

Along with influencer advertising and marketing on Instagram, you’ll be able to companion with different manufacturers and creators on campaigns and content material that supply mutual profit. This works finest when each accounts have one thing to achieve, like entry to an viewers that resembles a goal buyer. 

When collaborating with different firms, select a model that’s complementary to your individual. For instance, in the event you promote activewear, a water bottle or good watch firm would doubtless have viewers overlap. 

Right here, hosiery model Rachel partnered with clothes model Rose Buddha to run a giveaway providing a prize of 1 12 months’s price of clothes. The manufacturers and merchandise are aesthetically appropriate with out being straight competing.

11. Use location tags to spice up native discovery

Apart from hashtags, you can too make your Instagram posts, Tales, and Reels discoverable by tagging your location—both town you’re in or the venue the place the picture or video was taken.

Places not solely have their very own Instagram feed but in addition their very own Story the place you’ll be able to floor your content material to locals and vacationers looking out the situation.

Native companies can get essentially the most worth out of location tags by posting repeatedly to those feeds and in addition participating with posts from potential clients who’re bodily within the neighborhood. 

Whereas The Backcountry Hut Firm ships its prefab cottages and saunas all through North America, its model is proudly Canadian and aligns with the tradition and way of life of its house, British Columbia. 

12. Set up your Instagram Tales into Highlights

One of many components of your web page that shouldn’t be missed is Story Highlights. Instagram Tales disappear after 24 hours, however you’ll be able to delay the worth of the content material by organizing them into Highlights. 

These present a further alternative for brand new guests to your web page to get a style of your model, content material, and merchandise. If customers can immediately discover the data they’re on the lookout for, you’re extra prone to acquire Instagram followers.

Right here, Ruggable makes use of Highlights to group Tales into product collections, particularly its collaborations with recognizable names and types like Barbie and Iris Apfel, giving on the spot credibility to the enterprise. 

Way of life model Frank Inexperienced makes use of highlights to group content material varieties together with cleansing suggestions, new product collections, collabs, reward guides, and buyer info.

Story Spotlight concepts

You may set up Tales in quite a lot of methods to draw extra Instagram followers. Listed below are a couple of concepts to get you began: 

• Create trailers that tease what your account and model are about.
• Set up your Tales into themes, product collections, seasons, or content material kind (DIYs, product launches, behind the scenes, and so on.).
• Create a brand new spotlight every time you launch a brand new product or assortment to maintain Highlights contemporary and related.
• Collect user-generated content material into one Spotlight to rejoice your loyal clients. 

13. Ask for extra followers in Instagram posts

Don’t be afraid to sometimes ask your audience to comply with you. The identical approach YouTubers ask viewers to subscribe, you can too nudge Instagram customers to comply with you for extra content material.

You are able to do this in your Instagram captions or point out it in video content material like Reels and Tales. Use frequent advertising and marketing techniques to encourage customers to comply with. What’s in it for them? Inform your viewers why they need to comply with you, what to anticipate, and what’s arising. 

💡Tip: Creators must also nudge present followers to grow to be subscribers. Instagram Subscriptions enable creators to supply unique content material to paying subscribers—one of many best methods to become profitable on Instagram.

14. Run a giveaway

Top-of-the-line methods to incentivize a comply with is by working a giveaway. Typically, manufacturers and creators ask customers to finish a number of actions as a way to enter. These embrace:

• Following the account (and the accounts of any collaborators)
• Liking the competition submit 
• Tagging certainly one of extra pals
• Leaving a remark
• Clicking out to an entry kind on the model’s web site (this additionally helps construct an electronic mail listing)

Tags deliver you a possible new follower, pushed by a trusted suggestion, and engagements are favorable to the Instagram algorithm, that means your submit might get much more attain.

These two contests by Portland Leather-based and Saints & Sinners go one step additional, encouraging contest entrants to share the submit to their Tales, gaining exponentially extra attain for the model and contest. 

✏️Notice: Observe Instagram’s promotion pointers and concentrate on any authorized necessities that govern Instagram contests in your nation or area.

15. Share user-generated content material

Consumer-generated content material (UGC) is any kind of content material—movies, images, written evaluations, audio, and extra—that’s created a few model by a fan, buyer, or follower. UGC helps humanize your model and provides it credibility, as a result of it serves as a reliable assessment from an actual buyer. This will increase buy confidence. 

And, if you share a submit from a buyer, their quarter-hour of fame is prone to strengthen their loyalty to your model, encouraging them to refer pals and buy once more. 

UGC may help you acquire extra followers on Instagram—and extra gross sales. Customers are 56% extra doubtless to purchase one thing after seeing a photograph of the product shared by different clients. 

E-book Wurm usually reposts content material from comfortable clients on to its Instagram web page, thanking them for his or her buy and tag. 

UGC finest practices

Your largest followers will share their experiences along with your merchandise with out prompting, however there are methods to encourage extra UGC:

• Create a branded hashtag feed the place clients can submit photographs.
• Add a name to motion in your Instagram bio.
• Run a contest and ask for video or picture evaluations as entries. 
• Attain out to smaller influencers and supply free merchandise for an trustworthy assessment.
• Add a postcard or callout in product packaging asking clients to share their experiences on Instagram.

💡Tip: Use a Shopify App like Social Images to drag UGC out of your Instagram followers into your web site to show on product pages. These grow to be visible evaluations that assist different clients see your product in motion.

16. Use Instagram Reside

Instagram Reside is a characteristic that permits you to broadcast reside video to your followers. It really works very like a Reel or Story however is recorded reside and has further interactive options that allow you to have interaction straight, monetize your content material with Instagram badges, and save Lives to repurpose into evergreen content material.

On this Instagram Reside, influencer Alfredo Lewis hosts a reside chat with make-up artist @makeupbyloveandrea, in partnership with magnificence model K18 Hair. This good collaboration will increase attain for the model and helps the creators get uncovered to appropriate audiences. 

Listed below are a couple of suggestions for utilizing Instagram Reside to develop your following:

• Host influencer account takeovers.
• Host an interactive AMA (ask me something) or Q&A.
• Tease a product launch or replace, or give reside viewers unique entry (attempt Instagram Reside Purchasing).
• Go reside in a “room” with as much as three different accounts to extend attain.
• Go behind the scenes in your operations to humanize your model.
• Run a the best way to or product tutorial and reply viewer questions in actual time.
• Interview creators or different appropriate manufacturers and promote upfront throughout each accounts. 

17. Attempt Instagram Adverts

You’ve realized the best way to construct instagram followers via quite a lot of natural and paid strategies, however there’s one final tactic utilized by many entrepreneurs and types on Instagram. Paid advertisements are a fantastic choice to achieve followers shortly in case your social media technique features a price range for paid promotion. 

Instagram Adverts are accessible via a self-serve platform that permits you to set your individual targets and budgets. They may help you attain Instagram customers with matching pursuits or in places the place you do enterprise. 

This advert by Form Laundry could be recognized by the “Sponsored” tag underneath the profile title. It was served to a person who follows related accounts and has an curiosity in eco-friendly merchandise. These advertisements look similar to natural Instagram posts and seem in customers’ feeds blended with content material from pals and instructed accounts.

Your Instagram account is a strong gross sales channel

Now that you simply perceive the best way to get extra followers on Instagram, it’s time to place that studying to work. Develop your social media content material calendar, begin creating Instagram posts, and put together to achieve new audiences. Don’t overlook to interact along with your current followers and tweak your social media technique as traits evolve and new Instagram options grow to be accessible.

Rising your Instagram followers is barely step one in utilizing the platform to achieve your small business targets. Your Instagram account is certainly one of many social media platforms and channels the place you’ll be able to floor your model to new followers and clients. When you’ve constructed an viewers, you’ll be able to unlock much more alternatives to monetize your private model or convert follows into gross sales.

Characteristic illustration by Eugenia Mello
Further reporting by Mark MacDonald