Getting organic followers on Instagram is a strategic process that demands dedication and creativity. Paid promotions focus on pushing paid sales, but organic growth is about becoming true to real audiences by way of original engagement and quality posting. The following are several effective strategies that can help increase your number of Instagram followers:
1. Optimize Your Profile
The first impression that the potential follower has of you will be based on your Instagram profile. Here's to make it work:- Profile Picture: There should be a clear image that people can recognize, such as a logo or a professional headshot.
- Bio: Brief bio revealing your brand personality and including the appropriate keywords. You may also include a CTA or link to your website.
- Highlights: Use the highlights of a story to show major points about your brand, such as testimonials, products, or services.
2. Create High-Quality Content
Content is king on Instagram: pay attention to creating nice and interesting posts for your account. This will be:- Photography: Spend time learning about photography basics or source high-quality images that evoke your audience's interest.
- Consistency: Post at a consistent rate. Use tools like Later or Buffer for planning and posting.
- Variety: Mix the content within your feed with photos, videos, carousels, and reels to keep things fresh.
3. Engage with Your Audience
Building relationships with your followers is what organically grows a business:- Respond to Comments: Interact with the users who comment on your posts and take the time to respond thoughtfully.
- Direct Messages: Greet new followers or thank those who followed you.
- Ask Questions: Interact with your audience by asking questions that you've included in your captions or by asking questions in your stories by using polls.
4. Utilize Hashtags Effectively
In addition to all of these, hashtags can dramatically increase the likelihood of other people seeing your posts:- Research Hashtags: Use relevant hashtags that are relevant to your post's content and target audience. There are tools such as Hashtagify that help you find popular ones in your niche.
- Mix Popular and Niche Hashtags: Use a mix of very widely used tags as well as niche-specific ones to reach vast audiences and concentrated ones.
5. Collaborate with Others
Partnering with other creators or brands can expose you to new audiences:- Influencer Collaborations: Partner with an influencer in your niche who can promote your account to their followers.
- Shoutouts: Do a shoutout exchange with accounts that have the same number of followers.
6. Analyze Your Performance
Regularly review your Instagram analytics to understand what works:- Insights Tool: Generally, you can use Instagram's free analytics tool to see how people engage with your posts, track follower growth, and look at the performance of individual posts.
- Adjust Strategies: Based on the data, change what aligns with your target audience when refreshing your content strategy.
7. Leverage User-Generated Content
Engage the followers in creating a piece of content around your brand:- Contests and Challenges: Create contests where people upload pictures with a specific hashtag relating to your brand.
- Feature Followers: Highlight user-generated content on the profile and give credit to the owner to make others participate.
