How you can Get Extra Followers on Instagram: 17 Concepts for 2024

Instagram is greater than a spot to attach with buddies, 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 channel, utilized by manufacturers in all places to attach with potential clients. 

Meta’s photograph and video sharing app has additionally springboarded the careers of numerous creators who monetize their private manufacturers by means of their content material. If you happen to’ve ever considered leveling up your presence on Instagram or beginning a enterprise on the platform, you’re in the fitting place.

Greater than 1.35 billion customers browse Instagram each day, hungry for visible inspiration and tendencies. 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.

How you can 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 what you are promoting
6. Present up on function accounts
7. Construct a hashtag technique
8. Put up on the proper instances
9. Interact along with your opponents’ followers
10. Collaborate with appropriate accounts and creators
11. Use location tags to spice up native discovery
12. Manage 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 Dwell
17. Strive Instagram Advertisements

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

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

1. Incorporate Reels into your content material combine

Instagram began as a photograph sharing app, rapidly entering into video with its Tales function. Tales are a extra intimate type of vertical-format video, viewable solely to buddies, followers, and guests to your web page. Reels, nonetheless, are public-facing, providing extra attain by means of Discover on Instagram and, subsequently, 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% greater than that of posts, and Reels see 4 instances the variety of shares over posts. 

“Reels give anybody the chance to succeed in new goal audiences,” says Trilce Jirón Garro, proprietor of social media advertising company TBS Advertising. “Creators can produce community-driven content material that builds belief, good points 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, preserve the following tips in thoughts:

• Preserve content material distinctive and trend-driven. Determine tendencies on Instagram, TikTok, and throughout the net and put your personal spin on them. This will increase the prospect your Reels will go viral and get in entrance of latest 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 stability between schooling and leisure in your Reels. This generally is a mixture of how-to movies, ideas, business data, humorous takes on viral tendencies, and product demos.

“Don’t promote your merchandise by means of Reels content material,” says Trilce. “Share info. Present ideas in regards to the business you’re in. Entertain viewers.” 

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

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

📚 Learn extra: How you can 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 assets. It’s additionally efficient at growing 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 one in every of your TikTok movies goes viral, attempt it (or the same idea) on Instagram.

Why is that this essential? Whereas a few of your viewers could overlap, you’ll have distinctive followers on every social app. “There are completely different individuals on completely 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 completely different channels.”

In an interview with Trendy Retail, Nadya Okamoto, founding father of way of life interval model August, stated, “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 value (CAC), permitting the model to steer away from paid media as its predominant 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. If you happen to’re cross posting, nonetheless, be sure you perceive the preferences in every group and tweak to accommodate.

3. Optimize your Instagram profile 

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

Your Instagram profile is one in every of many touchpoints alongside the client journey. Your model ought to subsequently present up in the identical method it could in your ecommerce web site, different social channels, your product packaging, and buyer communications. 

All the things 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 a point of consistency by means of persona, filters, colours, or structure? 
• Am I taking full benefit of the clickable hyperlink in my bio? 
• Does the general mixture of parts successfully seize my model?
• Does my Instagram bio take full benefit of this house, conveying the fitting tone and data?

On Letterfolk’s Instargam profile, constant coloration palette and graphics give the account knowledgeable 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 possibly can even set up branding in your Reels grid. Creator @alokvmenon makes use of a constant captioning and titles fashion to present their content material a cohesive look and assist guests establish Reels they need to watch. 

💡Tip: Use a device like Later, or use Instagram’s native scheduling function to plan and schedule Instagram posts and Reels to create the look and structure 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 customers belief content material from manufacturers, whereas 61% stated that they belief influencer suggestions. 

When including influencer advertising to your technique, be certain the partnership is a match for each your model and the creator. The higher your target market aligns with the creator’s follower base, the extra seemingly you might be to seek out success with the marketing campaign. 

Instagram influencer advertising examples

House 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 are already open to working with manufacturers. 

5. Construct your private model alongside what you are promoting

If you happen to run a founder model (principally, a model with a robust tie to its founder’s story), construct out your private model’s Instagram account alongside that of what you are promoting. 

Harnessing each the corporate account and your private account can improve 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 by means of her private Instagram account.

One other nice instance of utilizing your private model to drive followers to what you are promoting 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 superstar outfits on her Instagram account. 

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

6. Present up on function accounts

Sure Instagram accounts, typically referred to as function 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 function 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 consumer 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 thousands and thousands of Instagram followers, use widespread hashtags that these accounts use, tag them in related content material, or take a look at their particular submission tips. 

This can be a nice solution to acquire new followers on Instagram who already interact with content material like yours. 

7. Construct a hashtag technique

Your aim on Instagram is to interact your present viewers regularly whereas additionally rising your account. Posting constant and interesting photograph and video content material will preserve present followers loyal, however how do you entice 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 typical technique is utilizing well-liked Instagram hashtags that customers typically search. These hashtags, nonetheless, are usually 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. #blissful
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 might not even be related to your model. 

A greater technique is discovering hashtags which are related to your model and content material. Analysis hashtags and key phrases inside your business and get to know which hashtags your target market is utilizing. 

A social media hashtag generator device like Iconosquare or Later will help you discover hashtags for what you are promoting account. These are paid apps that provide help to generate instructed hashtags based mostly on recognition and relevance. 

If you happen to’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. Strive completely 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 opponents 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 a listing of tags you need to use constantly throughout your content material. For instance, for those who 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 put up asserting new fall goodies.

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

Utilizing hashtags in Instagram Tales and Reels

Don’t neglect to make use of hashtags in Reels and Tales, too. In Instagram Tales, you need to use hashtag stickers (which will be discovered within the Instagram Stickers menu when making a Story) or simply hashtag immediately in your put up 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 consumer account tags.

8. Put up on the proper instances

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

If you happen to’re simply beginning out, attempt consulting the very best instances to put up on Instagram based mostly on advertising analysis. It’s possible you’ll discover, nonetheless, that your personal viewers doesn’t comply with this commonplace. That’s why it’s essential to tweak your strategy as insights roll in. 

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

📚 Learn extra: Uncover the Finest Time To Put up on Instagram

9. Interact along with your opponents’ followers

Your direct opponents’ followers are a really perfect focus in your efforts. In spite of everything, they’ve already indicated they’re desirous about a product or model like yours. 

The 5 varieties of engagement on Instagram are:

• Comply with a consumer
• Like a put up, Story, or Reel
• Touch upon a put up
• Tag a consumer in content material
• Ship a direct message

Participating along with your target market is a good way to point out that you just’re open to two-way communication and constructing a relationship with followers and clients. Eighty-eight % of customers say that authenticity is a crucial issue when selecting to assist a model. Engagement is a good way to point out 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 on Instagram, you’ll be able to associate with different manufacturers and creators on campaigns and content material that provide 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 corporations, select a model that’s complementary to your personal. For instance, for those who promote activewear, a water bottle or sensible watch firm would seemingly have viewers overlap. 

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

11. Use location tags to spice up native discovery

In addition to 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 photograph or video was taken.

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

Native companies can get probably the most worth out of location tags by posting commonly to those feeds and likewise partaking 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. Manage your Instagram Tales into Highlights

One of many parts 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 an extra alternative for brand spanking new guests to your web page to get a style of your model, content material, and merchandise. If customers can immediately discover the knowledge they’re on the lookout for, you’re extra more likely 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 ideas, new product collections, collabs, present guides, and buyer info.

Story Spotlight concepts

You possibly can arrange Tales in quite a few methods to draw extra Instagram followers. Listed below are just a few concepts to get you began: 

• Create trailers that tease what your account and model are about.
• Manage your Tales into themes, product collections, seasons, or content material sort (DIYs, product launches, behind the scenes, and so forth.).
• Create a brand new spotlight every time you launch a brand new product or assortment to maintain Highlights recent 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 often ask your target market to comply with you. The identical method 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 widespread advertising ways 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 also needs to nudge present followers to turn into subscribers. Instagram Subscriptions enable creators to supply unique content material to paying subscribers—one of many best methods to earn a living on Instagram.

14. Run a giveaway

Among the best methods to incentivize a comply with is by working a giveaway. Usually, manufacturers and creators ask customers to finish a number of actions with a view to enter. These embody:

• Following the account (and the accounts of any collaborators)
• Liking the competition put up 
• Tagging one in every of extra buddies
• Leaving a remark
• Clicking out to an entry kind on the model’s web site (this additionally helps construct an e-mail listing)

Tags deliver you a possible new follower, pushed by a trusted suggestion, and engagements are favorable to the Instagram algorithm, which means your put up may get much more attain.

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

✏️Word: Comply with Instagram’s promotion tips and concentrate on any authorized necessities that govern Instagram contests in your nation or area.

15. Share user-generated content material

Person-generated content material (UGC) is any sort of content material—movies, images, written evaluations, audio, and extra—that’s created a couple of 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, while you share a put up from a buyer, their quarter-hour of fame is more likely to strengthen their loyalty to your model, encouraging them to refer buddies and buy once more. 

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

Ebook Wurm typically reposts content material from blissful clients on to its Instagram web page, thanking them for his or her buy and tag. 

UGC finest practices

Your greatest 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 put up pictures.
• Add a name to motion in your Instagram bio.
• Run a contest and ask for video or photograph evaluations as entries. 
• Attain out to smaller influencers and supply free merchandise for an sincere assessment.
• Add a postcard or callout in product packaging asking clients to share their experiences on Instagram.

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

16. Use Instagram Dwell

Instagram Dwell is a function that permits you to broadcast stay video to your followers. It really works very similar to a Reel or Story however is recorded stay and has further interactive options that allow you to interact immediately, monetize your content material with Instagram badges, and save Lives to repurpose into evergreen content material.

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

Listed below are just a few ideas for utilizing Instagram Dwell 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 stay viewers unique entry (attempt Instagram Dwell Procuring).
• Go stay 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 prematurely throughout each accounts. 

17. Strive Instagram Advertisements

You’ve discovered the best way to construct instagram followers by means of quite a few natural and paid strategies, however there’s one final tactic utilized by many entrepreneurs and types on Instagram. Paid advertisements are an amazing possibility to achieve followers rapidly in case your social media technique features a price range for paid promotion. 

Instagram Advertisements are accessible by means of a self-serve platform that permits you to set your personal targets and budgets. They will help you attain Instagram customers with matching pursuits or in places the place you do enterprise. 

This advert by Type Laundry will be recognized by the “Sponsored” tag beneath the profile title. It was served to a consumer 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 buddies and instructed accounts.

Your Instagram account is a robust gross sales channel

Now that you just 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 succeed in new audiences. Don’t neglect to interact along with your present followers and tweak your social media technique as tendencies evolve and new Instagram options turn into out there.

Rising your Instagram followers is barely step one in utilizing the platform to succeed in what you are promoting targets. Your Instagram account is one in every 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.

Function illustration by Eugenia Mello
Further reporting by Mark MacDonald