To have impact and visibility on Instagram, you need to have an audience, and the bigger and closer to your buyer persona, the better. For this reason, many brands and aspiring influencers consider the need to get followers on this network.
If you also set yourself this goal, you're in luck! In this complete guide we are going to see all the recommendations to get more followers on Instagram, either through publications on your wall, Stories or through advertising.
General recommendations to get more followers on Instagram
1 # Be clear about your goal
Yes, it is clear that you want to get more followers on Instagram but what are your marketing goals on this network? How are those followers going to contribute to get more income for your business?
The presence on Instagram must always be subject to a content and promotion strategy, which in turn is in line with the general plan of the company. It is of little use to have a lot of followers if you don't know what you are going to do with them!
That said, my recommendation is that you set quantifiable follower growth targets to see if the techniques used are working or not. The specific objective will depend on the situation of your brand, but to begin with, many users who are starting out on this network aim to reach 10,000 followers.
This number is not accidental, since from that figure, Instagram allows you to put links in your Stories . This is a much more effective option to attract traffic than the link in the bio, since it allows you to include a different link in each Story and relate them to each content to improve the conversion rate.
2 # Take into account the new Instagram algorithm
In reality, what you want is not just to have more followers, but to get more people to see your posts . Until a few years ago, Instagram users saw everything posted by the accounts they followed, but now Instagram establishes an order of priority based on an algorithm that has changed from a while ago to now .
Therefore, sign up these recommendations so that your visibility does not decline:
- Respond quickly to comments . One of the great novelties of the Instagram algorithm is that it takes into account the time it takes a user to respond to their followers. The recommendation is that the comments are answered in the first 60 minutes.
- Do not delete photos to upload them again . If you delete and re-upload a photo or edit the caption in the first 24 hours, Instagram will penalize you with less visibility. So check everything before you go up!
- Post regularly, but without being overwhelming . The new algorithm rewards users who are consistent in their posts, so I recommend that you choose a certain rate (for example, one image on the wall per day or every other day) and try to be as regular as possible.
- Use fewer hashtags . Previously it was recommended to put up to 30 hashtags in the publications, but now "going over" is penalized. The new recommendations advise limiting yourself to 5 at most and putting them in the caption, not in the comments.
- Encourage quality interaction . The new algorithm only counts comments with four words or more as engagement, so "Wow!", Emojis, and more are left out. To encourage users to leave quality comments, you can ask them a question in the caption.
3 # Optimize your profile
When a user is considering following you, they will most likely take a look at your profile. The first impression you make will be essential for them to follow you or not, so you want to keep it as updated and optimized as possible. In particular, I recommend you pay attention to these points:
- Your logo or image . If necessary, adapt it to be legible in a small size and in a round format.
- The link . If you have fewer than 10,000 followers, you may want to change the link to reflect the latest news on your content. If you have already passed that barrier, it should go to your website or some other site that represents you.
- The biography. Here you should make it clear who you are and what you do, without neglecting your personality as a brand. You can give it a special touch using applications such as Fancytext, a free website where you can find different fonts to use on your Instagram profile.
4 # Choose the hashtags well
As we mentioned before, the new Instagram algorithm represents a change in the way we use hashtags. Whereas before we could put almost any hashtag that was relevant to the post, now we have to be much more selective .
To select the appropriate hashtags, we have to take into account the size of the account and the objectives to be achieved. If you are new to Instagram, you might want to start with more "niche" hashtags, since they are easier to position and therefore can be used to attract new followers. It is also advisable not to always put the same hashtags, but to vary and test to see what works best.
And finally, keep in mind that you can not only introduce hashtags in your publications, but also in the bio itself.
5 # Look for interaction
Profiles with a high interaction ratio are more attractive to users and to the Instagram algorithm, which rewards them with greater visibility. In general, it is considered that the engagement rate on Instagram should be at least 2% .
These good practices will help you get more interactions and followers on Instagram:
- Take care of the quality of the content . Whenever you post on Instagram, you should keep in mind your buyer persona and the kinds of things that may interest them.
- Respond to users . The more you interact with your community, the more responses you will get back. In addition, as we have already seen, responding quickly to the comments of your publications will give you more points in the face of the Instagram algorithm.
- Visit other profiles and interact with them . If you're just starting out on Instagram, it's worth spending time visiting the profiles of users who leave comments and "likes" or even follow them if their content interests you.
6 # Don't cheat
As you probably already know, the fastest way to increase your number of followers on Instagram is to buy them. But it is a fraudulent practice that will end up harming you, since fake followers do not interact with the profiles they follow and therefore make the Instagram algorithm penalize you.
Other strategies to substitute the purchase can be:
- Go on and stop following . It can be a useful practice if you want to grow in your beginnings. Normally, 10% of the people you follow in a batch, then end up following you. Then you must do the action to stop following, there are programs that can help you, but you must be careful with them. If Instagram detects that you do it in a massive way and with an app, it can penalize you as well.
- Follow hashtags . Not the big ones, but medium ones and related to your theme. That they have around 10,000 to 500,000 posts. You can then follow the people who post with these hashtags on a regular basis and like their posts. This way you generate community and other accounts learn to recognize you, they end up following you, liking and leaving a comment.
- Seek to follow real followers and not bots . Follow accounts that you associate with real people, because over time you will get them to like you and leave you real comments.
- Leave your scheduled posts . If you get lazy every day at the same time having to publish your content. Prepare them all a week in advance and program them with a specialized tool.