Has your brand seen positive returns on Instagram? Is your Instagram following big enough to drive profitable traffic to your landing pages?
If you’re hesitating to answer, it might be time to learn how to get followers on Instagram. The larger your audience grows, the more opportunities you have to engage with users and create unique experiences for them.
How to get Instagram Followers, But sometimes brands take the easy way out when trying to get more Instagram followers. Pay for likes and follower sites are everywhere, but we’ll be the first to tell you organically building an audience will drive much better results.
Did you know that [roughly 48 million]Instagram users are fake? And since that statistic first started making the rounds, [Instagram has been hard at work]to put an end to fake followers once and for all.
This means no matter how many Instagram followers you have, if they’re fake, they’re not going to your landing page, referring others to your site or making a single purchase. That’s why it’s critical to focus on building an authentic and organic audience on social media.
And we’re here to give you 11 tips on how to gain followers on Instagram:
1. Optimize Your Instagram Account
While you’re trying to figure out how to gain followers on Instagram, one of the most important steps is to have your account fully optimized. Think of your brand’s Instagram bio as the “homepage” to your account.
Without a bio, image captions, a proper username or profile image, how will people know the account belongs to your brand? It might seem silly, but many companies don’t fill out their bios or use a link to a landing page. This is your one spot to drive Instagram traffic to your site, so optimizing your account is essential.
If you’re uncertain where to link, try marketing or product pages that relate to specific keywords, hashtags or campaigns on your Instagram account. Linking to your homepage is OK–but why not give users a cohesive experience when moving from your bio to a site?
Additionally, keep your username as search-friendly as possible. If your business name is longer, shorten it to something your audience would recognize. Don’t add numbers or special characters to your username.
2. Keep Content Consistent
The worst thing you can do when trying to get followers on Instagram is to irregularly post content. If you’re lucky enough to get users following you in the beginning, the last thing you want to do is make them forget they followed you in the first place.
Sticking to a schedule will help you build a consistent experience for your followers and keep them in the know of your brand. But if you’re wondering how you’re going to remember to publish at these different times in the day, we’ve got you covered with Sprout’s scheduling and optimal times features–read on for more details.
3. Schedule Instagram Posts in Advance
Another way is to get your handle in front of a much larger audience. Try to work with larger Instagram accounts in your industry to share your content to their audience. And it doesn’t have to be only on Instagram.
Just make sure you’re providing something of value. The last thing you want to do is seem too salesy. Find marketing collaborations and co-marketing plans with other businesses to build your Instagram audience.
There’s always the possibility your Twitter has more followers than another brand, which you could leverage, trade mentions or share content.
5. Know the Difference Between Fake & Real Instagram Followers
There’s a huge difference between an Instagram account having fake and legitimate followers. It might seem tempting to simply purchase Instagram followers, but the backlash outweighs the perks of organic follower growth.
Fake Instagram followers tend to:
- Deceive new followers: If users come to an inactive Instagram feed with tens of thousands of followers, things feel deceiving. Don’t trick people into following you. Build trust and long-lasting relationships for better engagement.
- Have no ROI: It might seem easier to buy followers, but your acquired bot or unmanned new followers won’t be purchasing anything. People follow brands on Instagram for a reason–they like what you’re posting or your company in general. These are actual spenders and bring monetary value to your business.
- Create little-to-no buzz: If you have 10,000 fake followers, how many are going to comment, like and share your content? More than likely, these bot or fake accounts will be cleaned up by Instagram, deleted and make your posts seem like engagement graveyards.
Real people have the ability to share, like, comment and engage with your Instagram posts. Additionally, these users enjoy when there’s someone on the other side responding.
6. Showcase Your Instagram
However, make sure that you’re not just asking for a follow. Instead you should try to promote unique content on your Instagram so users have a reason to follow you there. Luckily with Instagram video, you have a great opportunity to build followers through creative content.