Instagram has about 1.4 billion users in 2024. it is the foundation of so many brand’s social presence. Instagram marketing has proven to drive traffic, support sales and engage customers. But if you are not thrilled with your Instagram growth and engagement , you are not alone. Truthfully, Instagram algorithm doesn’t have a particular tactics, with the following steps , we can know to to gain real followers on Instagram.
10 ways to gain real followers on Instagram
1. Optimize your Instagram Account
Before you proceed to gain real followers on Instagram, you need to ask yourself certain questions ” Will my Instagram account attract me? Does it look better than my competitors? How do I optimize my account to gain real followers on Instagram?
Bio: These details define your brand identity on Instagram. More importantly, they impact your account’s discoverability. Bio gives 150 characters to describe what your brand is into. Building a follower-friendly account means
- Add your profile picture (logo for your business) Make it professional and up to standard. You can use simple platforms like Canva, logo maker, fiver to get a good logo for your brand
- Add your User name: Your name should accurately represent your business, if you are a business owner. They decide how people find you instagram. It is advisable to use a search friendly name and username Eg Hawclick, Coldstone, adidas
- Bio Links: you can add you website, if you have one, because it is an important call to action. You can link your Facebook page on the page section
2. Create Valuable Content
Content gives you an edge, it tells your audience what you offer, what you are made of, they look up to your post, if you put out a very good content , your audience would love to engage with your post by liking, commenting, sharing and even saving your post, by so doing, Instagram algorithm will always want to send out your content to more people who they believe will love the same content. you automatically having more reach and this is how you will gain real followers on Instagram.
Four different types of Valuable Content that can make you gain followers on Instagram
- Educational Content: Educational content is anything that educates your audience. It could be FAQ, Tutorials, etc
- Entertaining Content: Content that can excite your audience like comedy, stories, movies, music etc
- Inspiring Content: Anything that inspires your audience eg if you are in digital marketing, then making content that inspires them and shows, you can succeed even as a small business.
- Promotional Content: it simply means promoting anything that you have to offer. It could be product and services that you have. Always look out for your competitors and learn what they are doing within your niche.
In the modern era of Instagram marketing, people are looking to be entertained, when they get entertained , they stick to your content and that enables your Instagram to gain real followers and get more reach.
3. User Generated Content
User generated content is when a customer or a potential customer creates the content instead of the brand. If your audience were creating content for you rather than you creating the content, that would be user generated content.
This is really powerful because a study into advertising have shown that people trust recommendation from other people 92% more than they trust branded content and 92% more. So that absolutely huge, meaning that if you can have your audience make recommendations for you, not only you as a business and your product, you are going to be able to build an even deeper relationship with the audience that you already have an turning those potential customers into actual customers
User generated content is an amazing way not only to deepen the relationship, but also get more reach because you will be having your audience creating content for you, this is the easiest and fastest way to gain real followers on Instagram
4. Hashtags
In the world of Instagram, hashtags is the way to organize the content . If you don’t know your competitors, all you need to do is to hashtag and then your niche and you are going to get all of the content based on that specific niche.
Hashtags helps you as a brand get better discovered by putting the right content in front of the right person and it helps users find what they are looking for. This is a way to organize and make great matches between the content and between the users looking for the content that they are interested in
basic understanding , every post you make on Instagram can hold 30 hashtags and it is advisable to use the 30 hashtags , because the more the hashtags, the better the reach and you an gain real followers on Instagram.
There are 8 categories of hashtags that can help you gain real followers on Instagram
- Niche hastags e.g #Digitalmarketing, #fashion #relatioship
- Product hashtags eg #
- community hashtags eg #petlovers
- branded hashtags #hawclick, #adidas
- location hashtags e.g #Nigeria, #portharcourt
- daily hashtags
- campaign hashtags
- event hashtags
5. TAGS
Tags allow you to connect your Instagram posts and reels to other people to get their attention and get more reach.
Two things that happen when you tag people.
- They will get a seperate notification teling them that they have been tagged
- You end up on the Person’s feed
Tags get contestant’s attention and it gets influencer’s attention. Only tag people who makes sense for your business. Each post can take a hold of 20 tags. It can give you exposure to different account . Tag can only be done in the content itself.
GEO Tag
Geo tag allows you to connect location to your content. This studies have shown that using Geo tag location can increase your engagement by up towards 79%.
6. Incorporate Reels into your content mix
Reels are public-facing, offering more reach through explore on Instagram and therefore, viral potential. Brands and creators should consider adding reels to their Instagram strategy due to their high engagement rates compared to Instagram posts. Average likes on Reels is 42% higher than that of posts, and reels see four times the number of shares over posts.
To create content for Reels
- keep content unique and trend-driven
- Make content relatable and simple
- Educate your audience
Using instagram insights for reels, you can see patterns and understand different spikes in engagement that affect your visibility on the platform.
7. cross promote content
Cross-promoting involves posting similar content across various social media channels (or Instagram accounts). It’s a tactic used to save time and resources. It’s also effective at increasing brand awareness and growing an audience on Instagram.
Whether it’s a short-form video or a lengthy tutorial, you can improve the reach of your Instagram content by testing it on other platforms. And, if one of your TikTok videos goes viral, try it (or a similar concept) on Instagram to help you get more followers.
Why is this important? While some of your audience may overlap, you will have unique followers on each social app. “There are different people on different platforms,” says Hugo Amsellem, angel investor and adviser at Jellysmack. “The overlap is only 10% to 20%. You’re not going to repeat the same message to the same person across different channels.”
In an interview with Modern Retail, Nadya Okamoto, founder of lifestyle period brand August, said, “As we’ve grown on TikTok from August, we’ve also grown to 175,000 followers on Instagram.” Actively posting on multiple platforms has affected August’s customer acquisition cost (CAC), allowing the brand to steer away from paid media as its main acquisition channel.
8. Organize your top stories as highlight
Your winning stories is what people care about, Testimonials can playa huge role in you highlight.
Ever created a killer story that you wish could live on your profile forever? With story highlights, it can.
Highlights are groups of select old (expired) stories. You can organize them by theme or topic, such as Q&As, tips or events — making it easier for people to find relevant stories.
They’re also located at the top of your profile, which makes users more likely to check them first before scrolling down to your posts. Think of Highlights as a curated portfolio that showcases the best of your brand.
9. Go live On Instagram
Going live on Instagram can be a powerful tool for increasing your followers because it allows you to connect with your audience in real-time and engage with them directly.
This direct interaction makes your followers feel more connected to you and your content, fostering a sense of community.
Increased Visibility: When you go live, your profile gets bumped to the front of your followers’ Instagram Stories feed. Additionally, Instagram may notify some of your followers that you’re live, increasing the chances of them tuning in.
Showcase Authenticity: Live videos allow you to showcase your personality, authenticity, and behind-the-scenes moments in a way that static posts cannot. This authenticity can attract new followers who resonate with your vibe and content.
10. Promote your Instagram
Promoting your Instagram effectively involves a mix of organic strategies and potentially some paid efforts. Here’s a comprehensive approach to promote your Instagram and gain real followers:
Paid Strategies:
- Instagram Ads:
- Create targeted ads to reach specific demographics, locations, or interests. Instagram’s ad platform allows you to promote your posts or Stories directly to potential followers.
- Influencer Marketing:
- Collaborate with influencers who have a large following in your niche. They can promote your profile or products to their audience, driving followers to your account. it is advisable to partner with influencers within your niche
- Promote Posts:
- Boost your best-performing posts to reach a wider audience beyond your current followers. This can attract new followers who are interested in your content.
- Run Contests or Giveaways:
- Organize contests or giveaways where followers must follow your account and engage with your content to participate. This can rapidly increase your follower count and engagement.
In conclusion on How to gain real Instagram followers
Optimize your Instagram account.
Create Valuable content
user-generated content
Hashtags
Tags
Incorporate Reels in your content mix
cross- promote content
Organize your top stories as highlights
Go live on Instagram
Promote your Instagram
