It’s a beautiful morning.
You slept a full 8 hours, awoke feeling refreshed & rejuvenated, now you’re ready to start your day!
You pour a cup of coffee (or tea), you sit down at your computer, you open up Instagram.. and BAM your following has grown by thousands overnight.
Wide-eyed you being to wonder, “am I still dreaming….?”
Yes.
Unfortunately, growing your Instagram following does NOT happen overnight.
It takes research, strategy, dedication and time. But, if you follow these tips… it might not take as MUCH time as you think.
Here are 5 of my tried and true methods for growing your Instagram account.
1. Post consistently (at least once a day)
I know, I know, you don’t want to bog up your followers pages so that they will be annoyed by you… but, the truth is that you won’t. Depending on how many people your followers are following, they may not even see all of your posts from one particular day - which, case in point, is why posting at least once a day is completely crucial!
You can almost double your follower growth by moving from only posting once or twice a week, to posting 1-6 times per week.
You can more than double your follower growth again by moving from 1-6 times per week, to once or more per day. See what I’m getting at here?
The more you post, the better your chance of landing at the top of the news feed will be, meaning more followers, likes, and overall engagement.
2. Study and use quality hashtags
Posting frequently to increase followers goes hand in hand with using quality hashtags!
Using the right hashtags exposes your posts outside of your following, increasing your reach and your followers too! But don’t use just any hashtag.
Though you might think using one of the most popular hashtags is the thing to do, using such a hashtag will actually bury your post and lessen the chances of it being seen!
Instagram allows for a maximum of 30 hashtags - go ahead and use them - but instead of putting them in the post try adding them as the “first comment”. This has the same effect as putting hashtags in the post itself, it's just a bit more appealing to the eyes. ;)
3. Post at the right times
While there isn’t a universal “best time” to post - there is a best time to post for your brand. Posting at your “best time” will ensure that your content is being posted in the peak time period where your followers are the most active, which will lead to better engagement!
How do you find your “best time”?
In the Instagram app, click on your profile photo. Tap the “insights” bar chart icon. Scroll down to the “Followers” section and tap “see more”.
At the bottom of this insights page you will get a clear indication as to which hours of the day your followers are most active, and on which days of the week!
4. Focus on quality engagement
Like Facebook, Instagram’s newest algorithm is focused on engagement, in particular, posts that are gaining the most engagement. Content with poor engagement will be shown less frequently, and if your content isn’t engaging then you will be pushed to the bottom of the news feed.
The key is to create content that people want to engage with - not just content that you think they should engage with!
Test out different styles - videos, stories, live feeds - see what works the best with your audience! Then, continue with the styles that generated the most user engagement/ followers.
5. Cross-post
Do your fans know that you’re on Instagram?
Instagram makes it so easy to share your content to Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr - a great tactic to gain some extra views! Sharing your content will also increase your engagement rates - studies show that images shared via Instagram get 23% more engagement.
...and for even more exposure, why not embed your Instagram photos / feed on your blog?
Growing your Instagram following is not something that happens overnight.
But if you work at it, dedicate your time and energy to it, the growth WILL happen! Need help growing your Instagram followers?
Feel free to reach out to me directly for strategy and solutions. :)