Instagram can be a highly targeted visual marketing channel for your brand and an opportunity to build a loyal audience that grows with your business.
In fact, more than 1 billion Instagram users browse the app every day, and it's home to some of the most engaged audiences around.
It's no secret that the opportunities on Instagram for business continue to grow: of Instagram's 1 billion monthly active users, nearly 90% follow a business account on the platform, and there are over 200 million business accounts.
While there is no step-by-step guide that guarantees success, there are still things you can do to create an Instagram growth strategy.
Here are seven ways to organically grow followers on Instagram.
1. Optimize your account on Instagram
Before you start thinking about how to get followers, take a look at how your account is set up on Instagram.
Ask yourself. "Does my profile look good for my brand?" To start, consider the following things:
- Your Instagram bio (slogan, tagline, and branded hashtags)
- Your profile picture as seen by many users
- Your bio link URL
These details define your brand identity on Instagram. More importantly, they affect your account's discoverability. Building a follower-friendly account means the following:
- Use a username that's easy to search for. Use a name that's closest to your brand name or existing social handles. If your name is too long, shorten it to something your followers will recognize (e.g., @eattoday for What do you want to eat today).
- Make your profile picture professional a good-sized logo is great. All text in your profile picture should be visible on a smartphone screen.
- Pay attention to where your bio link is pointing. this is very important for converting Instagram followers into meaningful traffic or customers. Linking to your homepage is great, but not always ideal. For more meaningful interaction, multiple social landing pages can help.
Having multiple social pages linked in your bio gives you full control over how your audience engages with your business next. This means a better experience for your followers.
2. Cross-promote your content
Cross-promotion refers to posting similar content on various social media channels. It's a strategy used to save time and resources. It's also effective for increasing brand awareness and growing your audience on Instagram.
Mobile users are spending more time on video and entertainment apps, and video content on social media platforms is seeing the biggest growth. Whether it's a short-form video or a long tutorial, you want to increase the reach of your Instagram content.
Taylor Swift's holiday challenge is a great example of successful cross-posting. During the winter season of 2021, she posted the same song challenge on TikTok and Instagram. On TikTok, his short video received 4.5 million likes. The same content on Instagram received 3.8 million likes. While some users may use both services overlappingly, others are likely to use only one of them, so Swift was able to reach more people simply by posting the same video on two different platforms.
Nadya Okamoto, founder of lifestyle brand August, found that TikTok naturally cross-pollinated with Instagram and YouTube. "As August grew on TikTok, we also grew to 175,000 followers on Instagram," she told Modern Retail. By actively posting on multiple platforms, they were able to reduce their overall customer acquisition costs very effectively and move away from using paid media as their primary customer acquisition channel.
TikTok isn't the only channel where you can cross-post - the Instagram reel format also works well for YouTube Shorts and Pinterest Stories. It's important to note that Instagram's algorithm doesn't promote reels with the TikTok watermark, so if you're looking to cross-post content from Instagram to other channels, make sure your content is of high quality and that you're not promoting a competing platform through your watermark.
3. Create a consistent Instagram posting schedule
To grow on Instagram, it's important to be consistent.
We recently analyzed over 25 million Instagram feed posts (images, videos, carousels, and reels) to see how posting frequency affects average reach and engagement.
To reach new audiences, we recommend posting more reels along with an effective hashtag and keyword strategy.
However, creating quality content that provides real value to your audience should always be prioritized over quantity.
It's also a good idea to use free or paid tools that allow you to create content in advance when you have time and post it to Instagram automatically on a schedule.
4. Engage with users through following, liking, and commenting.
Instagram is very much like a community, and one of the best ways to get involved in a community is to find people who post photos that interest you, follow their accounts, and interact with their content. This is the most natural way to draw attention to your Instagram account.
First, the person is more likely to check out your profile when they receive a notification that you've followed them, which again emphasizes the importance of having great content on your account before reaching out to others.
Second, you'll be able to see that person's recent posts in your feed, so you can like and engage with them if you want.
As you grow your following, celebrate your followers by replying to and pinning their comments and, in the case of user-generated content, reposting their posts.
5. Optimize your posts with relevant hashtags.
On Instagram, hashtags connect conversations from multiple users who are not yet connected into a single stream. Using relevant Instagram hashtags will make your posts more visible to a wider audience and help them discover you.
The key to using hashtags effectively is to choose them carefully and use them sparingly. Try to limit the number of hashtags per caption to around 3. This is a shortcut strategy that will only get you low-quality followers.
To find hashtags that your audience might use, research relevant hashtags in your niche or industry. The easiest way to do this research is to use the Explore tab (magnifying glass icon) in the Instagram app itself.
Search for one hashtag and you'll see a list of related hashtags at the top of the screen.
For example, if you search for #marketingstrategy on Instagram, you'll see related hashtags like #marketingstrategycourse, #digitalmarketer, etc.
To connect with your followers, consider joining in on popular hashtag trends like #Valentineday, #animalday, and #international womensday.
As you build a following, you can try creating your own hashtags, such as your company name or a slogan that you can apply to your content. This is a great way to build your brand and create a more cohesive presence on the platform.
6. Marketing through your personal Instagram account
Another popular way to grow your Instagram following is to become an influencer by growing your personal account. Utilizing both your company and personal accounts can increase brand awareness, follower count, and sales.
The founder of a fashion brand company has over 1 million followers on his personal Instagram. With a personal Instagram page, you can increase engagement awareness.
Become a personal influencer and invite your followers into your design studio to walk them through the design process and get feedback from them throughout the creative process. You can also share about your personal life and milestones to give your followers a glimpse into the life of their favorite designer.
7. Avoid fake Instagram followers
There's a big difference between fake and legitimate followers on Instagram. It may be tempting to buy followers for quick growth.
But the disadvantages 100% outweigh the advantages, and here's why.
- Fake Instagram followers confuse potential organic followers. Accounts that have a lot of followers but are inactive and unengaged are suspicious. They may not attract fans who will follow and engage with you.
- They don't provide monetary value to your business. think about it, bot followers aren't going to buy your products, are they?
- They don't generate buzz. if you have 20,000 fake followers, how many will engage with your posts? Does it really matter if your posts are flooded with spam comments?
Real people will share, like, comment, and engage with your Instagram posts, and real followers actually appreciate the time you spend interacting with them. Showing this kind of authenticity is much more powerful and long-lasting than buying Instagram likes or resorting to other ineffective tactics.
For example, so.lebt.sophie always takes the time to answer questions and engage with her followers. As a result, they come back regularly to share compliments and positive comments.
Thank you.
