The Top 10 Instagram Growth Hacking Tips for 2022

People love Instagram, and according to Neil Patel’s study, it’s going to continue growing in popularity as the years go on. In fact, by 2022 Instagram is projected to reach more than 1 billion users! With so many people in the photo-sharing app already (upwards of 700 million), it might be hard to think of new ways to grow your following and engagement, but there are always fresh opportunities out there if you know where to look.

1) Focus on Quality Rather Than Quantity

Similar to Facebook, one of your main goals on Instagram is engagement—the more you get from your followers, the better. So don’t let follower count drive your strategy: It’s more important to focus on getting high-quality followers who are genuinely interested in what you’re posting. Since they’re already interested in what you have to say, these people will be more engaged with your account and (hopefully) become fans of your business as well. They may even end up inviting their friends and family members over time.

2) Include an interactive element

As with most social networks, a key component of growth hacking on Instagram is collecting email addresses. On Facebook and Twitter, you can add links that are only viewable to people who have already subscribed to your channel. This isn’t true on Instagram, however. The platform limits links posted in status updates to their website form (i.e., they look like regular web addresses), and any third-party services that provide an enhanced experience (i.e., tracking link clicks) aren’t allowed at all.

3) Step away from the influencer game

One of the most overused (and useless) marketing tactics around is working with social media influencers. While it may seem like a quick and easy way to get your product in front of thousands of eyeballs, you’re probably not getting as much value out of that partnership as you think. Why? Because an influencer is going to work with pretty much anyone who asks, which means they don’t really care about your brand, your target audience, or what makes your product unique. And they probably don’t even have that many followers on Instagram, anyway! So you might be better off investing those resources in other strategies—like running paid advertising—that is more likely to lead to real conversions down the road.

4) Focus on being a photo brand, not a caption brand

Your image is your brand, so ensure it looks as professional as possible. Including a logo or watermark will help you establish some brand recognition early on. You can also play around with filters to achieve a certain mood or feeling within your feed—it’s important to use filters that are consistent across all of your photos, though, because it’s easy for potential followers to tune out if they feel like they’re seeing you in an entirely different light every time they check out one of your pictures. A consistent approach also allows them to easily identify and locate one of your previous posts when browsing through their feeds and helps keep things flowing without jarring jumps in visuals.

5) Focus on Brand Consistency

When you build a brand, consistency is key. If your images vary in color and quality, followers will wonder what else about your brand is inconsistent. Be sure to use your logo and colors consistently across your profile photo, cover photos, bio, and every post (right down to filters if you're sharing posts from other accounts). The use of hashtags should also be consistent; if one or two characters are always part of every hashtag then it's instantly recognizable as part of your brand.

6) Use paid traffic and partnerships to gain new followers

This one is going to be big in 2022, with influencers and celebrities turning away from platforms like Facebook in favor of Instagram. Not only can you earn money using sponsored content or paid promos, but you’ll also attract new followers—especially if your products are a fit for their audiences. Remember that while organic growth is nice, it’s not always realistic: If you’re struggling to grow an account organically (or just want to try something different), paying for traffic might help—and that doesn’t mean you have to bend over backward by partnering with brands. A little bit of ingenuity goes a long way here!

7) Have influencers do your targeting for you

The easiest way to build your following on Instagram is by collaborating with popular users. It’s an old-school move, but it’s how celebrities from Kendall Jenner to Shay Mitchell got their start and it can work just as well in today’s influencer-driven climate. Approach a handful of people with sizeable followings, whether they are bloggers or YouTubers, or Snapchat stars. If they like your product and give you a shout-out, their fans will find you—and so will new followers.

8) Don’t worry about organic reach - focus on engagement rate

Organic reach is dead, and it has been for some time. As brands move further into influencer marketing, the focus will shift to engagement rate. The reason? Engagement rates are lower than organic reach rates! This means that if you can strike up a partnership with an influencer whose audience cares about your brand you'll be able to kick your organic reach into overdrive.

9) Post at least twice per day - ever more if possible

Posting 2 or 3 times per day is ideal to start; you can always increase your frequency later. Posting too much too quickly, on the other hand, can result in your account getting banned. To find good posting times, run a test by scheduling a few posts during peak hours for different groups of followers (see below for more information). Once you’ve found times that work well, schedule them regularly so that new people who follow you get immediate access to your content and are not forced to go back through all your previous posts.

10) Don’t chase follower counts – chase engagement rates instead

There is no denying that follower counts are one of the top indicators of success on social media. However, in an age where every single person and their dog has a significant number of followers (it’s easy to purchase them), it has become less relevant than ever before. There was a time when all you needed to do was have a few thousand followers and your account would be deemed Instagram famous, but now those numbers are easily exceeded by teenagers and dogs. Follower count no longer means what it used to, and brands now need to focus more on engagement rates than ever before. Building up 1 million fans is great – but if only 5% interact with your content then you will only have 50k actual supporters.