9 Ways to increase Instagram followers
What exactly do we mean by the “right way?”
For struggling accounts, it might be tempting to resort to questionable tactics such as pods or purchasing “Likes.”
However, these methods often result in fake followers (or worse, penalties from the platform). Not to mention, the number on your Instagram following won’t matter if it doesn’t represent an engaged fan following that makes purchases, visits your landing pages, and advocates for your brands with friends and followers.
In this guide, we’ll cover the basics of how to gain authentic followers that legitimately want to engage with you.
1. Post consistently (and at the right times)
This might sound obvious, but consistency counts on Instagram.
The common thread between many of the most-followed accounts? Their feeds are filled with fresh content. Making a point to publish daily is a good starting point for getting Instagram followers clicking here.
The concept here is simple: the more content you publish, the more opportunities you have to be shared and discovered. We’re not saying to prioritize quantity over quality, but simply ensure that you’re committed to growing your presence.
Plus, consistent, strong content also helps prospective followers get to know you and your brand identity. If nothing else, you signal that your account is active and not just gathering cobwebs.
This is where a tool like Sprout Social comes in handy. With our scheduling suite, you can draft and queue up your Instagram posts in advance. This not only keeps you from having to come up with captions and content ideas in real-time while also guaranteeing fewer gaps in your publishing calendar.
sprout social publishing calendar
Another huge benefit of scheduling is that you can align your content with the best times to post on social media. For example, weekday morning and early afternoons seem to be the sweet spot for most brands in terms of engagement rate.
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The best times to post on social media in 2021
However, the top times to post can vary with your brand’s audience or niche. Sprout’s ViralPost can automatically publish your content based on when your own audience is most engaged. More engagement is good news for the Instagram algorithm, and makes it more likely that your latest content will be discovered by new followers.
sprout social optimized timing
Perfect your Instagram content plan with Sprout Social
In addition to scheduling a complete picture of your Instagram content calendar, Sprout offers even more features to perfect your brand’s feed.
Share IG-approved visuals with your team using our Asset Library, or test out our grid preview feature to make sure every aspect of your presence is true to your brand style.
Get a hands-on look at these features and more with a 30-day free trial of Sprout.
2. Initiate conversations and respond to comments
So much of getting more Instagram followers depends on your activity on the platform.
In other words, you can’t just passively post and expect traction from the algorithm.
You need to engage with others–followers and non-followers alike.
According to data from the Sprout Social Index, 71% of consumers follow a brand on social media so they can engage with them.
actions consumers take when following brands on social - including 89% that buy from the brand
This means making a point to respond to any and all questions and comments from your followers. Doing so is not only a positive signal to the Instagram algorithm but also a way to prove to potential followers that you’re open to conversations.
Beyond your own account, make a point to initiate conversations by commenting on posts yourself. This includes other brands, businesses and influencers in your space. Being consistently active in the comment section(s) of others is straightforward to create awareness for yourself.
You can also grab the attention of others through strategic tagging. For example, we oftentimes see influencers publish photos that tag other brand accounts for visibility.
If you’re looking for more tips on balancing all aspects of your Instagram marketing strategy from content to engagement, download our free guide to get started:
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Instagram for Brands: A Guide to Instagram Marketing Strategy
3. Craft more compelling captions
Again, most people follow accounts because they want to engage in some way, shape or form.
That means you need to inject some creativity into your Instagram captions. For example, consider the following caption formats which result in replies:
Question-based posts
Recommendation requests
Personal stories
Tag-a-friend posts
Photo-sharing posts
From questions to humor, using captions effectively is the perfect way to encourage activity on your posts. You can likewise couple the themes of your captions and visuals to capture viewers’ attention and get them talking.
This all speaks to the importance of diversifying your captions so you aren’t publishing the same type of post over and over. With Instagram management tools like Spout, you can pre-plan and write out your captions. This means less pressure to write posts in real time while also ensuring you aren’t repeating yourself.
Sprout Social compose Instagram post
4. Optimize your Instagram bio for new followers
Your Instagram bio might not seem like much of a big deal.
But consider that it’s often the first piece of your profile that any potential follower will see.
And so you need to make it count! Below are some elements of an Instagram bio that attracts followers:
A sleek, clear profile image
A call-to-action (think: a #hashtag to share, a link in bio, contact info)
Language that feels like it was written by a real person (not a robot)
instagram link in bio example
Think of your bio as the “homepage” to your account: it should immediately tell your audience that this is your brand’s actual, authentic account (whether you’re verified on IG or not).
Back up your brand identity with a recognizable logo and engaging copy that fits your brand voice. Emojis can help break up bio text or even be used as an appealing alternative to bullet points, but just be sure you don’t overdo it for those in your audience using screen readers.
See how that works? In short, don’t let your bio go to waste.
5. Promote your Instagram presence beyond Instagram
Getting more Instagram followers means promoting outside of the platform itself.
Let’s say your Instagram presence is lacking, but you do have a decent amount of email subscribers, web traffic or a following on another network.
If so, you need to leverage your followers elsewhere and find ways to funnel them to Instagram.
For example, many businesses feature their Instagram accounts on-site either through share buttons or live feeds (see Casper’s below).
casper instagram feed
The same logic applies to your email subscribers. For example, check out how Whittard promotes their Instagram contest…
…and then cross-promotes it to their email list.
promote instagram via email
Heck, cross-promoting your Instagram to followers on Twitter or Facebook is also fair game.
The takeaway? If someone follows or subscribes to you elsewhere, they should be happy to follow you on Instagram.
6. Make a point to publish Stories and new content formats
Instagram is and has regularly been rolling out new features, and marketers should make a point to follow the platform’s up-and-coming formats.
For example, Stories started as a sort of competitor to Snapchat. Now they’re arguably the platform’s most popular feature.
The benefits of frequently publishing stories are two-fold. Not only do you “skip the line” of your followers feeds by showing up on their homepage every time you post a new Story, but you also remind them that you’re regularly creating content.
whole foods instagram stories
Conventional wisdom tells us that pretty much any social algorithm will favor accounts that experiment with content and post regularly.
That’s also why features as IGTV and the new Instagram Reels should also be on your radar. Keep an eye on the official Instagram business blog for more features you may not be aware of yet.
7. Couple your posts with community and brand-specific hashtags
Fact: posts with hashtags on Instagram receive more comments and “Likes” than those without them.
Whether it’s a brand-specific or community hashtags, coupling your posts with #tags ensures more visibility for new followers.
Instagram hashtags
Including a handful of tags on any given post, particularly in the first comment, is a smart move and something we see often from brands.
Additionally, having a dedicated hashtag for your account or brand in your bio can help encourage more shares from your fans and followers. Think of hashtags are creating a sort of snowball effect.
casetify hashtag ugc
If you’re stumped on which hashtags to use (or how many of ’em), this is yet again where Sprout Social can help. For example, hashtags analytics within our platform break down top-performing tags and insights to help optimize your strategy.
Instagram hashtag report
8. Experiment with different types of content
“Create good content” isn’t particularly helpful advice when you’re stumped on how to get more followers on Instagram.
A more proactive alternative would be to post a variety of content. Although photos are obviously Instagram’s bread and butter, don’t neglect the other types of posts including videos (particularly live video), GIFs or user-generated content.
sticking to the most popular content types can help you figure out how to get more followers on Instagram
When in doubt, be willing to experiment to figure out what’s working and isn’t working to move the needle on your follower count.
And hey, that actually leads us to our last point.
9. Use analytics to recreate your top-performing posts
Figuring out what your target audience wants doesn’t have to be a guessing game.
With Instagram management tools like Sprout, you can identify your top-performing content in a matter of seconds.
Sprout IG Top Posts and Stories
After all, no two audiences are the same. Maybe your followers can’t get enough videos. Perhaps they’re obsessed with regrams and community posts. Either way, Sprout can clue you in and encourage you to recreate your best content.