The number of active users on Instagram has now passed the billion mark. With so many people using this app, it's no wonder that businesses or individuals are eager to establish their presence. But with so much competition, how can you ensure your Instagram growth strategy is effective?
Maybe you're a newbie, and you want to get your name out there. Or maybe you've been around for a while, but your follower growth is stagnant. Regardless of your reason, if you want to learn how to grow Instagram Followers organically, this guide is for you!
Here are powerful Instagram growth strategies to help you attract more followers in less than a month.
@_@Importance of your profile@_@
Choose the Right Profile Picture
First impressions count! When it comes to gaining Instagram followers, the right profile picture can make all the difference.
Your profile photo should reflect who you are. This will help you attract more Followers and increase engagement rates with those already following - not to mention it just looks better.
Plus, optimizing your photo can help you get discovered in the search results.
Your Profile Photo should preferably show your smiling face with a clear background; showing faces in your profile picture increases the click rate by 40%. If you’re not sure how to create an eye-catching photo, there are online tools that help you do that.
Here is an example of a captivating profile photo that stands out and showcases the personality well.
You can decide to use your brand logo if you have a business account. Choose a photo with high-resolution and clear contrast.
Here is an example of a brand profile photo that has clear contrast and a simple layout.
@_@What is instagram SEO@_@
Optimize Your Instagram SEO
Instagram shows us content that is based on our previous interactions, the posts we engaged with or the type of videos we watched multiple times. The platform is no longer only about photos of your friends or your favorite art account. In fact, Instagram has been increasingly focusing on search engine optimization (SEO).
To stand out, it’s important to find your niche and use the related keywords as much as possible. This will help the algorithm to categorize your content more efficiently and show your posts to people who have previously engaged with similar content.
So, where can you use these keywords?
- Bio
- Username
- Name
- Hashtags
- Captions
- Alt-text
- Image Copies
- Reels descriptions
Let's say you're a fitness instructor looking to reach an audience interested in physical activity. As this industry is already huge on Instagram, you may only be able to reach some. However, if you optimize your Instagram SEO, you can still get high visibility.
- Include keywords such as Fitness Instructor in your bio
- Change your Username related to fitness
- Use Hashtags
- Add Alt-text to your posts
- Use industry-related words in your video captions
It’s always a good idea to do keyword research before you post anything on Instagram. Look up your competitors and check their captions to see what they are posting and what you could incorporate into your content.
Update your Username
Your username is like your signature - it's what people see when they search for you. It’s also a great way of branding yourself in this competitive industry! So, make your username more unique.
As for your name, It’s recommended to include one or two keywords related to your niche. For example, this would be my username - @lucyfromsocialboost, my name - Lucy | Instagram Expert
Formulate your Bio
Your audience needs to understand what you do in just a few sentences or lines. So, don’t forget to include keywords that are relevant to your industry. Here is an excellent bio formula you can use if you are still in doubt:
- Describe what you do
- What makes you unique?
- Location/additional info (optional)
- A Call-to-Action Line
- Your Website Link (In case you have one)
If you need help optimizing your profile, Social Boost offers a free Instagram growth strategy consultation. Feel free to book a call with one of our experts; they’ll walk you through Instagram growth tips and give you personalized recommendations to boost your engagement.
@_@Useful tips for increasing followers@_@
How to Increase Instagram Followers?
Consistency is the key on Instagram. To keep up the great work, you need the proper posting schedule.
Use this basic formula for the best outcome:
- Three posts per week
- One Single
- One Carousel
- One Reel
- One Story a day
If you want to take it a bit further, I suggest:
- One Single post
- Two Carousels
- Three Reels per week
- One story a day
Use different content formats for different reasons.
Reels are one of the best ways to reach new followers on Instagram. In fact, they receive 22% more engagement than regular posts. However, it’s essential to know your purpose before you post anything in Reel’s format.
- Reels are best for
- Entertainment
- Education
- Trends
- Short Tutorial
An Instagram carousel is a post containing more than one photo or video. The great thing about Carousel posts is that Instagram shows them twice to your audience. If your followers scroll past your first slide, the algorithm will show your second slide the next time they open the homepage. In short, you get two chances to capture your follower's attention with the same post.
Carousels are great for:
- Case-studies
- Detailed Tutorials
- How-To posts
- Storytelling
Single images make up 75% of brand posts. They help you showcase your product and are great for promotional posts.
You can use single images for:
- Personal posts
- Checklist
- Memes
- Infographics
44% of people use Instagram to shop weekly, and 58% of users say they’re more interested in a brand after seeing it in a story. So, if you are a business owner, try to be more active on Stories. Post every day and show the value of your product to your audience.
You can use stories for:
- Personal purposes
- Promotional
- Product Reviews
- Building community
Post content that drives engagement
An aesthetic Instagram feed attracts a lot of new potential followers to your Instagram page.
Create your own Instagram feed by choosing the aesthetics, colors and branding style. Set out themes for specific days. For example, Mondays would be for tutorials, Fridays - for product reviews, etc. If you want to learn more about content creation, check out our blog - The key to Great Instagram Content.
If it helps, you can build your own content pillars. Content pillars are topics that your account will consistently discuss and create for your page. Four types of content that work the best on Social media and especially on Instagram, are
- Educational
- Engaging
- Inspirational
- Promotional
Why do they work so well? Education content helps you provide valuable information to your followers. Engaging content is fun and shareable; everyone loves a good meme, right?
Inspirational content gives you a chance to tell your story, where you came from and what you did to achieve your goals.
You can use promotional content to inform your audience about your ongoing sales, products, or services. It’s a great way to drive traffic to your website and generate more sales.
Quality vs Quantity
When it comes to organic growth, people often say that quality is a rule of thumb.
If you’re not putting awesome content out there, then it won’t do too much to your account.
Posting more often can get a few eyes on your page, but followers will certainly drop off quickly if there's nothing unique that catches their interest. Experienced social media managers often say that quality helps you make every post stand out and initiates an engaged audience -improving your organic traffic.
However, the idea that quality always wins over quantity has lately been challenged by other creators. Some tend to prefer posting more content frequently because it helps them gather more data. Besides, creating quality posts all the time could put you in a self-restraining position. You’re worried that your posts are not perfect or good enough, and you might miss out on creating something valuable.
If you want to spot your audience's behavior quicker, you can post more often without caring as much about the quality. Obviously, you shouldn’t post random content or burn yourself out by creating new pieces every day. Just remember that practice makes everything better, and posting more often can help you perfect your skills while giving you extra exposure.
Repurpose Your Content
Creating new content ideas every day can be challenging, and it's easy to burn out early if you keep pushing yourself.
If your old posts are already working well, you don’t have to keep creating new ones.
This means you can repurpose your content and use the same ideas for different content formats.
For example, you can turn your Reels into Carousels or a single post. Or turn your single post into a Carousel or Reel. Your Carousels can just become a single post, Reel, E-mail or even Pinterest post.
Choose Your Writing Tone
The right tone in your captions can make all the difference. It’s important that your captions reflect your brand's personality.
Using a creative tone can help to boost engagement, drawing readers in and making them feel more connected. Your captions can be:
- Friendly
- Witty
- Short
- Story-telling
You don’t always have to stick with one format, but the tone should still be the same. Being authentic helps you connect with your followers. If you want to build trust, you should write like you speak.
Always start your captions with a hook and include the CTA (Call to Action) at the beginning or end. CTA helps you increase your engagement, so it’s a crucial part of your Instagram Growth Strategy.
Create Your Hashtag Strategy
Instagram Hashtags can be powerful if used correctly 😉
Use Hashtags that are about your
- Content - Topic of your post
- Audience - Interests of your audience
- Niche - Industry you are part of
- Brand - Your own branded hashtags
- Locations - areas you are based in (optional)
Create a list of Hashtags and organize them categorically. Try different hashtags or categories for each post you make. So if one day is all about fashion, use the hashtag #fashionsday!
It’s recommended to include 7-15 Hashtags in each post.
Use a 2-5-5 rule. Include two trendings, five Medium Size (50-70k posts) and five niche hashtags (2-50k posts) and track your Instagram Insights to see if your reach improves.
There are other factors to remember when choosing the right keywords for your posts.
One of them is activity. Don’t use hashtags in your captions if they are older than a month and no new posts have been added since then.
Look at the frequency of posts under a specific hashtag. If people are posting every 5 seconds, there is a high chance your posts won’t stay at the top for a long time. So, it’s best if you don’t use them. This is one of the top reasons why we ask people to avoid using hashtags that have over 50k posts.
If you need help coming up with new content ideas or need to create the best content strategy for your Instagram account, Social Boost provides one of the most effective content creation services.
Whether you're looking to share a personal story or promote your business, we can help you find the right approach to capture your audience's attention.
To get started, just talk to our experts in LiveChat.
How To Boost Your Instagram Engagement?
Creating a daily schedule to increase your engagement and reach could be the key to unlocking organic growth on Instagram.
A simple 15-30 minutes of dedicated effort each day can go a long way when it comes to increasing engagement and reaching more people.
I guarantee you’ll see results if you do this every day before posting on Instagram:
- Reply to five stories
- Comment on ten posts on your home feed
- Send five new DMs to your new followers - if you don’t have anything to say, just thank them for following you and offer them a special discount if you have a business.
- Find smaller Hashtags in your niche (the ones that have around 2 to 50K posts) - like and comment on ten recent posts.
- Pick 15 niche accounts that are killing it in your category and turn on bell notifications. Be the first one to leave insightful comments when they post.
Not sure if your Instagram growth strategy is on the right track? You can take advantage of Social Boost's Growth Calculator to uncover key insights into how well you’re performing and receive tailored recommendations for further success. You can get an estimate of your account’s current engagement rate, performance breakdown and predicted future growth.
It’s a wonderful tool to help you optimize your profile and maximize your organic growth.
@_@Avoid Fake Instagram followers@_@
Avoid Fake Instagram Followers
It might sound paradoxical, but the key to success on Instagram is often authenticity.
That’s why buying fake Instagram followers is generally a big NO.
One way that some businesses and influencers try to get ahead on Instagram is by buying “ghost” followers. While this might seem like a quick and easy way to boost your numbers, there are actually a lot of dangers associated with buying fake followers.
Instagram's algorithm looks at both the number of followers you have and the engagement rate of your posts when deciding how to rank them in people's feeds. So, if you have a lot of fake followers who never engage with your content, your posts will actually be less likely to show up in people's feeds.
Another danger of buying fake followers is that you could be banned from Instagram entirely. The platform has cracked down on fake accounts in recent years, and they now use sophisticated algorithms to detect them. If you're caught having fake followers, there's a good chance that your account will be suspended or even deleted.
So why take the risk when there are other organic growth methods and services.
@_@How Social Boost can help@_@
Grow your Instagram Followers with Social Boost
If you have difficulty staying consistent with your Instagram Growth strategy and are looking for cost-effective ways to grow on Instagram, we already know all the tips and tricks at Social Boost.
We are the #1 Instagram Growth Agency helping you attract new followers with a simple yet effective follow-unfollow method. Our engagement strategy helps you connect with other Instagram users based on your interests, location or industry preferences.
Unlike automation, which puts your account at a huge risk, our hand-powered growth methods comply with Instagram’s terms of service and are safe to use. Signing up for Social Boost means you hire your personal Instagram Growth Expert without having to pay thousands of dollars or risk the safety of your account.
We offer:
- Real Instagram Followers
- Location, gender and niche targeting
- Dedicated Instagram Managers
- 24/7 LiveChat team
- Reporting and Analytics
- Dedicated Campaign Managers
- Monthly Content Coaching
In short, Social Boost helps you showcase your content to people who matter the most to you.
So what are you waiting for? Follow these steps, and you can set yourself up for success and start seeing real Instagram growth in no time.
Try out some of these tactics today & start growing your following!
