10 Proven tips to get more followers on instagram!

Social media marketing is a highly effective tool in generating brand awareness and potential leads for your business. But in order for your efforts to be effective, you need to generate a following. This means mutually connecting with followers across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and all the other relevant channels that will assist you in maximising your digital reach.

With Instagram specifically, now that most of the popular bot sites such as Instagress and Gramista have been shut down, social media users will have to start looking at gaining followers organically. That is, gaining real followers using traditional follower-growth tactics.

NOTE: The following tips (pun intended) are not hacks, so don’t expect to gain thousands of followers overnight. They are tips that will contribute to a relevant, engaging following that is much more likely to contribute to your marketing efforts and meeting long term business goals.

1. Content, content, content

Content is arguably the most important part of social media marketing. In terms of gaining followers, it will often be the deciding factor between a follow or to simply move on. The social media landscape is so dense that differentiating yourself with good content has become the crux of any social media strategy. If the content is original and relevant, you increase the chances of gaining followers.

2. Consistency is key

It is important that you keep the content in your feed not only aesthetically consistent, but also in terms of your brand voice. It will distinguish you from your competitors to have a unique and valuable interpretation on your field of expertise.
Not only is it important to be keep your content consistent across all channels, but posting consistently and at a time when your followers are most active is key to retaining and gaining followers. If you struggle to find the time to post regularly, there are a number of tools you can use to schedule your content across all of your social media channels.

3. Know your audience and what they want

Even though the goal here is to gain as many followers as possible, establishing an idea of who your target audience is on social media will assist you in producing content that will attract a relevant market, and increase your chance of securing long-term followers.

4. Analyse your competitors

An effective tool to gain followers is to identify who your main competitors are, especially the ones who have already established a large presence on social media. Important things to note:

• How often are they posting?
• What kind of content receives the most engagement?
• What are they doing well / not doing well?

The next step is to look at not only who they’re following, but who follows them. More often than not, these are the followers who are likely to be interested in your content and return a follow.

5. Use Hashtags

Hashtags are a way of categorizing information in the social media world. When used correctly, can be an incredible marketing tool to gain more followers and join the ‘conversation’, and exposing your profile to new people. There is merit however, in doing a bit of research across your social networks to make sure the desired hashtags are being associated with the right content.

6. Follow relevant accounts

By surrounding yourself with a network of people that value your brand and expertise, you increase your chance of becoming an influencing and reputable source in your field. Sometimes by just doing this will get you immediate followers, especially if the content on your profile is relevant and engaging.
There are tools out there which can assist you in finding these accounts, but we recommend doing some hunting on your own.

7. Engage with others

Engaging with your followers, as well as contributing to other profiles through comments and re-sharing, is critical to building digital rapport and personalising your brand. Social media is a two-way street, and being active and getting involved in the social feeds of other profiles also exposes you to new people.

8. Build partnerships with people in your industry

There are a number of ways that building partnerships on social media can contribute to follower growth. Firstly, finding and reaching out to influencers who have a large following is a simple yet effective way to gain followers. If successful in creating the partnership, you have the potential to reach new people who already have trust in the brand or person you’ve partnered with.
Secondly, offering a guest blog on popular niche topics provides the opportunity to cross-promote with a complimentary business within your market. It is beneficial to aim for businesses with a high following or domain authority, to increase your chance of reaching a larger, relevant audience.

9. Re-share other people’s content

It may seem simple, but re-sharing other peoples content means they will be more likely to re-share yours. This, in turn, instantly exposes you to a new audience you previously didn’t have access to. Re-sharing acts as a kind of ‘personal recommendation’ to users who have never heard of you before.

10. Optimise your social media profiles

As SEO marketers, we know the importance of optimising your online presence to boost traffic and encourage engagement. The same goes for your social media profile. Utilise the areas on your profile like your bio or ‘About me’ sections to showcase your brand to the best of your ability to entice peoples attention, to draw as many relevant followers to your profile as possible.

Need help with your Brand’s social awareness? We can help!