6 TRIED & TESTED TACTICS TO ATTRACT MORE FOLLOWERS ON INSTAGRAM

April 7, 2022 | Fox Tales

That Instagram is one of the most popular and effective social media channels is an understatement. With over one billion active monthly users, Instagram features at the top of the list of most popular social networks worldwide. In the last few years, models and influencers have built highly successful careers here, thousands of new ventures have launched on the platform (from home-cooks and budding designers to consultants and engineers), and Instagram has become the cornerstone of many brands’ social presence. The innovations on the app over the last couple of years have helped create a digital ecosystem that includes everything from social commerce (read our article about social commerce here!) and content marketing to driving profitable traffic to website landing pages, growing leads and conversions, and building an engaged audience.

On Instagram, the bigger your audience, the more opportunities you will have to engage with your followers and create connections with them.  But remember, while a huge following on Instagram is great, it does not mean much if you do not have an engaged audience that interacts with your brand, makes purchases, visits your website, and ultimately advocates for you to their own followers. If your brand’s Instagram presence and strategy isn’t quite as robust as you’d like it to be, it is time to pay attention and learn about strategies that will help you get real, organic followers on Instagram. We’ve got your back! Start implementing these tips to build and optimize your presence on Instagram:

1. Optimize Your Instagram Bio: As you start to work on your profile to gain more followers, one of the most important steps is to optimize your account and bio. Just like the homepage on your website, your Instagram bio is the first thing that followers will see. Your bio and profile image form the foundations of your brand identity on Instagram- they tell users exactly who you are and what you offer. The link option in your bio is super important as it helps drive Instagram traffic to your website, so be sure to optimize your account with this. If you’d like to offer a more cohesive experience for Instagram users, using an Instagram link landing page such as Linktree to host relevant links such as your website, content pieces mentioned on your page, or your portfolio is a great idea! If not a landing page, include clear contact details in your bio so that the audience has as much information as possible. Also note that Instagram is increasingly search-friendly, so make sure you use appropriate keywords in your bio and username to show up as much as possible.

2. Consistency + Content Calendar: A big mistake you can make while building your Instagram presence is posting haphazardly and inconsistently. Even if you have a decent following already, you want to remain in their minds, so having a clear content strategy and a detailed content calendar can really help boost engagement on Instagram. This is not to say that you should continuously spam your audience. Experiment with posting times and content formats (a few stories a day, a post every alternate day, reels once a week etc.) and find what works for your brand, then stick to it!

3. Brand Advocates + Influencer Marketing: Remember that on Instagram, your audience is your biggest asset. Few things are as convincing as brand advocates and word-of-mouth marketing. So, make sure you create a community of engaged users that can help spread the word about your product or service on the platform. The bigger your follower count grows organically and the more engaged your audience is, the more interested customers you will have. Feature user generated content (a fantastic way to build a community!), interact with your followers, respond to enquiries and DMs, answer questions, and share stories of your mentions to remain in front of people on the platform. Partner with relevant influencers, host giveaways or contests and do your best to create advocates for your brand on Instagram- it’s the easiest way to grow your audience.

4. Embrace Analytics: Embrace the insights and analytics tools on Instagram quickly! The platform’s dashboard, analytics and metrics provide fantastic data that can help you make smarter decisions and inform your content marketing strategy. Use Instagram analytics consistently to track your page’s progress, identify trends, and evaluate your target audience in more detail. Instagram analytics provides valuable data about which hashtags work well, which posts/ content formats receive more interaction and attention, and which times work well for posting. Use this to your advantage!

5. Pay Attention to Hashtags: An effective way to get followers on Instagram is by using hashtags. For several years now hashtags have been an essential tool for discovery and have allowed brands to extend their social reach. Use hashtags to build your community! Pay attention to the kind of hashtags you use- you do not want to use hashtags that are too populated. For example, #fun has 442 million posts associated with it. So, it will be very hard to stand out by using just this hashtag. Focus on finding hashtags that are relevant to your brand and offering, and ones that your target audience are more likely to check.

Also pay attention to make sure you avoid using a list of hashtags that are banned by Instagram. These may cause your account to be shadow banned, meaning your posts and stories won’t show up in people’s searches.

6. Use the Full Range of Instagram Features: From posts and IGTV videos to reels, reel remixes and stories, Instagram has an extensive range of features and content formats for you to use. A great way to keep the Instagram algorithm happy is to use all the features periodically and remain active on the platform. This in turn will help you grow your audience and gain more followers on Instagram.

Let us know if these tips work for you in the comments! If you have other ideas, we would love to hear them. Write to us in the comments or at hello@bombayfox.com

(The Author of this article is Nikita D’Souza, Sr. Social Media Manager, Bombay Fox)