Has your Instagram growth stalled? Are you regularly posting great content, yet your follower count continues to stay the same? This post will give you 9 easy as pie ways to get more Instagram followers and jump-start your Instagram efforts …fast!
1. Use trending hashtags
You probably already know how important hashtags are in your marketing. If you don’t, you may want to stop and read this post first!
In short, using hashtags on Instagram will allow people outside your current pool of followers to find you and follow you.
The trick will be finding relevant hashtags that are popular (so you know people are looking for them), but that aren’t SO popular that your photos will get lost in the crowd.
To find popular hashtags you can use, check out these posts:
How to Find Great Hashtags to Market Your Business
How to Find Top Hashtags Using Hashtagify
To see which hashtags Postplanner suggests for getting new followers, see this list of the Top 25 Most Popular Instagram Hashtags
2. Use the optimal number of hashtags
Image courtesy of TrackMaven
So, how many hashtags should you use? While some experts recommend using around 5 per image, some research indicates that posts with 11+ hashtags get the most engagement (!).
I would suggest starting off by using as many as you are comfortable with, and then testing out more to see what works best for you.
3. Connect Your Facebook with Instagram
If you haven’t already, I would strongly encourage you to link your Facebook account with your Instagram account. Once you have linked them, you can easily cross-promote your accounts, and can even share your Instagram photos with your Facebook fans.
Click here to learn how to connect your accounts, and here to learn how to share Instagram photos on your Facebook Page.
4. Like other people’s photos
According to Neil Patel of Quick Sprout, liking other people’s photos is one of the best ways to get more Instagram followers.
He did a little experiment where he liked random photos, and here is what he found: for every 100 photos he liked, he received 21.7 likes for his own photos and 6.1 more followers. Not a bad payoff for simply liking some photos!
5. Leverage current connections
Don’t forget to let your current fans, followers and email subscribers know you’re on Instagram! Use an Instagram badge or Follow button on your site, and ask your subscribers and fans to follow you on Instagram.
6. Embed Instagram photos onto your blog
A great way to entice your website visitors to follow you on Instagram is by embedding your Instagram photos onto your website or blog. Embedded photos or videos will display your Instagram username, so even if they get nabbed and shared on someone else’s site, attribution goes to you.
7. Leave thoughtful comments
Liking other people’s photos is great, but leaving thoughtful comments can be even better. As you interact with people’s content, they’ll be more inclined to interact with you and to want to know more about you. DON’T ask people to follow you! Instead, leave a comment stating what you like about their photo; this will make your comment stand out from all the cookie cutter remarks and generic likes.
8. Filters matter
Image courtesy of TrackMaven
While Normal and Valenda may be among the most popular filters, they aren’t necessarily the ones that will net you the most engagement. According to this research by TrackMaven, using Mayfair, #nofilter or Inkwell will result in the highest levels of interaction.
9. Engage with your competitors’ audience
You will need to tread carefully here, but reaching out to your competitors’ audience can be a great way to gain new, targeted followers. In an unofficial experiment posted on eCommerce University, one marketer set out to determine how many of his competitor’s followers would follow him back if he engaged with them. The results?
- Of the people he simply followed, 14% followed him back.
- Of the people he followed and ‘liked’, 22% followed him back.
- Of the people he followed and ‘commented’ on, 34% followed him back.
Seek out other businesses in your niche, ‘follow their followers’ and then start interacting with their pictures and videos!
So there you have it! My 9 easy as pie ways to get more Instagram followers!
What’s YOUR best tip for getting more Instagram followers? Share with us in the comments below!
About Author
Make sure to not only pay attention when people @ your business, but also look for #yourbusiness. You’d be surprised at how many people do that instead and you don’t want to miss those engagements!
These are some really useful tips for building an Instagram following.. I especially liked the graph about filters. Very useful information. Another important point in growing a following… post more quality content that people want to see. Not just what you have for lunch.
The only problem with this resource is that it automates engagement. This is a huge no no in my opinion.
The information you shared really helped me with my new startup. I had implemented on my social media channel and it really worked for me.
Please do have a look on my work too, and please give any suggestions.
Thank You
Thank you for very usefull information.
thanks for sharing these Tips to GET MORE instagram followers .