Most people would tell you that in order to grow your Instagram account to your first 10,000 followers the most important thing you need is great content.
Are they right?
Well…to be honest, kind of.
I know that’s not the answer you wanted to hear but it’s really just ONE part of the puzzle. If you can make a commitment to creating great content on Instagram, you’ve done the very minimum required to create a successful account.
Lots of accounts share great content but simply overlook a few key tactics that can lead them down the path of rapid growth.
Luckily for you, I’m going to share some of the strategies I’ve used to grow my company's Instagram account to over 50,000 followers and the tactics being used by some of the most popular accounts in the world.
Let’s get to it shall we…
How To Grow Your Instagram Account to Your First 10,000 Followers
Promote Your Account On Other Channels
Similar to the post above from Star Wars, you’re going to want to tell people who follow your other accounts that you’re now on Instagram. It’s time to cash in on the following or connections you have on other networks by driving people to Instagram.
Let your friends or followers know that there will be unique or different content on Instagram so they understand there’s a reason why they should follow you there as well. Make this call to action more than once so people who miss it the first time are likely to catch the message the second time around.
Exchange Shout Outs With Other Accounts
One of the best tactics to grow your Instagram following quickly is exchanging shout outs for shout outs. You may have come across the acronym S4S before on Instagram, it means: Shout for Shout or Share for Share. An S4S is when you promote another account on your own page and they do the same in return.
In the post above, you can see that @HustleGrindCo is giving a shout out to @TheHustlerMind. This action inspires the followers of Hustle & Grind to check out the other account and follow them if it’s of interest.
The best way to get shout outs for shout outs is to get in touch with accounts who are currently doing them. Simply direct message them via Private Messages on Instagram or comment on one of their posts asking if they would be interested!
Pro Tip: If you’re going to approach an account with 2x more followers than you, offer to give them two shout outs for one in return.
Run A “Tag Your Friend” Contest
The benefit of running a contest like this is the fact that you can reach new people. As your followers begin tagging their friends, their friends will check out your content and possibly follow or take part in the contest as well. It’s a great contesting hack that can lead to a quality spike in followers.
Tell People What You Want Them To Do
Do you want people to like your posts?
Do you want people to tag their friends below?
If you want people to do these things – TELL THEM!
You can tell people to “Double Tap” in the caption or you can tell them to do it in the actual image like the example above. Instagram Marketing is no different from other online channels when it comes to implementing call-to-actions.
The best way to get people to take action is to tell them what to do.
Mix Up Your Caption Length
Most accounts use short captions but Instagram isn’t like Twitter where you’re limited to only 140 characters. Instead of only sharing short and sweet captions, take the time to craft a mini blog post and connect with your followers.
Capitalize On Relevant & Popular Hashtags
Hashtags are used on Instagram to find images related to certain topics. If you’re looking for inspiration, you simply search for #Inspiration or #Motivation and within seconds you will see a handful of inspiring posts. The same approach can be used for food, fitness, books, baby photos, animal photos, and pretty much any topic you can think of.
You want to spend time uncovering the most popular hashtags related to your content and then use them in your posts. Sites like Top Hashtags help you uncover the most popular hashtags and see which hashtags are worth using.
Conclusion
Instagram currently boasts an impressive 400 million monthly active users. It’s no wonder more than 40% of Fortune 100 companies are using Instagram to tell their story and connect with customers.
While this demonstrates the opportunity, it also demonstrates the competition. You’re competing with millions of other accounts to capture the attention of your audience.
Using the tactics above, I’m confident that you’ll be able to grow your Instagram account to your first 10,000 followers, but you need to take action. You need to take the insights shared above and execute. And if you’re looking for even more tactics to drive success, you’re going to love this presentation.
What’s the #1 takeaway point you got from today’s post? Leave a comment below right now. I want to hear from you!
About Author
very nice blog to share the wonderful information thank you..
Nice simple actions
These sound like great techniques I need to start implementing on my Instagram account. Thank you for sharing!
The Share for Share strategy was interesting, I hadn’t heard of that before.