Guide on how to get more followers on Instagram

Instagram is difficult, but you probably already know that if you’ve started using it. The fact that it can’t share content limits the spread of content between accounts and thus reduces the chances of discovering other interesting or useful accounts to follow. Hashtags, practically the only decent and controllable discovery tool, are somewhat problematic, especially in our small “Czech” pond. The influence of Facebook in the form of eliminating the chronological feed and limiting reach doesn’t help either.

What should you do on Instagram to gain followers? And what else should you know in this regard?

Hashtags, hashtags and hashtags is the first and crucial thing you must start with. If you don’t add them to the post immediately upon creation, forget about the post having a chance of being discovered (no, really, it’s not enough to add them as further comments later). A post without the necessary hashtags will only be seen by a fraction of your followers and that won’t bring you new ones.

Hashtags are mainly covered in How to find the necessary hashtags for Instagram posts. Complete guide and be aware that English hashtags bring a lot of foreigners (and also Czech users), Czech hashtags will only bring Czech users, but it will be weak.  Don’t skip hashtags in Stories either.

Choose the right language for your posts and perhaps consider posts in multiple languages. However, it all depends on whether you really want to stick to Czech and Czech fans, or whether you simply want the biggest numbers and don’t mind fans from all over the world.

Choose the right account name, username and account description (bio) so people can find you properly. These are the only places where classic text search is performed. Instagram does not search post texts or comments for text, only for hashtag occurrences. Discoverability is important.

Tools to support your Instagram can also be found here

Use stories and use them a lot and don’t be afraid of them at all. How they work can be found in How to use Instagram Stories and don’t be discouraged by the fact that things from stories disappear after 24 hours. You can still turn them into permanent posts, but that probably won’t be necessary. What’s important is that Instagram itself loves stories and favors them, so you have a better chance of getting into recommended content. Plus, young users love them.

Connect with other people, accounts, influencers and help each other mutually. By liking, commenting, mentioning, resharing content. This is where What is an Instagram Comment Pod (Insta pod)? How to beat limiting algorithms? will be useful for you, as well as Is it legal to use Repost on Instagram? How about sharing other people’s photos?

Show yourself. Even better show your own face. You might be surprised, but a post with a face generates tens of percent more engagement. Besides your face, it also means yourself as a whole.

Use content from your customers or users, show their stories, feedback, give them a chance to be seen. Best of all those who have Instagram accounts, they will reward you with further visibility.

Jump into live streaming. Instagram Live is found as part of stories and just like with them, Instagram favors live streaming here too. It will favor accounts that use this functionality.

Tag accounts and add geolocation (tag places), because only this way can you let the brand, company, or personality know that you have a post that concerns them. Geolocation won’t help as much, but it’s still good to use it. Don’t forget to tag other accounts directly in the photos and in accompanying texts and comments. Stories also allow tagging, so don’t underestimate this either. However, when tagging accounts, make sure it’s not unnecessary and not too frequent.

You can also find tools to support your Instagram here

Use your followers for tagging, ask them to tag their friends and attract them to some content. However, don’t do this often and when you do, it must make sense.

Switch your account to business mode, this will give you access to basic analytics and you can find out how your posts are doing and what the sociodemographics of your users are. You will also find out when your followers are online and can try to adjust the days and times when you post content. However, don’t overdo it, the algorithmic timeline is quite against it. It can help to check out When is the best time to publish posts on social media (but also on blogs and websites)? and How does scheduled posting on Instagram work. Later, Buffer and others

Run contests, giveaways, if you’re looking for short-term engagement increase. However, like with all contests, be careful that this way you won’t gain relevant and quality fans. You’ll find it useful to read What is contest mafia on Facebook? And what to watch out for when running contests?

Comment, like other people’s posts if it makes sense, if you can add some value, help. It won’t have a dramatic effect, but it’s definitely another way to make yourself more visible. Don’t overdo it, because this can actually harm you.

Show your Instagram in other media. Share photos on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, VKontakte. Transfer selected photos to your blog. Remember that Instagram can handle some of the transfer itself (Facebook, Tumblr and VKontakte for example), for others it’s worth (or necessary) to use something like IFTTT. See How to get a photo from Instagram to Twitter so it’s visible? and similarly you can send posts from Instagram using a hashtag (for example #blog) to your blog.

Use content that your fans want to see. Content they will also react to. Don’t rely too much on comments, but a large number of likes (hearts) is useful, algorithms love accounts with active posts. You can focus on copywriting, but the visual is what matters. Tailor everything to your target audience, youth for example loves emoji, older people don’t understand them.

Pay for post reach, if you have enough money and think it’s acceptable. However, this is the last resort you should only use if what you’re doing on Instagram is truly a business.

You can also find tools to support your Instagram here