How to Get Instagram Followers? 12 Tactics for Instagram Growth.

How to Get Instagram Followers? 12 Tactics for Instagram Growth.

Summary
Read 12 best tactics that can help you gain a bigger and more engaged audience for your business on Instagram.

13 minute read
You will learn

• Best practices to help you expand your Instagram audience
• The importance of a unique brand voice on Instagram
• How to post content consistently and at the right time to grow your audience

You spend hours planning and creating content for Instagram. For a brief moment after you hit the “Share” button, all is right with the world. You are confident that you have posted something great.

Then comes the silence. Or a few likes and comments from a handful of your followers. But how do you get more Instagram followers if not by posting great content?

There is no step-by-step guide to growth on Instagram. However, there are proven practices that will help you reach a wider audience and gain new followers.

Here are 12 ways to get more Instagram followers.

1. Optimize Your Bio

Make full use of these 150 characters. In your Instagram bio, tell potential followers who you are, what you do, and what action you want people to take after visiting your profile.

Your Instagram bio should include:

a clear description of what you do

• hints of your personality
• A call to action (shop, read more, contact us, etc.).
• A link

The link in your bio is your only clickable link on Instagram, so use it wisely. Some businesses link to their standard website, while others change it regularly based on their latest posts. However, if you want to make it easier for yourself, use link-in-bio tools like Shop Grid, which allow you to turn a single link into a catalog of links.

Also consider including a branded hashtag. For example, we invite our fans to use #BufferLove when talking about our products. By adding a branded hashtag to our bio, we let people know which hashtag to include to get our attention. Additionally, when someone taps on the hashtag, they’ll see posts from fans who have used it.

2. Find Your Best Time to Post on Instagram

Did you notice we didn’t say what the best time to post on Instagram is? The truth is, there is no universal answer to when to post on Instagram to reach the most people. However, there are ways to find the ideal times for your followers.

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First, use the Instagram Insights tool to find out when your audience is online. On your Instagram business profile, tap the “Insights” button, go to “Your Audience” and then tap “See All”. From there, scroll down and find your audience’s most active times.

You should also consider when your content will be most relevant. For example, a step-by-step recipe video might perform better outside of work hours, as people are likely cooking. On the other hand, a post about a café might work well around 2 PM, when people are dealing with the afternoon slump. Experiment with different posting times and track engagement.

If you’re looking for further guidance on when to publish posts, the Buffer Answers feature will provide you with three publishing time suggestions to maximize your reach on Instagram.

Find more in-depth guidance in our article, How to Find Your Best Time to Post on Instagram.

3. Post Consistently

A 2021 study across 14 industries shows that businesses share an average of four Instagram posts per week. However, we recommend publishing posts at least once daily. Brands that establish themselves in a regular flow of Instagram posts tend to achieve the best results. According to a Tailwind study, profiles that post daily gain Instagram followers faster than those that post less frequently.

Given Instagram’s algorithmic timeline, consistency is a key element in making your posts visible. If your posts are shared regularly and have good engagement, the Instagram algorithm will likely display your posts near the top of your followers’ feeds.

Quality is, of course, always more important than quantity. Posting more frequently doesn’t necessarily mean a higher engagement rate. Focus on creating content that will resonate with your target audience – more on this in section 9: Engage Your Audience.

Instagram scheduling tools allow you to post consistently without having to worry about daily publishing directly from the app. Check out the article How to Schedule Instagram Posts to Save Time and Increase Engagement, where you’ll find our favorite Instagram scheduling tools (both free and paid) along with scheduling tips.

4. Learn How the Instagram Algorithm Works

Many Instagram users initially panicked about the transition from a chronological feed to a ranked timeline. However, since the change, the average post reaches 50% more followers than before. So forget about learning how to beat the Instagram algorithm. Instead, focus on learning how to use the system to your advantage.

Six factors determine what appears on each person’s timeline: interest, recency, relationship, frequency, following, and usage.

Here’s a brief overview of what each of these factors covers:

Interest: How much Instagram thinks a person will like the post, based on previous activity.
Recency: What is the significance of the post to the user? How fresh is the post
Relationship: Accounts that the person regularly interacts with
Frequency: How often a person uses the Instagram app
Following: Posts from accounts that a person follows
Usage: How much time a person spends on Instagram
The Instagram algorithm works to display the best content for each individual user. So while six separate factors might seem like a lot to worry about, the best thing you can do is consistently create high-quality content.

We dive deeper into each of these rating factors in the article How the Instagram Algorithm Works in 2021: Everything You Need to Know. We also include a guide on how to create content that meets each factor, and we share tips on how to use the Instagram algorithm to your advantage.

5. Experiment with Different Content Types

Instagram is much more than just photos. Over the years, the app has introduced many ways to share content on this platform. Mixing different types of content is one of the best ways to gain more followers on Instagram, as it gives you the opportunity to reach and connect with a wider circle of people.

Remember: The algorithm looks at interests and tries to show people the types of content they interact with most frequently. So if one person likes and comments on Instagram Reels more often than other types of posts, they’re likely to see more Reels in their Instagram feed. However, if another person interacts more frequently with carousel posts, they’ll see more of that type of content on their timeline.

Each type of content has its advantages. For example, Instagram Reels have the advantage of being the newest type of content, and Instagram always promotes new features. Since Instagram Reels were introduced in 2020, the app has moved the Reels button to the center position in the menu bar, and Reels appear larger on the Explore page than photo posts. Since 200 million people check the Explore page every day, this extra visual space can make a big difference in how many people you reach.

Instagram TV videos (IGTV) also appear 4x larger on the Explore page than photos. And because IGTV videos can be up to 60 minutes long, this type of content is ideal for long-form video.

Instagram Stories disappear after 24 hours, but they have their own advantages. Fifty-seven percent of brands believe Stories are “somewhat” or “very effective” as part of their social media strategy. Plus, if you have a verified account or at least 10,000 followers, you can add Instagram Swipe Up links to your Stories and drive traffic to specific pages.

Meanwhile, carousel posts – a series of up to 10 images/videos in a single post – feature the highest engagement rate of all post types. Think of carousels as a mini-story or teaser for longer content, such as a blog. You can use text images, photos, video, or a combination of everything in one thematic post.

Confused by all the arguments for different types of posts? People like what they like. While studies can tell you what the average engagement rate is for individual types of content, or argue for one type of content at the expense of another, the best strategy is to use a variety of types. Mixing content on Instagram will allow you to reach people with different preferences, and this expanded reach will help you increase your Instagram followers.

6. Find Your Brand Voice and Create Unique Content

People don’t follow your business on social media to see sales offers. They follow your brand because they like your personality and the content you create.

What works for one business may not suit your brand – even if you operate in similar industries. For example, hobby farm Juggling Daisies and farm Such and Such are both considered unique farms. Juggling Daisies relies on fun stories, cute photos, and healthy content. While the Such and Such farm has a grittier style that includes profanity and humor.

Ask yourself what tone you want to have. Funny? Informative? Playful? Cynical? Your personality should also reflect what you enjoy. Such and Such farm believes in sustainably grown products, so many of their Instagram posts discuss their farming practices. What topics do you focus on in your Instagram content? Everything you share on your business account should showcase your brand’s personality and values.

Think of your business account as a person. Design the account’s personality and create brand creation guidelines so you can stay consistent. Brand creation guidelines should include notes about tone, style, and values along with your brand’s colors and fonts.

7. Write Great Captions

Nice photos catch people’s attention – great Instagram captions keep it. Captions give you the opportunity to provide more context or details about the photo or video you’re sharing. Using keywords in captions can also help you appear in search results within the app.

Instagram captions can be up to 2,200 characters. Of course, not every caption needs to be written like a blog post. Play around with different lengths. Some photos work well with a short, funny caption with a few emojis, while others might benefit from something longer and more thoughtful.

The average length of Instagram captions is growing, but most brands still aren’t approaching the 2,200 character limit. In 2020, the average is expected to be 405 characters, while in 2016 it was 142 characters.

So when should you go the long route and when should you keep it brief? There’s no hard rule. Like with content types, it’s best to mix them up. Look at these two posts from Andrea Jones of OnlineDrea. One post has a short caption, while the other explicitly directs you to a caption with a longer explanation.

8. Research and Use Hashtags

We’ve covered hashtags frequently on the blog, but it seems they’re not as important anywhere on social media as they are on Instagram. The right hashtags can expose your image to a large and targeted audience, and Instagram users don’t seem to get tired of hashtags the way they do on other networks.

Start by finding hashtags that would appeal to your target audience. Free Instagram tools like Display Purposes and AutoHash will help you find relevant hashtags for your Instagram posts. Using the Display Purposes tool, for example, you simply enter a few words about your image and it recommends the best hashtags you can use.

If you want to gain more Instagram followers, hashtags are essential. By using hashtags, your content becomes discoverable through search or filtering when people tap on the same hashtag from another post. People can even follow their favorite hashtags, so the best content with that hashtag will appear on their Instagram feed.

Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags per post, but don’t add more just to reach 30. TrackMaven recommends nine hashtags for maximum engagement. Just make sure you’re not using the same nine hashtags all the time. Instead, organize your favorite hashtags by category so you can quickly add a few relevant hashtags to each post.

Using the Buffer Hashtag Manager tool, you can create and save groups of hashtags. You can then choose from pre-saved groups and add hashtags to your scheduled Instagram posts.

9. Engage with Your Audience

Engagement is crucial for growth on Instagram. Many brands make the mistake of focusing on likes and comments without considering the people behind these metrics. If you want to truly gain more Instagram followers, you need to engage your fans in conversation.

Keep in mind that just because someone sees your content doesn’t mean they’re currently following you. If you have the opportunity to communicate with a potential follower, you should take it. Every comment is an opportunity to gain a new follower (or keep an existing one), so be sure to respond to every comment you receive. If your hands are already cramping at the thought of typing on your phone, don’t worry. With the Buffer Engage tool, you can respond to comments from your computer.

However, don’t just wait for your followers to start the conversation. Create opportunities for engagement. Use Instagram stickers like open-ended questions and polls in Instagram Stories. Ask questions in photo captions. Challenge people to tag their friends in the comments using challenges like “Tag your best friend you’d invite on this cruise!” or “Tag your friend who loves wine and who you’d enjoy this wine tasting with.”

Need more ideas? Check out our tips for Instagram engagement to learn how to get more Instagram followers by increasing engagement.

10. Collaborate with Others

Another great way to gain followers on Instagram is to collaborate with others through partnerships or influencer campaigns.

A great example is our Blume brand spotlight. Blume gains access to Buffer’s followers through an original Instagram Story and accompanying Highlights. Meanwhile, Blume shares the spotlight with their fans, bringing their audience to Buffer. It’s a win-win for both parties.

Another way to increase your Instagram followers is through influencer marketing. If you have a budget, you can pay content creators to promote your brand. However, if you’re hoping to keep it simple (and on a low budget), micro-influencers (1,000-10,000 followers) can be very effective. Content from micro-influencers has higher engagement rates than content from larger accounts. You can search for and collaborate with micro-influencers or simply re-share user-generated content (UGC).

Remember branded hashtags, which we discussed in section 1: Optimize Your Bio? One tap on a branded hashtag and you have an entire catalog of content to choose from.

When we first launched Buffer’s Instagram, we challenged fans to use #BufferStories and #BufferCommunity. We used these hashtags to find and re-share user-generated content. Within one year, we increased our Instagram followers from 4,250 to 21,000.

Why is UGC so popular? “It provides authentic experiences with the brand’s products or services from its previous customers, which increases brand credibility,” says Ramon Berrios from Trend.

Collaborations are also opportunities to showcase your values and personality through associations. The companies and people you connect with and support say a lot about your own brand. Partnerships can be especially powerful for local businesses as well. Consider partnering with your neighbors to reach a hyper-targeted audience.

11. Link to Your Instagram from Elsewhere

Make it easy for people to find your Instagram. No one should have to dig through your website pages to find your Instagram profile.

Add a link to your Instagram account:

• Email footer
• Footer and/or sidebar of your website
• Biographies on other social media platforms
• Team member posts on social networks

12. Analyze Your Results

One way to find out how to get more followers on Instagram is to discover what your current fans respond to. You can track several Instagram metrics directly in the Instagram Insights app or through third-party analytics tools such as Buffer.

Don’t become obsessed with vanity metrics like likes and comments. Instead, think about what these metrics tell you. For example, if you’re testing a new hashtag, metrics like new followers and reach will tell you more about the value of that hashtag than likes from your current followers. However, if you’re experimenting with different posting times, impressions can tell you when your content is most likely to be seen. Your end goal will determine which metrics are most important.

Track trends. Does a certain type of image get more views or engagement? Post more images like that and monitor how your followers respond. Do certain hashtags lead to more likes from people who don’t follow you? Use these hashtags more frequently and watch for new followers.

Read our Instagram Analytics guide to learn more about Instagram metrics and how to use them to support your marketing strategy.

How Do You Manage Your Instagram Marketing?

If you want to grow consistently on Instagram, you need to regularly provide quality content to your target audience. While part-time social media is fine for personal accounts, businesses need to be more strategic. All the tactics we’ve described will help you get more followers on Instagram, but they’re not boxes you can check off once. The key is to stay on top of your social media content strategy.