How to Get More Real Instagram Followers 2026

Instagram is today one of the most popular social media platforms with over 1 billion monthly users. This of course represents a great opportunity for marketers and brands to leverage this user base.

How to Get More Real Instagram Followers 2026

Building a presence on Instagram and gaining followers overnight, however, is not that easy. It is a process that requires time, but with a little help you can see results faster. Here are 12 tips on how to get more followers on Instagram that are real and relevant to your brand.

How to Get More Real Instagram Followers 2026

1. Write a Compelling BIO

The first thing anyone will see when they visit your profile is your bio, and that’s why it’s a crucial part of making a first impression on your audience. You need to write a compelling bio on Instagram to encourage people to follow you.

In addition to basic information, such as adding contact details and a link to your website, you should also tell your brand story in an engaging way. Simply stating what kind of business you run won’t make you stand out. You need to give people a reason to connect with your brand and follow you.

Here is an example of a good Instagram bio from Yeti, a brand that makes adventure gear.

2. Creating and Maintaining a Unique Brand Personality on Instagram

Your Instagram channel is the next thing that someone visiting your profile will see after your bio. And the impression a user gets when looking at your feed is important in determining whether they like your brand or not.

It is also important to maintain consistency in colors, types of posts, tone of voice, etc., because these are what determine your brand’s personality. And it should be such that anyone who sees your post will immediately associate it with your brand.

Here is an example of a non-alcoholic beverage brand that maintains a clear and distinct brand personality.

3. Use Relevant Hashtags

Using hashtags is a proven way to reach more people and gain more followers on Instagram. You need to research which hashtags are trending in your industry and which are relevant to your brand and content. Then use a combination of these hashtags for all your content on Instagram to reach people who follow these hashtags.

Don’t forget to mix it up a bit and use popular industry-level hashtags as well as niche ones where you can really stand out. Instagram allows you to add up to 30 hashtags for each post and you should use this feature to your advantage.

4. Create and Use Your Own Hashtag

In addition to using popular hashtags, you can also create and promote your own hashtag. This can be specific to your brand or even for a specific campaign. Brand-specific hashtags are a good way to improve your Instagram presence and promote your campaigns.

By creating a campaign-specific hashtag, you can also encourage people to use it in their Instagram content. This way you get free user-generated content and also publicity, which can help you reach more people and gain more followers.

Here is an example of how Dove uses campaign-specific hashtags to create user-generated content and promote its marketing initiatives.

5. Optimize Your Captions

Instagram captions for your posts give you the opportunity to engage your existing audience and even encourage them to recommend you to their friends. So why not use this opportunity to your advantage?

With Instagram captions, you can do a lot, such as tagging people, asking questions, starting conversations, and more. The more you prompt your audience to comment, the more likely they are to invite their friends to join the discussion.

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You can also provide discounts or offers and ask your followers to tag their friends and promote the offer. Don’t forget to also tell the story behind the image or video you’re sharing, as this will help you achieve greater engagement.

6. Engage in Popular Discussions

This is the other side of the story we mentioned in the previous point. You should not only start conversations but also participate in them.

If someone in your field starts a discussion that people are interested in, it would be good to comment on it and engage with it. Who knows? Some people might be impressed and decide to check out your profile and follow you.

7. Monitoring Tagged Photos

If you want to gain and keep more followers, it’s very important to maintain a good reputation. One way to do this is to monitor which posts your brand is tagged in. People can see all the posts you’re tagged in from your Instagram profile. So it’s important to monitor who tags you and what type of posts you’re tagged in.

You can use the “edit tags” feature or change settings so that only tagged posts that

8. Go Local

Just as local SEO works for websites, local hashtags and geotags work for Instagram too. The value of targeting a local audience for your business should not be underestimated.

Here are two ways you can achieve this.

Tagging Posts with Geographic Markers

By adding geographic tags to your Instagram content, you can attract local Instagram users. Many people search for local content using Instagram’s search feature, and adding geotags can help you get positioned in these searches. It’s similar to local SEO, but for Instagram.

Add locations to your posts and gain views when someone searches for Instagram content using location search. This way, you can attract local people to your profile and gain more Instagram followers.

Use Hashtags That Local People Use

Local hashtags serve a similar purpose, as you can reach local people who are interested in a specific niche. Many people on Instagram follow local hashtags, and by using them, you can gain access to this audience.

9. Add CTAs Everywhere (Call to Action)

Instagram offers several ways to add calls to action to your content, and you should take advantage of all of them. Whether it’s a simple “swipe up to learn more” in your Stories, or “shop now”, CTAs can help you get your audience to take your desired action.

At the very least, you can add a CTA to your captions asking people to share your content, visit your profile, or take any other action you want them to take.

Look at this example of how Staples encourages people to share its content by adding a simple CTA to the caption.

10. Leverage Influencers

Influencers are people with a significant number of followers who are loyal and engaged, which is a quality that everyone wishes to have with their audience. You can leverage influencers to gain access to their loyal followers and convert them into your own followers.

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The only important thing to keep in mind is that influencers should be from your niche and relevant to your brand. If these criteria are met, you can start, as influencer marketing is a reliable way to get more followers on Instagram.

There are many ways to use influencer marketing to gain a larger number of followers, and it would be beyond the scope of this article. So do your research and leverage the power of influencer marketing to expand your reach.

11. Create Contests

It might seem like a cheap trick, but it is a proven way to gain followers on Instagram. Many brands and marketers use this technique and see immediate results.

Simply launch a contest and ask people to follow you and tag their friends to participate. And write the caption in a way that encourages people to tag only relevant people who might genuinely be interested in your brand.

Below is a perfect example of how these things work and how you can use this tip to gain immediate followers.

12. Invest in Instagram Ads

No list of tips on how to get more followers on Instagram is complete without mentioning advertising. After all, it is the traditional way for businesses willing to invest in it to gain more potential customers (in this case, followers).

Unlike posts and Stories, which are visible only to your current audience, Instagram ads are shown to a much wider, relevant audience. By investing in advertising, you can reach a large number of people in a specific demographic or target segment.

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Conclusion

These are some of the best ways to increase your presence on Instagram and gain more followers. Use these tips to record visible growth in your Instagram followers and build a strong position on this platform.