If you’ve found your way to this page, I’m going to take a wild guess and say you’re interested in developing your Instagram account. ‘How can I obtain Instagram followers?’ is a question that every marketer has.
Unfortunately, the bulk of papers on the subject are either too general or too case-specific, and they primarily propose a few low-impact and/or time-consuming solutions.
Furthermore, these Instagram follower growth techniques must be updated almost as frequently as Instagram’s ranking algorithm — there’s a significant probability that the recommendations offered in 2017 are now out of date, because Instagram has changed a lot in the last two years.
I want to buy instagram views marketing for a number of years now [@gettinggrowth]. During that time, I’ve tried a ton of different strategies for building my own and my clients’ accounts.
I’ve developed a list of universal and successful strategies to get Instagram followers based on my experiences. I came up with this step-by-step roadmap to establishing a following base, more specifically: a road to 21k, in an attempt to organize them.
But, before you get started, here’s a reality check: There is no such thing as a “silver bullet” method that will instantly get you to the 1k, 10k, or 21k level.
When it comes to gaining Instagram followers, timing is crucial. Yes, there are a number of things you can do to boost your following. However, going all-out with all of them at once isn’t going to get you anywhere, because the effectiveness of each action varies as you hit a specific follower milestone.
For example, if you just have 10 followers, it’s pointless to pay $100 for a shout-out on your account from a huge influencer. Yes, you might gain some followers as a result, but the cost per follower would be exorbitant. It would be far more successful if you already have a strong Instagram profile and following and are wanting to accelerate the snowball effect.
Step 1: Increasing your Instagram followers from 0 to 100
So, you’ve created a brand-new Instagram account and are looking to gain some traction and followers.
Getting that initial following shouldn’t be too difficult if you already have a business or a brand with a fairly established community. Send an email to your current customers inviting them to join you on Instagram.
Keep in mind that if you want someone to accomplish something, you must first provide them with an incentive. In this scenario, offering a discount on your products to the first 100 followers can be enough.
If you have a large enough email list, you can split the offer such that the first 100 subscribers get a 30% discount, the next 100 get a 20% discount, and so on, so that people who may have opened the email later are not discouraged from following you. However, before you send the email, make sure you have a few engaging posts up to give people a sense of your brand.
If you don’t already have a customer/follower base, you can urge your friends, family, or coworkers to join you. This is one of my personal favorites because you can easily get your initial follower base without posting any content (though I would still recommend having at least one post there to begin with), and if you’re one of those people who has a large family and friend group, you might just hit that 100 follower mark pretty quickly.
Also, if you have a brand website, you can capture any site visitors by including an Instagram follow button to let them know where they can find you on social media! Ensure that your website is well-optimized and developed by a reputable website builder (for example, Ucraft or Wix).
After you’ve finished this first step, you’ll need to decide on a strategy for gaining Instagram followers and growing your following to at least 100 people.
“Something’s coming…” is the first strategy.
This will work best if you have a major announcement coming up soon, such as a new website, a product, or a giveaway.
Make an appealing profile photo and an engaging and funny bio – don’t be afraid to use emojis if you think it will help your audience connect with you.
Add a link to your homepage, email subscription page, or virtually any other brand connection that could potentially prolong your engagement with your fans!
Even if you haven’t formally launched your site yet, having a domain gives credibility to your company because it shows your audience that you’re serious about your business. At the very least, you should have a “coming soon” page with a lead capture put up.
But don’t get too worked up about it; having a link in your bio doesn’t guarantee that your Instagram page will grow faster. It’s more of a nice-to-have at this point to start thinking about monetizing your audience, which you can accomplish in the later steps as well.
When writing an Instagram bio, be very specific about what your account will be about. Say that if you’re intending to start an eCommerce business. Let them know if you’re handing up free marketing advice. Maybe you’re going to host a giveaway for the first 100 people who follow you? They should be aware of it. Even if you don’t have anything up right now, give them a reason to follow you.
If you want to go any farther (and you should), create at least one post that is visually appealing and expresses your business message. This will help you gain Instagram followers since it informs potential followers about your company, what types of posts they can expect from you, and gets them excited about your approaching launch!
Unfortunately, simply having an Instagram account will not help you gain followers. Look for accounts that are in your topic or a niche that is comparable to yours and have a large following (I wouldn’t go any higher than 10k+ followers, though). Once you’ve found these accounts, start following at least ten of them, and be sure to follow at least 50 of their followers.
If you want to go the extra mile (and you should), you may look at the accounts of those 50 followers before following them to make sure they meet your target demographic.
Here’s the key: make an effort to communicate with the accounts you follow on a regular basis. Like their most recent posts, leave comments on them, respond to their Instagram Stories, and/or simply send them a direct message in which you introduce yourself in one sentence and mention that you’ve just launched a new account and would be honored to have them among your first followers who will receive [insert the incentive you mentioned in your bio].
The direct message’s personal approach, along with regular participation, is a terrific way to gain Instagram followers – especially if you haven’t chosen an account that’s too big and won’t receive your message. All of this is important in later periods as well, but it’s especially important when you’re still a new account.
“A rising star” is the second strategy.
If, on the other hand, you don’t have anything major coming up or if you want to build a personal brand (models, photographers, speakers, etc. ), this is the option for you.
Everything we talked about in Strategy 1 is still relevant. Working on your bio description, explaining who you are and what your account is about, reaching out to other accounts in your field and engaging with their followers are all things you should do.
The main distinction is that you must first create your feed before engaging in outreach. Remember, you’re not going to drive people to your impending Instagram follower offer; you’re going to drive them to your posts.
The big question is this:
How many posts should you have produced before embarking on a significant Instagram outreach campaign? At least 9-12 posts, in my opinion, would be an excellent starting point.
This means there is enough content on your profile to portray you and/or your brand when someone visits it. To build a consistent grid and feed style, keep in mind that your posts should complement one another.
It’s crucial to have a great layout for your photographs. Yes, each image has the potential to increase engagement among your existing Instagram followers who view the postings in their feed.
However, the general grid style is one of the most essential (if not the most important) factors in attracting Instagram followers. It demonstrates that you value your brand and informs your audience that they can expect constant high-quality material.
Instagram accounts that use consistent color schemes and go above and beyond in designing their feed will gain more followers faster than those who don’t!
If you choose to proceed with 12 first posts, I recommend that you do so within 2-3 days at the very least. It depends on how frequently you want to write in the future, but I don’t believe having all 12 posts published on the same day is very organic. (However, this is just my personal preference; if you’re in a hurry to get started, go ahead and upload them all right away.)
Include a large number of different hashtags (30 per post) in each post to make your early posts more discoverable to potential followers. It’s critical to start with a high level of engagement on your posts.
I recommend using hashtags that have a small number of post shares (maybe 1k-20k) as well as those that are extremely popular (10 million+). You’ll almost certainly get Instagram followers as a result of this action alone! The most crucial thing to keep in mind is that your hashtags should be relevant to your post’s content.