The ever-changing Instagram features and rules of engagement keeps users guessing as to what will work best to generate more followers in the short-term, what will work best so their account doesn’t get banned, and what will work best to find steady, reliable growth.
Planning and implementing new growth strategies is key to finding success in all of the above. It’s best to diversify your strategies to get that authentic, organic Instagram growth everyone wants. Here are a few things for you to consider.
First, what’s the purpose of Instagram followers? People will brag about the number of followers they have—and some will define their success by this number. But, your followers serve more of a purpose than just being a number on your profile: they are the ones who will make your account grow—and that’s really what you want—growth. Your followers brag about your content or your product, they spread the word and get others to look at your account—they, ultimately, are advertising to all of their contacts for you. You want them to spread the word about your Instagram account so that you get more followers who will do the same.
How can you get more followers? Keep reading to see what we recommend. Some strategies will resonate with you; others may not work for you. But, consider all of them as you figure out the best ways to grow your Instagram account.
1. Consistently Post Compelling Content
This is so basic, but you’d be surprised at how many people think that one post will make them the next big Insta star. Reality check: it probably won’t. You’re going to need to post consistently and for some time in order to grow your followers
This is best achieved by setting a posting schedule and then posting good content. This may also take some time to figure out what’s resonating with your target audience. But, like the Little Engine That Could, try and try again until you find what works. However, if you’re not into the “trying to nail Jell-o to the wall” to find out what’s sticking with your audience, you should get into the data analytics. More on this later.
What posting consistently does is it gives your followers a sense of anticipation; they’ll be eagerly waiting for your next post. It also takes the guessing game out of when your followers can expect something new from you and shows that your serious about their needs for good content.
2. Timing
There are programs to help you see what’s working and what’s not. Check out XXX, XXX, or XXX. You can go deep into this data, but one good starting point is the time of day you post. Generally, mid-morning in US central time is the best, but your audience may be different. Maybe you’re selling something to people who can’t sleep, so the best time for you to post could be in the middle of the night.
When you’re starting out, you may need to try posting at different times, but once you find your target audience and know when they are most likely to be on Instagram, you can schedule your posts to hit during the most appropriate time range.
3. Quality Content Over Quantity
Ok, we did tell you to post a lot, but the content you post needs to be relevant. No one wants their time wasted, so make sure your content is engaging and relevant to your followers. It’s all too easy for someone to find someone new to follow, and the substance of your posts will either turn your followers away or make them want to tell everyone else.
Also consider the multitude of content you can post on Instagram: you’re not limited to just pictures anymore, there are stories, XXX, and XXX. Try all of these out to see what your audience is reacting to.
But, do realize that Instagram is primarily about the visuals—if your photos or videos are low quality, people aren’t going to want to engage. Depending on what you’re doing, you may consider hiring out some of these services so your content is the quality your audience demands.
4. Engage, Engage, Engage
We mentioned that stagnant followers aren’t who you want. You want real people who will look at your content and actively promote your account. You must know that this is a two-way street: your followers want the people they follow to return the favor. You do this by engaging with your followers’ accounts. This means that you spend time answering their questions, liking their comments, liking their content, commenting on their content, reposting, chatting, etc.
5. Get Some Help
At this point, you may be thinking you’ve got a lot to do all by yourself to grow your followers. But, this isn’t true. There are services that can help you with some of the things we listed above. They’re known as Instagram growth agencies.
IG growth agencies are companies you hire to help with the analytics and engagement. The content creation is still up to you—after all, you know your audience best—but they can help with the rest. There are a TON of agencies out there, and so you have to spend some time looking at what they claim to do and their reviews. We’ve vetted a few already, and a good one we’ve found is called KickFollower.
KickFollower gives you two people (not bots!) to work with your account. One is your IG growth expert, who is the person doing the engagement with your current followers and who is also targeting other IG users to follow you. They stay up to date on the engagement rules and restrictions for Instagram and work within those parameters. This ensures your account doesn’t get shut down or banned.
Your IG growth expert can follow, unfollow, like comments, post comments, and/or view stories, all based on what package you picked.
KickFollower also gives you an account manager. This is your go-to person for any issues or questions.
And, finally, remember that data we mentioned? KickFollower’s user dashboard can give you some of that. They’re truly a one-stop shop for growing your Instagram account.
Takeaways
No matter where you are in your Instagram growth journey, the tips above are sure to help. We’re a huge fan of outsourcing some of these tasks, so getting an Instagram growth agency like KickFollower to help is highly recommended. They allow you to spend more time generating the content your followers want and less on the tasks you may not want to do.
Create compelling content, post consistently, use data to optimize, and get some help! You’ll get the steady, organic growth everyone wants.