Whether you are a budding business or influencer, getting a huge Instagram following is always important. You’ve probably tried to get your numbers up to no avail and have wondered what makes other Instagram followers succeed. What are they doing that you are not doing? What makes them so different and so likable to the masses that their numbers keep growing? The answer is ‘a lot!’. But there’s nothing in their arsenal that is not accessible to you. Want to learn some tricks? Here’s how you can get more real followers for Instagram.
IMAGE: PEXELS
Get A Head Start
Yes, organic Instagram following growth has always been the hype. After all, there’s something about getting total strangers to love your content and interact with you. But when was the last time you followed an account with 10 followers? Or even 500 followers? In this age, such an account comes off as dull or even like a pseudo account. Most people would shun it, and so would you unless you know the user.
Does your account have few followers? Avoid getting shunned and instead buy cheap Instagram followers. Why? If people see that other people interact with your content, they will assume that you have something to offer. Remember- people follow numbers and will always follow the masses. So, even if you want to get organic growth, you’ve got to get a head start somehow.
State Your Purpose
If you look at most successful Instagram accounts, it’s obvious what the account serves. Unless you are a top celebrity who does not need an introduction (ahem, the Kardashians and Beyonce, etc.), the world needs to know who you are. Without this, people cannot decide if you are worth following or need to be in that ‘do not follow’ compartment in their accounts. So, what should you communicate?
What do you do- are you a business? Are you an influencer? What is it that you do? People also want to get a feel of your personality. Are you all about fun, are you seeking some adventure, or are you a professional service? Next, what do you want people to do once they have been to your account? If you are a business, this is the time to link your website, or phone number, or location.
For an influencer, now is the time to add your business contacts. Anyone skimming through your bio should immediately know if they are the target audience or not. Need some inspiration? Check out some of your top businesses or influencers and borrow some ideas!
Schedule Your Content
When is the best time to post on Instagram? Some people swear that there is no golden time, but that’s not the case for everyone. So, how do you ensure that your content gets out to your audience at the right time? It’s all about experimenting. Start by posting content in the morning and check the engagement levels. Is your audience enjoying the content? Are they liking, sharing, or even saving it?
Also, check out the comment section. Then move to noon, then evening, and eventually try the nighttime. You are sure to find the perfect time for your following to interact with you. Not ready to do all this trial and error? Here’s another way you can find that golden hour- gauge your audience by your stories. How?
Instagram has professional insights for business accounts. Turn these on and check the number of people interacting with your stories. Even if you don’t use the insights for experimenting, you will need them to check what content your audience likes. So, turn them on either way! Check the number of people watching your stories at different times of the day. Are there any peaks? These are the best times to post content!
Be Consistent
Now that you have found the golden hour, what next? Consistency! People love a consistent account. You cannot be posting ten stories each day then suddenly drop to a story every other day. People following you for the stories will feel that you no longer meet their content needs and could unfollow you. The same goes for feed posts. If you start with a post every other day, keep it like that. Sure, some days, you may need a break or might face some issues.
But the more consistent you are, the more trustworthy you will appear in the eyes of your followers. Does this affect your following? Of course! People want to follow active accounts. If you have a hard time being consistent, you can always schedule your content!
Optimize Your Content
At this point, you may be thinking, ‘I know people who have done all these things, yet their accounts have few followers. Why are the strategies not working?’ Here’s a good reason- their content is not good enough! This point is a hard pill to swallow. But think about it. Are your pictures interesting? Suppose you post a picture of shoes in your shop and the lighting is poor. Why would anyone want to like such a picture?
Besides, if you cannot give the post your all, why would anyone assume that your website would be any better? It’s the small things that matter. Instagram offers great editing tools that can eliminate shadows, increase brightness, and even saturate the colors in pictures. At an infancy level, you can start by using these adjustments and attract people to the posts.
But if you want to take the business to the next level, be more creative! Make more reels, invest in videos, and occasionally spring for professional photos. Instagram is a visual content platform, and only the best visuals top the algorithm. You are not different- you must put in the work!
Do you want to know where else you may be falling short? Have you looked at your captions? The standard Instagram caption is no longer an emoji with a few meaningless words scattered here and there. Nowadays, content creators are writing mini-blogs under their posts. Why? People are no longer content with plain visuals- you must give them a little extra. That doesn’t mean you need to start writing poems under your posts- it only means that you need to be more intentional with your captions.
Oh, and don’t forget to use relevant hashtags to push your content to a broader audience. All the best!
If you are interested in even more social media-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebels, then we have a lot to choose from.
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