The truth about getting Instagram followers. There are several different ways to gain Instagram followers. First, people need to come across your profile, before deciding it is worth following. The second part of building an Instagram following comes down to having quality content that people feel has value. So how do we get people to find your Instagram account in the first place?
Engagement groups – These engagement groups, or DM groups, are a great way to get popular Instagram accounts to Like and Comment on your post in order for it to rank on the explore page. Network with other accounts on Instagram and get accounts to add you into one of their engagement groups, or start your own network. This is going to boost the amount of engagement your post has and give you a better chance of ending up on the explore section of Instagram. When a popular account likes and comments on a post it has a better chance of ending up on the explore section.
Posting quality content – Naturally if you are posting quality content people are going to share. Keep in mind that good content alone will not quickly grow your account. A good Instagram without engagement will not take off and gain followers.
Taking over hash tags – When you have a good amount of engagement on your post, you can get rank as a top post for a hashtag. This is key to gaining active followers in your market. When you start out try to take over hashtags that are not very popular, such as a local area or you will not stand a chance at getting ranked. Using popular hashtags can generate fast likes when an image is posted because of the volume searching those tags, but most of those users will not be long term engaged and active on your account.
Growing from zero – Keep in mind most small businesses are going to get the majority of their followers from other sources, such as their own website. Unless you are in an industry such as an artist or photographer, Instagram will not be your main source of new followers. Keep in mind, we can leverage the power of Instagram even if we do not have many followers. Instead, we can still see a high number of impression by taking over hashtags.
Old tactics
Follow and unfollow – This tactic works as a way to get followers just because people are going to check out your profile. If your page is of value to them they will follow. Keep in mind while this does work, it is much slower than having an image go viral. Also realize that Instagram is against mass follow and unfollowing and could suspend your account. The best way to use this tactic is to find a popular account that appeals to similar users as your account, and follow that users that are commenting on the image.
Like for like – An old trick, users would like each others images that posted with this hashtag, not very popular anymore.
That is a basic overview of how Instagram works. Feel free to contact with any questions you have and share this article.
Chris Phillips
Kalamazoo, MI
Evolve Marketing