To get followers on Instagram, it’s not enough to just create a profile and post photos. If you really want to achieve a high reach, you should consider a few important points.
Eminence, your local digital marketing agency, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, reveals for you in this article the most pertinent methods on how to get more followers on Instagram.
- Social Community
Instagram is a social community. So the motto is: Those who participate, win.
Don’t wait to be found. Comment and above all – like what you like! With meaningful comments you can draw attention to yourself. Answer also to comments so you can start a conversation and increase the interaction rate.
Anyone who sees that they have received a comment or like from a stranger will become curious and will often visit the stranger’s page. With a little luck, the user in question will become your next follower.
It’s just as important to follow other profiles. If you like a person or if you like their photos, just become their follower. Often, users thank you in return with the same action.
- Use hashtags correctly
Instagram is known for its hashtags. By placing a hashtag in front of a word, the corresponding image is found in the search by this term. So if you type “#InspirationalMonday” under your image, everyone will find the photo that enters “inspirational Monday” in the search.
The general rule when using hashtags is: the more the better. But you should be careful to use only current and meaningful hashtags and not to go overboard. Keep up with the latest trends.
But there are also a couple evergreens among the hashtags like #instagood, #nofilter and #photooftheday. Thousands of them are used every day and therefore often searched for. If you enter a term in the search, you will see how many entries it has. So you can check the popularity of hashtags.
Don’t just use popular terms, but also describe what you see on the picture with some hashtags. Descriptive hashtags can be #food, #friends, #love, or #me.
You may have noticed that most hashtags are in English. Since the majority of users write their hashtags in English, you should do the same.
- Participate in Instagram Competitions
Every day there are numerous competitions on Instagram, where the most beautiful or best photo on a certain topic is chosen. Probably the best-known contest is “photo of the day”. To participate, add the hashtag #photooftheday to one of your pictures. If your photo is chosen as the picture of the day, it will land on the @photooftheday profile with a link to your account. Winners will receive several thousand Likes and new followers within one day. Other competitions are #pictureoftheday and #bestoftheday. These contests also run daily.
- Create Instagram stories and use live videos
With Instagram stories, you can create small video or photo sequences that are displayed above the actual image stream. The Live Video feature allows you to share special events or everyday life with your followers in real time. Instastories that last for 24 hours can be pinned to the top of your profile and grouped into different categories, using the highlights function from Instagram.
- The right photos for Instagram
Types of photos:
Think about which photos to upload on Instagram. They can be collected works and snapshots from your life, or you can opt to post images around a specific theme. Try to stick to your chosen theme and post only images related to this respective topic, for example, food or fashion.
Quality:
Nobody likes to look at pixelated pictures. Make sure the photos you upload are of good quality and that you are not constantly posting the same thing.
Filters:
You don’t have to overdo it with filters, but Instagram is known for them. That’s why you should use them. Opt for the inbuilt filters from Instagram or try out other popular photo editing platforms such as VSCO or Lightroom.
Frequency
Be sure to upload pictures regularly. If you don’t upload new content, Followers may loose interest in your profile and unfollow you. Note also that if you do not post for over a year, your profile will be considered a “ghost account” which could impact the credibility of your account.
- Tools which help you get more Instagram Followers
Iconosquare: With Iconosquare you can analyse your Instagram profile, measure user engagement and find important hashtags.
Later: With the help of Later you can plan posts in advance.
Like2buy: Like2buy generates a link to your online shop for fixed photos.
Planoly: Planoly helps you plan Instagram Posts and displays important statistics.
TagsForLikes: With TagsForLikes you can find topic related hashtags to add to your photos.
- Get inspiration from the best
Inspire yourself from the best! Below we have listed three successful bloggers from fashion, food and travel industry:
Chiara Ferragni, „The Blonde Salad“
Sure, she’s the undisputed queen when it comes to blogger business. In 2009 she started writing and founded her website “The Blonde Salad”. Today, 10 years later, she employs a 30-person team that only deals with her, the blog and of course her social media channels. The Italian fashionista is a brand ambassador for many different brands, including Lancôme, she has launched her own luxury fashion collection and has appeared on over 50 fashion magazine covers. Everything the 31-year-old touches seems to turn to gold. Forbes Magazine voted Chiara Ferragni the most successful influencer in the world. After all, she had already generated an impressive nine million dollars in sales with her company in 2015 and since then she has constantly increased her fortune year by year.
Eleanor Mills, „Deliciously Ella“
At the age of 19, Eleanor Mills had a disease of the nervous system that made her bedridden. The medication did not help her against heart racing and blood pressure problems. Inspired by the book “Crazy Sexy Diet” by Kris Carr, she became a vegan and documented her path in a blog since 2012. Her account on Instagram has 1.5 million subscribers. She runs two restaurants in London and has written several bestsellers. The Guardian described her as the most successful diet book author of 2016.
Tim Kemple “timkemple”
Tim Kemple is one of the best sports and action photographers in the world. The American who grew up in Utah, held a camera in his hand for the first time about 15 years ago and was hooked from that minute on! Tim accompanies extreme athletes on their expeditions around the world and captures spectacular moments with his camera. Unsurprisingly, Tim Kemple has already worked as a photographer for big companies like Red Bull, Google and The North Face.
- How soon will I be known on Instagram?
You don’t just need hashtags, likes and Followers to become known on Instagram. What you need the most of is patience. If you follow our tips and tricks and regularly upload new and exciting pictures, you have a good chance of becoming an Insta-success. But remember, that can take a while.
Eminence, your local digital partner, can help you to first set up a thoughtful audit, followed by an extensive Digital Marketing Strategy for your Instagram and then increase the number of your followers and at the same time boost your ROI.