If you’re relatively new to the world of social media, mastering how to get more followers on Instagram may seem like somewhat of a tall task. But we’ll let you in on a little secret—starting a successful Instagram account for your company and engaging meaningfully with your audience isn’t as impossible as you might think. In fact, engaging with your audience is one of the easiest ways to foster Instagram growth. If your end goal is to get Instagram followers, our fundamentals will teach you exactly what you need to know.
While it’s true that complete Instagram mastery will require some real time and effort, sticking to the five marketing fundamentals below will set you squarely on the path to success, and will help you get more followers on Instagram.
1. Put Away The Megaphone If You Want More Followers On Instagram
For many companies, one of the biggest pitfalls of using Instagram for business comes into play before they start producing content—it’s the idea that Instagram is simply another channel through which they can talk loudly about their products or services. Newsflash it’s not.
The biggest problem, here? This isn’t what Instagram users want. Truth be told, Instagram is meant to be so much more. It’s a place where users go to find beautiful images and engaging ideas—not to be approached as if they were watching a commercial.
Take notes. This is a crucial difference between traditional advertising and how to utilize Instagram marketing for your business. Years ago, this approach of “yelling through a megaphone” worked to grab users’ attention and get them to buy. Now, millenials are more careful about purchasing behavior and see through the gimmicks.
The community nature of this platform makes it easy to find out what the consumer wants and how to continue evolving your personal brand to market to them better. When you understand your current customer, your company can evolve its Social Media Strategy and find ways to attract more Instagram followers.
Your first key to Instagram marketing success is to realize that you won’t be doing a lot of direct selling on this platform. Rather, you’ll be giving your audience a unique look at your brand. Believe it or not, this will greatly boost your social credentials—and your business as a whole.
2. Offer Something Unique
There’s no denying that Instagram is becoming increasingly crowded as more brands jump on board in an effort to reach new audiences.
1 billion people use Instagram monthly, so it’s safe to say there is a decent amount of competition. With this being said, however, due to the increased number of users on the platform, the opportunity for Instagram growth on your account is higher than ever.
So how do you stand out? The answer lies in providing something unique. Something that showcases your brand personality. Or even something that your followers couldn’t find anywhere else. If you mimic someone else’s branding or ideas you will only stifle your Instagram growth.
The best way to get more followers on Instagram is to give your audience something they haven’t seen before. Provide valuable content that will have users returning day after day to your page and ultimately your website to make a purchase.
This unique content can be in the form of tips, behind the scenes, creative poses, editing techniques and the list goes on. The point is, to get more followers on Instagram, you must be providing content that is unique.
Saturday Night Live is an excellent example of this. While the show’s Instagram feed does include clips from recent episodes, it also provides something unique by offering behind-the-scenes photos of the set and crew.
These exclusive features give audience members unique insights into the show. As a result, SNL’s Instagram feed generates high levels of engagement.
3. Influencers FTW
We love to talk about Instagram influencers, and with good reason—they’re one of the best resources you have for building a booming Instagram account for your business.
As mentioned earlier, traditional advertising methods are a thing of the past and influencer marketing is the way of the future.
Countless brands have already leveraged partnerships with Instagram influencers to promote new products and events, or simply to get more followers on Instagram themselves.
By working with influencers with an interest in your company’s niche, you tap into a larger audience that otherwise would’ve never discovered your brand. This is an incredible way to boost Instagram growth. Influencers have a large network, so partnering with multiple can expand your reach immensely.
These kinds of promotions generate positive word-of-mouth for your company in the digital realm and dramatically increase your follower counts and levels of engagement.
Influencers are trustworthy and market in a very personal manner. Because influencers are more genuine and less promotional, they generate more engagement than celebrity endorsements.
When you create content in collaboration with an influencer, it helps you reach a new audience, garner better engagement, your content gains credibility and will bring you more followers on Instagram.
While reaching out to influencers can be a bit pricey—or at the very least, a time-consuming, relationship-building process—this is a great way to gain exposure on Instagram.
4. Engage With Your Audience
As we’ve already touched on, Instagram is more than a place for you to simply broadcast a marketing message, hoping the masses will magically gobble it up.
People come to Instagram to connect and participate in digital conversations, and the effort you put into engaging with your audience will ultimately make a big difference in how likely they are to become a loyal customer at a later date.
Many of the things you can do to engage with your audience are relatively simple, such as responding to comments, following your followers or “regramming” user-submitted photos featuring your brand.
While these may seem like small tasks, they demonstrate your willingness to engage with your online community, which makes audiences more excited to interact with your brand’s content and will help get new Instagram followers.
You can also spur engagement through contests or creative captions. Remember, your call to action doesn’t have to be “click here to purchase.”
Fill-in-the-blank captions and asking questions are great ways to get more comments on your posts, and contests are a sure-fire way to get audience members posting about your brand.
5. It’s All About The Visuals
High quality visuals are critical on Instagram.
Remember the days of Instagram being used solely as an editing app? Although times surely have changed, the same basic principle stands; the app is all about the visuals.
The posts that stop you dead in your tracks and will yield Instagram growth are eye-catching and edited well. Would you stop and like the images you’re creating? If you don’t find your own graphics and photos visually appealing why should your audience?
At the end of the day, Instagram is a visual platform. It doesn’t matter what type of business you run, if your account’s content doesn’t keep people from scrolling past your posts on their individual feeds, it won’t perform well on Instagram.
Visuals are key to your brand’s story. They are the backbone of your marketing strategy and the hook to bring in more followers on Instagram.
It doesn’t matter if you’re showcasing your product, offering a behind-the-scenes look or even sharing user-generated content, beautiful, eye-catching photos are what will allow you to stand out when users are distracted by rival posts.
Whether you hire a professional photographer to curate content for your Instagram account or use high-quality stock images to craft a meme, or create graphics using Photoshop, DesignBold or Canva, using photos with a strong visual appeal will grab users’ attention and ensure they stick around for the long haul to engage with your content.
Conclusion
Even though competition on Instagram can seem fierce, you can still successfully get more followers on Instagram organically and without buying fake bot accounts.
If you put away the megaphone, offer unique content, strategize and collaborate with influencers effectively, engage with your audience and continually post visually appealing content, you will be setting your business up for long-term success.
There’s a lot that goes into successfully using Instagram for business, but with these fundamental tools in your arsenal, you’ll be on the path to creating a solid, engaging account, and getting more followers on Instagram.
Don’t be afraid to dive into the world of Instagram! Trust us on this one—cling to the above five tips, and your efforts will be well rewarded.
[See related post: Get More Likes On Instagram Without Any Celebrity Power]
[Main image: PublicDomainPictures.net, Festival crowd by Okan Çalışkan, Creative Commons CC0; Owl: Image by Graham Hobster from Pixabay; other images from respective social media accounts]
Samantha is a Marketing coordinator at Kicksta with an expertise in all things Instagram and social media marketing. Our passion is to help companies grow their presence online and kill it in social media!