Over 1 billion people use Instagram and it’s the fourth most popular social medium behind Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp. But do you feel like none of these users know your brand exists on Instagram? We’re here to change that with 13 tips to grow your Instagram following fast and effectively!
How to Get Followers Fast on Instagram
Research shows that 90% of users follow at least one business account, and soon they’ll love sharing and liking your business’s content. To make sure they do, follow the tips below.
1. Fully Optimize Your Instagram Business Account
First things first: you need to optimize your Instagram Business account to encourage users to follow your account(s). That means writing a strong bio that includes a link to your business’s website, set a recognizable username, use a logo and branding as your profile photo, and use hashtags to your advantage. Use highlights to spotlight products and services from the Stories you publish. Add action buttons to book appointments or make reservations (if that applies to your business model). And don’t forget to regularly A/B test your profile to see what gains the most traction with building a following.
2. Tailor Content to Your Ideal Audience
Who is your brand’s ideal audience or target demographic? Everything you post on Instagram should be geared toward that persona! You can do an SEO audit to help you identify this demographic. You can also scope out your competition’s content marketing strategy or do a business development brainstorm with your team to better understand your ideal customer.
Once you know who you’re talking to, find out what they’re looking for online, and what accounts they follow. This will require some sleuthing, but doing so will help you create content similar to the type they like to consume. Tailor your videos and messaging to this demographic to convince them to follow your page for information, education, and entertainment.
3. Post Engaging Content
Well, duh. You need to make your Instagram content interesting and engaging. What would you want to see from your account if you were your ideal audience (and maybe you are)? Your goal is to make the person pause and consider your content.
Not sure what engaging content looks like or how to make it? Charm School’s DIY Social Media Marketing Kits can help! Our social media kit will help you streamline your posting schedule, improve your content, and make you a master of in-house social media management.
4. Post to Instagram Consistently
Experts advise you post to Instagram two or three times per week, but no more than once per day. In our experience, no matter how often you post, it’s best to utilize Instagram to its full potential—varying posting Reels, a set of Stories, and organic posts to your feed throughout the week. This posting schedule gives Instagram’s algorithm fresh content to choose from when populating feeds.
5. Follow the Best Times to Post on Instagram
If you want to follow Instagram best-practices and grow your following fast, then you need to know the best times to post on Instagram. Doing so will give you a slight advantage of making an impact on viewers, especially if your business is B2B.
6. Use Hashtags
Hashtags help people find your Instagram account. In other words, they’re a great way to help grow your Instagram following. Whenever you post, use a mix of branded, trending, relevant, niche, and mass hashtags. However, you don’t want to overdo it! We suggest using 10 hashtags per post. When it comes to how you include those hashtags, the jury is still out. You can either put them in the comment, at the bottom of your post, or throughout your caption—there doesn’t seem to be a big different in followers either way.
7. Cross Promote Your Account
Use your other established marketing efforts like emails, your website, blogs, and social media accounts to lead people to your Instagram account. Place promos and buttons to your Instagram account everywhere you promote other social media outlets.
8. Make a Shop for Clickable Products
Set up a shop on Facebook so you can sell directly on Instagram! Eliminating the amount of clicks a person has to make in order to complete a purchase will do wonders for your sales. Instagram seems to be the infomercial of our time, and impulse purchasing and brand discovery exists because of its shoppable nature.
9. Use the 80/20 Rule
Have you heard of the 80/20 Rule for social media? If not, no worries. We’re here to help. This unofficial rule says that you publish entertaining, educational, and otherwise helpful information 80% of the time and only promote your company 20% of the time. Following this rule will help you serve your audience, not just market to them. If you need more ideas for Instagram, check them out here.
10. Only Post High-Quality Visuals
You need to stop people from scrolling to they notice your content. THAT’S how you get followers. Since Instagram is so visual, the only way to do that is to post high-quality photos and videos. Use short videos, image filters, and even customize stock photos to make your account more appealing. Here are the top free stock photo sites we love for video and image sourcing.
11. Offer Giveaways and Promotions
Want to grow your Instagram following? Then think like Oprah, and give things away! Everyone loves to win something or get something for free. Create an offer or promotion that makes sense with your brand, then promote it to your followers. Be sure to clearly communicate what they have to do to be considered, including something like following your page and tagging a certain number of friends. They get a chance to win, and you get more followers!
12. Use Stories and Reels
Instagram isn’t just about photos anymore. Nine out of 10 Instagram users watch videos there weekly. Instagram Stories allow you to post still images and videos throughout the day for users to view, but they only stick around for 24 hours. Save them to Highlights to increase their longevity!
Instagram Reels are 15-, 30-, or 60-second videos you upload to a separate stream on Instagram. Reels are basically Instagram’s alternative to TikTok. If you aren’t using Instagram Reels yet, it’s time to learn how to do it and get going.
13. Get Followers Involved
Social media is a conversation, not one-way communication. The more you get your followers involved, the better your relationship will be and the more traction you’ll get from posts. Search your brand hashtags to find posts about your organization and repost that user-generated content with their permission. Tag them in the post. Make sure the messaging is about them and not you.
14. Consider Adding Instagram Advertising
You want to grow your audience organically. We get it. But adding a small paid strategy now and then will boost your account. Instagram ads increase your exposure and help you attract more followers. It’s best to launch a paid strategy after you’ve been posting for 30 days or so and have a solid content schedule. Otherwise, you’ll spend money to attract followers who will be put off by your new account and lack of content. No bueno.
15. Call in the Experts
Every social medium is different and comes with its own quirks and best practices. We get it if you don’t want to spend your time trying to keep up with it all. That’s why you hire an agency like Charm School to handle your social media marketing. If you need some help, reach out! We’d be thrilled to chat.
