Over 1 billion people use Instagram every month. Of that, around 500 million people use Instagram every day. And that’s the reason why businesses love Instagram.
Instagram has emerged as an important tool for businesses. Increased competition has led businesses to discover new channels to market and sell their products. Instagram is a marketing channel that goes steps ahead, allowing businesses to connect with their audience and at the same time, showcase their brands and even sell their products.
But, to turn this marketing channel work for you, you will need tailored strategies for your brand. However, even the most effective strategies fail when you do not have a solid follower base.
Getting followers is a bigger challenge than it is to get views and engagement on Instagram. Without followers, your updates and stories do not perform to your expectations.
So how do you grow your followers on Instagram? Buy them? Or lure them to follow you by offering them some free goodies? Well, these oldschool practices have no relevance today. In this blog, we underline some of the surprising new ways you can gain followers on Instagram. Check out the following –
Hashtags –
Instagram posts with more than 11 hashtags gain 12.6% more engagement than posts with no hashtags.
Hashtags (#) increase views on your updates and stories. That is a universal fact. However, consistency and relevant hashtags can also help grow your followers.
Many brands are using proper Hashtags to target their audience on Instagram so that they are getting good user engagement.
Instagram now allows users to follow hashtags. Users see updates with hashtags they follow on their timeline. This increases not only your views and reach, but also the chances of attracting new followers on your profile. If you regularly post updates involving high-traffic hashtags, your audience might feel encouraged to follow you.
Long, Catchy Captions –
Although Instagram is an image-sharing platform, it is your text – not image – that brings you views. Many brands create catchy descriptions or copies for their Instagram updates.
For example – iCustomLabel using catchy description with call to action words to get more user attention of Instagram posts. Check out image below:
You can use hashtags to increase the efficiency of your Instagram posts. Captions are your chance to tell your audience about your brand and spread your message.
Along with the caption, your post should also include – a strong call-to-action (CTA). Updates without CTA are of no use from marketing standpoint.
CTAs tell your audience what to do next after seeing your update. CTA can also inspire users to follow you.
Create IGTV Videos and Stories
Initially, IGTV was a completely different platform powered by Instagram. Today, it is a part of your Instagram app feed.
You can now see IGTV updates from brands and business accounts you follow on your Instagram timeline. However, earlier, users had to visit brand pages on IGTV app to check out their videos. This is a great empowerment for marketers as they can now create videos – that get them more views.
In fact, IGTV has surfaced as an online destination where users intentionally visit and browse through random video content to watch. This is more like Netflix and Amazon Prime Videos – where we see the same user behavior.
Given that, the pressure is on you to come up with compelling video content showcasing your brand message. If your content is powerful, you will rule the heart of your audience. And that will be the point when your audience will feel motivated to follow you.
Get Found in “Suggested for You” List
Your Instagram strategy should also include efforts to appear in “related accounts” suggestions. When you follow a new Instagram account or visit a profile, the social network’s algorithm shows you a list of profiles “Suggested for You”.
Instagram creates this list based on the user’s interests and also, on how that account engages with other brands and profiles. For example: if you visit or follow Canva on Instagram, an image editing and creation tool, Instagram will suggest you brand profiles that are related to Canva, such as Instagram for Creators, Pixlr, and Fotor.
Having a spot in this list increases your chance to gain followers, and give your brand a huge visibility.
Bottom Line
When it comes to getting new followers on Instagram, influencer marketing strategy works pretty well. An influencer marketing campaign could give you 3.21% engagement rate – which is far better than that of other marketing channels.
While celebrities and other known-personalities have a huge influence on the life of the people, they do not always have an influence on our everyday life.
That is when taking help from micro-influencers can be included in your influencer marketing strategy. Micro-influencers are not celebrated personalities. They belong to micro or small groups with an active presence on social network.
Unlike celebrities, they engage well and more actively with their followers. They have the potential to convince people (their followers) to use your brand or follow your page. And here, you can expect to achieve around 7% engagement rate – which no other medium can produce.
These were some of the easy, practical, and surprising ways to pull in new followers for your Instagram profile. If you have any suggestions or know a better working and ethical trick to grow followers, drop it in the comments section below.