Instagram is an exciting place. With its engaging graphics, seamless features, and an uncountable number of users, Instagram is the place to be. Currently, there are approximately 1.386 billion people active on Instagram (source: Backlinko), hence making it the new hot stop for brands and influencers around the globe.
But here’s the problem: Instagram is a great place to promote products/services and bring in a mind-blowing revenue amount… only when you have an audience, also known as followers.
Whether you’re a business or an influencer, or just about anyone, getting your first 10k followers on Instagram is the hardest, which is why we have come forward with practical, realistic tips and tricks to help boost your following on the app, starting today.
Let’s dive into it:
Build an attractive, eye-catching profile
If you want to succeed on Instagram, or any other social media site for that matter, your account has to stand out. Instagram is a visual place and the type of visuals and content you put out there represent your profile.
Content is the ultimate king, so make sure that you’re only posting high quality, unique IG content to attract the right audience to your profile.
Follow others in your niche
Starting off on a social media site as a newbie is difficult. Often times, you might feel lost regarding what type of content to post. Here’s when inspiration comes into play. Following other successful accounts in your industry and regularly studying their content, strategies, and growth patterns can be immensely helpful in growing your own account.
One important thing to note here is that you should only gain inspiration and knowledge from your competitors, not copy them. Take useful tips from their profiles, and build your own brand image to stand out.
Learn more about color psychology
As mentioned above, Instagram is all about using the right visuals. Colors and color combinations play an important role on the app. Studying color psychology in-depth can be useful not just for your Instagram account, but also for any business venture that you might take on in the future.
The colors you should use are largely dependent on your brand personality and audience. For instance, the color red is used to represent passion and energy, while blue is used for stability and trust; white is used to showcase purity, luxury, peace, etc. and black showcases power, mystery, elegance, etc.
Ask for reposts and shout-outs
Another important strategy for increasing your Instagram followers is by asking your customers, competitors, and people from your target group for shout-outs and reposts. This will help you reach more people within your niche.
Incorporate popular hashtags into your posts
Insert popular hashtags in your posts, so that you can be instantly visible to anyone who searches for them. If you’re confused as to what hashtags you should use, feel free to look up your competitors and see what they’re using to promote their accounts.
Engage, engage, engage
One vital tip to not only grow your IG community but to also strengthen and sustain it for a very long time is to consistently engage with your audience. Reply to their comments, answer their DMs, and show them that you’re not on Instagram just to build a business but rather to gather a loyal community who you truly care about.
Host giveaways & offer discounts
Regularly hosting giveaways and offering discounts can spike up your audience’s excitement levels and keep them interested and engaged with your brand. This strategy can bring in tons of followers, likes, and comments for your page.
Invest in ads
Organic followers are great, but Instagram also offers the option of paid advertising to help brands reach more people who are most likely to be interested in them. Investing in ads can be highly beneficial, especially if you’re serious about getting business from Instagram long-term. Make sure that the ad spending limit you set is in accordance with your brand’s budget.
Conclusion
No matter who you are and where you might be from, getting big on Instagram is something anyone with strategy, patience, and good communication skills can do.
So, what’re you waiting for?
Apply these tips to your own IG account and start growing!