The most effective way to grow your Instagram following is to create engaging content and build strong connections with your existing followers.
Do this and you will attract more people who are genuinely interested in what you have to say and sell.
Grow your Instagram followers: here’s what you need to focus on
Depending on how you approach it, Instagram can offer delightful and inspiring connections with like-minded people who love what you do. Or it can feel like an anxiety-inducing popularity contest, where you think everyone is doing "better" than you.
And on some days, it can feel like both of these things within the space of a few minutes.
Ultimately though, if we flip the question of ‘How do I gain more followers?’ to ‘How can I really help the followers I have?’ we can also up-level our approach.
Thinking of it like this makes it less about increasing the figures and more about really reaching out to the people making up the numbers you already have.
Make real connections on Instagram and grow your followers fast
Consider Instagram as a community — the stronger the bonds you build, the more scope you have for growing your base of dedicated followers based on real trust.
Those followers who feel a connection with you and your work will be your advocates. Instagram is the perfect platform for offering a glimpse into your world and who you are, if you look at it and think about it through that lens, it takes the emphasis off numbers of likes or focusing too much on the celebrated milestone of hitting 10K followers.
How to grow your Instagram account organically
Getting the basics right when using Instagram will help you get into the rhythm of using it in a way that suits you, but which also has it functioning as the wonderful business tool it can be.
A few things that might help along the way are:
How to write a clear Instagram bio
Your Instagram Bio might not seem like something that needs much attention, but it’s often the first thing on your profile that a potential follower will see.
Make it count by using:
A clear profile photo or brand logo
A call-to-action (think which hashtag to share, add a link in your bio ad include contact information)
Natural language that is on brand
Emojis (which can help break up bio text, just be sure not to overdo it for those in your audience using screen readers)
In short, don’t let your bio go to waste — it can do some real heavy-lifting for your brand.
We don't however recommend the blue-tick - you now (Jan 2024) have to pay for this feature so it no longer holds the grace and status it used to.
How to use hashtags effectively
Hashtags help people discover your posts, but you don’t want overused hashtags and conversely, you don’t want something too niche. Search in Instagram to see how many people have posted under a hashtag and if it’s in the millions, go smaller and try to be more specific.
Choose words or phrases with a few thousand tags that people will be interested in, but which still let you stand out. You can also look at competitors or people you admire who have a similar audience for hashtag inspiration.
How to know what to post on Instagram (and when to post)
When thinking about what to post, it’s good to have a vague plan. You don’t want it to be so rigid that there’s no spontaneity or fun, but you also don’t want a scattered approach with little coherence, just for the sake of posting.
According to Sprout Social,and indeed from our own experience, the best days to post are Tuesdays from 9am to 1pm and Wednesdays from 10am to 1pm but test and learn what works for you. Use the tools in your account to help you with this and test your own market.
Consistency is key to your success on Instagram
Make sure you post regularly. The Instagram algorithm also looks for regularity. Publishing a few posts in quick succession, for example, may mean fewer people will see them, as the algorithm thinks it’s spam-like and will limit reach.
Going back in and editing text will also affect reach, so be sure you’re happy with everything before hitting ‘Share’.
If you’ve made an error, sometimes it’s best to delete the original and repost with your corrections.
How to retain your existing followers
It’s perfectly normal to lose followers and unfortunately, there are a lot of fake and spam accounts which Instagram routinely deletes (even more reason why we want to focus on quality not quantity).
You’ve probably also noticed that some accounts follow you with sole intention of getting you to follow back, before unceremoniously dropping you. Some unfollow as soon as they've followed because they know you will follow back from the hit - not a practice we encourage!
These are things we don’t have control over, but you can help keep your numbers up by posting good quality content every day at the same time and then genuinely engaging with your followers.