1. Develop an Instagram marketing plan that is well-thought-out.


You'll need a well-thought-out strategy to make the most of any social media platform.


Increasing your Instagram followers is a good place to start. However, having a large number of followers isn't enough to make an Instagram account successful. Increasing your following should be part of a wider strategy that links to your business strategy and social marketing goals.


Consider why you want to gain more Instagram followers. What do you truly want to achieve? You might want to:


  • boost brand recognition

  • increase product sales

  • increase the number of visitors to your website


Keeping your Instagram account consistent can help you stay focused on these business-oriented aims. It will assist you in telling an engaging brand story that will appeal to new profile visitors as well as help you establish (and maintain) a loyal following.


2. Determine who you want to reach.


Consider the following questions about the people you're attempting to reach:


  • What are their ages?

  • What city do they call home?

  • What exactly do they do for a living?

  • When do they use Instagram and how do they utilize it?

  • What are their problems and obstacles?


Answering these questions will assist you in creating the proper type of Instagram content to target the individuals most likely to follow you on Instagram. It will also keep you focused on your target audience's demands so you can continuously offer the sort of content that will entice them to stick with you in the long run.


3. Develop a brand story and image that is consistent.


Perhaps you want to pique people's interest by demonstrating how your product is created. Alternatively, to humanize your brand, offer the viewpoint of one of your employees. If you want to present your business as aspirational, you may show off your consumers' lifestyles or accomplishments.


It's critical to keep a consistent brand personality and image, no matter what you're trying to accomplish.


At a glance, your posts should be clearly identifiable. Consider your Instagram grid as a single entity. You can always utilize Instagram Stories to publish stuff that doesn't exactly match your regular feed's aesthetic.


4. In order to appear in searches, use keywords.


People must first find you on Instagram before they can follow you. On Instagram, just a small portion of the text is searchable. In reality, just the name and username fields on Instagram contribute to search results.


Your Instagram handle is your username. It's a good idea to make it the same as your other social media handles, since this will make it simpler for others to discover you. Use your brand name or a variant of it that people are likely to type into a search engine when looking for your company.


Your name can be up to 30 characters long and contain any combination of letters and numbers. Although keyword stuffing is never a smart idea, using your most relevant term in the name box might help boost discoverability through search.


5. Use hashtags that are relevant to your audience to reach out to new people.


Your Instagram posts' text isn't searchable, as we just mentioned. However, hashtags do show up in Instagram searches. As a result, utilizing hashtags carefully might be a smart strategy to gain free Instagram followers.


Including relevant hashtags in your content can help people locate it after conducting a search or clicking on a hashtag from another related article. Because hashtags may be followed by Instagram users, your hashtagged material may appear in the feeds of individuals who haven't yet followed your account.


You may use up to 30 hashtags in an Instagram post, but quality over number is generally the most successful strategy.


Experiment with the number of hashtags you use to see what works best for your account.


#likeforlike, #tagsforlikes, and #followme are all hashtag gimmicks to avoid. These could offer you a spike in followers for a short time. But they'll very certainly be bots or individuals who just want to be followed back. And it won't help you grow a significant, engaged Instagram audience.


Instead, as stylist Dee Campling in this #wfh picture, focus on utilizing highly focused hashtags related to your photo, product, or business.


6. Make your Instagram bio and profile more appealing.


Non-followers account for two-thirds of all Instagram company profile visits. Those new visitors might all become free Instagram followers if your bio and profile persuade them to do so. If your profile is confusing, incomplete, or unattractive, they will not do so.


Your profile contains your website (a clickable link) and your bio, in addition to the name and username sections listed above.


Make the most of your bio's 150 characters to express your business identity and convince new visitors to follow you. What can people anticipate in terms of content?


If you have a professional account (company or Creator), you may add more information to your profile, such as your contact information, business type, and location. Make use of all essential fields to provide new visitors with all the information they require to determine whether or not to follow you.


7. Create a stunning Instagram grid


This may seem too apparent to say, but it's a crucial factor to consider when considering how to gain Instagram followers. Every post in your Instagram feed should be high-quality and aesthetically appealing.


When a new user comes to your profile, the material should pique their interest and make them want to learn more. A new visitor's desire for more is what motivates them to click Follow.


8. Create captions that are both interesting and lengthy.


Despite the fact that Instagram is primarily a visual medium, effective Instagram captions may significantly increase your reach and engagement. As you've probably seen, reach and interaction are important elements in gaining free Instagram followers.


Here are a few essential tips to remember:


Start with the most crucial terms.


Users will have to press "more" to see the entire caption if it is longer than 125 characters. Make the most of the first few words to get that additional tap going.


Pose a query. This allows your viewers to easily leave a remark. This involvement will assist to increase the number of individuals that see your account.


Emojis are a fun way to express yourself.


Emoji may assist capture the reader's attention and are suitable for a wide range of profiles on this visual social network.


Experiment with different caption lengths.


If your picture deserves it, Instagram permits long-form captions of up to 2,200 characters, so you can try out some in-depth storytelling. When the pictures speak for themselves, super-short subtitles may be highly effective. Long captions, on the other hand, are more likely to increase engagement, according to our research.


Going Awesome Places' Will Tang provides amazing photographs with comprehensive descriptions that explain the narrative behind the shot. This caption technique is quite on-brand for him, since his Instagram description defines him as a "maker of excessively comprehensive plans and guides."


9. Make a list of your favorite remarks.


The option to pin up to three comments for each post is one of Instagram's lesser-known capabilities.


There are a few of ways you may use this new feature into your Instagram marketing strategy.


Using pinned comments, you may extend your caption beyond the limit 2,200 characters by continuing the tale in the comments. This allows you to tell more extensive and in-depth stories, which may be appropriate for some accounts.


Another alternative is to pin your favorite user comments, especially if they generate a lot of interaction.


This new tool may help you manage the dialogue on your posts in a variety of ways, opening you additional chances for interaction and connection.


10. Use other social media platforms to promote your Instagram account.


Making it easy for others to find you is the most crucial technique to gain free Instagram followers.


Your Instagram account should be easy to find. If you have a following on another social media platform, tell them about your Instagram account.


Give your existing social followers a cause to check out your Instagram profile by sharing a link to it. (For example, an Instagram-only promo code, event, or competition.)


If you're just getting started with Instagram, make sure you publish some material before spreading the word. Aim for at least 12 postings.


You may also use your other social media outlets to showcase some of your greatest Instagram photos. Consider using paid advertising to promote these posts so that more of your Facebook, Twitter, and other social media followers discover and follow you on Instagram.


11. Incorporate Instagram postings into your website.


Some Instagram posts have already been integrated in this blog. Each embedded post is clickable, allowing readers to go straight to the appropriate post or Instagram profile.


As a result, integrating your own Instagram posts in your blog is a simple method to highlight your Instagram content while also driving traffic to your profile. Every new visitor to your Instagram profile, as we've already mentioned, is a possible new Instagram follower.


Assume this blog article was on LinkedIn demographics, for example. (Of course, it isn't, but we do have a blog article on LinkedIn demographics.) An infographic might be used to present some of the most essential demographic information.


When you're posting visual information in your blog, such as images, charts, or infographics, you have the option of embedding an Instagram post instead.


12. Share material that will be re-shared.


Consider what kind of content you might use to illustrate your own blog articles, as well as what kind of stuff you could share with others.


People enjoy sharing good infographics, thus this might be a viable alternative. If someone links to your Instagram posts on their blog, you'll have access to a whole new group of prospective followers.


Consider producing material that people will want to re-share on Instagram Stories. In a Story, anybody may reshare your main feed content. This is also clickable, so anyone interested in learning more may go to your original post. It's yet another simple approach to reach out to new audiences and prospective followers.


13. Mention your Instagram account in other messages.


When it comes to sharing your Instagram account, think outside the box.


Make sure your website, email signature, and online newsletters all include a link to your Instagram account. You may use a little Instagram symbol instead of a large link.


A brief email blast showcasing some beautiful pictures is a wonderful approach to gain some free Instagram followers quickly if you're marketing a new Instagram account.


Don't forget about your printed materials as well. You may display your Instagram handle on coasters, posters, packing slips, business cards, and packaging, which is an easy method to get more free Instagram followers.


14. Make use of your Instagram nametag


Your Instagram nametag is a scannable code that allows others to follow you on Instagram right away. As we previously stated, even physical marketing materials provide an opportunity to promote your Instagram account. On offline materials like as packing slips, signs, and product packaging, the Instagram nametag is a simple and efficient method to advertise your account.


At networking events and conferences, your nametag is also a wonderful method to gain new followers in real time. Without having to type out your handle, anyone you meet in person may scan your code to follow you. For quick access, print it out and slip it into your namebadge holder.


Tap the three lines symbol in the upper right corner of your Instagram profile and select Nametag to find your Instagram nametag.


15. Make it a goal to be highlighted.


Feature accounts are Instagram accounts that curate and reshare material from other users based on a hashtag or tagging system. Some of these accounts have a sizable following, so having them repost one of your photos (along with your handle) might result in an influx of new Instagram followers.


On Instagram, there's a feature account for almost every niche and passion. As you conduct hashtag research, as advised in Tip 5, you'll begin to notice them. They may be rather detailed with some of them.


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