50 Tricks to Increase Your Instagram Followers

Marketing on Instagram can get very frustrating when you don’t get as much likes and followers as you would want. You see your competition with 100k followers and you wonder, “How do they do it?” Well, you don’t have to wonder no more! Here are 50 ways you can increase your followers on Instagram and even surpass that of your competitors.

1. Switch to a Business AccountAn Instagram business account allows you to view valuable insights, boost your posts for greater exposure, and add contact buttons.

2. Mention Your Followers in Your Posts

Instagram is all about engagement, and one way to encourage this is to mention your followers. Thanking them for liking your posts or for posting about your brand is a great way to show them that you value them.

3. Be Seen on Instagram Stories

Stories is the perfect venue to post works-in-progress and behind-the-scene photos and videos and show your followers the unedited version of your brand.

4. Host an Instagram Competition

Nothing beats contests and the possibility of winning free items!

5. Boost Posts with Instagram Ads

Widen your post’s reach with a very minimal fee and see your followers grow along with that boosted post’s likes.

6. Post Using Different Formats

Variety is key. Remember that you can post photos, videos, and carousels on your account, so don’t confine yourself to just one format.

7. Develop a Branded Hashtag

Instagram users are able to follow hashtags as well, so take advantage of this and develop your own branded hashtag, like Adidas’ #ORIGINALis.

8. Follow Influencers and Big Brands

Know the top trends by following the big guys on Instagram and jump on the bandwagon quick.

9. Embed Instagram Content on Your Website

Let your site visitors know that you have an Instagram account and draw them to follow you.

10. Offer Discounts to Your Followers

Share exclusive discounts to your followers. People love discounts, so you’ll definitely be seeing them following your account the moment they learn about this incentive.

11. Hire an influencer

91.9% of social media influencers are on Instagram and 59% confirm that this platform is the best way to engage their target audience.

12. Go Live

It’s easy to get noticed and widen your reach when you go live because Instagram promotes live videos by sending your existing followers a notification (if their Instagram notifications are turned on). Plus, live videos are also promoted in a dedicated live video discover tab.

13. Add Relevant Hashtags and Geotags

Adding relevant and popular hashtags as well as geotags makes your content more discoverable.

14. Share Your Instagram Content on Other Social Media Channels

Get your Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, or LinkedIn followers to learn about your Instagram account by sharing your IG posts on these channels. Simply copy the Instagram post link and share this.

15. Add Your Instagram Account Link on Your Social Media Bios

People look into your social media profile information, and adding your IG link here would make it easier for them to view your Instagram profile and follow it.

16. Make a Content Calendar

This does not only allow you to get your Instagram content organized, a content calendar also helps to ensure that your content is timely.

17. Follow Your Competitors

There’s so much you can learn by following your competitors, regardless if their Instagram marketing strategy is successful or not. You may find inspiration from their posts or learn from their not-so-successful campaigns.

18. Develop a Compelling Brand Narrative

All your Instagram content should tell the same story, and it is important that you develop a compelling and consistent brand narrative, so you can communicate effectively with your target audience.

19. Write Good Captions

Never leave your post’s caption field blank and make sure to add quality content. One good example is would be National Geographic’s posts which are obviously well thought of.

20. Post Engaging Videos

About 85% of Facebook users watch videos without sound, and this is pretty much the case for Instagram users, so produce videos that are engaging enough even when they are on mute.

21. Celebrate Follow Milestones

Posting about reaching your first 100, 500, 1k followers and so on and thanking your followers is a great way to establish your credibility on Instagram. It would also be a good idea to have a giveaway contest. This might actually draw even more followers!

22. Promote User-Generated Content

Sharing User-generated content (UGC) is a great way to show proof that people actually enjoy your brand. You can download apps like Repost to easily share photos or videos that show your product or service being used by happy customers.

23. Learn How to Create Awesome Visuals

In the Instagram universe, the quality of your visuals is king. You don’t have to be a master in photography and you can even just use your smartphone to take photos or record videos, but you have to learn how to do these effectively. There are many online classes you can take to help you develop this skill and even teach you how to edit them like a pro.

24. Always Spell-Check Your Captions Before Posting

Users can be very critical of brands and the smallest typo can instantly turn them off and even diminish your brand’s reputation. So, be sure to always check your posts for any spelling errors, especially your hashtags.

25. Share Funny Moments

People love to laugh, so if there is anything funny going on, share it!

26. Host Live Events for Your Followers

Giving back to your followers on Instagram through a live event is a great way to keep your existing followers engaged and loyal to your brand and at the same time entice others to start following you.

27. View Your Instagram Profile on Your Mobile Phone

Most marketers often use their desktop computers when checking their Instagram profile at work, but this might not accurately reflect the experience of your followers. The best way to replicate the experience of Instagram users is to use your smartphone.

28. Reply to Comments on Your Posts

Instagram’s algorithms can detect content with high engagement and usually prioritizes these, so the best way to be noticed by Instagram and to show on your target users’ feeds is to constantly interact with your followers, such as by replying to comments made on your posts.

29. Know Your Target Audience

Take time to know more about your target audience. Understanding their personal and professional interests will allow you to come up with more relevant posts that will increase your engagement with your existing followers and gain new ones.

30. Post “Satisfying” Videos

There is this current obsession with #oddlysatisfying videos on social media, such as mixing paint on slow motion, peeling soap, and people eating all sorts of food and making intense slurping or crackling sounds. Getting in on this trend can win you new followers, so try and think of how you can create this type of video using your product.

31. Like Hundreds of Posts From Users in Your Target Demographic

It’s one way to get noticed by your target users. Like their posts and while not all of them would check out your account, some will click on your profile and this increases your chances of getting more followers.

32. Comment on Other Users’ Posts.

While liking other users’ posts will help you get noticed by the ones who made those posts, commenting hits two bird with one stone. Not only will you get noticed by the people who posted the content you commented on, you will also get noticed by their followers.

33. Prioritize Quality Over Quantity

While it is ideal to post often, remember that you also need to ensure that your photos and videos are high quality, and that the corresponding captions and hashtags of your posts are relevant.

34. Use the Mayfair Filter

According to Track Maven’s Fortune 500 Instagram Report, while Mayfair is only the eighth most popular filter among Fortune 500 brands and is used in just 0.49% of posts, posts using this particular filter shows the most engagement on average.

35. Complete Your Bio

Optimize your Instagram bio by adding a link back to your website, relevant keywords, and hashtags.

36. Include Questions in Your Captions

A great way to increase engagement with your followers is to ask questions in your captions when you post a photo or video.

37. Post at 2am or 5pm EST

According to a Latergramme analysis, posting at these times will likely give you the most engagement.

38. Be Consistent.

Marketing is all about consistency, no matter what platform or media you use. So, for Instagram, make sure that all your posts are consistent with your brand image.

39. Post As Often As You Like

Unlike email campaigns, Instagram users won’t mind if you post a lot. You can even post several times a day and this would not adversely affect your engagement. Data from Union Metrics confirm that there is no relationship between the number of posts being made in a day and the rate of engagement.

40. Add CTAs in Your Captions

Aside from asking questions in your captions, another way to increase engagement is to add a call-to-action or CTA and encourage your followers to take further action, such as “Share your favorite Netflix series in the comments below.”

41. Follow Your Suggested Users

From your profile page, click on the menu icon and select “Discover People”. There will be a list of suggestions from there.

42. Always Use Geotagging

This is particularly useful to local businesses. When you add geotags to your posts, other users who post photos in your area will be able to see your posts on the location’s page.

43. Ask an Influencer to Promote Your Brand

If you know of an influencer who has used your product, ask them to mention your brand on their post so you can widen your reach to their set of followers.

44. Post on Wednesdays and Thursdays

According to a research, posts made on Wednesdays and Thursdays drive the most engagement.

45. Post Photos with Faces

A recent study shows that photos with faces are 38% more likely to receive likes and 32 % more like to get comments.

46. Tag Other Users in Your Posts

This strategy allows your posts to be seen in those users’ feeds, and it also makes it possible for these users to notice your post and share them.

47. Get Good Lighting

Posts that have 65 to 85% light get 24% more likes compared to those that have less than 45% light.

48. Share Behind-the-Scenes Posts

Candid photos and videos make your posts more personal to your audience and are likely to increase their sense of connection with your brand.

49. Promote Your Instagram Account to Your Email Subscribers

Aside from including your social media icons on your email newsletters, sharing a photo or video from your Instagram account is one way to drive your subscribers directly to your Instagram profile.

50. Promote Your Instagram Username on Your Marketing Materials

Brochures, posters, signs, product sheets, wall decals – these would probably have your business phone and address on them, so why not add your Instagram username as well?

There you have it. 50 nifty tricks to get more followers on Instagram. Start testing these and see which ones work best for you!