Instagram was launched on the 6^th October 2010 and has 815 million users making it one of the most popular social media platforms available today. Everybody wants to grow their follower count on Instagram but not many people know how. In this post we will discuss the best ways to grow your Instagram followers. From following people who are similar to your brand audience, using hashtags and posting at the right time, there are many ways to up your Instagram game so if you are new to Instagram or are unsure of what you should be doing, here are a few guidelines to help you increase your following:

Post the right content

It is very important when using Instagram to post the right content. You should avoid hard selling at all costs and post what your audience wants to see. You should always be on the lookout for what the new Instagram trends are so that you can post popular content. To take it a step further, you should invest in Instagram analytics tools that will make it easier to track, benchmark and analyse content on Instagram across different accounts. If you are struggling to create content and engage with influencers, then you might want to try Growthoid, an organic growth service, which allow you to focus on creating content while they engage on your behalf. You need to analyse different filters and captions to see what works best with your audience and you should definitely analyse your competition but make sure not to directly copy them.

Another thing that you need to make sure of is that you are entertaining. You cannot be boring on social media because people generally log on when they are bored and have nothing better to do.

Use hashtags and engage

One thing you need to use on social media is hashtags and Instagram is no different. Hashtags exposes your posts to a larger audience and can result in more engagement and more followers. You also need to engage with your followers because this raises brand awareness and can also result in more followers. Here are a few ways you can engage:

• Like and comment
• Reply to comments
• Ask and answer questions
• Host polls and questionnaires

Make sure to add hashtags and engagement to your Instagram strategy to ensure you gain more followers.

Get in touch with influencers

An influencer is a prominent person on social media that has a large following and specializes in a specific niche. You should definitely make use of influencers and get in touch with them because by being associated with them, you are able to reach their followers which could in turn grow your followers. It also will raise brand awareness. You get different types of influencers that dominate different niches. Examples of those niches include:

• Beauty
• Fashion
• Lifestyle
• Travel
• Fitness

If you want to use an influencer you need to have a niche yourself so that you can reach out to an influencer in that niche who aligns with your audience and values.

Post at the right times

One thing you need to understand about any social media platform is that you cannot just post at random times whenever you want to. You have to post at the right time because people are active at different times, as this is the easiest method to grow your followers. To determine when the right time to post is you need to firstly have an Instagram for business account, once you have one you will have access to data in your Instagram insights. You need to look for the audience section in your insights to see which days and hours your followers are most active. Once you have determines this, you should create a schedule to determine when you are going to post. Having a schedule helps you stay consistent and it saves you a lot of time, but remember not to post too many times a day, this puts you at risk of being spammed.

So there you have it, 4 simple guidelines to help you gain more followers on Instagram. It’s actually quite simple when you break it down and if you follow these guidelines with conviction and consistency, you will definitely see success and your account will grow in numbers. Remember, post the right content, use hashtags and engage, get in touch with influencers and post at the right times. It could not be any simpler.

This content is a joint venture between our publication and our partner. We do not endorse any product or service in the article.