With Instagram being such a huge platform, you would think it would be easy to gain followers. However, that’s not quite the case. You can be on Instagram for months to even years and never break 1,000 followers.
The thing that most people don’t understand is that it takes time to get followers, even on Instagram. You can have the best content, but if you don’t promote it right, then you’ll never gain any traction.
There is no shortage of tips and tricks you can find online to gain a ton of followers at once. Yet, most of them come with their own flaws. In today’s post, I’m going to tell you some tried and true techniques that will help you build followers painlessly.
1- A Good First Impression
People tend to make judgments on the things they see almost instantly. So, how can you leave a good first impression through Instagram?
It’s simple, having a good bio and feed. These are the first things people will look at when doing a deep dive on your Instagram. To leave a good impression, your bio should clearly state who your business is, what it does and who it’s for.
Something not necessary, but could be helpful is an aesthetically pleasing feed. However, this comes with a caveat; don’t post things solely for the aesthetic. The context of your content is the most important thing, and if you’re posting things that don’t align with your brand you can actually hurt your following, not help it.
If you can get away with an aesthetic feed, here are a few examples:
Colourpop:
Colourpop alternates between makeup looks and product shots.
The Pink Coconut Boutique:
The Pink Coconut Boutique posts a quote every sixth post.
No matter what you decide to do with your feed, the most important thing is consistency.
2- Consistency
A good way to retain your current following is to post regularly. Whether it be daily stories, weekly Reels or feed posts every other day, consistency is key.
With consistency tends to come more engagement. If people like your content, they’ll be anticipating more of it and engaging when you post. Higher engagement rates lead to more eyes on your posts. This in-turn leads to higher chances for your content to be shared. More shares can lead to more followers and the loop continues.
3- Reels
Reels are a great way to gain new followers. They have the ability to gain a much larger reach than a normal feed post. Reels have their own separate feed in the Instagram app. This feed doesn’t just house Reels from the people you follow like the regular home feed, it shows Reels from people who create content similar to things you’ve engaged with in the past. A lot of the people that will view your Reels won’t be following you so it could be easy to gain new followers this way.
Reels also have a longer lifespan than a feed post. Feed posts usually have a maximum three day lifespan, while Reels have a lifespan of three months. That’s three months that people could be seeing your content.
4- Engage
One of the most important things you can do to gain followers on Instagram is to engage with the people you follow. You may think that it won’t make a difference when you already follow each other, but other people will follow you when they see your comments. This is because they want to receive the same engagements on their posts.
It’s also important to build a community on Instagram. People don’t want to be talked at, they want to be listened to and have a conversation. An easy way to do this is to always respond to comments and DMs. You may not have time to leave comments on others’ posts, but you should always try to find the time to respond, as it builds the strongest sense of community.
These four tips should help you gain more followers on your Instagram account. Remember that content and community are key. Without those two things, you won’t see growth no matter how hard you try.
