As the world leans towards the likes of internet and marketing, a social presence seems inevitable. Be it a personal blog or a business page, having an audience that can buzz for you or the products and services you have been promoting, is undeniably the best thing ever. And if words don’t lure you enough, then here is fact.
Besides entertaining millions, Instagram also maintains an engagement rate that is an epic 58 times higher than what of Facebook. Seems like all the reasons to invest in the likes of Instagram. At least to me.
However, being a creative and competitive space that Instagram is, if you have ever tried to gain followers on Instagram, you would be aware of the daunting affair it is. Especially, gaining those first 10,000 followers. So if trying to gain followers on Instagram, here are some hacks that you must follow.
1. A Complete Instagram Profile Does the Job
The old adage “the first impression is the last impression” is thoroughly valid when it comes to gaining followers on Instagram. The first thing you need to ensure is that your Instagram page lures enough, prompting visitors to convert into followers.
The best way to guarantee the same is by adhering to a themed Insta profile, effective bio and coordinating stories and highlights. Whether you are posting an IGTV video, a story or a picture, make sure everything aligns with the page theme and represents the goal of the page.
For the same, you might want to try editing apps like Lightroom or Canva that would let you design your image and stories as per a dedicated theme. The applications also offer story templates, which you can use to stand out among your competition. Moreover, you can also experiment with Instagram’s “highlights” feature as it seems to be the next big thing.
2. Select The Right #Hashtags
Instagram stories are bigger than ever before, thanks to features like GIFs, music, shopping stickers, polls, questions, that draw engagement. Furthermore, the fact that Instagram now displays stories on “explore” feed is yet another reason to experiment with hashtags.
Whenever sharing a story on Instagram, all you have to do is add a hashtag or location sticker along with it. Moreover, if you don’t want to irritate others by displaying multiple hashtags on your stories, you can hide them behind stickers.
If you happen to be travelling, this is one time when you can attract a good chunk of traffic to your page. People are certainly more invested in seeing what is happening in real-time on Instagram, so making your story discoverable is a great way to get new eyes on your Instagram profile. And this can be done by simply using the right #hashtags.
3. Promote Your Content Across Platforms
The fact that social media platforms are interconnected in ways we can’t imagine can help your page gain both traffic and followers. Cross promoting allows you to reach new followers and guide them to your page. The best thing about cross-promoting is that it doesn’t require much effort.
You can simply turn on the multiple-platform sharing option, which appears when at the last stage of content sharing on Instagram.
Moreover, always mention the Insta page link – you have been trying to promote – on platforms – like your website, email newsletter, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. You can also consider enabling the “Follow Button” on Facebook.
If you have a blog or say online presence on YouTube, you can mention the same in the starting asking people to follow you.
4. Get Descriptive With The Caption
Ever seen a National Geographic post on Instagram? You must. It doesn’t entail a brief description for no reason. Getting descriptive beneath your images in like content writing, the simpler, the descriptive it is, the better, more visible and searchable the entire post becomes. In addition, it also ensures the viewer gets enough information that you are trying to spew via the image.
5. Join Instagram Engagement Groups
For a newbie trying to garner an audience on Instagram, this remains one of the best options to gain Instagram followers in 2019. You will find 100s of engagement groups as per your niche including travel, photography, writings, etc. It is advised that you stay committed to the engagement group that shares similar interests.
When you find an engagement group, don’t just like and follow people, for the sake of a follow back, also try to engage with them in the comment section.
6. Follow People Who Like Competing Instagram Page
This is yet another way to make your presence felt. For the same, write down who your biggest competitors are on Instagram. Then, browse their posts to see who is commenting on their posts. Follow them and engage with them in ways you don’t make them feel uncomfortable. Most often, if you will engage with at least 100 people who had commented on a post, at least 10 will be interested in your page. And 10 organic followers are not bad at all.
As you keep engaging and following people, you will begin to amass a strong following for yourself.
7. Sketch a Posting Schedule
Ensuring people see a full screen of photos instead of just a handful is one way to convert them into followers. The practice also ensures you become a bonafide source in the eyes of the platform – the one it can recommend. To start posting on Instagram, sketch a schedule that you must adhere to.
Keep your target persona in mind when you first start planning out your posting schedule. Also, study the Instagram insights to know when your target audience is most active.
According to a 2018 report from SproutSocial, the best times to post on Instagram In India are:
- Monday between 1 pm to 3 pm and after 7 pm
- Wednesday at 3:00 p.m.
- Thursday at 5:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m. and between 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.
- Friday after 3 pm.
Remember on Instagram it’s more about recency, and when you do that with consistency, you will get a lot more engagement. If you post on weekends, try to do so around 11:00 a.m, on Saturday.
8. Contests
Another great way to expand your reach while increasing engagement on your photos is to publish a post promoting a contest, and then ask people to follow your account and Like or comment on the photo in order to enter.
You can also try adding UGC (User-Generated Content) element to the contest. Herein, people post a photo of their own with your-made hashtag. Here’s an example of a post from Starbucks promoting a UGC contest on their Instagram account.
Adhere to these simple hacks, and a time would come when you will have enough followers to flaunt.
