Are you ready to get more Instagram followers right now?
On Instagram, attracting followers who have a genuine interest in your brand means making use of the tools, campaigns, and strategies that are proven to help you grow an engaged audience.
Find out how to add plenty of the right kind of Instagram followers with our 27 tips below. We show you all the tools, campaigns, and strategies that can help you begin adding more Instagram followers today.
Instagram Tools That Can Help You Get More Followers
Many of Instagram’s tools and features were designed to help you attract new followers. Find out which ones we think are the best in the section below!
#1 Create an Engaging Instagram Profile And Bio
We’ve listed your Instagram profile as #1 on this list because a compelling profile is the first step toward gaining new followers!
When new people see your social media content in their feeds on their friends’ pages, they’ll click on your profile link if they want to know more about your company.
With over 200M+ business accounts competing for attention on Instagram, your profile needs to stand out if you want to get more followers!
Engage potential followers by creating a profile that draws them in, including:
- A high-quality profile image
- A well-written bio with a call-to-action and corresponding link
- Several Instagram Stories Highlights about your products, company, and employees
- Plenty of Instagram Reels to engage viewers
- Bonus: A profile grid design that captures attention
For example, pastry chef Matt Adlard put together an Instagram profile page that’s hard to resist.
Hi bio is brief and says exactly who he is with a clear call to action, link, organized Stories Highlights, and a beautiful profile grid guaranteed to make you crave a dessert.
Source: Instagram
Before you take any steps to increase your following, build an irresistible profile to convert your Instagram visitors to followers.
#2 Make The Most Of Instagram Stories
Instagrammers love Stories! More than 500 million Instagrammers use Stories every single day and 87% of businesses include Stories in their marketing strategy.
You can use Stories to educate people about your company and products, engage them in contests and polls, rally interest for upcoming events, and so much more. To learn more about creating Instagram Stories that help you gain followers, check out our Free Guide To Instagram Stories.
#3 Publish Frequent Reels Videos
Publish engaging Instagram Reels videos on a consistent basis to help expand your reach and gain more followers.
Reels are now the only video format on Instagram, other than Live videos, and they’re super-easy and fun to make.
If you haven’t begun posting reels to boost your marketing efforts, we have two articles to help you get started:
If you aren’t using Reels yet, don’t let the format scare you away. Reels makes video marketing easy and engaging – just like Instagram Stories — and can significantly boost your following and engagement.
In the following example, Arts Help uses visually captivating video to capture attention in its Reels.
Reel don’t have to be visually captivating, though. Many brands have fun introducing people to their business and products and letting them get to know their employees with casual, everyday videos.
#4 Broadcast With Instagram Live
Instagram Live is an excellent way to form a better connection with your followers and encourage them to invite friends. By scheduling your Live event in advance, you can also take advantage of invites and send notifications when your live broadcast begins.
If you’re shy about live broadcasting, check out our Guide To Facebook Live Events — it’s packed with ideas, tips, and instructions on producing successful live broadcasts that transfer to any social media channel.
#5 Use Interactive Stickers In Stories And Reels
Good news! Instagram Reels now provide you with the same kind of stickers you’ve been using in Stories.
Adding interactive stickers in your Stories and videos helps boost your engagement. Higher engagement tells the Instagram Algorithm that your content is engaging, which helps your posts rank higher and get seen by more new people.
Starbucks frequently uses stickers to create polls and ask questions that engage its audience.
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- Source: Instagram
To give your follower count an additional boost, add location stickers to help your brand reach people on a local leve.
#6 Focus On Keywords Over Hashtags
Now that Instagram made its platform keyword-friendly, users can search for content by typing in words and phrases instead of hashtags.
Use clear Post, Story, and Reels descriptions that include your keywords to help your content show up when people search for products or businesses like yours.
You can find out more about writing effective captions in our guide How to Write Instagram Captions – A Guide For Brands And Marketers.
#7 Include Mentions In Your Posts
Mentions tag other Instagram accounts with the hopes that they’ll share the content with their followers.
Mentions are best-used to tag people and brands that have contributed to or are related to a piece of content.
For example, mentions are used when you’re reposting UGC content or sharing other people’s content on Instagram — as a way to credit them as the original author (after receiving permission), as Boxycharm does in its announcement below.
#8 Use Shoppable Product Tags and Stickers
If your brand sells physical products online, Shopping on Instagram can expose your products to new people every day.
When you add shoppable product tags and stickers, your products get posted in the explore feed, where you can potentially reach a massive amount of new people and followers.
Source: Pottery Barn on Instagram
To use shopping stickers or tags, you must get approved by Instagram. Find out if your business is eligible, and learn how to apply for and use Instagram’s shopping features, in our Instagram shopping guide here:
The Ultimate Checklist for Getting Set Up, Approved, and Started with Shopping on Instagram
#9 Use Hashtags To Organize Your Content
Now that Instagram has made the move to keyword searching over hashtags, you’ll want to use hashtags a little differently than before.
Hashtags help organize your content and show people what the post is about.
Hashtags can help convert visitors to followers once you get your content in front of them. Unlike a couple of years ago when hashtags were the way to “get found,” you’ll now want to use other methods to expand your reach.
Many of the tips on this list help to expand your reach, but hashtags are no longer the #1. Instead, use them as a way to engage readers (so they will become followers) with hashtags that describe your post.
Behind-The-Scenes Tips To Help You Get More Instagram Followers
Find out what your team can do behind-the-scenes to get more Instagram followers.
#10 Get To Know The Instagram Algorithms
Instagram algorithms determine where your content shows up in the feeds and whether it will get scene by new people. The algorithms have a direct effect on how many new people view your content and how many new followers you get.
When you take the time to get to know the Instagram algorithms, you’ll instinctively understand how to expand your reach and get more followers.
Post timing, audience engagement, the quality of your images and videos, audience personality, and influencer partnerships all play a part in improving your brand’s relationship with the algorithms.
#11 Check Your Instagram Insights Frequently
Checking your social media analytics (insights) on a regular basis can do a lot to improve your engagement and reach — which leads to more insights.
Understanding how many people your content reaches, what percent of them engage with your posts, Stories, and Reels, and how many comments you typically receive can help you craft content to boost the KPIs related to getting more followers.
You can view your analytics using Instagram’s native insights or by using a tool such as Sharelov that makes insights easier to track and share with your team members and clients.
To find out more about how to use Instagram insights to get more followers, check out the step-by-step instructions in our Guide To Instagram Analytics.
#12 Pitch to Journalists
Developing relationships with journalists and publications can lead to press coverage that drives many new followers to your Instagram account.
Sending out press releases about new product developments and company news are a great way to start getting some press coverage. Ultimately, though, building good relationships with journalists is the best way to gain press coverage for your brand over time.
Learn how to pitch to journalists so that when you launch a new campaign or product, your information gets in front of the people who matter – and gets taken seriously.
Don’t forget to share your Instagram page handle when sharing information with the press. Then people that read about your company can find you on the platform and become followers.
#13 Keep Up With Instagram And TikTok Trends
Keep your content fresh, relevant, and engaging by monitoring your industry’s influencers on Instagram and TikTok. By reviewing their daily content and post insights, you get a good handle on what type of content works well for attracting and engaging new followers.
To monitor your industry influencers, you can visit their accounts and browse through the content daily or use a tool such as Sharelov that pulls their posts post insights into an easy interface for you and your team to review.
If you’re not sure who your industry influencers are, try visiting your competitors’ Instagram pages to find out who they’re following, engaging with, and forming partnerships with.
#14 Keep Up With Trends In Your Industry
Find out how other brands are gaining and engaging more followers by monitoring your competitors to keep up with the trends in your industry.
Monitoring your competitors will help you learn a lot about what similar audiences respond to and what type of content they like to see.
You might even find that your competitors are running competitions and advertising aimed at getting new followers. And, you’ll have the benefit of finding out what has or has not worked for them in the past.
You can monitor your competitors on Instagram with a tool like Sharelov, which makes it so much easier to track and follow their content and insights in only a couple of minutes a day.
To learn how to effectively monitor your competitors on social media, check out our guide
How To Monitor Your Competitors Social Media Strategy for tips and tricks on monitoring and analysis of your competitors.
#15 Cross-Promote Your Instagram Content
Sharing content from Instagram to other social media channels can help you get more followers on Instagram.
You can also turn your website visitors and email subscribers, into followers by encouraging them to follow you on Instagram.
When cross-promoting content, it’s critical to adjust your posts for each audience, and we show you exactly how to do that in our Guide To Cross Posting On Social Media.
One word of caution about cross-posting: you’ll want to avoid cross posting from TikTok to Reels because it can hurt your standing with the Instagram Reels algorithm. That’s because videos shared from TikTok include watermarks that flag the Instagram algorithm, which can lead to lower rankings in the Reels feed.
#16 Monitor Your Brand Mentions
Monitoring your brand mentions on Instagram helps you understand what people are saying about your company. It also gives you the chance to thank people for mentioning you, and those “thanks” comments show up in an entirely new audience.
This exposes you to more people who may follow your Instagram account.
To conduct this type of social listening, you’ll need a tool that can track down all your brand mentions.
A brand mention tool is included on Sharelov marketing collaboration platform! It makes tracking mentions super-easy for you and your team.
#17 Get Your Business Verified by Instagram
Getting verified on Instagram lends authenticity to your brand and boosts your trust factor, which can significantly boost your follower count.
You can find out exactly what verification is and how to apply for it in our free Guide To Instagram Verification on Sharelov:
#18 Schedule Posts at High-Traffic Times
Scheduling your content to post at the best times can make a huge difference in how many new people you reach.
To jump-start your follower count::
- Schedule your posts for high-traffic time slots using an auto-publishing tool.
- Publish unique, engaging content on a consistent basis
- Write engaging captions
- Publish a balance of posts, Reels, and Stories on Instagram
You can find more about the best times to post on Instagram in our free guide:
To make timing and publishing easier and more effective, you can use a marketing tool such as Sharelov to recommend the best posting times for your content.
You can also schedule your posts to publish at the chosen time with Sharelov’s Instagram Auto-Publish tool.
Campaign Ideas To Help You Get More Instagram Followers
If you’re serious about growing your audience on Instagram, check out the following types of campaigns and events that can help you attract followers that will engage with your brand.
#19 UGC Campaigns
User-generated content (UGC) is the “holy grail” of social media because it helps you quickly achieve two of your most essential social media objectives:
- Expand your reach
- Boost conversions
UGC is when other people share mentions, images, reviews, and other content related to your brand – with their own audience.
In the example below, one person shares a picture of herself and a friend posing in a novelty Coca-Cola photo setting, including the Coca-Cola hashtags in her caption.
Source: #Coke on Instagram
You can inspire UGC with contests, giveaways, and dedicated UGC marketing campaigns that require a mention or image alongside your campaign hashtag. Every time a customer shares content related to your brand, you get exposed to their entire audience of followers.
Good UGC campaigns not only expand your reach but also offer the type of social proof people look for before making a purchase.
Share your customers’ user-generated content to your Instagram account to inspire more sharing!
#20 Influencer Campaigns
If you need to get followers quickly, partnering with Instagram influencers is an excellent way to get there.
Worried about the price of hiring an influencer to promote your brand? Good news! — Micro-influencers are affordable for almost any size business. And, while they have smaller followings, their audiences tend to be more engaged and trust their recommendations.
One of the keys to successful influencer marketing is choosing the right people to represent your brand.
Look for influencers whose audiences are a good match with your own. Research influencers before hiring them, to ensure that their personality and reputation will have a positive influence on your brand.
Tools such as Influencer.co and Social Bakers Influencer Tool can help you find influencers to represent your brand.
For example, Influencer.co allows you to search for influencers by category, location, and the influencer’s audience size.
Hiring an influencer agency is another way to find the right influencers to represent your brand. Agencies can help you create and launch massive influencer campaigns tailored to your brand.
#21 Local Campaigns
If your business has one or more physical locations, Instagram is an excellent way to build local excitement about your brand.
Using location stickers to tag cities and venues puts your content in an explore feed that reaches local looking for things to do or for products and services in the area.
Running local campaigns can be an excellent way to build a loyal following that shares your company with their family and friends, and is often a fantastic way to get more followers on Instagram.
#22 Online Events
Hosting online events is an excellent way for businesses to expand their reach and gain new followers on Instagram, and there are three types of online events that work exceptionally well:
There are three types of events that can supercharge your drive to gain more followers:
- Live chat sessions
- Webinars
- Live broadcasts
Connecting groups of people with online events encourages new followers, engagement, and conversions, plus it creates positive memories that form a lasting impression for your brand.
#23 Offline Events
If your business has any type of physical location, consider hosting onsite events that will help drive new followers to your Instagram account.
For example, if your physical location is an office space, consider hosting weekly or monthly workshops or meetups after hours.
One company that does this well is Geekdom CoWorking Space in San Antonio, Texas. The tech incubator uses its space to host meetups and workshops relevant to its target audience of entrepreneurs.
For example, Geekdom hosts regular open houses, “Geeks and Drinks” events, ladies’ luncheons, and meditation sessions in its off-hours.
By hosting events and helping other people connect with each other, Geekdom creates a community of people who are frequently mentioning it’s name, posting tagged images, and acting as mini brand-ambassadors for the company.
Events provide unique photo opportunities that people are likely to share with their own friends and family on Instagram.
Here are a couple of tips for getting more followers with onsite events:
- Offer photo opportunities and an event hashtag to encourage sharing
- Handout flyers or brochures with your Instagram handle and event hashtag
- Live stream a portion of the event on Instagram
- Post event photos with mentions to reach more audiences
No matter what type of physical location you have, there’s a way to work in promotional, business, or entertaining events that strengthen your connection with the community and help you gain more followers on Instagram.
#24 Paid Advertising Campaigns
Instagram paid advertising is one of the quickest, most effective ways to expand your reach and gain new followers.
Instagram provides several ways to advertise, including:
- Promoted posts
- Carousel ads
- Slideshow ads
Consider selecting a “lookalike” audience when placing your ads with Instagram. This type of placement shows your ads to people who are similar to those in your current audience.
Lookalike audiences increase the chances of reaching people who are a good fit for your brand and products.
Pro Tips To Help You Get More Instagram Followers
Are you ready to take your Instagram marketing to the next level? If you want to attract followers like a pro, consider the three tips below to help your company stand out on Instagram.
#25 Provide Social Proof
Adding social proof such as reviews, case studies, and recommendations to your Instagram content helps validate your company to newcomers. Social proof helps you convert visitors to followers, and it also provides influence that can give a serious boost to your conversion rates.
Look for interesting and creative ways to provide social proof on Instagram, such as @Hanacure does by including short image testimonials in the example below.
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- Source: Hanacure on Instagram
The company wisely includes a “Quotes” Highlight on its profile to drive visitors to the Stories that contain recommendations.
#26 Engage With Your Audience – The Right Way
All engagement matters, and if you’re avoiding responding to comments on Instagram – for any reason – you’re missing an opportunity to gain new followers.
If you’re at a loss as to how to engage with followers, skeptics, or trolls on Instagram, check out our Guide To Instagram Comment Engagement!
#27 Document Your Social Media Marketing Plans
Creating a documented social media strategy, content plan, and social media calendar can go a long way toward your success on social media.
In a competitive environment such as Instagram, you’ll need that edge to succeed and gain new followers!
- A documented social media strategy dramatically increases your chances of success on Instagram.
- A social media plan boosts the effectiveness of the content you publish on Instagram.
- A social media calendar helps you automate publishing on Instagram so you can consistently provide high-quality content to your current followers.
All of these practical techniques will help you gain new followers for your Instagram account. Even though we’ve listed them last, you might consider starting with these techniques, because they also help you engage and convert your audience!
Get More Instagram Followers in 2022
When you’re aiming to add more followers, focusing on the right type of followers (those that have a genuine interest in your brand) is key.
There are several Instagram tools that can help you gain followers, such as Stickers, mentions, Stories, and Reels.
Behind the scenes, get to know the algorithms and become familiar with trends to really help your audience grow.
Campaigns can give your audience size a serious boost, especially if they incorporate user-generated content and Instagram paid advertising.
When looking to add new followers, take care to ensure that you’re seeking out real people with a genuine interest in your brand, because it will boost your engagement rates and increase conversions in the long run.
When you’re creating content to gain new followers on Instagram, keep Sharelov in mind! We provide a large collection of social media tools, such as auto-publishing and monitoring, that can make your content efforts more successful.
I thinks the simple formula is that more you post the more followers you gain.