20+ Tips for Instagram Growth & Followers

20+ Tips for Instagram Growth & Followers

Instagram has become one of the top social media platforms, with over 2 billion monthly active users. With its focus on visual content, it is hugely popular for sharing photos and videos. Whether you want to grow a personal account to boost your influence or grow a business account to increase brand awareness and sales, gaining more Instagram followers is vital. But with so many accounts and content competing for attention, growing on Instagram can feel like an uphill battle. However, don't despair! Any Instagram user can gain the desired traction with time, effort, and the proper growth strategies.

Optimising Your Profile for Growth

Your profile is among the most critical and often overlooked areas when growing your Instagram account. Like a great shop window display attracting customers into a store, an optimised Instagram profile converts profile visitors into followers. Here are some top profile tips for growth:

Complete Your Bio with Key Details

Don't leave your bio blank! Fill out your bio fully by including practical details like:

• A description of your niche/area of expertise
• Your location
• A link to your website or online store

This gives visitors instant clarity on what your account is about.

Use a Recognisable and Consistent Username

Choose a username related to your niche so you're easy to find and remember. Keep it consistent across other social profiles so fans can tag and mention you.

Add an Effective Profile Picture

Your profile photo is prime real estate – make it count! Use a clear, high-quality headshot or logo so visitors immediately recognise your brand. Remember to smile!

Link Other Social Accounts

Connect your other social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter with neat icons. This helps followers subscribe across multiple channels and taps into existing audiences.

With these foundational profile tweaks, your account looks attractive, professional and primed for growth!

Creating Shareable & Engaging Content

Quality over quantity is critical on Instagram. Posting visually appealing, creative content that people love and want to engage with is how to stimulate account growth. But with 1 billion monthly users, standing out from the pack takes skill and planning! Follow these handy tips for crafting content with growth in mind:

Best Practices for Instagram Growth

While you want your content style to be unique, adhere to some tried and tested best practices for high-performance posts:

• Post high-resolution, crisp images and video
• Use eye-catching accessories like animations and geotags
• Include relevant hashtags and mentions
• Write engaging captions that invite comments.
• Post consistently 2-3 times per week

Adopt Trending Aesthetics

Visual aesthetics come in and out of trend, from bright and airy to moody, muted tones. Pay attention to what leading accounts in your niche are posting and aim to emulate popular aesthetics to tap into what's hot right now.

Leverage Trending Sounds

Hook followers in by using trending audio in either Reels or Stories. Trending sounds show what people are engaging with now – so leverage them for a growth boost!

Explore Video Content

If crafted well, video content, especially Reels, can gain incredible organic reach on Instagram. Prioritise creating fun 60-second Reels over static posts to capture attention. Consider working with video editors to take your content to the next level.

By creating compelling, joy-inducing content aligned with current trends and best practices – your posts will start gaining traction with the Instagram algorithm and community.

Optimising Your Hashtags & Captions

When growing your Instagram account, hashtags and captions often don't get the attention they deserve. But these simple text additions can have a mighty impact, helping more users discover and engage with your posts. Here's how to maximise them:

Research the Best Hashtags

Find the top 30 hashtags in your niche by researching competitors' and influencers' content. Focus on a mix of popular and specific hashtags. Avoid banned hashtags or your post may get blocked.

Include a Healthy Blend

When adding hashtags, don't go overboard! Instagram limits posts to 30 hashtags before stopping them from working. Include a healthy blend of approximately:

• 5-10 popular hashtags
• Ten niche-specific hashtags
• 5-10 related tags

Sprinkle Throughout Captions

Instead of a block list, sprinkle relevant hashtags subtly throughout your caption to look more natural. Ask a question with the hashtag, too, to encourage comments.

Craft Clever Captions

Write short captions of 1-2 sentences focused on sparking intrigue, laughs or emotions. Ask questions, use emojis and highlight critical details to hook readers in and get them double-tapping!

With strategic hashtags and engaging captions, your content will be searchable and captivating to the right audiences, driving all important likes, comments and new followers!

Growth Tactics Using Instagram Features

Instagram offers a variety of built-in features to help accounts grow beyond just feed posts and Stories. Make the most of underutilised functions like Reels, Live Video and Guides to expand your reach.

Create Viral Reels

Reels go far and wide across Instagram, so they should be a growth focus! Film fun 15-60-second videos showing your skills, personality or valuable tips. Use effects and trending sounds to achieve viral success.

Go Live Frequently

Stream live videos to engage followers in real-time and get on the ‘Live Now' browse page. Save popular live videos as IGTV posts, too, so new users can still discover them.

Share as a Guide

Refresh old feed posts as guides or make how-to-style graphics and videos to share as guides. These surfaces on your profile provide helpful info for visitors to save and share.

Leverage Link Stickers

Add clickable website and shopping links to Stories and posts using link stickers. Directing followers seamlessly to products, blogs, and offers drives actions beyond Instagram.

Tapping into Instagram's latest features creates more avenues for you to produce standout content, keep fans engaged, and ultimately gain long-term followers.

Growth Hacks Using Collabs & Cross-Promotions

Working alongside complementary accounts via collaborations and cross-promotions represents some of Instagram's most effective growth strategies. But how exactly do you make these collaborations successful? Follow these pro tips:

Select Relevant Partners

Scan who influencers in your niche collaborate with or consider running a competition to select a follower. Match your values, aesthetics and audience.

Co-Create Valuable Content

Rather than basic reposts or follows, brainstorm ideas for fresh co-created content like Reels showcasing both of you, joint Lives or educational guides.

Cross-Promote Extensively

Share numerous Instagram story swipe-ups linking to your collaboration partner that week. Tag each other in relevant posts and stories, too, so audiences discover new accounts organically in-app.

Execute Giveaways

Run a joint giveaway with a desirable prize requiring users to follow both accounts and like/comment for extra entries. This swiftly increases genuine followers.

Well-executed mutual collaborations that delight both audiences can double or even triple follower growth. So, find accounts with crossover appeal and creative zeal to partner with!

Paid Ads: High Value But Handle With Care!

While free organic growth tactics should be your priority, paid advertising done judiciously can significantly accelerate Instagram growth. But tread this paid landscape carefully to avoid wasted spend:

Test Budget Campaigns

As with any platform, start small when testing paid Instagram ads. Create campaigns optimised for Lead Generation or Traffic with daily budgets of $5-10 until you gauge performance.

Employ Strict Targeting

Laser target your ads to pinpoint the demographics and interests of likely buyers. Broad targeting could give better results. Consider location and gender, too, for better conversion rates.

Automate for Efficiency

Set up rules to automatically turn off badly performing ads after specific durations, spending or conversion thresholds. This saves wasted spend while you sleep!

Analyse Metrics Rigorously

Closely monitor Instagram's in-depth analytics on your ads, including reach, engagement, clicks, conversions and cost per result. Determine winning strategies to scale up.

Don't Chase Vanity Metrics

Avoid pumping budgets into ads just chasing follower count alone if not gaining real value. Monitor quality followers and engagement from paid ads just as critically as organic growth.

With strict targeting, automation guard rails and metrics-driven iteration – a modest paid advertising investment compounding your organic efforts can elevate your Instagram growth.

Measure + Analyse Growth Metrics

“What gets measured, gets improved”, as the saying goes. So don't just grow for growth's sake without understanding the return you receive per follower. Implement measurement frameworks giving clarity on where to focus time.

Track Quantitative Metrics

Quantitative metrics to monitor weekly include follower count, engagement rate per post, website clicks, reach, impressions and conversions. Use Instagram's Insights and external analytics tools for easy tracking.

Calculate ROI

Determine your actual return on investment by calculating, for example, revenue per follower, engagement rate per hour invested in content creation and conversion value per impression. What metrics justify your Instagram growth effort?

Survey Followers & Niches

Run occasional anonymous surveys with tools like Google Forms to determine follower demographics, interests, awareness of your content and satisfaction rates. This qualitative data is gold!

Course Correct Strategies

If certain content types, hashtags or features demonstrate particularly positive or negative metrics – track this and shift strategies accordingly. Continual optimisation is critical.

With quantitative and qualitative metrics guiding your approach, you can pinpoint which growth tactics deliver results and double down on these winning areas.

Maintaining Motivation & Progress

Growing a successful Instagram account requires playing the long game. Progress can feel slow at first, and motivation may dwindle. So, implement habits keep you consistent and your growth climbing:

Celebrate Small Wins

Highlight minor weekly growth milestones in a spreadsheet or journal. Record what strategies helped achieve them. Refer back to these quick wins whenever momentum slows.

Batch Create Content

Schedule content creation sessions to batch-prepare multiple posts, Reels and Stories in one go. This banks content to prevent publishing gaps if energy is later lacking to create.

Analyse Competitor Accounts

Save competitor accounts you aspire to match for follower count and engagement. When motivation wavers, browse their profiles to spur your growth ambition.

Connect with #InstagramCommunity

Follow hashtags like #InstagramCommunity and engage with fellow creators by commenting on their posts, sharing motivation and providing growth tips. Find your tribe!

With minor mindset shifts, efficient creation plans and community connections holding you accountable – you can maintain consistent Instagram growth month after month.

Conclusion

I hope this extensive guide containing over 20 practical Instagram growth tips proves valuable in progressing your account and content to the next level. Just remember – that genuine growth takes time and consistency. But your Instagram traction will slowly but surely snowball by systematically implementing a blend of creative content strategies, collaborations, analytics-based optimisations, and motivation habits.

Soon, you'll transition from seeking growth tips to becoming the influencer or business handing out the pro advice!

Now, to hear from you – which Instagram growth strategy are you most excited to try first? Did I miss any other vital tips worth mentioning? Let me know in the comments!

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