How to Grow Your Instagram Following

How to Get More Followers on Instagram

Instagram has become one of the most popular social media platforms in recent years. With more than 1 billion active users, Instagram is a great place for businesses to connect with their audience and grow their brand. Some of the best ways businesses can promote their brand on Instagram is by growing their following base through organic growth, partnerships, & ads.

If you’ve never used Instagram before, now is the perfect time to start! With millions of users worldwide and new ones joining every day, it’s one of the most popular photo-sharing apps on the market today. It can help you reach more customers and increase sales—so what are you waiting for?

In this article we’ll give you some tips on how to grow your Instagram following - without paying for followers!

Find a Niche

When thinking about growing your audience on Instagram, it’s important to first think about which niche you want to focus on.

While your niche should be based on what you love, the more specific it is, the better. If you're a photographer of cats and dogs, for example (and there are plenty), don't just call yourself "A Photographer." Instead, try to focus on something like "A Pet Portrait Photographer" or "A Dog-Lover's Dream Memorial Photography."

This will help your audience and followers connect with you because they'll feel like they've found someone who can truly relate to their interests. It also makes them feel like they're getting something unique and exclusive from your feed — something that no one else has access to. The last thing we want is for our audience to think that there's nothing special about us or our work!

So, how do you find your niche?

Well, it can take a while. One way to start is by looking at what's already out there and finding a hole in the market — something that no one else is doing yet. If you're not sure where to start, here are some ideas:

If you love pets, focus on one specific type of pet (i.e., dogs or cats) and become an expert in them!

If you're a photographer who loves to travel, find out what kind of places your followers want to see and start going there for them! (Bonus points if you use their photos as inspiration).

If you're a wedding photographer, focus on one specific type of wedding (i.e., destination weddings or rustic barn weddings).

If you're a portrait photographer who specializes in babies, find out what kind of poses parents want to see and start shooting those! (Bonus points if you use their photos as inspiration).

If you specialize in family photography, focus on one specific type of family (i.e., families with young children or elderly grandparents).

If you're not sure what kind of niche to focus on, try narrowing down your audience instead by looking at what they like and dislike about your competitors' work.

Consistently Post to Your Account

Successful creators and businesses post content daily to stay fresh on their followers' minds. Staying consistent is one of the most important factors for Instagram growth and sustained success.

Even if you're not getting much engagement or interaction, posting consistently will help you build a following. Post at different times of the day and on different days of the week (including weekends), holidays and seasons—as well as special occasions in your industry. You can even consider creating a content calendar.

All of this being said, coming up with post ideas can be hard. Here are some different post ideas depending on your niche:

If your business is local and you have a brick-and-mortar location, post pictures of your store or products whenever you make a new inventory. This will attract the attention of other local businesses and customers who are interested in what's happening in their community.

If you're running a business that provides services, post pictures of your clients and testimonials about their experience. You should also ask for feedback from your customers on social media so they can share their experiences with others.

You can also encourage your followers to post photos of themselves using your products or services, which will help build trust and credibility. This is one of the best ways to increase engagement and interaction on social media.

Hold Contests and Giveaways

Giveaways and contests are also an excellent way to get people to follow you on Instagram. They’re also a great way to engage with your followers, since they will be posting about the giveaway or contest as well as sharing it with their friends.

You need to make sure that the prize for your giveaway or contest is something related to your niche. For example, if you run an art blog, then giving away tickets for a local art show would be a good idea—but if you run an outdoor adventure blog, giving away tickets for a Broadway show wouldn’t make sense.

You could also offer discounts on products in exchange for following you on Instagram (or liking one of your photos). This allows customers who have already purchased something from you offline or online through another platform like Amazon Prime or eBay Plus into getting access at reduced costs which means higher profits overall! You can even add something extra like free shipping if they buy within 24 hours after tagging their friends!

Try out giveaways and contests to see how it works for you and your business.

Partner With Influencers and Brands

Influencer marketing is a form of marketing in which companies work with social media influencers to promote products or services. In this type of partnership, influencers create content around a specific product or service that they use or recommend.

With influencer marketing, you have a unique opportunity to connect your brand with potential customers on Instagram. By working with influencers in your niche who already have a large following, you can reach out to their audience and grow your own followers.

Now that you know what an influencer marketing is, it’s time to find influencers to work with. There are a few ways to do this:

You can hire someone who specializes in connecting brands with influencers.

You can connect with influencers through your own personal networks.

You can search for people who match the characteristics of your desired target audience and reach out to them directly.

If you choose option 3, it’s helpful if you have some idea what kind of content will be most successful before reaching out on social media or via email so that you don’t waste your time contacting people who won’t be interested in working with you.

Engage With Your Audience

Engaging with your audience is the best way to grow your Instagram following. Here are some ways you can engage with them:

Respond to comments and direct messages as appropriate.

Reply to emails (if someone sends you an email about an Instagram post, for example).

Build a website that your audience can engage with. It should have content relevant to your brand and its products or services—the more of it there is, the better. Make sure that this website has plenty of opportunities for people to sign up for mailing lists, follow you on social media accounts like Facebook or Twitter, comment on blog posts (which could be hosted on WordPress), subscribe via RSS feed reader etc., so that they know where else they can get news from.

Create a newsletter that you can send to your subscribers. This is especially important if you have an e-commerce store and want to keep people coming back for more. If you’re looking for some inspiration, check out these newsletters from successful brands: The North Face Basecamp WoolrichTom’s Shoes. You could also consider offering discounts to people who opt in and get on your email list—this is better than just sending them content without asking for anything in return, because it gives you the opportunity to build a relationship with them. For example, if someone subscribes to your newsletter, send them an email thanking them for doing so. Tell them a little bit about yourself and your business, and let them know they’re going to be the first to hear about any new products or special offers that you have.

Optimize Your Bio

Instagram bio optimisation is critical, as it's the first thing someone sees on your profile. Make sure you've done everything you can to maximise its effectiveness.

The first thing to do is make sure your Instagram handle and username are included in the bio. That way, potential followers will know who they're following and can also find you on other social media platforms by searching for your handle or username.

Next, include relevant keywords in the description of what you do so that new people who follow your account will be able to click through from their newsfeeds to learn more about what makes your business special. The more traffic you get this way, the more likely it is that a new follower will become an actual customer!

What's also important? Include links back into all of the places where people can connect with you online. The best way to do this is by setting up a website or link in bio site on a platform like Jemi.

And don't forget about hashtags! They help other users find their way back into conversations around topics they care about most -- which means they'll probably be interested in interacting with yours too!

Create a Visually Pleasing Feed

Another thing you should consider is creating a visually pleasing feed. There are so many little tips and tricks that will help you do this, but here are the basic steps:

Pick a color palette that’s consistent across all your photos. This makes it easy for people to recognize your brand before they even see the logo in the corner!

Make sure that every photo has good lighting, focus, and composition. It doesn't matter how great of an eye or lens you have if your shots aren't crisp and clear.

The most important thing is to get creative! Don't be afraid to try new things and experiment with different angles, lighting, backgrounds, etc. You want your feed to be cohesive while still showing off your personality, so make sure that each photo has all the same elements (such as props/models/backgrounds) in common with the others.

You can increase your Instagram following by sharing your posts on other social media platforms. For example, if you have an Instagram post about a new product or service, share it on Facebook and Twitter as well.

You may also want to consider using hashtags on Instagram and Twitter as well. This will help people who are searching for specific keywords find your account more easily, which means they’ll be able to see what you post when it comes up in their feed!

And if you have an image-heavy business (like a photographer or artist), sharing content across all of the major social media platforms is especially important because it allows followers from one site to follow you on another (and vice versa).

Invest in Advertising

One of the best ways to grow your Instagram following is to invest in advertising. There are several platforms that allow you to do this, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. You should also consider Tiktok ads and YouTube advertising if they will be effective for your business.

These networks offer special targeting options that may be useful as well:

Target users based on location – For example, if you want customers from a particular city or region

Target users based on interest – You can target people who follow other businesses in your field or industry

Create a custom audience – Use the email addresses of existing customers to create an exclusive group for your ads

Target users based on behavior – You can target people who have recently visited your website or shopped at a brick-and-mortar location.

With the right targeting, you can reach your ideal customers without wasting money on people who aren’t interested.

You can also use the same ad to target different audiences at different times of day or week. This is a good way to measure the effectiveness of your campaign and refine it over time. You can also use retargeting, which shows ads to people who have already visited your site or interacted with you in some way.

Retargeting ads are easy to set up and relatively inexpensive; they’re often more effective than other types of online advertising because they target users who already know who you are as opposed to strangers who may never come back again.

If you have the budget for it, advertising could be a great, predictable way to grow your following.

Pay Attention to Captions and Hashtags

You can use hashtags in your captions to expand your reach, but only if done correctly. Make sure the hashtags are relevant to the post and avoid overusing them. Use no more than 10 hashtags per post on Instagram, as too many will clutter up the caption and make it difficult for users to see what you have written.

Additionally, it is important not to use trending or popular hashtags that may already be flooded with content from other businesses or individuals—this will dilute your efforts and make it harder for people who want to engage with you (and follow you) on Instagram.

A great way of finding appropriate hashtags is by conducting some research into what other people are using in their captions and comments on posts similar in nature or theme as yours; this will help ensure that the right people are seeing your content when they search for these terms online.

As an example, a clothing brand may want to use hashtags like #ootd (Outfit of the Day), #fashion, and #style in their captions. A fitness brand might want to use hashtags like #fitness and #motivation in theirs.

Overall, hashtags are a great way to reach new audiences in your niche on Instagram.

Easily Create a Website with Jemi

Another great way to build your following on Instagram is to create a link-in-bio website with Jemi. Jemi is an online tool that allows you to create a professional website without any coding knowledge. Choose from one of the stunning templates or start building your digital space from the ground up.

A Jemi link-in-bio website can pull together your Instagram and other social media content, allowing you to create one centralized hub for your brand. Promote that link everywhere and it can become a valuable tool in your social media arsenal!

What are you waiting for? Sign up with Jemi today.