6 ways to bump up your follower count on Instagram

Original publish date 12/06/18
Updated 05/05/2020

The more followers you have the more people will see your product, business model and what you're about. So it's high time we work on getting some more followers

I have used a lot of these simple methods to build up (real) followers on our company accounts. This article has also been updated and I've rcorded a video version of it, which you can watch above.

So grab your note pad and give them a whirl!

1) Hashtags

Hashtags are a great way to gain traffic and new followers, when using hashtags relevant to your business. 

Creating your own dedicated hashtag, specially for your business and listing industry specific hashtags can connect you with the type of audience you may want to connect with and gain your Instagram a lot more visibility. 

Sometimes  you can use more generic hashtags like #weekend or #chilling if your post contains a bit more of a broad subject, for example if you're posting a motivational quote, a food picture or a picture of you baking at the weekend but it's always recommended to keep those generic hastags to a minimum.

2) A themed Instagram feed

The Instagram game has drastically changed in recent years.

Gone are the days when you could just throw a mish mash of random content onto your Instagram with a heap of irrelevant hashtags and then in comes an influx of likes and followers. Nowadays its ALL about curating content - Enticing, interesting and nice to look at consistent content. This is where an Instagram theme comes in. 

What sort of theme should I create? 

The possibilities are endless! You could do a block colour theme, a black and white theme, you could create a theme based on the image shape, image size but simply the key here is a consistent look throughout all of your posts - I could go on and on but instead I'll make you wait for a separate blog post on that. ;)

3) Engagement 

Engagement is critical! 

And I'm not just talking about engagement from your followers I'm talking about engagament from you... and yes that means being sociable, liking & commenting on posts, following and following back because the aim here is to try to build your own little community.

You want to make your brand voice known and what better way to do that, than interact with people personally? People *LOVE* a personal service and they love to know that the companies & businesses that they like are down to earth enough to communicate with them directly. Makes them feel special :)

4) Your Instagram Bio

Your Instagram bio is one of the most important yet most under-utilised features of your Instagram profile.

A charming & charismatic bio has the potential to nab you a few followers before they have even seen your feed. Bonus!

If (like me) you find it awkward to write stuff about yourself then add a short, snappy but captivating summary of what you or your company does with the aim of inspiring, enticing or even empowering your target audience, leading onto a clear call to action to shop, buy now, subscribe - so on and so forth! 

5) Instagram stories

Using your story will keep up the engagement with your followers and is a great way to connect with people without messing up your theme and now is as good a time as ever to start using your Instagram stories, as organic reach on normal instagram posts continues to drop.  

BUT... Did you know that your Instagram stories can also gain you followers?!

Indeed it can! Instagram story posts can show up on the explore page for specific hashtags and locations when you tag them, which could expose your brand to hundreds (and possibly thousands) of new people!

6) Engaging 15-20 minutes before you post

It's a great idea to engage a minimum of 15-20 minutes before you post anything to Instagram. The reason for this is to play Instagram at it's own game - if you get a good level of engagement before you post, Instagram will think you naturally get a good level of engagement and will show your post to more people! It's a win win!

I hope you enjoyed this article and I would love to know any success stories you may have from using these methods!