Nike, National Geographic, Victoria’s Secret – what do these huge corporations have in common? There have some of the highest followings on Instagram to date. Although your brand may not be topping the multi-million follower mark just yet, you could still increase your numbers with just a few tweaks to your account.
Almost 90% of top brands are on Instagram and posting consistently. Join the fray and tap into the 1 billion users that are on Instagram currently. Here are just a few tips for getting free, real and instant Instagram followers (you can always buy active Instagram followers, but how about some other ways to earn them?).
Get Engaged
No, not as input a ring on it – we mean to get involved with your audience! When followers comment, respond! If you have loyal fans who are supporting what you’re doing, check out their pages and comment and like their content back! This will help you develop your existing relationship as well as open up opportunities to engage with new users who are followers.
You’ll also gain an Instagram reputation as an authentic user who appreciates and values his/her audience (more importantly, achieving such a rank without having to buy gradual Instagram likes at all).
Hashtag
Adding hashtags to your posts will make your brand’s page more discoverable and will increase your chances to hook new fans. So, get to work on creating memorable hashtags that target your desired audience. Start by doing a quick Instagram search of terms relevant to your brand and/or your post and see what kind of hashtags and photos are associated with them.
If you don’t have time to do the search yourself, check out the trending hashtags of Instagram. Once you’ve narrowed down your terms, create cool hashtags and add them to your post. We encourage you to keep it simple and clean by limiting the number of hashtags to somewhere between 5 and 7.
Utilize User-Generated Content
A great way to build a real follower base is to give your fans a chance to see their photos featured on your page. There are a couple of ways that seem to work best for finding and incorporating User Generated Content (UGC): hashtags and contests. With hashtags, start by searching relevant terms to your brand or particular ad campaign, and then reach out and connect with Instagrammers whose photos fit your purpose.
After getting their permission, you can create your own brand-specific hashtags to include with your UGC, and in so doing, you start an ad campaign that can easily take on a life of its own when enough people see your content and start using the hashtag you’ve created.
Sponsoring a contest also works well for finding and using UGC. Create a contest in which you give away free stuff as a prize for the best photos/posts relevant to a specific marketing scheme.
Starbucks #RedCupContest is probably one of the most well-known and successful UGC campaigns out there – and their 13 million followers are a testament to this strategy’s potential!
Promote cross-media
It’s likely that you have more than one social media account – may be a Facebook page or a Twitter account. Use these accounts to draw awareness to your Instagram account and grab followers from other channels!
Direct your Facebook followers or your Twitter-verse to your Instagram page by telling them what they can find there that they aren’t seeing on your other social media accounts. A simple, “find us on Instagram”, and a link to your account can do wonders for your numbers!