How to Gain Followers on Instagram: 13 Tips for 2021
We are living in the era of social media, and positioning yourself on them is fundamental for your business. Instagram, for example, can be an excellent bet due to its high popularity: there are 1 billion active users per month. But do you know how to gain followers on Instagram?
Perhaps your brand has not yet leveraged and achieved success precisely because of a lack of planning in this sphere. However, it’s never too late to start and 2021 could (and should) be the year of change for your business on social media. The first step is to learn to gain followers on Instagram organically.
This is because, contrary to what many people do or think, buying followers, in addition to not being a good practice, will not bring any results for your company. It will just be a high number in the “followers” field who are often not interested in your product/service.
So, check out the tips we’ve prepared for you to gain followers on Instagram and attract qualified leads to your business.
1. Write a custom bio
One of the first actions we need to take when creating an Instagram account is filling out the profile. At this point, it is essential to focus on the biography, also known as “bio”. After all, she will introduce you initially to users and will be able to create an alignment between your brand and the public.
Although few characters are available for this, try to strategically optimize each one of them. So, bet on this field to:
- Show your purpose, values and achievements;
- Use some features in addition to text, such as hashtags and emoji’s;
- Provide links to your business, such as website, blog and Whastapp.
If your business is physical, include information such as hours and days of operation. If it’s in the sales niche, enter promotional coupons, free shipping conditions, and other attractive data.
2. Have an organized profile
Everyone knows that mess doesn’t attract anyone, doesn’t it? That’s why you need to create branding for your posts. This is a way not only to make your feed more harmonious and clean but also to make the public immediately identify and recognize a post of your business anywhere else on Instagram or the Internet.
Furthermore, the language used in publications and in interacting with the public is also crucial for the growth of your network. So, standardize it. The tone to be used, the formality or informality, the use of slang or not, among other aspects, will depend on your niche.
Take advantage of this organizational moment to get everything right on “Guides”, one of the newest tools on Instagram. It gives users a more practical way to discover recommendations, tips, products, etc.
3. Make use of hashtags
The hashtags – # sign followed by a word or phrase – are very usual in social networks. You must come across several of them throughout the day, right?
Using relevant and appropriate hashtags organizes your content into categories and allow users to find your posts on certain subjects more easily. Furthermore, it is possible that people who didn’t even know your profile will find you through hashtags.
You can also create your own hashtag. This is a way to motivate the audience to share content, such as when buying a product or service from your business, with your brand’s hashtag.
4. Have an editorial calendar
It is necessary to post with a good and certain frequency on your network so as not to lose the followers you already have and not gain as many others, as a stationary profile does not engage anyone. Therefore, you have to be very active and have a presence on Instagram. For this, the editorial calendar can help you.
We know that, with the rush of everyday life, sometimes there is no time to think about cool content and produce it. But by making an editorial calendar you can plan, organize and manage all your posts for a long period without worrying your head.
Thus, you save time and guarantee the constancy of quality publications throughout the year. That way, when people find your Instagram profile, they’ll see the value of the content and will follow your profile.
5. Perform tests
Unfortunately, it’s difficult to know which type of content performs the most on our network and what the best times to publish and generate engagement are. All this will only be possible to discover with time.
That’s why it’s so important to run tests (post videos and photos, with shorter and longer captions and at alternate times, for example) and then analyze the metrics (impressions and reach of posts and follower information) so that we can adjust the strategies in the best possible way.
6. Bet on the carousel
The carousel model is one in which several photos are part of the same publication. This format is an innovative way to present content and even allows you to explore storytelling.
Because it’s more visual than traditional captions, people actually tend to be interested in going to the last image and figuring out the post’s content. This increases the interaction time between users and the post, as people take longer to read a post along these lines.
Thus, Instagram understands that, because users stayed longer in the post, they liked the content and, therefore, the network delivers it to more people. This is a way to improve the user experience and still win.
7. Chat with users
You need to talk and interact a lot with your followers and visitors. This is a way to encourage engagement and, who knows, conversion. But it’s no use sending standardized messages, you need to show exclusivity and attention.
If you have a lot of followers, it will be difficult to interact with everyone. Therefore, create and answer the question boxes in the stories for days at a time. People will be stuck with your stories as you answer real questions.
In the early days, it’s common for people not to send in questions. So instigate them with a sequence of previous stories on a particular topic and ask friends to post their first questions. Trust me, the more questions you answer, the more people will interact.
8. Organize the highlights
Highlights from stories can also play a strategic role in gaining followers on Instagram, as they allow users to locate themselves and better understand what their profile is all about.
But for that, it is necessary to organize them effectively. A good strategy is to have at least 4 highlights:
- The first need to situate the user on their profile, as well as on the contents they will find there;
- The second, which can be titled “About me” or “About the brand”, will tell a little of your story or your brand. This can generate credibility, authority and even create emotional bonds with followers;
- The third-party will bring the services and products offered by your business;
- And the last one will present the instructions for purchasing your product or service.
This is just an idea. You can organize your highlights as you see fit, as long as it’s an effective method.
9. Make reels and IGTV
According to a Hubspot report, more than 50% of consumers want to watch branded videos more than any other type of content. This information can be very useful to help you attract more followers to your Instagram.
At IGTV you can bet on interviews, making off, among other longer content, up to 60 minutes. On Reels, it is possible to create short videos, of up to 15 seconds, edited on the social network itself and super creative, such as tips, tutorials and reviews of the launch of any product or service.
It is noteworthy that during the year 2020, the reels had a high rate of delivery by Instagram and the trend is that this will continue in the year 2021. Because it is interactive, creative and fast content, people tend to engage a lot.
10. Create good partnerships
Partnerships can bring new and good followers because your partners will spread your brand on their networks and vice versa. You can either team up with partners in your niche — which doesn’t mean partnering with direct competitors — as well as from some other areas related to yours.
Some ways to launch these partnerships are shared lives, tagging the partner’s Instagram in stories and sweepstakes where the prize is aligned with the pains and needs of your persona.
11. Focus on funnel top contents
The focus on Instagram will be — almost always — on top funnel content, which, because they are more widespread, attract the greatest number of visitors and create their first contact with your brand.
This type of content needs to be relevant, educational and of quality, in addition to presenting an easier and clearer language. Thus, it will generate identification and approach with users to take them to the next steps in the sales funnel.
12. Work in Referral Marketing
Referral Marketing has great power to persuade people. It occurs when someone advertises your business and, therefore, influences other consumers. On social networks, digital influencers are the main actors.
For 2021, we suggest that you invest in those who have the least followers but have the most engagement. People tend to trust their opinion more than personalities with more followers.
Also, create shareable content such as memes and helpful tips. Another tip is to be quick and take the opportunity to create posts in opportune situations. This will make your profile seen by more people as followers share the post.
13. Invest in CTA to stay on Instagram
So far, we’ve given tips on how to gain followers through Instagram itself. However, it is possible to use other media to bring the lead to the social network. This can be done in the CTA of blog posts that link to the company profile.
Another way is to put the CTA on thank you pages for some digital bait. For example, when the lead signs up for some of your events, they can be directed to a landing page that welcomes the sign-up and suggests following Instagram while the event doesn’t start.