21 ways to increase Instagram followers

Sophie Beard posted on 15 February 2021

Instagram is one of the best social media platforms for brands. Engagement rates are increasing and the network is constantly innovating – it’s backed by Facebook so the opportunities are endless. 

Knowing where to start when setting up an Instagram page can be difficult. And growing your followers can be even trickier. We’ve put together our top tips to help you grow your fan base on the platform.

HERE ARE 21 IDEAS TO GROW YOUR FOLLOWERS ON INSTAGRAM:

1. Ask your followers to share photos

One of the most popular ways to increase your reach and engagement is to ask your followers to share a photo with a specific theme. The reward can be as small as a mention highlighting them as the winner and as large as a physical product or subscription to your product for example. What’s more, by doing so, you will also receive free content shared targeting your audience of your users. Two birds with one stone!

2. Do a giveaway

Investing in a giveaway can help your brand profile grow faster than any other method. You can do this either directly on Instagram or through a third party such as an influencer.  An idea for a giveaway is a “day trip”  A perfect reward for a gift, which basically consists of a trip to your headquarters in conjunction with a tour to the city where you are.

3. Connect with Influencers

Find notable influencers within your industry who are on Instagram and connect with them. Cross-promote or simply invite them to an event. Whether paid or for mutual benefits, Instagram influencers can do wonders for your brand and your growth on the platform, the success of this can be measured to help you decide whether to use influencers more or not in the future for other campaigns

4. Give Discounts to your Followers

Do you have an active consumer base, but have no followers on Instagram? Create a discount code for your product and / or service that is only available to your Instagram followers. You can also create unique discount codes for each of your influencers.  

5. Create a live Q&A video with IGTV 

Especially for big brands, holding such a live event on social media with the CEO or influencers is always remarkable. It might not only win some free press, but the engagement will definitely be off the charts.

6. Use Instagram Reels 

With Instagram Reels you can create fun 30 second multi-clip videos with audio, effects and creative tools. Use Reels to collaborate with influencers on ads to help you get noticed. 

7. Follow your followers back

A strategy that is despised by most social media professionals, but loved by many, can be a great way to start your brand account. Especially if you are new to the platform, followback can give you huge follower numbers in no time. Just be careful, as at the end of the day, engagement is all that counts and you want followers who engage and benefit your business. 

8. Achieving goals with your followers

Create goals for reaching a certain number of followers, whether through giveaways or something else, this will allow your followers to engage and interact more with your content.

9. Utilise your other platforms 

If you use other social media platform (Twitter, Facebook, TikTok etc) then let them know you have an Instagram page and encourage them to follow you

10. Create tasks for followers to complete

Just like in a game, simply tell your followers that when they share 20 of your photos to their Instagram story, they will receive a reward, a common method is asking followers to “like, share and comment” on a post. The opportunities are endless for what the reward could be.

11. Give incentives to followers to promote your profile

Discount promotion can also be done as a reward to people who share or promote your profile. Knowing what to do to make your audience work for you is not only rewarding for both parties, but it will end up building a stronger bond between your consumers and your brand.

12. Create a “Find the Clue” story for active followers

Another idea for a photo game is to create “find the clue” stories. Just give clues within your stories that your active followers should gather to solve a puzzle and ultimately win a prize or enter a drawing for a jackpot. Just don’t forget to announce that such a game exists, so that you can keep your audience busy.

13. Use the most attractive hashtags of your competitors

Using your competitors’ Instagram analytics, you can learn what their most successful hashtags are. Use the knowledge to your advantage and target your competitor’s audience using your own hashtags.

14. Start a live video game

Just as you can create a game with photos and stories, you can also do it with live video. Create a trivia for your brand, for example. Put a little thought into it and we are sure that you will come up with something attractive and creative!

15. Start a live video series

Like on Facebook, the live video series can make sure you have active engagement at certain time periods of the week, if it’s consistent enough. 

16. Create a design contest for followers

If you want to go even further in making your clients work for you seamlessly, you can create a design contest. This can be anything as small as a t-shirt design contest and as large as a logo design contest. It’s your choice!

17. Make a site-wide discount on a follower milestone

Want to promote your Instagram profile off the platform? Create a site-level discount that will be available to everyone, which is unlocked only when a certain milestone in the number of followers is reached. Encourage your followers to share this upcoming potential discount to speed up the time in which the discount will be available. This can perfectly fit in with planned discounts and realistic goals for your follower count.

18. Ask your followers for a Hashtag suggestion

Can’t think of a hashtag? Why not ask your followers to create one? It’s the perfect solution that will keep your audience engaged, while also ensuring that the hashtag you end up using already has some traction.

19. Implement Internet Memes

While you can freely use internet memes on other social media platforms to humanize your brand, this is not exactly the case on Instagram. Using memes on the photo sharing network can ruin the theme of your page. However, sharing them on your story is an effective way to get involved, albeit only for the 24 hours your story is visible. .

20. Put QR codes everywhere to encourage curiosity

Have a physical or software product? Put the QR codes for your instagram profile where you can. You don’t even have to say they are for Instagram as people will scan them out of curiosity. 

21. Create a marketing campaign just for Instagram

Create a marketing campaign that is exclusively focused on promoting your Instagram profile. This can include T-shirts, mugs, TV commercials and whatever your mind can imagine. Sometimes it is worth the risk.