Growing a real Instagram following is a topic we’re sure you guys have been waiting for. Make no mistake, growing a real, legitimate following on Instagram is incredibly hard and takes a ton of time, hard work and patience. There’s no magic trick that helps you grow to insta-fame over night, and it seems that the only true way to be successful on the platform in today’s influencer world is to do it real and do it right. In the influencer marketing industry of today, brands and influencer marketing platforms are requiring their influencers to share deeper insights about their pages, including follower and following lists, Instagram story insights and screenshots of Instagram analytics pages. Faking it isn’t cutting it nowadays, highlighting the importance of working towards amassing an authentic following.
If you’re struggling with growth on Instagram, don’t be discouraged. Even those with hundreds of thousands of followers are frustrated by stagnantions in their growth. Instagram changes their algorithms and backend system faster than anyone can keep up with, including their newest development that involves getting rid of likes. Among the constant talk about beating the Instagram algorithm or how to end up on the explore page, we’re going to outline some easy hacks that can help you achieve authentic growth on the platform.
Growing A Real Instagram Following
Growing A Real Instagram Following Hack #1: Post Every. Single. Day.
Yes, we’re serious. You should be posting every single day. At the very bare minimum, you should be posting 4/7 days of the week. The logic behind this is really easy to wrap your head around. The more you post, the more active you are on the platform; the more you post, the more exposure you get; the more you post, the more chances you get to make it to the explore page. If you’re talking impressions and reach, it’s even more obvious why you should be posting every day. If you post every day, your impressions and reach have the opportunity to skyrocket in number, making your stats more impressive than they would be if you posted less often.
Growing A Real Instagram Following Hack #2: Collaborate, Collaborate, Collaborate
Despite the ever changing Instagram landscape, one thing has remained true: collaborating is still one of the best and most effective ways to grow authentically. Collaborate with your peers, collaborate with brands, local businesses or services, collaborate with anyone and everyone you can. Collaborating does a few things to help your cause when it comes to growth.
First off, it heightens your chances of being reposted or tagged in photos on other people’s’ Instagram feeds. This gives you exposure to their follower base and tends to result in a decent amount of growth. Let’s say, for example, that you secure a collaboration with a prominent footwear brand in the industry and they repost your photo on their own Instagram page with 1.2 million followers. You can confidently expect to get a handful of new followers from that exposure. The same principle applies to being tagged in a group photo on a fellow influencer’s account.
Secondly, collaborating also strengthens your relationships within the industry. It’s a great way to get your foot in the door. The more known you are in the industry, whether that be among brands or other influencers, the more opportunities come your way, and all opportunities are opportunities to capitalize on growth
Growing A Real Instagram Following Hack #3: Use (The Right) Hashtags
If you aren’t already using hashtags, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Also on that note, if you haven’t already read our article on hashtag growth, go check it out here (link the article here)! In short, researched and relevant hashtags can expose your content to a ton of people who otherwise wouldn’t have seen it. With the right hashtag research tools and a little bit of work, you can craft a group of hashtags that fit your content, personal brand and the audience you’d like to reach.
If you have a business or a creator account, Instagram analytics will show you how many of the people who have seen your photo did so through hashtags. Go check it out on one of your recent posts. I’m positive it’s a much larger number than you think.
If you’re interested in diving deeper into the topic of hashtag growth, as previously mentioned, go check out our recent article on the best tools for hashtag growth!
Growing A Real Instagram Following Hack #4: Engage for Engagement
We’re speaking from experience when we say that being inactive on Instagram hurts your own growth. We’re personally seen a drop in our own engagement on days when we’ve posted, but haven’t really engaged on any photos we’ve seen scrolling through our feeds. Engagement is limited to liking or commenting on feed photos, it also includes interacting with followers who comment on your feed and being a part of the general conversation.
We’ve mentioned this before in our articles, but Instagram seems to favor those who use the platform how it was intended to be used. Like, comment, follow, engage, and in more cases than not, Instagram will reward you by showing your photo to more people or pushing your photo to the tops of your follower’s home feeds.
Growing A Real Instagram Following Hack #5: It’s All About The Quality
We’re sure you’ve all seen this term before in relation to Instagram growth, but quality is really key. Put it this way: Would you follow an account that had poor quality photos? No, probably not. When creating content, be sure to put your all into it. Create content that you love, that you also think that your followers and potentially followers will love, too.
Quality extends far past the quality of your photos, but also equally applies to your Instagram stories and even your captions. As a general principle and rule of thumb, if it’s not something you’re proud of or would be proud to call your own, re-evaluate, re-write, re-shoot, and re-consider. Take a look at your favorite Instagram accounts, and don’t compare yourself, but rather, take an objective look at what it is that you like about their profiles. Those principles are likely what helped those influencers achieve their growth and success and serve as good guiding practices for your own growth journey.
Growing a real Instagram following does require putting in some real time and effort but in the long run, watching your following grow organically is extremely satisfying. Get more tips on growing a real Instagram following, and other tips and tricks on the Wolf Blog.
