How to Grow your Instagram Account

Instagram currently has around 1.393 billion monthly active users. Also, it’s the second-largest social media platform in the world, after Facebook. In this post, we will discuss how to grow your Instagram account.

How to Grow your Instagram Account

1. Cross-promote content

Cross-promotion is when you post similar content on multiple social media channels. While some people term it laziness, many content creators see it as a great way to manage time and resources.

Aside from this, it can help promote your brand awareness and grow your Instagram account.

It has been noticed that social media users with mobile devices now spend more time on entertainment apps that have video content. Two of them are Instagram and TikTok.

Regardless of the length of your Instagram post/video, you can always increase its reach through cross-promotion.

2. Use the Right Hashtags

Whenever you find and use a trending hashtag, two things will happen. First of all, Instagram users that are searching for certain stuff will find your content and engage with it (if it captures their attention).

Secondly, hashtags take your content to Instagram users that are not yet following you. If you use popular hashtags in your Instagram posts, you’re more likely to reach new users and be discovered.

Dos and Don’ts of using hashtags on Instagram

Now, here’s the thing. You can just use hashtags anyhow. Some hashtags are being used by many people, but won’t benefit or grow your Instagram account.

For instance, see the hashtags below.

• #love
• #instagood
• #photooftheday
• #fashion
• #beautiful
• #happy
• #cute
• #like4like
• #tbt
• #followme
• #picoftheday
• #follow
• #me
• #art
• #selfie
• #summer
• #instadaily
• #repost
• #friends
• #nature

If you look at the hashtags above, you will notice one thing. They have a large usage on Instagram. While this is good for instant engagement, it won’t drive any future growth.

Popular tags will only give your Instagram account some engagement and likes, at the moment they were used. They won’t bring any long-term engagement, new followers, or new sales.

Also, the fact that such hashtags are trending means that everyone and their neighbour is posting about it. This means that your post won’t stand a chance 10 minutes later, since other Instagram users will post the same hashtag.

Instead, find and use hashtags that convert. With that, I mean hashtags are not only being searched for but also relate to your interests and what you do.

How many hashtags should you use on Instagram?

The maximum number of hashtags that Instagram supports is 30. However, many people claimed that 3, 5, and 12 hashtags are the best.

In your own best interest, don’t make your decision solely based on their claims.

3, 5, 12, etc are all arbitrary numbers. They are all based on individual experience and personal observation. They may or may not work for you.

So here’s what you should do. Experiment with each number of hashtags to see which one works best for you.

3. Steal your Competitors’ Followers

Note that this tactic works only for brands and businesses on Instagram, and not necessarily for individuals and celebrities.

One of the best ways to grow your Instagram account is to attract some of your competitors’ followers on Instagram.

By steal, we don’t mean pointing a gun to their head and forcing them to follow your Instagram account. Smiles…

By steal, we mean targeting your competitors’ Instagram accounts and engaging with their audiences. We will tell you why this is a good idea, to begin with.

More than 95% of users following your competitors on Instagram are previous clients, current customers and other people that are interested in their products and services.

Since you also offer the same products and services as your competitors, then their followers will most likely be interested in you as well.

This is because they have already shown some interest in your products and services by simply following your competitors.

Read Also: How to Open a PayPal Account and Send Money

4. Pay for sponsored posts and product reviews

So far so good, we have mentioned 3 tips to grow your Instagram account, and we’re on the fourth. Now if you observe those 3 tips, you will notice that they are all organic methods.

Now, let’s try a paid approach. The paid method of growing your Instagram account is faster, but the results rely on how much you’re willing to spend.

For faster results, you should try influencer marketing, as it will expose your business to a wider audience. Now, you will want to pay attention. Here’s how to go about it.

Discover influencers in the industry that your business is based. An influencer should have around 50,000 to 200,000 and more followers on Instagram.

Note that some Influencers may have less than 50,000 followers (micro-influencers). You should also reach out to them since they will charge a lesser payment.

What makes a good Instagram influencer?

There’s one mistake that many people make, and they fall prey to it almost all the time. Whenever you’re deciding which influencer to work with, don’t make your decision based on the number of followers.

You should base your decision on the organic engagement rate of that account. Watch out for how many likes and comments that the influencer gets within 24 hours and compare it to his/her follower count.

Any influencer can generate fake followers with bots or buy followers with money, but they can’t buy engagement.

5. Run a Giveaway

This part doesn’t need to be overemphasized. Whenever you run a giveaway on Instagram, you will attract many users to your account, including those that are not yet following you.

Also, many of these users will tag their friends to follow and keep tabs on your Instagram account.

The Bottom Line

Figuring out how to grow an Instagram account or get more followers is one of the most challenging things on social media.

Ensure you optimise your Instagram bio, post creative content, post strategically, and most importantly, avoid buying fake followers.