Apply these tips to gain more exposure on Instagram.

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Instagram is a fantastic visual marketing channel for any business. What's more, the ever-growing platform lets you build an audience that grows with your business.

Today, half a billion people use Instagram every day. This means that Instagram can connect your business to highly engaged audiences. But your Instagram presence won't help you unless you gain followers.

Today, we'll run you through the most effective ways for you to build your Instagram following organically. Check out our guide below.

Optimize Your Profile

Before beginning your marketing efforts, focus on optimizing your profile. Without a bio, a proper username, and a professional profile image, you won't be able to set your brand apart. 

An excellent first step would be to drop a link to your website's homepage in your Instagram bio. Once you've done that, make your username as search friendly as it can be. This can be done as simply as making your username your brand name; don't add special characters or numbers that make it harder to search for your profile.

Check Your Analytics

Instagram comes with a built-in analytics tool -- a handy tool that people often overlook. 

Check your Instagram analytics often and look for trends. Do you notice that one type of image is more popular with your audience? Post more of these images. Posting high-quality content that you know your audience enjoys is one key to growing your Instagram following.

Don't Forget Hashtags

Finding the right hashtags for your brand is a matter of trial and error. So, don't be too concerned if you don't find the perfect hashtags immediately. 

We recommend that you use as many hashtags per post as -- thirty. Now, you don't need to add these hashtags to your image captions. Instead, drop them in the first comment. As more and more people comment on your post, the first comment will get buried -- but the hashtags will still work. 

Be sure to use hashtags that are niche-specific; more specific and targeted hashtags help you reach a relevant audience. 

Build a Consistent Aesthetic

The goals of your Instagram page may differ. Maybe you want to show your audience how you make your products. Or you want to share stories of your employees about what it's like working for your organization. Regardless of what you want to achieve, you'll need to keep a consistent brand look and personality. 

Your audience should be able to recognize your posts easily. They should have that "aha!" moment when they see a post and immediately realize your brand posted it. 

Host Giveaways

If you currently have a small audience on Instagram, hosting giveaways is a terrific way to get more followers.

An effortless way to start with giveaways is by reaching out to giveaway pages on Instagram. Let them know that your brand is doing a giveaway and ask them if they'd be willing to advertise your giveaway. In exchange, however, you may need to send them a few free products. 

The publicity from the giveaway will get people curious. And naturally, they'll want to learn more about your products and your brand by visiting your Instagram page. 

If you're starting to build your Instagram presence, a giveaway might be what your brand needs to do. But be sure not to do them too often. Remember that your goal is to build followers and get sales -- your long-term goal is not to give away free things forever.

Promote on Other Platforms

To get as many followers on Instagram as possible organically, you'll need to make it easy for people to find you; your target audience should be able to find your Instagram account easily. 

If you've already built a more extensive following on a different social network, use your current following. Let your fans on other websites like Facebook know about your Instagram profile. 

Please share a link to your Instagram account and give your followers on other social media websites a reason to check it out -- an IG Live giveaway, for example. 

If you've opened your Instagram account recently, ensure you have enough content on your account before you ask followers from other networks to visit. Aim for at least 12 Instagram posts.

Or you may highlight some of your best-performing Instagram posts -- you'll know which these are by checking analytics -- on your other social media accounts.

Post Daily

Think about your firsthand experiences. Are you more likely to engage with a brand that posts once a day or a brand that posts once a year? The answer is obvious -- and there are statistics to support it. 

Tailwind, a visual marketing company, studied over 100,000 Instagram platforms to better understand how posting frequency can affect engagement rate and follower growth. Tailwind found that the more often you post, the more followers and likes you get. 

According to Tailwind's findings, Instagram accounts that posted at least once a day got more followers than those that posted less often -- and they got these followers much more quickly. 

Actively Engage With Your Followers

Don't think of yourself only as a brand and your audience only as followers. Instagram is a community that thrives on two-way communication. So, get involved in the community.

You can get involved by finding people who post interesting pictures, follow their Instagram accounts, and interact with them -- naturally.

Interacting with your target market does two things for your brand. First, people will get notifications when you follow them. So, they may check out your account to decide whether to follow you.

Second, you'll be able to see their recent posts in your Instagram feed; you'll be able to like and comment on their posts if you want to. Liking and commenting on your audience's posts will help keep you at the top of their minds. In other words, it will refresh their memory and prompt them to see what's new with your brand. 

As you gain more and more followers, celebrate your brand's growth by showing your followers appreciation. Actively respond to their comments and be sure to engage with them on their own posts -- not just yours. 

What's Next?

Following the tips we've given you -- with a little bit of patience -- can tremendously grow your Instagram presence. And as you gain more followers, you become more credible; thus, you'll attract new followers -- and the cycle goes on. 

Remember that Instagram is a saturated platform with lots of competition. So, in some cases, building an organic following can be tricky. To jumpstart your Instagram growth, you can consider buying followers at an affordable price from a website like Instant Famous.

Instant Famous only sells real followers. So, you can be sure that you'll build a page with real humans who interact with you instead of bots. Don't wait to grow your Instagram presence. Visit Instant Famous today. 

References

Macdonald, M. (2020, August 3). How to Get More Followers on Instagram: 15 Reliable Ways to Grow Your Audience. Shopify. https://www.shopify.com/blog/14288561-how-to-build-a-massive-following-on-instagram

Seiter, C. (2020, July 24). How to Gain a Massive Following on Instagram. Buffer Library. https://buffer.com/library/instagram-growth/

York, A. (2020, September 16). 10 Ways to increase your real followers on Instagram. Sprout Social. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/how-to-get-followers-on-instagram/