If you haven’t joined Instagram just yet, you should consider giving it a shot. After all, aren’t you curious why the photo-sharing and video-sharing social networking service has accumulated 150 million users in just over three years? Does the fact that Instagram grew by 23% in 2013 sound appealing at all? Don’t you want one of your pictures to become one of the 16 billion images shared?
If you said yes to any of those questions, then it’s never too late to sign-up for a free Instagram account. But, what do you do after you’ve created an account? If you don’t have any followers liking or sharing your content, what’s the point of being on a social media network?
The good news is acquiring more followers on Instagram isn’t difficult. It will take some time and a little bit of effort. But if done correctly, you’ll have an increase in followers before you can say “cheese” as you snap your latest picture.
So, let’s get into it. Here are the 10 best ways to get more followers on Instagram.
1. Share Images People Can Relate To
If you check out the most popular Instagram accounts, you’ll notice a common theme. All of their photos are something we all can relate to and connect with. They’re personal, unique, and original. By sharing these types of photos, you’re establishing a connection with your audience, which is the absolute best way to attract people to your account.
In short, make sure your Instagram account is authentic and original. That is how you’re going to connect and relate with others.
2. Post at the Right Time
Prior to posting anything onto Instagram, consider what time zone the majority of your audience lives in and what time they check their Instagram account.
Because of its mobility, there isn’t really a favorite time for Instagram users – engagement is high on Wednesdays between 5 – 6 PM, while more people post on Thursdays. Regardless, a majority of Instagram users log in when they have the extra time, such first thing in the morning, on their way home from work or school, or on Sundays.
Typically, a photo only has four hours before it gets lost within the news feed. To prevent this, try to post when you know a majority of your followers have down time and have access to their accounts. For example, if your demographic are high school students, then you should post your photos in the afternoon when students are either on their lunch break or home for the day.
If you have a strong following of professionals in Chicago, then you would want to post images during rush hour CST when people are on their way home from work and checking their account while on the “L”.
3. Use Popular & Relevant Hashtags
Search Google or Webstagram to find popular hashtags, which are used to organize photos. You can then use the relevant trending hashtags to you or your industry to gain more visibility for your photos, which should generate more interaction. For example, the top 10 hashtags are: #love, #instagood, #me; #like, #follow, #cute, #photooftheday, #tbt, #followme, and #tagsforlikes.
While hashtags are an important asset when attracting new followers, you don’t want to go overboard. Instead of posting an entire paragraph of hashtags, try to select one to three hashtags per photo. Any more than three will seem spammy.
