How to Increase Instagram Followers by 2k in 2 months (without using Follow unFollow)

Instagram that started as a fun app to share photos has grown rapidly and taken the world by storm to be among one of the most powerful tools to reach people and grow your Brand online.

Everybody along with their dogs and cats are on Instagram which makes it the perfect place to grow your brand. Even their cats and Dogs have become Instagram Celebrities and they get their owners great Business through Brand Sponsoring, Working as an Affiliate for Brands, charging per Instagram Post etc.

All you need is people engaging and interacting with your Brand on Instagram.

So, if left swipes on your Tinder profiles are more than the engagement on your Brand, the universe is conspiring you to join Instagram.

As per the Instagram statistics of Hubspot-

• Instagram has over 800 million active monthly users.
• 60% of adults online use Instagram.
• 80% of the app’s user base is outside the U.S.
• There are 25 million business profiles on Instagram.
• 50% of Instagram users follow at least one business, and 60% say they’ve learned of a product or service through the platform.

But the main challenge is “How to grow Instagram Followers?” If you do it the right way, it is not a tough job at all.

Here’s how I grew my Instagram followers by 2k in 2 months.

Ways to Increase Instagram Followers

• Star up your Profile Name - Your profile name is your Identity, make sure you make it stand out. Your profile name should be such that it catches the attention of the person scrolling through it. One way you can do this is by using an emoji along with your name ( it can be a herb, a tick mark or any one of your favourite)

• Spruce up your Instagram Bio - You’ve only got 5 seconds to cast and impression on the onlooker and grab their attention. So, you need to make sure that you do it right. Your Bio should be visually attractive and it should be able to convey proper information about you.

Here again you can use emoji to stand out. Use less content, nobody wants to read those long comprehension passage.

For Example-

The Bio Section of viaENS clearly and precisely states what services it provides.

💻 Internet Industry Training

🔛 Websites, Search Engines & Social Media

Along with that, it also includes the statistics of the work done which adds up to the credibility of the company.

📇 Certifications

👨‍🏫 18000+ People

✈️ 10+ Cities across India

⭕️ 80,000+ Training Sessions

Go for the emoticons and symbols, they are eye catching. Don’t forget to include your email address, so that people can reach you easily or can contact you for collaborations. Also, if you have any special hashtag related to your Brand name, you can add that too in your Instagram Bio.

• Select a Profile Picture - Unlike Facebook, the size of profile picture on Instagram is small, so you need to be very particular of the profile picture- the colors, portrait/ Landscape etc.

Nowadays people try to take Insta photo against a vibrant mono tone wall or background because that makes the small picture stand out from the list of accounts. Choose a portrait photograph with good brightness and a high contrast.

Avoid full length photographs, otherwise you’ll be overlooked.

• Share great content - If you go through the profile of great Instagram Influencers, their feed is bright and lively with good photographs.

You want to keep following them because their content and everything they post is awesome. Some of them go to extreme levels, like following a color theme for every photo on their feed, or posting only food content, or a fixed posting time.

While we won’t go that extreme but we have started being more mindful of the images we post.

Earlier I used to post images randomly but so much content would make it look messy. Eventually I started sharing images at alternative posts and using a white template with a quote in between. This way, every image gets the attention it deserves and the feed looks clean.

Make it a point that you Publish Quality Content.

• Serve Engaging Posts- Remember how irritating it is when someone says ‘K’ instead of ‘Ok’? Exactly. Don’t post just for posting’s sake, enjoy every post and make it engaging for readers too.

It is a personal experience that posts with longer captions received more engagement compared to the posts with one liners or few words.

Engage your Audience by asking a question in your caption, or requesting some information from your audience.

• Strive to be more ‘You’ - Whether you are writing a blog post or posting anything on social media, it should be super authentic and should represent more of you.

Auto Liker and follow unfollow thing may get you more likes or followers count but it will never get you loyal followers. 10 loyal followers are better than 100 fake ones. Write posts that represent you.

For Example- If you are sharing a photograph, then in the caption area share Behind the scenes of that photograph, or how you felt clicking that. Such truthful posts gets more and genuine engagement.

• Shake Hands & Engage with Accounts that Follow you - Respond to all the comments on your posts. If someone is appreciating, it hardly takes 3 seconds to type ‘Thank you’. Responding and engaging with accounts that follow you has one secret benefit- more comments within initial hour of posting means more engagement. Moreover, it strengthens your bond with your followers.

• Start Engaging with those you follow - Make it a point that everyday you will engage with 10 at least accounts. In short, you need to like at least 10 Instagram posts everyday and comment on atleast 5 posts. Again, this will help your account get noticed and admit it, just like you want more likes and comments on your posts, so do people. Let’s make this world a better place. Let’s support each other. It is going to be beneficial and fun.

• Share Instagram Stories - Instagram story is a powerful tool to expand the reach of your Profile. Share good Instagram stories, ask questions, publish a poll etc. Publish stories more frequently. Share stories 3-4 times a day at different intervals.

Here’s the time schedule that works the best for me-

-Morning- 8 a.m (People wake up and the first thing they do is check Instagram)

-Afternoon- 2:00 p.m (This time is mostly lunch breaks at workplaces and breaks means grabbing lunch boxes, a hot cup of tea and scrolling Instagram feed)

-Evening- 6:00 p.m (This is the time when people are packing their bags, leaving workplace and oh! How can we forget, checking Instagram)

Night- 9:00 p.m ( This is the time when most people are either in their beds or preparing to get into their Bed and the day that starts with Instagram ends with Instagram)

• Start Giveaways - You can organize small giveaways or conduct small contest on your Instagram handle. This is the more effective way of getting followers because people like getting free stuff. You can set some ground rules for the contest and after it is over you can announce the winner on your page. This is a great way to build up a loyal audience.

• Set Hashtags - Hashtags Hashtags everywhere but which Hashtags to use? People aren’t a big fan of Hashtags but they work wonders. Using effective hashtags can boost your post reach and engagement incredibly which means probability of more followers.

Instagram lets you use up to 30 hashtags per picture and you should prefer using them all. The popular hashtags are always changing, so you can always google for the latest ones. One thing to note – a lot of people do not want to see hashtags cluttering your caption, so you can put them in the comments section of your own picture to hide them.

• Stalk Influencers in your Domain - It is as easy as this- Turn on the post notification for all the influencers in your domain and everytime they put up a post, be as early as you can to drop a comment and double tap their post. This increases the chance of your Instagram handle being discovered. Moreover, keep a check on the type of content they are posting and try to polish your feed accordingly.