Social media has completely changed the way people engage and interact with each other in the world today. With more than three billion people spread across each of the major social media platforms, it’s not only changed how we all find information and people in the world, it’s also changed how business is done as well.
The evolution of social media is also something that seems to keep progressing with time. What was hot in previous years, is no longer even talked about… and if it is, then it’s probably fighting for its life daily. Just take a look at how MySpace was the biggest thing in the world at one point, but then fizzled out. Facebook and Twitter have managed to stick around the longest, but mobile platforms like Instagram and Snapchat are quickly taking up more user share.
What makes social media so amazing is that anyone can join in on the conversation and start building out a brand and following of their own. It doesn’t matter if you are a well-known celebrity or just someone who is logging onto the internet for the first time — it has no prerequisites and anyone can soon have millions of followers and fans in no time.
However, in the world of business and branding, followers mean everything and it’s a big business to come up with new ideas, content and viral videos to attract new audiences. There are plenty of tools and solutions out there to help you get more free followers on Instagram, but the most important thing to remember is that your content creation and marketing efforts need to be real and they must relate to your audience.
All of these methods work well, but if you are just creating generic content to have something out there, you will likely find negative results and surely end up wasting your time and money.
Whether you are planning on starting from scratch or pulling your site and social traffic over from another platform, we’ve created a list of useful and effective ways to buy Instagram followers and build your brand through Instagram and influencer marketing.
5 Creative and Effective Ways to Get More Followers on Instagram
Looking at the recent social media industry stats from Hootsuite, we can learn a lot about the landscape of Instagram and how users are spending time on the platform. Here are just a few that all marketers and content creators should consider.
- Instagram now has more than one billion people using it every month
- 500 million people use Instagram stories daily
- The gender mix on Instagram is pretty even ay 52% female/48% male
- 63% of Instagram users log in at least once per day
- 200 million users visit at least one business profile daily
- Users will spend an average of 28 minutes per day on the platform
- A third of all stories viewed on Instagram are from businesses
- Instagram has a potential advertising reach of 850 million users
- 3% of US businesses will use Instagram in 2020
- Of those businesses and brands, most will post 2.5 stories per week
With all of these stats and tips now in mind, let’s run through our list of seven different ways to start growing your reach and follower count on Instagram.
1. Follow and Study Top Influencers on Instagram
When you look at users on the social platform, you will soon realize there is a huge gap between the amount of followers the average user has, and how many followers the top influencers have. In fact, celebrities will likely always lead the list count on most social platforms, but there are some huge mini-influencers as well.
If you want to become a well-known brand or even an influencer, you must follow other top users to see what type of content they are creating, while also learning what continually works best.
2. Create a Posting Schedule and Use Automation When Possible
Creating original content, images and videos for social media platforms can be a full time job. Add posting and scheduling into the mix and now you have two jobs!
If you want to get more done and speed up the expansion and reach process, be sure to create a social media schedule of when you are going to post content. Even better, invest some time and money into a scheduling tool like Hootsuite or MeetEdgar to automate the process.
3. Use New and Trending Hashtags
On Instagram, hashtags are everything. They are also changing all the time and if you want to reach new audiences, you will need to continually switch up the keywords and hashtags you are going after.
Also, if you are going to run a campaign or contest of your own, be sure to create a new hashtag for your brand so you can easily search and find other followers and profiles that are participating in it.
4. Consider Your Options with Paid Marketing and Sponsored Mentions
Not everyone has a lot of money to spend when it comes to social media marketing efforts, but if you do, there are plenty of options for you to choose from. Some of the top influencers on Instagram are generating six and seven figures monthly due to their partnerships and sponsor opportunities with other brands and products.
For best results and lower cost spending, be sure to look around for influencers within your space that have decent followings, but aren’t that well known. They might have a lower follower count, but their personal recommendation might have a lot more weight.
5. Contest and Giveaways Work Extremely Well on Instagram
Free stuff always does well, no matter where you are trying to get attention or publicity. This is especially true on social media as one was on the recommended trends to watch from Forbes.
If you want to increase your follower count, all you need to do is run a contest and require users to follow you back and leave a comment on your posts. This not only makes it fun and easy for people to start following your profile, it’s also a great way to give away some products and services from your brand as well.
Follow these Tips to Grow Your Brand and Reach on Instagram
As you can see, there are plenty of ways to reach new audiences and increase your Instagram followers. The most important thing to remember is to not look at other profiles or brands and be discouraged by the huge numbers they might already have.
Instead, sit back and follow the process. Realize that social media is working for you all the time and if you have the right content, branding and formula in place, you will soon likely have a great following and online brand of your own.
Lastly, it’s also important to remember that social media isn’t about you or your brand, it’s all about the people you are creating content for. If they don’t find value in whatever it is you are offering, they will definitely not stick around.
Be sure to run through each of these working methods and marketing strategies one more time, and then start implementing each of them into your own Instagram and social media marketing efforts.
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Interesting related article: “What is Social Media?“