Instagram has become one of the most powerful and influential social media platforms on the internet, with over 800 million active users and another 400 million or so who use it even though they’re not logged in. That makes Instagram one of the best places to promote your business and make connections with potential customers and clients, but to do that effectively you need to know how to grow your Instagram in 2022. This guide will show you exactly how to do that.
10 Tips for Growing Your Instagram
Here are some quick tips for growing your Instagram account. Like any social network, it’s a slow game of quality over quantity: Do you want your followers to be people who engage with and enjoy your photos? Or do you want them to be large numbers of curious people who hardly ever see your pictures and who will soon unfollow because they get tired of not seeing anything new? I prefer quality over quantity, but both are viable options if you’re trying to grow an audience on a specific platform.
Have an Interesting Profile
To grow your following organically, you need an interesting profile. Yes, it’s cliche, but people are attracted to compelling stories. If you don’t have a bio and picture that makes people stop and click follow then your growth strategy probably isn’t going to be effective.
Add Value
The easiest way to gain followers on any social network is simply by being valuable. Do you have a hobby that thousands of people would be interested in? Are you an expert at creating memes? If so, share your content! Users who see what you’re sharing will be curious about who you are and may follow along with your adventures. It doesn’t matter how many followers you already have if those users aren’t seeing valuable content from you anyway.
Curation is Key
We’re drowning in media. We’re not only competing with our competitors, but we’re up against millions of other bloggers, companies, and news organizations. To stand out from all of these options, curation is key. While it might seem simple at first glance (find something cool on the Internet and share it), there is much more that goes into curation that makes it such a powerful tool for growing your following.
Share Other’s Content
If you want your followers to trust you, then it’s a good idea to start by sharing content from other people. This can be articles that are relevant or informative, but it could also be visual media—like photos and videos—that inspires them. One study even showed that posting other people’s content not only makes you seem like a more interesting person, but it also helps to increase overall engagement with your feed.
Build a Following Before Sharing
Building a following on Instagram can seem like an insurmountable task. But it doesn’t have to be! You just need to work methodically. Find influencers within your niche and follow them. Engage with their posts, and direct message them if you have a question about one of their photos. Be consistent, and over time you’ll start growing your own following—all before sharing anything about yourself!
Post Consistently
Posting consistently is one of the most important ways to grow your audience on social media. It doesn’t matter if you have a small or large following—the idea is that when someone checks your profile, they’ll see a variety of content and won’t get bored or feel like they need to avoid checking back. To keep things interesting without coming across as an empty content bot, try posting on different days of the week at varying times of day.
Keep it Clean and Trendy
Keeping your feed clean and trendy is a great way to grow your audience on Instagram. Trendy hashtags let you keep up with current trends, which can result in likes from new followers who have similar interests. The more trends you follow, though, keep it clean and don’t overdo it! It may take some trial and error for you to figure out what works best for your brand and engagement level.
Motivate Others
If you want people to like your posts and share them with their friends, make sure that it’s easy for them. Take a look at what other popular accounts are doing and analyze how they engage their audiences. Most importantly, motivate others by producing high-quality content—sharable content is what will ultimately result in new followers for your account. When people see that you genuinely want to help them improve their lives or kickstart their careers, they’ll follow you regardless of how many followers you have.
Get Featured
If you want your account to grow, you have to get featured on Instagram’s explore page. There are two main ways: building high-quality content and getting featured by influencers. More often than not, both methods will lead to success—but it helps to start with one or two influencers that can give your page a boost right off the bat.
Use Hashtags
Hashtags are a great way to grow your audience on Instagram, but they’re especially important if you want to gain followers quickly. In fact, research shows that having at least five hashtags will increase your chances of being reposted by other users and getting new followers. So how do you get more hashtags? Use tools like Hashtagify.me or Tagboard for help with hashtag discovery and management.