9 Effective Ways To Grow Followers on Instagram Organically

It’s no secret that there are effective ways to grow organic followers on Instagram. Just as obvious, there are also ways that hurt your growth when it comes to getting real followers on the Instagram platform.

The trick is to know which strategies might harm your brand’s reputation and avoid them.

This article is going to cover nine effective ways to grow organic followers on Instagram so that you can start to implement the strategies right away.

How to Grow Your Instagram Followers Organically

Paid ads can help you gain more followers on Instagram but they are expensive. What if you don’t have a big budget? It’s still possible to grow your Instagram followers organically.

Let’s check out how.

1. Use the Right Hashtags

This organic Instagram growth strategy is often overlooked because people have mixed results.

That said, there’s a lot of reach that you can gain by using the right hashtags to get more authentic Instagram followers.

Instagram has a separate page for each specific hashtag. Posts related to that hashtag are all listed on that page.

If you can get your post on such a page, you can get a broader reach. This can mean more growth.

Remember:

When choosing the right hashtags, it all comes down to knowing your audience.

When you know your audience (and you know their wants, needs, and desires), then it gives you a lot better insights into which hashtags they’ll be using.

To get more hashtag ideas, you can also use specialized hashtag platforms to check out which kinds of hashtags your competitors are using in their posts.

2. Post at the Right Times

Posting at the right time on Instagram is a very effective way to get more organic followers on the platform.

If you’ve spent any time in the Instagram game, then you already know this.

When you publish a post when your audience is likely to browse Instagram, you have a better chance to get your content in front of them. You also have a better chance of getting more engagement.

The key is to figure out what the right time to post is. When it comes to posting, you can’t take a “one size fits all” approach.

You may need to experiment a bit to find out which times work the best for you.

3. Steal Your Competitors’ Followers

Stealing your competitors’ followers is easier than you might think.

What you want to do is check out their accounts and see who fits your target audience. Next, engage with their content and follow them on Instagram.

That way, you can appear in their notifications.

It can be a tedious process.

However, you can also use Instagram automation tools for this. You can easily get a lot of usernames that follow your competitors and might be relevant for your brand.

4. Use Geotags to Attract Local Followers

If you’re a local business owner looking to get more local followers, you need to leverage Instagram’s geo-tag feature.

When you use this tag, you can reach out to local consumers and engage with them more effectively. It’s a great way to get more visibility in your neighborhood and boost brand awareness.

Milk Makeup, a New York-based cosmetics brand, uses this feature to highlight where they are based.

Image via Instagram

5. Organize Stories Into Highlights on Your Profile

Stories are an effective way to grow an organic following on Instagram. After Snapchat launched this feature, Instagram realized that this content format had a lot of potential.

So, they launched it on their platform as well.

Since its launch, Instagram has added another feature to “Stories.” You can organize them as “Highlights” on your profile to make them permanently visible on your profile.

They are prominently featured, so it’s a great way to highlight special events or products that you want users to check out first.

Take inspiration from Sephora’s Instagram profile. They have showcased all their important products from different categories in the Highlights section.

Image via Instagram

6. Encourage Users to Follow You

This is pretty obvious, but a lot of brands simply don’t ask users to follow them. It’s similar to how novice salespeople shy away from asking users to buy their product.

But you need to be clear:

If you want more followers, you’ve got to ask for it.

If you create great content that attracts users, why not add an engaging call-to-action (CTA)?

This can help boost your follower growth and even drive more sales.

7. Leverage Trends

Instagram is all about trends.

If you can spot a trend early and create brand-centric content related to it, you have a chance to experience exponential growth in your follower count.

This is what happens when content goes “viral.”

Not sure how to find trending content?

Using a tool like the analyzer feature from HashtagsForLikes is a great way to find trending content that is performing well.

Another great tool that you can check out for Instagram marketing is BuzzSumo.

8. Run a Giveaway

People are always interested in getting free stuff, especially if it is something valuable. That’s why giveaways are a great way to get more participation on Instagram.

The benefits of running a giveaway the right way is that you get that “viral” effect from social shares and tags.

What’s more, it can also help you boost your Instagram engagement and reach.

Take a leaf from Fabletics on how to run giveaways to get more followers on Instagram.

They’ve listed all the rules of participation clearly in such a way that it can help them get more followers.

Image via Instagram

9. Use the Tools to Help You Grow

To help you get more followers on Instagram, make sure you are making the most of Instagram marketing tools.

From hashtag reporting tools to post schedulers, there are tools that can help you with everything.

They can help you save time and become more efficient.

Pro Tip: The HashtagsForLikes platform has amazing hashtag reporting stats. In addition to this, they also provide you with an in-depth look at the analytics for any Instagram profile in the world.

Ready to Get More Followers on Instagram?

The strategies mentioned above can help you get more followers on Instagram organically. Use a mix of them to get the best results.

Keep in mind that it’s not easy to get more Instagram followers. You need to have a strong strategy in place and work consistently to see remarkable results. Be patient, and continue the hard work!

Do you have any questions related to getting organic followers on Instagram? Please share them in the comments section.