21 ways your business can get more Instagram followers

#1 Optimize your profile

First things first, you need to tell your potential followers who you are and give them a reason to follow you. If not, you will look like a stalker or a robot. Start by choosing a username that is recognizable and searchable - like your business name. 

Secondly, write a short bio about your business. You can also include a link to your online store. Thirdly, upload a nice profile photo designed for branding. Your business logo would work well here.

#2 Choose a theme and stick with it

Create your own style and make sure there is some sort of harmony between all images. It can be a black and white theme, pictures from a certain angle theme, clean product photo theme, and so on. 

#3 Like as many pictures as you can

Everyone on Instagram gets excited when they get likes on their photos. Unless you have thousands of followers then you just don't care anymore. But a majority is still in the "not a lot" category. Like people's photos and they will start looking at your profile and follow you.

#4 Comment people's photos

People get excited over likes but they get even more excited when they see someone has commented on their photos. This won't make just the user notice you, but their followers will also see your comment. Remember to make the comment relevant to the photo.

Don't post this kind of comments. It makes you look like spam.

#5 Post regularly and consistently

You don't have to post too often. Find the best time to upload a post and keep posting regularly. Your followers will not forget you and won't be annoyed.

#6 Repost other people's photos and mention them

Instagram may not have a "share" button but you can find apps that help you with this. Don't forget to give the original uploader credits by mentioning them. 

#6 Giveaways

People love free stuff. Get people to share your post or mention their friends in return for free gifts. You can give away a free sample of your product. Not only will that get you followers, but you can also promote your product at the same time.

#7 Ask questions

Start engagements by creating question posts. Make it fun. Other people will want to join in on the fun too.

#8 Up your #hashtag game

A big and important part of Instagram is the #hashtag. Add relevant and popular Hashtags into your captions. Try and get creative like using Hashtags to #craft your sentence. 

#10 Ask your Facebook friends to follow

You can share your Instagram post to your Facebook timeline or simply ask your friends to follow.

#11 Post at the right time

Try to think of the behaviour of your target audience. What time are they most likely to be scrolling through their Instagram? You may not find the exact answer but you can keep testing different time of day and see which one have the most engagement.

#12 Post great pictures

Just because you are selling online doesn't mean your profile should only be filled with boring product photos. Bring your products to different environments and use filters to spice up your photos.

Source: Social Shop

#13 Geotag your photos

Where you took the photo is an important fact that will make your picture show up in the explore section of other users.

#14 Give and ask for shoutouts

People on Instagram are always looking for ways to get more exposure. You can give them a shoutout on your profile and ask them for a shoutout in return. By doing this, you can get exposure from a new group of people.

#15 Turn off "Private Account"

Make sure your profile is public. To make your profile public, open Instagram, open "Options," and make sure "Private Account" is turned off.

#16 Pay for reviews

Look for accounts that have a large following and provide review services. Before you start paying for the review, make sure their followers  are your target audience. And don't forget to send them your products so they can take a picture with it.

#17 Follow suggested users

People who have something in common with you probably are the ones with more chances to follow you, so follow them and wait for them to follow you back. To find your suggested users, access the settings of your account and click “Find friends” on Android or “Find people to follow” in iPhone.

#18 Use automation tools

We are busy people. We don't have much time to spend on Instagram. That is where automation tools come in. You can use tools like Hootsuite to create posts in advance and schedule a month's worth of posts.

You can also use tools like Instagress that automatically follow and favorite Instagram users and posts based on geography and hashtags. Grow your following effortlessly in the background.

#19  Look for partners

This is an extension of #14. Instead of just doing a shoutout once, make it an ongoing thing with your partners. An example is you can mention your partners at the bottom of every caption of your posts. Look for partners that adds value to your account and also benefit your followers.

#20 Print a car sticker

Design a car sticker that tells people to follow your Instagram account and print it out as a car sticker. You can do this at your local print shop. Place the sticker on the back of your car. When you drive around, people will see your username and follow you (on Instagram). You can also print out extra and give them to family and friends.

#21 Run Instagram Ads

Instagram ads is an extension of Facebook Ads. In ads manager, you have the option to have your ads shown on Instagram. But you will need to sync your account first and the ads must be using square image. By doing this, you can get more exposure from a targeted audience.

Let's give these 21 things a shot. If you haven't yet, create an account and start posting, testing, tweaking, and promoting your account.