How to Get More Instagram Followers Organically
Guide to Getting More Organic Followers on Instagram
Get More Instagram Followers Organically - A Detailed Guide
Instagram is one of the most used social media platforms in modern society. There are over a billion monthly users on Instagram, half of whom are online daily, scrolling through their homepages. If you are not using this platform to advertise then you are missing out on one of the best free ways to market yourself and your business.
Before I begin, I do want to say that this is not a “quick guide” to get Instagram followers and you will (likely) not gain thousands of followers overnight. I do not support paying for Instagram growth services nor do I support those who buy followers or likes. In this article, we will be exploring how to get more Instagram followers organically.
Choose a Relevant Instagram Username to Promote Yourself and/or Your Business
Most of you probably have an Instagram account; however, I want to go over a couple things for those just starting off. When choosing a username, you should keep one main question in mind, What, or who, are you trying to promote? The point here is that you want your account name to be relevant to whatever you are trying to promote. If you are trying to promote your business that sells shoes for example, don’t use or choose an Instagram username like “runningaddict1989”, or use your old Instagram account “princess_tiffany1995”. If you cannot get a username that is your exact business name or actual name, try coming up with something new (but don’t go too crazy) so that you can build a name for yourself or your company. If you are a business, try adding on your location or ever so slightly changing the spelling of your name. If you are promoting yourself and are lucky enough to have a name that works, try a play on words.
Choose Your Niche on Instagram
Choosing a niche and sticking to it is something that may be obvious to most, but is one of the more common mistakes I see people make when trying to grow their Instagram following. This is something that separates those with many Instagram followers from those with very few. Some niches are more broad than others but in general, you want to post content that is relevant to your niche. If you are a fashion blogger post things that a fashion blogger would post. If you are an outdoor landscape photographer then post photos of landscapes. It is that simple. Some people choose very small niches and find large success while others tend to be more broad and also find success. Whatever you choose, make sure that your content is subjectively consistent.
Using my own Instagram as an example, I am a landscape and outdoor photographer. Outside of Instagram, I am a professional wedding photographer. If you look at my Instagram however, I do not post hardly anything wedding related. The main reason for that is that wedding photography is not a part of my niche on Instagram. I would post a wedding photo every now and then if I felt it was applicable to my style and niche, but many of the weddings I photograph are not and would stick out like a sore thumb.
Quality Content
The next tip is to post quality content. Seems pretty straightforward right? I cannot tell you how many accounts I see on Instagram who are not posting “quality” work. Now, I do understand this may seem subjective and judgmental but let me explain. When people look at your account page, you want your content to represent you; a person or business who the viewers want to follow and engage with. You do not have to be the best photographer in the world or the best blogger to gain followers on Instagram. When you post, you want to post content that you are proud of. You really do want it to be your best work. Now, when I said that people weren’t posting “quality” work earlier, I am simply saying that you never want to post content that is “average” or especially “meh” to your own standards. People will notice and, if done consistently, it will hinder your growth.
Stylistic Consistency
Stylistic consistency. I love the sound of this word combination; but truly, this is one of those things that will also set you apart. While this tip is very closely tied to choosing your niche, it is something that many of the best Instagram accounts have in common. Style is something that comes with time and can change. However, I would encourage you to try and style your content very similarly, creating a consistent product that makes your account page stand out.
Many of the accounts I follow on Instagram (and likely many you follow as well) who have an incredible following have mastered this aspect of their Instagram page. When looking at their content on my homepage, I can often identify who’s work it is without even seeing their name. This is what YOU should strive for too.
How to Use Hashtags on Instagram
Hashtags on Instagram are key to growth. Hashtags are to Instagram as keywords are to a website; they are a powerful tool that many new people do not know how to use correctly. Let’s say for instance you post a photo of a tree… You might choose to use general hashtags like, well… #tree #instagram #sky #grass… etc. you get the point. Though that makes logical sense, you are not using Instagram hashtags correctly to optimize the reach of your posts. Before we get an understanding of how to correctly use hashtags on Instagram, let me quickly explain what hashtags are and a few details about them you should know.
First off, what are hashtags? As explained before, hashtags are like keywords that are used to explain your photos as well as identify your niche. Hashtags are also a way of marking photos for other Instagram accounts called “feature pages”. Feature pages are generally accounts with a large number of followers who share your content if it is marked with their specific hashtag (typically listed in their page bio). When a hashtag is used, it is added to a hashtag page where all other photos and posts with the exact same hashtag can be found. For instance, if I mark my photo with the hashtag #pnw, this is the hashtag page it is shared on:
How to use Hashtags on Instagram to Get More Followers Organically
Now, there are three things I want you to notice here. First off is the number of posts within this hashtag (22.6M). This is a very popular hashtag for photos posted in the Pacific Northwest in the United States (shocker, I know). But the main takeaway is that there are a ton of people who use this hashtag daily. I will come back to this later on so hold onto this information.
Next, notice the “Related” section. This section lists many hashtags related to the #pnw hashtag. The related section is a great place to find more hashtags to use within your niche. Many times, hashtags in the related section are tied to feature pages, so do the research to find if that is the case.
So, now that we have an understanding of what hashtags are and how they can be used, it is time to get to the real question: How do you use hashtags on Instagram to get more followers?
One of the first things you should do when starting to post on Instagram is make a hashtag list to use on your photos. First and foremost, you want to choose hashtags that are associated with your niche. You will want to find feature pages within your niche and use their hashtags to possibly get featured. Getting featured is by far one of the fastest way to gain followers. If you get featured on a page with a ton of followers, the exposure you receive will be much larger than the exposure you might receive on your own. I personally have had a few of my individual posts get featured by multiple accounts and have received well over a hundred followers overnight. Though this is not always the case, I can say for every feature page who has posted a photo of mine with over 100k followers, I have received anywhere between 20-30 followers. It may not seem like much but it certainly adds up over time.
On that note, I would encourage people who are just starting off to make a well-rounded list of feature accounts to tag that have varying numbers of followers. Basically, do not solely use hashtags that target feature pages who have over a million followers. Recall from before that when you use a hashtag, your photo (or video) is sent to a hashtag page where feature pages select their content from. Typically posts with the most likes or ones that the Instagram algorithm chooses shows up on the top of the list. So it makes sense that if you only get say, 50-100 likes compared to those who receive thousands, (unless the algorithm chooses your post to show at the top) you may not rank high enough for the feature page to even see your post.
Therefore, I would encourage you to make a list of hashtags for feature pages with a range of followers. When starting off, aim for pages with 10-50k followers for maybe 30-40% of your hashtags, then 50k-400k followers for another 40-50%. The rest can be for larger pages or other specialized hashtags. As you grow, your list can change as well. It does not have to always stay the same. I would even encourage you to weed out smaller hashtags that aren’t getting you features over time. Some pages just won’t post your content because they do not find it appealing. Do not take it personally, just find a new page to aim to get featured on.
Speaking of specialized hashtags, if you own a business, you may want to create your own hashtag, like feature pages. If you do, make sure to post it to your page and encourage followers to use it. Another reason to use specialized hashtags may be to reach a specific audience for a targeted location. Though there may be no feature site for that hashtag, people still use it to search for certain services. A great example of this is the hashtag #spokaneweddingphotographer. This is a hashtag used in my city (Spokane, WA) that some brides use to find wedding photographers so, if you are a wedding photographer looking to book clients, I would consider using a hashtag similar to this one. The big thing here is to do your research. There might not be a hashtag like this in your city for your business but I guarantee you can find or create something that works.
How Often to Post on Instagram
This is one of the pieces of information I always get a good laugh reading about online. People have all kinds rules on when and how often to post to get more Instagram followers. I have known people who even have a very strict time and schedule that they follow to “optimize” their performance. I can say from experience, you do not have to have a specific schedule or days you post on, you simply need to be posting regularly.
First and foremost, I want to clarify that I am not saying you should not post semi-consistently around the same time. Posting regularly is important but I would argue that it is not the exact timing that is most important but that people get an idea of who you are and get to know your name and style consistently. You want to be posting enough to where people know and recognize your name. It is a balance because you do not want to blow them up with stories and posts to where they are annoyed and unfollow you. Likewise, you do not want to post so infrequently that they are asking themselves “who is this again?”. For every person this may mean something different but for me, I choose to post every 2-3 days and supplement with stories from time to time (again not overloading my followers). Some of my friends post every day and other post less than I do. If you choose to post daily, I would remind you again to make sure and post quality content or else you may end up loosing followers.
Another consideration you may want to think about when determining how often to post is how much content you have. This does depend on a lot of factors but recall that you want to only post quality content. So, if you only have enough of a photo library to post every 2-3 days to stretch your content out till your next shoot or batch of content, then do so.
How to Use Instagram Analytics
If you are trying to get more followers organically, then I would encourage you to learn how to use Instagram analytics. To have access to analytics, one must convert their account to a business account. This is quite easy to do in Instagram’s account settings. Once converted to a business account, there are many analytics that might prove useful. Analytics will help you track things like impressions, reach, and engagement but the most useful information (in my opinion) can be found in the “audience” tab. The audience tab will tell you important demographics and information about your followers that will help you optimize your content.
Instagram Analytics
Above are screenshots of my own Instagram to explain how to use the analytics to get more Instagram followers. On the first photo (left) notice the graph of follows and unfollows as graphed over the course of a week. I have not been posting much this week which is why I am not very much in the positive on follows versus unfollows. Though this tool is more interesting than useful overall; it will give you a good representation of how your own posts or posts that get featured effect your following which can be useful at times. Just under that, I want to bring attention to the “Top Locations” title (left and middle photos). This part can be useful because it tells you the percentages of people from every country and city who follow you. If you are targeting a certain audience, say within your city, it can help you see how you are doing.
Under that part is the “Age Range” for both men and women who follow you (middle photo). This may be useful depending on your niche as well but for me it is just more interesting than it is useful.
Lastly, the “Followers” tab (right photo) is what I want to focus on more. This tab shows you when your followers are most active by time of day and days of the week. This is important in that it may offer the best insight on when may be the best time for you to post. Personally, my analytics consist of people from around the world though half of my followers are from the US. That being said, my own “Followers” tab may look different than yours due to people being on more throughout the day (as 50% of my followers are from other places around the world). My followers tab data doesn’t fluctuate much throughout the entire week; having the most people on between 9AM and 3PM. If I wanted to take this into consideration and post at the most “optimal” time, I should be posting during that time frame, and on the earlier end at that. If you are following along very closely with my Instagram though, you might notice that I choose to post later on in that period for a couple reasons. The main reason is that most of my active followers who engage in my posts (likes, comments, shares etc.) are friends, family, and people who live in the Pacific Northwest. By posting later when many of my active followers and friends are online, I increase the likelihood of people engaging in my content which in turn can effect my overall reach (how many individual accounts see your content). Reach is determined by the Instagram algorithm (more on this later). Now that we have an idea of how to use Instagram’s analytic to best target our followers, let’s get into more about the Instagram community.
Instagram Community
The Instagram community can be a great resource to help you get more followers on Instagram organically. There are many ways to work with and incorporate the community to greatly boost your post reach and the number of followers you are getting. While this can be used as a tactic for faster growth, I would encourage you to make this genuine and not with the agenda of getting more followers.
The first and most simple way to engage in the community is to follow and get to know people whose content you love, whether it is within your niche or just an account you find interesting. Start commenting regularly on their posts and try to get to know them better. One of the best ways to reach more people in your own Instagram posts is to get more people engaging in your content. After commenting and getting to know other people on Instagram, you will find that they will start to comment and engage more with you also. If you have people who engage with your account a lot and you do not follow them, consider it! Not only are they helping you grow by doing so one comment at a time but they are also showing you that they sincerely interested in you and your content. Remember this is a social app, not a build-a-following-app.
Next, you can also work with, or “collab” with other people on Instagram. When doing so, choose people who are within your niche to best grow your following. Remember how feature pages are great ways to grow your followers? Other people can do this too by tagging, recommending, or sharing your posts or posting content with you in them (if you meet up). There are many wrong ways to do so though like those people who comment (usually copied and pasted) something along the lines of, “wow I LOVE your content, SO cool. Please check out my page and see what you think!”. Don’t be one of those people. Instead, reach out and make it genuine. Consider reaching out to the people you regularly interact with and ask to meet up or do some form of collab. Another thing I do from time to time is share people’s posts who I love or even a screenshot of their page. While I do not do this expecting anything in return, many times they do a shout out to me in their story which is also a way to gain more followers. There are many other ways that one can collab with other people but these are some that I love because they are very organic.
Advanced Guide on Getting More Exposure Through the Instagram Algorithm
Alright so let’s get into my “advanced” guide to getting more exposure on Instagram. We already covered how you should be posting quality content regularly and engaging with the Instagram community, so you might be asking, what else could there possibly be? It is time to address the elephant in the room, the Instagram algorithm and how it relates to content’s overall reach.
Instagram’s algorithm is something that many do not understand and many more get frustrated at. I’m not going to lie, I have had plenty of times where all I can do is scratch my head because it just does not make sense. So, what is the Instagram algorithm? The algorithm is programming that helps Instagram select which posts to show on people’s home page, discover page, and basically every other page except personal account pages and the “Recent” tab found when conducting a search. Instagram posts were once organized chronologically but now, the algorithm organizes content by how much it thinks users may like that content..
After paying very close attention to how the algorithm has worked for my account over the last year or so, I feel I have a very good understanding of what matters the most and what determines the overall reach of your content. The unfortunate truth though is that it is mostly out of your control, even if you are doing everything else correctly that we have discussed. Now, let me explain why that is.
The Instagram algorithm determines your overall reach based off of the amount of engagement on your posts. This includes comments, shares, saves, and likes (and I would argue likes are less important than the other factors listed). This makes complete sense if you think about it from a user perspective. When you see a photo you LOVE (not just your average photo), what do you do? I can tell you personally that I will most likely comment and will even save or share it if it is INCREDIBLE. It doesn’t take much thinking then to understand how the algorithm works.
Now, I have noticed that the algorithm has a “trial period” for every piece of content posted (around half an hour or so). When posting your content, the algorithm will show your content mainly to your own followers on their home page. Generally around 95-99% of all impressions will be from your own followers (this can be tracked from Instagram’s post analytics). The algorithm will look at your likes, comments, shares, and saves during this period and will then determine the initial reach for your post. Over time, it will assess how the post is doing when shown to a larger audience and decide to continue promoting it or letting it drop off the radar.
Can you see now how this is slightly out of your control? You may post something you absolutely LOVE, and it may be amazing; however if your followers do not engage during that trial period, it likely will not have a large reach. The best thing you can do is to encourage your followers to comment and check out your new posts. Post to your story telling people to check out your post and leave a comment.
I remember when the algorithm was first released (yes, I’ve been around on Instagram for a long time). I made a “commenting group” with other accounts who I collaborated with a lot. When one of us posted, we shared the post to our comment group and would all go like it and leave a comment. While this may seem over the top, it did work quite well at the time. Not long after, I left Instagram for a over a year and have not done that since so I cannot say if it still works but thought it may be pertinent to mention.
Grow Your Instagram Organically - Don’t Cut Corners
The key to this entire post is to grow your Instagram organically. Nothing can ruin your account quicker than by paying for services who go like, comment, follow, and unfollow other people’s accounts in order to grow your own Instagram following. Paying for likes is like a gateway drug that will never end well for you. I personally believe Instagram can tell when likes are fake and, even if it cannot, what do you think the algorithm and your followers will think when they all of a sudden see your likes drop back to the normal number after you stop paying for the service? This is also true for people who pay for followers. It is EXTREMELY common among certain niches and professional photographers, especially in my area. I personally can easily tell who is paying for such things and do not condone it because I stand for being organic, having integrity, and working hard to achieve your goals. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing your account grow because of your hard work and true talent. It is not impossible to achieve organically but it certainly won’t happen overnight.
Final Remarks
Understand That the Instagram Algorithm is Unpredictable
Alright so we spent all this time trying to understand how to best grow your following on Instagram through the algorithm; and now, this is the part of the article I have to say that even all this great information still may not work. As mentioned, there are times I have posted content that I thought was AMAZING but the algorithm decided otherwise. This will happen at some point and I want to encourage you to not to get down or mad about it. Understand that, though I have shown and explained much of how the algorithm works, it is still VERY unpredictable. Some posts may take off even though, during the trial period, it didn’t perform amazing. Other posts may do incredible during the trial period and then drop off the radar very quickly. There is no way to understand it. The best thing you can do is post quality content consistently with a great hashtag list and get involved with the Instagram community. I truly believe that if you do so, you will continue to grow.
Lastly, I want to give you a bigger-picture reminder. Realize that Instagram should never determine your happiness and is only a tool. Instagram may be all the rage today but it could just as easily be gone tomorrow. You might attain a huge following but I guarantee that if you left the app, 99.9% of all those people would forget who you even are after being gone just a few weeks and especially after a couple months (I know from experience). If photography is your passion, let it be your passion, and don’t let anyone or anything change that.
I wish you all the best of luck in getting more followers on Instagram. Remember to keep it organic, and always give back to the community. If you want to see some of my work, follow me on Instagram, and as always, if you have any questions feel free to contact or dm me.
-Zach
How To Get More Instagram Followers Organically
Written by: Zach Nichols
January 24 2020
© Zach Nichols Photography