10 Instagram Followers Hack Tactics Which Work Right Now
Gaining followers on Instagram is not easy. If you want to be at the top of your game at all times, you can’t rely on your awesomely crafted content to keep your followers entertained and coming for more. If you want your Instagram following to keep on growing, you have to think of ways you can dazzle your target audience and sweep them off their feet. Just for the occasion, I have compiled a list of Instagram follower hacks that will help you push your account and attract more followers in a totally organic way.
1. Instagram follower hack: Hashtag strategy
I know, you’ve had enough of articles pointing at hashtags as the primary strategy to help you get more followers. As much as you may hate reading this… it’s true. There is no escaping hashtags when it comes to expanding the visibility of your posts on Instagram. They give your posts a wider reach, help you rank better on the platform, and eventually help you attain a bigger following.
There are a couple of ways that you can use hashtags to make an instant impact on your account:
- Trending hashtags: Your job is to follow popular hashtags. Those are the hashtags that are most searched and have the potential to launch your post viral. Be careful, though, as your content can just as easily get lost in the jungle of posts that are uploaded in seconds.
- Niche hashtags: These are the hashtags that are not so popular, but directly interest your target audience. For instance, the hashtag #design has over 157 million posts. The hashtag #interiordesign has 57 million posts, whereas the more targeted hashtag #interiordesigntrends has 27 thousand posts. The targeted hashtag may be smaller in quantity, but it certainly makes up with quality as you will directly appeal to a targeted audience that knows what it wants.
- Branded hashtags: Another way to use hashtags is to create a unique, branded hashtag. Granted, this is a relatively harder way to reap the benefits of hashtags, but if you do find success with your unique hashtags, your following will blossom exponentially.
It should come as no surprise that those posts that place hashtags in strategic ways attract more followers. A hashtag-optimized post improves the reach and visibility of a post, allowing users to attract more followers in the process.
2. Instagram followers hack: Call-to-action strategy
Another great way you can boost your following is by using an incentive/call-to-action. Every Instagram influencer knows that placing a strong incentive is vital to attracting a bigger following. The best places for a call-to-action on Instagram include:
- Captions
- Instagram Stories
- Live video
- Comments
It’s all about being creative. Call-to-actions work when they present value. You can ask your followers to tag their friends to enter a contest, you can ask for shares on your best content so that your followers have great content to keep their accounts active, or you can create a sense of urgency by setting deadlines for a specific offer.
There really are endless possibilities when it comes to calls-to-action to attract more followers. You just need to find the right balance and fuse informal marketing with your own quirky characteristics.
3. Instagram followers hack: Optimize the captions
This is a very important approach you must take if you want to regularly attract followers with your posts. What I mean when I tell you to optimize your captions is this:
- Use hashtags wisely: It’s important to use hashtags, but it’s more important to use them wisely, without appearing too spammy. Try #incorporatinghashtags into your sentences in a natural way so they’re not all bunched up at the end of your captions.
- Use emojis: Emojis have the power to add visual appeal to your posts. They also link well with hashtags. If you see a chance to use them, don’t sleep on it.
- Give a shoutout to relevant users: You should always give a shoutout to users that are relevant in your niche – influencers. With a simple like on your post they can propel your credibility and add the much-needed social proof that Instagram users crave.
- Place the most important words at the beginning: You want to grab as much attention as possible with your posts. To do that, you must entice your followers from the very first glimpse they get of your posts. Don’t dwell on it for too long and learn how to say a lot of things in a few words.
- Ask questions: Use your captions to ask questions that will intrigue your followers to give an answer. You need to start pushing for conversations to happen so that your posts show up often in feeds, engagement is a huge aspect of how posts succeed.
All of the above-mentioned is necessary for you to write optimized Instagram captions. You just need to be careful not to overdo it. Mix it up and make it look like you’re not trying too hard. Your followers will notice if you’re not being genuine, and you don’t want that.
4. Instagram followers hack: Contests and giveaways
This hack works for attracting both Instagram followers and Instagram likes. This is probably the most popular way to boost your Instagram account right now. Everyone is doing it, and rightly so. With the proper prize that will lure users into entering your competition/giveaway, you shall grow your following in no time. You just need to learn how to host a great contest/giveaway:
- Set the rules – make sure that likes, follows, and friend @tagging are part of them
- Share details about the prize and eligibility requirements
- Outline how and when the winners will be chosen
- Disclose details about how the prize can be acquired
- Choose a specific hashtag for the competitors to use
You need to really think hard about the theme and the goals you want to achieve with your contest/giveaway. GoPro runs an ongoing competition by requesting their users to use the GoPro hashtag in their posts. The best posts get to be presented on their account. Yes, just appearing on their account is enough of a prize when you’re that big of a brand.
For giveaways, besides giving away something of some value to your audience, and following Instagram’s guidelines, try things likes this:
- The first 100 to follow get a signed copy of my latest album
- The first 50 to follow will get featured in an Instagram story segment
- @Tag a friend, like this post, and comment with your favourite ______
- The first 10 to follow will get a free weekend getaway for two
These are just examples of you can host an Instagram giveaway, but in reality, it all depends on the nature of your Instagram account. For example, FunForLouis is a travel vlogger, and he created a travel giveaway. Makes more sense than him giving away cosmetics, don’t you think?
The key to a successful giveaway is to target users that would be interested in your original content. That is the point of the giveaway, to extend your reach in front of an audience that will probably like your content.
5. Instagram followers hack: Reach out to influencers
Instagram influencers have built a big enough audience on Instagram to make an impact with every piece of content they share. People usually reach out to the biggest Instagram influencers when they want to present something in front of a big audience, and have the money to afford them. That’s primarily how Instagram influencers operate on the platform. Don’t, Instagram influencers can also be reached by regular users in a couple of ways:
- Tag/mention: If you have created content that you deem is worthy to be shared by an Instagram influencer, then go after them with a @tag of the influencer in your post, and you might just be lucky enough to earn a share.
- Building a relationship: Comment on their posts, engage with their Instagram Stories, share their posts. There is more than one way you can reach Instagram influencers.
- Collaboration: You can reach out to Instagram influencers with a collaboration proposal. Instagram influencers are always looking to build their presence with quality content.
When you reach out to influencers, make sure that you share a target audience similar to theirs. @BlankItinerary has nearly 1 million followers, she’s smart for anyone in her niche of travel and fashion to collaborate with:
The whole point of reaching out to influencers is to get the chance to promote your content in front of an audience that might be interested in you, and get followers from them.
6. Instagram followers hack: Engage with the community
It’s very important to be a community-minded person on Instagram. People love being recognized and interacted with. Get involved by:
- Liking
- Commenting
- Following
- Sharing
- Interacting with Instagram Stories
All you need to do is to detect who you want to engage with. Choose your target audience wisely, find the biggest accounts, and interact with them on a more personal level. When you do, they’ll probably return the favor as well.
7. Instagram followers hack: Tag relevant users
When you tag a user either on a post or an Instagram Story, that user will receive a notification about the tag. You can use this method to tag users who might be interested in your content.
For example, users that take photos of cute animals are tagging accounts that promote posts of cute animals. See the connection? When you tag someone on your post, the following things may happen:
- You can encourage the person to engage with your post and follow you
- You can have your post shared and promoted on a channel
As you can see, this is a win-win situation with no potential downfall whatsoever. With that being said, it becomes very clear that tagging relevant users can increase your chances of attracting more followers on your account.
8. Instagram followers hack: Buy Instagram followers
Buying Instagram followers is not considered a taboo topic anymore, and for good reasons. There are a lot of reliable providers that deliver organic Instagram followers for affordable prices. Furthermore, when you buy Instagram followers you get more than what you pay for:
- Social proof: People tend to follow accounts with a growing audience rather than accounts with a small and stagnant audience. When people see that your following is suddenly growing, they’ll be more likely to follow you as well.
- More visibility: The Instagram algorithm takes metrics like followers and likes into account when determining the visibility of certain posts. When your following starts increasing, the Instagram algorithm will take the hint that people are really starting to like your content (thus the increased following growth) and will boost its visibility.
What you need to be careful about is choosing the provider you buy Instagram followers from. While there are a lot of quality providers, there are also those who seek to scam and deceive people who don’t do research. Lucky for you, we have thoroughly analyzed and tested some of the finest providers in the industry, allowing you to make a well-informed decision when buying Instagram followers.
9. Following trends
Trending topics have the ability to launch your content viral. Always learn from how your niche competitors are handling their Instagram accounts and make sure to pick up a thing or two from their own content strategy. Following trends means being up to speed with what’s popular on Instagram:
- Instagram takeovers
- Giveaways
- Competitions
- Collaborations
- Challenges (think the Ice Bucket Challenge)
Instagram users love to get swept up in trends. When something goes viral, find a way to participate in it in your own unique way.
10. Tag your location
Tagging your location can boost your following in a very simple way – it allows your content to be showcased on an additional Instagram page where the specification location is set. For instance, if you tag your location when you go to Barcelona Spain, that post will be stored with all the other posts that have the location “Barcelona Spain.”
This way, when someone wants to check out cool Instagram posts from Barcelona, they can stumble upon yours. That’s exactly what tagging your location provides you – the possibility to promote your content in front of a larger audience. This is another excellent Instagram growth tactic that many refer to.
Date: December 14, 2018 / Categories: Engagement, Follower Tactics, / Author: Rich Drees
