Social Media Influencers: How to get Instagram followers

As an influencer, having strong social media reach and engagement is extremely important.

While it may be tempting to buy 1000 new followers for $9.95, it’s not worth it! Everyone will soon discover your followers are fake and you will destroy your glorious engagement rate L

There are many ways that can help you boost your follower count organically. While these methods may take a little more work, it will be well worth it in the end.

The following thought-starters explain how improving your profile can help to boost the amount of people that choose to follow you.  

You’ve probably heard it before but I’ll say it again for effect, consistency is key! Posting at consistent times and a regular frequency will help build trust and foster a relationship with your audience. You should be aiming to post at least once a day, if not more. 

Consistency when it comes to the style of image, filters, colours and copy are also helpful when perfecting your style on social media.

There are 600 million monthly active users on Instagram (!) and we can guarantee there are likeminded brands and influencers on the platform that will be more than happy to connect with you.

Engaging with other pages lets them know that you recognize and appreciate what they do. Simultaneously, these external pages will be introduced to who you are and learn what you’re about.

When commenting or interacting with another person on social media, avoid using cliché phrases such as ‘follow me back’ or ‘follow for a follow’. Anything that demands a follow will look like spam and is the quickest way to get people to disregard your profile as genuine or worth following.

Sticking with nice, friendly comments about their work on social media is a great way to get your name out there without being demanding.

People follow you for a reason. They are interested in your posts, like your feed, and want to see more of you. We encourage you to like comments that are left on your page, respond to questions, and interact with fans.

Doing so will serve to increase your engagement, as your followers feel more connected to you and in turn, more likely to trust you when you speak about products and services that you advocate.

Interacting with your followers and engaging with anyone who mentions you on social media will get your name out there, as well as making your presence seem real and personable.

Telling stories about your life to your followers can save your profile from being over promotional. People are more likely to follow your page if they feel like they can relate to you and your lifestyle.

If you don’t know where to start, pretend you are telling a story to someone you just met at a party. Be funny and approachable without too many personal details.

Offering an incentive like running a competition or giveaway allows you to give back to the followers that you already have, and additionally bring in new followers that are interested in what you’re offering.

While it may be tempting to try and emulate other successful influencer accounts,  being genuine to yourself is imperative to building a large, engaged following.

People can pretty easily see through fake personalities on social media and you will not get very far pretending to be someone else. Using humour or insights into your daily life can engage people and make them want to follow you, just for being ‘you’.

What’s the 80/20 rule, you ask? It is the golden ratio of how you should divide up the content that you post on your account. 80% of content should be content that is helpful, useful or interesting for your audience. The other 20% can be shameless self-promotion.

Keeping that balance right will ensure that your audience gets something back from following you, and you are still getting to plug what you need to.

Being a social butterfly goes a long way in the social media world. Connecting with like-minded people on social media can really help in boosting your follower count.

Comment on their pictures, hold a competition together or meet up in real life, and show each other’s followers that you are both worthy of a follow.

A good tip here is to try and connect with an account that has a similar follower level to your own. That way you don’t look like you’re trying to get a plug for easy followers from someone else’s hard work.

Building a loyal, engaged follower base takes a lot of time and commitment. With that said, the thought-starters we listed above are easy changes that you can make to the way you post. These adjustments ultimately make a huge difference in the way others view your profile.

Happy ‘gramming!