How to Increase Instagram Followers Organically 2024 [Guide]

Getting more Instagram followers is a topic that’s on the mind of many brands, and for good reason — having more Instagram followers is highly beneficial for your business. The more followers you have, the more chances you’ll get to promote your products and make sales. 

Growing your account, though, can be difficult. You might be tempted to buy pre-loaded accounts with thousands of followers, but don’t! To see true results from your Instagram marketing, you need real followers who care about what you’re selling. Focusing on organic growth to build your account is key — and you can increase your Instagram followers by using these three strategies. 

Tips to Increase Instagram Followers Organically In 2024

Use Organic Instagram Growth Tools

Why is organic growth so important and what exactly counts as “organic?” Organic growth is all about authenticity — putting in the work to get followers genuinely. It includes tactics such as having a hashtag strategy, posting high-quality content, and using non-invasive growth methods such as like-for-like (which we’ll cover more in a minute). Those are the key methods of organically growing your account. On the other hand, here are the more underhanded strategies that you don’t want to use:

• Buying followers
• Buying engagement (likes or comments)

At best, these methods won’t help you get sales because the majority of your followers will be bots. At worst, these strategies can mark your account as spammy, and can lead to your profile getting shadow-banned from Instagram so nobody sees your posts — which is something you obviously need to avoid!

When it comes to how to increase Instagram followers, using growth tools can be a big help, but only if you use the right kind of tools. Not all growth tools are alike; if a platform promises you a specific number of followers in a specific time, you should run the other way. Instead, look for a growth service that emphasizes sustained growth over a long period. That’s the kind of growth that brings you real followers who will stick around.

Kicksta is a great example of a powerful and effective Instagram growth tool to help you get real Instagram followers. When you register with Kicksta, you provide your target audience (complementary brands, your competitors, or any profiles similar to yours whose followers you want to target). Then Kicksta uses your account to like photos of those target accounts, so those people will check out your account (thus gaining more exposure), and if they’re interested in your content will follow you. Kicksta works for agencies, businesses, and influencers in any industry, and can help you see organic growth in your Instagram account.

Read our in-depth Kicksta Review.

Work with Micro-Influencers

Another great method when it comes to how to increase Instagram followers is working with micro-influencers. Influencer marketing is a fast-growing industry where brands partner with an influencer — a person who has a large social media following, and ideally, is in a specific niche — to promote their products. Marketers have discovered that the ROI from influencer marketing is either comparable to or even better than the ROI from other channels. No matter what type of business you run, influencer marketing can be a great way to increase your Instagram followers.

Often, companies see success from working with micro-influencers instead of macro-influencers. Macro-influencers commonly have up to a million followers, while micro-influencers have less than 10k Instagram followers. A good example of a macro-influencer is Kim Kardashian West, who currently has 157 million followers. Ledina Esserman of @ledsgetfit is a fitness blogger with around 3,500 followers and could be considered a micro-influencer.

Micro-influencers have a lot of benefits for your business. Often they receive far more engagement than big accounts (as much as seven times more). They’re more affordable if you’re planning to compensate your micro-influencer with money. And in most cases, a micro-influencer’s followers are made up of people who are truly interested in whatever that influencer does — so you can feel sure that you’re marketing your product to a group of people who will be truly interested in it too.

There are several different types of influencer campaigns you can run. Let’s break down a few of the most common ones.

Instagram Takeover

An Instagram Story takeover is a fun way to increase your Instagram followers. Here’s how it works: You find an influencer and arrange for them to do a takeover on your account. They’ll mention the takeover to their followers, inviting everyone to come to follow along on your profile. Then, the influencer will post on your Instagram Stories for a day — answering questions, or showing what a day in their life is like. Ideally, the influencer’s followers will come to your profile for the takeover and stay for your content.

For example, the Netflix show Spinning Out recently coordinated a takeover with Willow Shields, one of the main actresses featured in the show. Willow did a Q&A using @spinningoutnetflix’s account, posting on her own Instagram Story to get her followers to check it out.

Multi-Influencer Campaigns

Working with multiple influencers simultaneously can help increase your brand awareness and grow your followers. Maybe you have a new product launching soon — if so, this might be the time to identify several micro-influencers, reach out to them, and have each one post content on the day of your product launch. The influx of posts could drive a lot of traffic back to your Instagram account and your website.

Giveaways

Giveaways are a popular type of influencer marketing campaign, and for good reason — they’re guaranteed to bring you more followers! When an influencer gives away one of your products, they can structure the giveaway to ensure that anyone who enters must first follow the influencer and your brand. Lifestyle blogger Carlyle Thornton recently gave away a planner from Lala Letter, asking her followers to follow the brand before entering.

Make Data-Driven Decisions Using Analytics

Tracking analytics is essential for any brand trying to grow their Instagram account — if you don’t keep up with your analytics and let them inform future decisions, you’re simply wasting your time.

Your Instagram analytics are distinct from your Instagram metrics. Metrics are individual statistics, but the term “analytics” refers to the bigger picture — the patterns you see within those statistics. You can use your analytics data to get better results on Instagram.

Types of Data Available

What metrics and analytics are you looking for and where can you find them? Instagram offers an Insights tab where you can view metrics from your Instagram business profile — basic information like how many users your account reached in a certain time, or what time of day your audience is active. For a truly helpful look at your analytics, however, it’s best to use a third-party tool. Most analytics tools will track at least the following metrics, if not more:

• Engagement rate (this is important because it shows how many of your followers are truly interested and engaged)
• Reach (how many people are seeing your posts)
• Follower growth (steady long-term growth is ideal)
• Hashtags (how many people are finding your account from the hashtags you choose)
• Web traffic (how many people are clicking the link in your bio)

Sprout Social is a good example of an Instagram analytics tool. Sprout Social lets you analyze data from both your profile and your posts; it also tracks how your hashtags are performing, and collects information on audience engagement. Best of all, you can use the platform with multiple Instagram accounts, making it ideal for an agency.

Social media management platform Hootsuite also tracks your Instagram analytics. This tool gives you information on your posts and followers via real-time reports that your team can peruse.

How to Use Your Analytics

Now it’s time to take the information gleaned from your analytics and use it to improve your IG account. Here’s how to be smart with the analytics we discussed above:

• Engagement rate. If your followers aren’t engaging with your content, they either aren’t in your target audience, or your content itself isn’t high-quality enough to warrant likes and comments. Work on targeting different users with your growth efforts and producing better content if your engagement rate is low.
• Reach. Are you reach small and/or getting smaller? If so, try a new strategy like influencer marketing to get some fresh eyes on your content.
• Follower growth. If you’re not seeing sustained growth, it may be time to consider another method of how to increase Instagram followers, such as Kicksta.
• Hashtags. This one is pretty straightforward: If you discover that a certain hashtag isn’t performing well, use a different one, and keep testing until you’ve found the tags that work best.
• Web traffic. This analytic is an important one because your website is where the sales take place. If it indicates you aren’t getting much website traffic, tweak your captions and posts to be more vocal about the link in your bio.

Quick Links: 

• 11 Social Media Experts Roundup On- Instagram Marketing Tips
• How To Grow Your Instagram Followers By 300% On Your Account
• How To Turn Angry Customers Into Fans On Instagram [Detailed Guide]
• How To Make Money Through Instagram (200% ROI)

Final Words:  Increase Your Instagram Followers In 2024

Instagram growth services, micro-influencers, and analytics are all powerful tools you can use to grow your Instagram account. Utilize these strategies to see your number of Instagram followers begin to steadily increase — and follow them up by posting high-quality content to see your sales increase, too.

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