How to get more Instagram followers

When clients come to me, the first thing they ask me is "How do I get more followers?"

Although there's not a specific science to it, and boosting your following can depend on a number of different factors (including the dread "Algorithm"), there are a few things you can be doing to encourage steady growth on your Instagram! Here are my top tips for how to get more followers on Instagram...

1. Post with purpose

Posting a picture with a simple caption might look pretty but what are you actually saying? You need to bear in mind that everything you post needs to be either:

• Helpful
• Relevant to your audience
• Entertaining

Each of these evokes some kind of emotion, and gives your followers a reason to keep following you, and it gives them a reason to recommend you to others, and attract people who happen to stumble across your page.

2. Follow like minded accounts

By following like minded accounts - and by like minded, I mean accounts that are similar to what you're trying to achieve - you can see what kind of content has made them successful and see whether it works for you. You'll also be able to see who their followers are, which brings me to my next point...

3. Seek accounts that you share common interests with

Going in search of like minded accounts will enable you to interact and find communities with people who may be interested in what you're offering. For example, if you're a holiday lets company on Instagram, you may decide to follow business' in the local area that you can recommend to your guests. Following these accounts, and interacting with entice them to reciprocate the love you're giving them, and if they interact you will be more likely to come up on their followers' discover page!

4. Put a strategy in place

If you're a business, before you start posting on social, make sure you've set out a clear strategy and plan your content ahead of time. To keep up posting interesting, entertaining and relevant content, you'll want to plan posts to go with the seasons e.g. are you a food company? Try tying in your food products with seasonal holidays such as Easter and Christmas by planning and snapping pictures/videos in advance.

5. Think about your content

Thinking about what you post will keep your feed looking nice, and followers coming back. If you post bad quality pictures with a tacky vignette filter, chances are people won't want to follow you over an account with good quality pictures and slick editing. Invest in some photo editing apps and a good camera and get your content looking super slick. Find a filter that works for you and keep your editing consistent. e.g. are you going for a blogger style over exposed look, or dark and moody with high contrast?

What are your top tips for getting followers on Instagram? Comment below...