How To | Grow Your Instagram Following

Instagram is the social media platform I tend to use the most and I absolutely love it, although until recently, my followers count didn't seem to show it! I made a few changes both in how I use it and in what I upload and the changes has been drastic, so I though I would share a few of my easy and quick tips with you.

Be Active
Not in the 'spammy' sense though - there is a fine line between the two. You don't want to clog up your followers feeds with your images but you still want to be active. I found that posting 1-2 images a day worked best, as I not only gained new followers but my un-followers have gone down, meaning I'm keeping the followers I'm gaining - one of the hardest things to do on instagram at the moment!


Posting Time
There are so many different opinions on what time is best to post and how far apart to time. I find that posting early morning (6-8.30am), at lunch (12-1pm) and after 6pm the best as this is when people are most active and on their phones catching up on social media. If you switch to the business profile, you can see all your analytics which includes when people are on your profile etc.


Follow Others
I have found that by following others who post similar content to me a great way to expand my following. It not only shows that you're a friendly person (yay!) and active, but you will show up in their 'recently followed' list and we all know people are nosey on social media!


Comments/Likes
Instagram is made to be social so spread a little love and leave comments or like images that you like! Again, all in moderation - don't spam or leave pointless comments! With this algorithm, this is by far the best way to increase engagement, likes and followers. 


Hashtags/tags
These are your friends! People do search for things such as 'fbloggers', so your image will show up and you could easily gain a follower or two. This is the same as tagging the brand in an image as it will show up in their tagged page on their profile - I have personally followed people this way!


Post What You Like
Going against the norm here, but I personally don't like to have a theme and it seemed my followers didn't either! Since I have been posting what I like and not bothering too much about what my instagram grid looked it, I have gained more followers and also a ton of likes.


Brightness
Even though I don't have a theme I always try and make sure each image is bright and clear. These seem to entice followers more and look more welcoming, unlike dark and grainy images which don't catch the eye in the same way.


Promote
Use your other social media platforms as a place to occasionally promote your instagram profile, as well as making sure you have the widget somewhere on your blog. This is something I always look for and have found many new and amazing accounts from both of these ways.



These tips are so easy to use everyday and don't require too much effort either! Let me know how they work for you and don't forget to follow me on Instagram right here!
Love Laura x