You may consider yourself an Instagram guru. You’ve optimized your profile, linked your bio, implemented a perfect design with relevant themes, created a catchy slogan, and posted great content. However, you’re still struggling to snare those all-important followers. What gives?
Instagram is incredibly popular and a fiercely competitive networking and business tool that already has more than two billion users. This would seem to bode well for maintaining popularity and ensuring you reach a wider audience but, on the downside, there is an awful lot of noise to cut through to make yourself stand out from the crowd.
In this article, we will consider the less-obvious strategies that may help to increase your following and give you an edge over the competition.
The QUICKEST and BEST Way to Find and Keep Instagram Followers
Did you know you could buy packages of followers, likes, and views for your Instagram account? No, it isn’t cheating; it’s staying ahead of the game. Hands down, this is the best way to increase your following quickly.
Provided you buy from a reputable company, these followers are real people with real accounts, so they’re kosher with IG’s rules. (Scammy vendors sell fake followers that will hurt rather than help.) Instagram gives the largest audience to accounts with large follower counts, so you’re really buying exposure when you purchase followers. And since many of the users seeing your content for the first time are going to love it, you’ll be picking a boatload of new followers in a hurry.
By purchasing your likes, views, and followers from a reputable company, you are investing in the future and profitability of your Insta account – you have to spend money to make money, right?
Ensure Your Captions Are SEO Optimized for Instagram
It’s only during the last year or so that Instagram has allowed its users to search using keywords. For a long time, people could only search via user names, profile names, location tags, and hashtags. If you are clever with the way you write your captions, selecting specific keywords can add a new layer of visibility to your account and, therefore, your brand.
Yes, Instagram is predominantly a visual site based on photos and videos, but you can still actively engage with your audience through relevant words which complement your visuals.
Post Your Content at the Correct Time of Day
There is some debate surrounding the best time of day to post content. Some argue that late morning to early afternoon is the optimum time to spring into action, whereas others suggest 6 pm is the best bet. Since Instagram users operate in different time zones across the globe, much of this advice could be largely insignificant.
However, some research has been carried out which indicates that 4 am across all time zones is the sweet spot. This is great news for early birds but less so for people who value their sleep. There is always the option of scheduling automated content in advance.
One thing that everyone agrees about is posting consistently. If you post quality content regularly, you will gradually grow your audience.
Make Your Content Accessible to All
People don’t think about it enough, particularly if they do not have any health issues themselves, but you need to be as inclusive as possible. For example, many people who suffer from visual impairments may want to access your content, but the typeface is too small.
Disregarding their needs could cost you a considerable amount of followers, but thinking about them in advance could ensure you are not only improving the site for everyone but also setting yourself ahead of competitors who have yet to consider everyone’s needs. Below are some tips to make your content accessible to all.
Add Subtitles
Add subtitles to your visual content, including your reels and stories.
Include Alternative Text
If your images can’t be viewed easily, include alt text, which is a short description so everyone can understand them.
Use Title Case in Your Posts
Capitalize each word in your hashtags so screen readers can read them aloud accurately.
Verbalize Visual Details
Ensure that accurate descriptions are given to images that cannot be viewed.
Use Clean, Simple Text
Avoid using text speak or emojis so that screen readers can decipher your words without confusion.
Work With Influencers
Two heads are better than one. Pairing with other brands and influencers can be a mutually advantageous collaboration. Working with others will help your audience grow; it doesn’t have to be expensive. The most recognizable influencers are not always the ones that drive the most reach, but you will have to do some research to ensure your budget aligns with whatever you decide.
Of course, there are more than five ‘less obvious’ strategies to grow your following, but these should give you a good starting point! Think outside the box and see if you can come up with some more.