By Gunjan Chandok
Instagram initially created its impression as a fun application for the youngsters and has off late become a platform for
1. content marketing
2. selling
3. networking for individuals
4. representative tool for brands.
Instagram not only brings multiple possibilities for gaining exposure but also a gauging device for competitive analysis.
Having more than 300 million active monthly users, sharing 60 million images and 1.9 billion likes per day, it proves to be a great opportunity for businesses to access new users.
Organic growth will bring you the best results. But, you need to have the right strategy in your hands without buying advertisements.
With every tweak to the success percentages and the introduction of new features, businesses need to keep up to maintain a steady account growth and be adaptive.
The answer to this lies in trying out and incorporating new growth strategies.
It is a popular belief that Instagram growth only means the number of followers an account has, but this is not completely true. Of late, the feed and app on Instagram have gone through many changes which call for working on organic Instagram growth strategies.
To get new followers, one needs to have
1. increased account engagement
2. brand exposure
3. compelling content.
Below listed are strategies that may help to get one’s brand get an edge over others on Instagram thereby getting more followers, visibility, and engagement.
Key to increase Engagement-Consistency
Putting all eggs in the same basket and relying on only a single post to go viral, you are not inviting any attention rather it is going to prove a vanishing act. Most posts are not able to go viral, which necessitates finding better ways to get your posts in front of your intended audience. Certain areas that need to be paid attention to are
1. The posting schedule
2. posting frequency
3. content quality.
Following a consistent pattern of posts to be put up invites the attention as well as the interest of your followers to look forward to the next post. Some brands will post multiple times a day while some may only post a few times a week. A similar rule of consistency applies to the quality of content.
There’s a lot more noise on Instagram feeds these days and you need to stand out.
Invest in Content generation & Diversity
Engaging customers is no longer confined to the in-feed posts. It includes metrics such as
1. stories replies
2. IGTV views
3. story mentions
Content that is more relatable and diverse increases engagement.
One of the best ways to relate your brand with the target audience is the Augmented reality (AR) filter. Another feature namely User-Generated Content (UGC) can be used to increase the engagement rate.
Running Contest and Promotion
Who doesn’t love free and discounted things?
The answer is No one is going to say No. Many a time marketers do not post and due to this The mismatch between what the users expect and what the marketers have posted leads to missing out on an opportunity to create social content. It has been found that 72% of the users want discounts and sales to be posted on brands’ social media pages. And in case such kind of contests and giveaways are planned in a consistent manner such as monthly or quarterly, followers are more likely to be eagerly looking forward to the next one.
Cross-Platform Promotion
Keeping yourself on Instagram alone is not a good idea. Targeting friends of current followers, as well as prospective audiences having multiple social accounts on different platforms is the key to promote your brand. Now the basic question to be answered is How often do you talk about your Instagram account on your other social media platforms?
Some ways of abetting your brand on different social media platforms are
1. You can use a visual-heavy platform like Pinterest to highlight Instagram content since the platform’s highly active feed generates a shorter lifespan for the content.
2. offering a variety of content on Instagram than on Facebook and other social media platforms
3. directing the followers on other social channels to your Instagram profile for exclusive offers or content.
4. other digital spaces such as digital newsletters, email,, website footers can be used to promote the Instagram profile of your brand.
5. promotional schemes such as Instagram followers receive 5% off more and personalized QR codes help to increase the followers thereby the engagement rate.
Finding your followers
In order to have more followers on Instagram, one needs to approach them since it’s obvious followers won’t find you in the sea of countless Instagram accounts. It is up to you how to swim on the surface and shine, thereby, getting closer to them. Instagrammers use a few secret tricks when it comes to finding their followers.
One way is to find accounts similar to yours. They should be already developed and working, check their followers’ list. Since you have a similar account, the chances that these followers will follow your content are great . Now, you can follow them and wait for them to follow back. It is so simple and straightforward.
Offer them value
A simple question that needs an answer is why should someone follow your Instagram account?
People will stay with your brand if you offer them some kind of value. Are you able to bring them recommendations for good products or not. People prefer to read reviews and watch videos on the topic, doing the same will give your brand an edge over your competitors.
Certain examples that can be insightful are
1. If you have a travel blog, offering them helpful tips from your experience or discount codes.
2. If you are a business trying to get their way on Instagram, you can also offer tips from your experience.
3. Makeup stores can post tips and tutorials, while stores related to furniture can share tips on home decor.
4. Offering a discount code for your Instagram followers that will buy the product.
Wealth Sharing with Influencers
Working with influencers, especially micro and nano-influencers, establishes trust in your company. As they talk and post about your brand to their followers, your account will organically grow with them.
Association with influencers helps to grow your brand on Instagram as their accounts have already grown over the last few years. In case you have a low influencer marketing budget, micro-influencers can be a great work option since they have fewer followers but a highly engaged audience. They have niches and willing to work with brands. Working with influencers such as Hobo.Video tries to establish trust in your brand as they talk and post about your brand to their followers which helps to grow your brand organically.
Creating conversation and chat groups
Connecting with followers is a part of building up your Instagram community since customers feel connected to the brand, they’re 68% more likely to refer it to a friend and 76% more likely to prefer it over a competitor brand.
Why brands should prioritize customer relationships is because liking or responding to a customer is going to benefit in the long run. Added to that, interesting and inviting content can help to showcase the brand’s personality content.
Therefore, increasing your engagement time will ultimately help the brand grow over time.
There are many methods to achieve organic growth on Instagram. This article has suggested a few of them such as having contests, cross-platform promotions, etc.
But the way your brand engages the audience also matters to a great extent. The growth of your brands’ Instagram account can be both organic as well as steady with the combination of the above strategies. Utilizing these strategies, you would be required to keep a tab on your analytics to see whether your efforts are bearing the desired fruits or not. For example, if there are large peaks on specific days, what type of content was posted and how people are engaging with it is a thing to be paid attention to and be repeated in the future.
