There is no one size fits all answer for the best strategy to get more followers on Instagram as it depends on your target audience and industry. Although there are a few best practices that apply to most industries, for starters make sure you include relevant hashtags in your post. This is one of the easiest ways to get discovered by others.
Another method for gaining followers on Instagram that is used by many influencers is to collaborate and cross promote with other accounts that share a similar audience. By collaborating on posts and tagging eachother it helps naturally promote your brand and can be incredibly effective.
If you have the budget and are willing to spend you should be promoting your Instagram account using Instagram ads. This is a great way to get your brand exposed to a targeted audience especially when you are new to Instagram and looking to build up your initial brand. It can also be a great tactic to ensure existing customers that are already interacting with your brand from other platforms such as your website are made aware of your Instagram page through re-targeting.
If you are providing a high ticket item/service (for example I sell digital marketing services) than don’t just focus on amassing a large audience. Since your provide a high ticket item it’s better to have a small but targeted audience since most people won’t be able to afford your item anyway. Consider reaching out directly to potential customers over message. Provide an irresistible offer and close them.
Lastly it’s important to encourage your audience to engage with you on Instagram. If you don’t give people a reason to visit your page or talk about your brand online than they won’t. Some creative ideas for starting the conversation on social media is by doing promotions that encourage people to use a hashtag you’ve created. The right promotion depends on your brand. For example if you owned a cupcake shop you could encourage customers to use a hashtag and each week choose a winner to receive a dozen free cupcakes. By prominently featuring the contest on social media and physically in your shop it provides a clear incentive for customers to talk about you online.
Overall the best social media strategy is not going to be a cookie cutter approach but instead something that connects with your audience, each business will have it’s own audience and the better your understand your audience the easier it will be to connect with them online.
