Instagram keeps growing, and an Instagram account now belongs with every modern company. Especially in B2C. Almost everyone faces the same question at the start, though: how do you collect real followers without having to buy any? Here we share three tips that help you gain new followers – without paying for it!
Of course you could simply buy followers. There are countless providers for that. Those bots will never like or comment on any of your posts, let alone buy from you. So it is enormously important to generate real followers and to keep them too. In other words, to grow naturally. By: posting pictures, tapping hearts and commenting diligently. There are also a few tips that help you gain real fans even faster:
You can use Instagram relatively passively: upload pictures, add stories and hope that the followers find their way to you. But that alone will not make the numbers shoot up. And it certainly will not raise revenue in your online shop. The motto here is: become active yourself and find your target audience.
You now have the chance to communicate with these people. For example by following them, liking their pictures or leaving a friendly comment.
THIS IS THE FASTEST KIND OF ATTENTION YOU CAN ACTIVELY GENERATE YOURSELF.
In this case it also matters that you put that attention to good use: your own Instagram account should be well filled, contain interesting posts worth reading, and also show the people behind the company. Only then do you awaken the interest of possible followers.
It is also important that your comments do not look like spam. Comments should be friendly and specific to the topic. Do not simply comment “nice picture”, but really respond to what the post is about. Only then do you stand out from the crowd.
Hashtags make content on Instagram easier to find for users who do not follow you. A kind of keyword tagging for everything on Instagram. If you are interested in interior design, you follow the hashtag #interior on Instagram. And you should use these hashtags actively. Not only by adding the relevant hashtags under each of your posts, but also by following relevant hashtags yourself. That way you always know what is currently up to date in this subject, and you can become active yourself right away.
Less contested niche hashtags have much more potential for success here than large, heavily contested hashtags. As a guide, remember this: hashtags with fewer than 20k posts count as promising if you want to establish yourself as an expert.
Also look after the followers you already have. They want not only new content (posts) on a regular basis, but above all to see the people behind the company / the brand / the online shop. That can, for example, also be a challenge that you and your colleagues take part in. Followers want to feel that it is not just some social media officer sitting behind this account. In concrete terms: be nice, answer questions and respond to comments. Nothing is worse than a direct message that goes unnoticed for days. In the end: be human.
Be human. Instagram actually works the same way real life does: be friendly, and the person opposite you will be friendly to you too. Interact, be active and above all authentic. That is always received best, just as in real life. And with a few small tricks you then also reach the attention of your target audience, and your follower count will shoot up.