Do you run a business and need some online clout? Are you an influencer who wants to get more brand deals and recognition than others? No matter what your main goal is with your Instagram profile, you know you’ll need as many followers as possible to succeed. And the more users visit your page, the more push you’ll get from the algorithm.
Of course, growing a platform organically, from scratch, is incredibly difficult, especially in the 2020s. The competition is fierce, and lots of people turn to shady practices to increase their follower count. However, there are legitimate ways you can use to increase engagement on your Instagram page. In fact, if you approach it the right way, you can get as many as 1,000 new followers within as little as 5 minutes.
Now, how exactly can you achieve such a feat? Here are 20 tips that might just answer that question.
Tip #1: Calls to Action
Let’s step away from Instagram and focus on a different platform for a moment. When you’re watching your favorite YouTuber, why do you think they constantly add the message “Please like and subscribe” or “Let me know your thoughts in the comments down below” in every single video? The answer is fairly simple: they’re using the tried and true marketing trick known as the Call to Action.
When you ask someone to engage with your content, chances are high that they will do it. Therefore, if someone visits your page for the first time, make sure your story or your latest post has a Call to Action. Anything will do, even something simple as “Please Follow If You Like”.
Tip #2: Appealing and Powerful Visuals
What makes a good visual? Well, it can be striking color choices, unique imagery, or even creative combinations of pictures and sounds. For instance, it can be stunning aerial shots of a city skyline or interesting street sketches. Some people even opt for funny freeze frames of videos or cute edited memes with animals. Whatever it is, it should catch someone’s eye in an instant. After all, Instagram is a visual platform, and the majority of people that use it will focus more on the images than the tags and descriptions. For starters, we recommend choosing a theme for your account and sticking with it.
Tip #3: Frequent Posting
Continuity is always welcome. Some of the best social media celebrities tend to post comments, images, and videos nearly every waking hour, seven days a week. It may sound like a drag, but it gives you a sense of routine. Plus, the algorithm is likely to promote your content more often if you produce posts on a regular, set schedule. Though times may vary from country to country, the best period to share your posts is usually between 7 am and 9 am, around noon, and also from 5 pm to 7 pm.
Tip #4: High-Quality Regular Content
While frequent posting is important, uploading relevant content should be your main focus. For example, an individual who posts nothing but a blank background on every image may get attention, but few people will follow them. Instead, your posts ought to be topical, engaging, and a notch above the average posts in that same niche. That difference can be anything from a high-definition photograph of the topic to a description with an interesting tidbit of information.
So, while you should maintain a solid post frequency, make sure that your content grows in quality every single day. Do extensive research on your particular topic of interest and provide up-to-date information. Alternatively, make your images and videos aesthetically pleasing and attractive, and keep your post descriptions short yet informative.
Tip #5: Using Stories
By now, even casual users know what Instagram Stories are and how vital they can be for page growth. After all, they are short, eye-catching, and incredibly easy to post. And the catchier the stories get, the more engagement you’ll see. But even ardent followers can get tired of stories that aren’t innovative or lack any kind of punch.
With that in mind, you will want to experiment with different Story formats and find the ones that match your content style the most. Some folks use quick-cut slideshows of old posts. Others highlight a new post with some animation. And some users merely record something off the cuff and post it. The possibilities are endless.
Tip #6: Contests and Giveaways
If there’s one thing that all consumers enjoy, it’s free merch. Even when the item is something as minor as a sticker, if it’s free, they’ll take two. Naturally, Instagram users with huge followings often hold contests and host giveaways, and if you’re eager to grow, you might want to get into it.
First, start small. The giveaway doesn’t need to include an expensive product. Again, even a badge or a signed photo will do. But as you grow, make the contests more engaging and the prizes more enticing. With the right giveaway, you can gain 5,000 or even 10,000 followers in under 5 minutes!
Tip #7: User Engagement
Both regular users and social media giants regularly interact with each other. It’s also a bit of common courtesy, especially among nano-influencers (people that have less than 10K followers) and new content creators. If you want people to engage on your page, try to engage on theirs. Post comments, react to images and stories, and share links to other people’s work as often as possible. In addition, make sure to DM anyone who seems relevant to your field. And let’s not forget about reacting to comments on your own posts. That engagement alone will put you on their radar, which can result in free promotion. And that, in turn, usually means additional followers.
Tip #8: Buying Followers
As off-putting as it may sound, buying followers is an entirely legitimate way of growing your Instagram profile. Granted, you will have to find a service that provides permitted follower engagement. As we mentioned earlier, there are plenty of scams out there, so you should be careful where you spend your money.
When you buy followers, they can help you greatly since their comments can bring other users to your platform. However, they are not the long-term solution because a solid number of them will simply stop engaging after some time. With that in mind, feel free to buy followers, but don’t make that your main long-term strategy.
Tip #9: Hashtags
Hashtags are an excellent means of getting into popular, trendy topics and gaining new followers. Alternatively, the hashtag you use for profile growth doesn’t even need to be topical (i.e., it doesn’t have to revolve around something that is popular at that moment). Instead, opt for one that caters to a particular niche, hobby, profession, or lifestyle. For example, people who are into clothing and fashion will use hashtags that directly relate to their interests, such as #fashion, #styleinspo, or #ootd (short for “outfit of the day”). Considering that users within the same niche use those same hashtags, chances are high that they will click on one of your posts that has a relevant tag.
Tip #10: Picking a Niche
This tip is incredibly essential no matter what platform you’re using. Namely, if you want to succeed online and gain some eminence, you must find something that works specifically for you. Your content must reflect what you’re all about, what you’re trying to achieve, and how you aim to do it. In short, you’ll need a niche.
But what kind of niche should you pick? Well, the answers to that are literally infinite. Some people focus on cooking, others opt for video games, and there are even those who post regularly about traffic cones. Again, find something that appeals to you, work hard on it, and before you know it, the followers will flock to you.
Tip #11: Buying Likes
You might be wondering why buying likes would contribute to an increased follower count. Once again, it’s about engagement and the algorithm. Posts with lots of likes often end up on Instagram’s trending front page. Furthermore, if a person who’s not a follower likes your post, they might hit a few additional likes when browsing your other content. With enough likes, they can become interested enough to become a follower or to share your content for others to view.
Now, when buying likes, the same rules apply as they do with buying followers. Namely, you have to be extremely careful which service you choose since a lot of them turn out to be scams.
Tip #12: User Collaboration
What does user collaboration mean when it comes to Instagram, exactly? Well, there are several different methods that prominent Instagram goers opt for. Here are a few you can try out:
- Promoting a fellow user’s profile
- Promoting their individual posts
- Participating in a joint contest or giveaway
- Collaborating on a single post (e.g., if you’re an artist and they’re a colorist working on one art piece)
- Being in the same photo (that you both post on your respective profiles)
- Sharing a hashtag.
When you collaborate, chances are that the other user’s followers will take an interest in your page. Of course, the inverse is true as well, with your followers discovering someone new thanks to your joint efforts and promotion.
Tip #13: Ads
Using ads to promote your profile is possibly the safest method of Instagram follower growth that requires payment. After all, you’re using the ads directly on the platform, and it doesn’t involve third-party services. Of course, you still have to make sure that the ads you pay for fit your profile and niche. Plus, we suggest exploring what type of Instagram ad works best for you.
Tip #14: Influencer Marketing
In a sense, influencer marketing is similar to user collaboration. However, the key difference is in the title. Namely, all influencers are users, but not all users are influencers.
Let’s simplify. An influencer is an Instagram content creator with a massive following whose entire career revolves around promoting brands through the platform. In other words, they use Instagram to get people to buy products or use the services of a particular company. And naturally, users who want to grow their presence on the platform can, and often do, hire influencers to promote their profiles. You can do that too, and it can work very well if the influencer already handles content from your particular niche.
Tip #15: Staying Active in the Community
Getting an influencer to promote your page is the equivalent of hiring a top expert for a particular task. But while you’re engaging with the platform’s top brass, never forget to also dip into the proverbial trenches as well. In Instagram terms, that means communicating with your followers directly and connecting with the community.
As a content creator, you should occasionally post a comment or like an image by some of your followers. Not only will it help you retain them in the long run, but they will be more likely to recommend your content to someone. This engagement will help build your positive reputation, and that travels faster than any ad.
Tip #16: Other Social Media Engagement
To grow your Instagram following, you should also focus on other platforms you use. If you’re on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, or any other social media app, make sure to include a Call to Action to your Instagram page.
This step is important since users don’t always have active accounts on all platforms. For example, you may follow someone on Twitch, but not on Twitter. So, if you want your audiences to migrate to your Instagram, you need to approach them directly through calls to action and quality posts. The same goes for alternative platforms, such as Oddysee, Gab, Gettr, Telegram, or Minds.
Tip #17: Relevant and Branded Content
Sometimes, you have to follow the trends in order to reach a high follower count. If, for example, there’s a major event or a holiday, you’ll want to check the current hashtags and how much traffic they generate. Next, post some content that’s both relevant to the event and fits within your chosen niche. Alternatively, upload some content containing the latest music craze, be it genre-specific or related to a single performer.
Of course, hashtags are not the only way of achieving this goal. You can simply post whatever content best fits the trend, and people are bound to find it. In fact, if you do it regularly enough, you’ll get a steady stream of followers relatively quickly.
Tip #18: Instagram Features
We’ve already mentioned Instagram stories as an excellent promotional tool, but they are not the only ones. In fact, Instagram has plenty of different features that cater to specific types of users.
Oftentimes, brands or influencers will use several features in one post, especially if they have an item to promote. They actively experiment with them, trying to find the best marketing gimmick possible. You should be doing that, too; by constantly exploring the built-in app features, you can create a surefire method of attracting new followers daily.
Tip #19: Analytics Tools
People use analytics tools to check the online engagement of different platforms. These tools are pretty handy since they can precisely tell what works and what doesn’t. For instance, you’ll see which types of posts get the most engagement and which ones don’t perform well. Given that info, you can focus on improving your shortcomings.
Analytics tools also tell you a lot about your audience as they reveal your followers’ average age and gender, as well as why they engage with your content. That will give you a free survey of sorts, allowing you to provide varied content for separate demographic groups. And the more demographics you cover, the more engagement you’ll receive.
Tip #20: Patience
OK, why patience? Isn’t this supposed to help us get 1K followers in under 5 minutes?
Before we answer that, we should stress that the article is about managing to use Instagram in such a way that you CAN gain 1,000 followers in 5 minutes. In other words, it’s not a guide on how to get all those followers right now, in the immediate 5 minutes after reading the article.
So, if your aim is to accumulate large numbers of followers in a brief amount of time, you will need to work your way to it. Like all things in life, it won’t happen overnight. As you experiment with posts and comments, hashtags, and stories, you will see what your engagement’s like. One post may earn you zero followers, but the next one will get you three, and so on.
With enough trial and error, after a few months of hard work, you will see your numbers grow eventually. And in time, you’ll effortlessly draw any number of followers you desire.
The Downside of Rapid Follower Growth
Gaining 1,000 followers in as little as 5 minutes sounds absolutely amazing until you actually consider what some of the consequences of this action may be. For instance, Instagram’s algorithm can spot fake accounts efficiently. If you’ve bought too many followers or likes from a shady source, the platform can suspend the accounts that provide you with the following. In other words, you’ll lose a lot of engagement almost instantly. Therefore, always be careful that the likes and followers you buy are legitimate.
The rapid expansion of followers can also lead to an account ban. Namely, if a tiny account suddenly receives a lot of engagement, it can seem suspicious. Considering that a lot of third-party apps help people gain followers, Instagram aims to shut them down and focus on organic growth. Therefore, we encourage anyone to stick with legitimate, but organic-looking methods of growing their Instagram presence. In other words, if you need to buy some IG followers or likes, do it in moderation so that your account doesn’t get banned. The more long-run you think, the more powerful your page will be.
