Top 4 Questions About Instagram Answered

Wondering who’s following whom, who you should follow, and what follows what’s being followed?

Building an Instagram presence for your business or personal brand can be an exciting but bumpy ride. There are so many regular updates and changes to this popular social media platform that keeping up with them can be a challenge – and reliable resources of information are scattered across the web.

Here's some insights which might help you understand some of the basics.

1. How do I get more followers on Instagram?

When looking at the topic of gaining more followers on Instagram, it's important to recognise that building a meaningful following requires a blend of strategy, creativity, and social interaction.

Here are some additional strategies and nuances to consider when trying to increase your follower count:

1. Consistent Branding: Ensure that your Instagram profile is visually appealing and cohesive. Your bio, profile image, and the overall aesthetic of your feed should clearly convey your brand identity and what followers can expect from your content.
2. Engage with Trends: Pay attention to current trends on Instagram and incorporate them into your content where relevant. This could include trending hashtags, challenge videos, memes, or popular filters. Aligning with trends can increase your visibility and attract new followers who are exploring these topics.
3. Utilise Instagram Stories and Reels: Make full use of Instagram’s features like Stories, Reels, and IGTV. These formats offer different ways to engage with audiences and can help you reach people who prefer dynamic and short-form content. Especially with Reels, Instagram tends to prioritise and promote this feature, giving you a better chance of being discovered by new users.
4. Collaborate with Others: Partner with other Instagram users who have a similar audience but are not direct competitors. This can be through collaborations, shoutouts, or even guest posting on each other's accounts. Such partnerships can expose you to a broader audience.
5. Run Contests and Giveaways: People love free stuff. Hosting contests or giveaways can prompt users to engage with your content and share it with their own followers. Make following your account a requirement for entry to help boost your follower numbers.
6. Paid Promotion: Consider investing in Instagram ads if you’re looking to expand quickly. You can target specific demographics and interests, ensuring your content is shown to potential new followers who are most likely to be interested in your brand.
7. Analyse Your Performance: Use Instagram's analytics tools to track which posts are performing best, what times your audience is most active, and other behavior patterns. This data can guide your content strategy and posting schedule for optimal engagement.
8. SEO for Instagram: Optimise your posts for search by including relevant keywords in your captions and your profile bio. This can help your profile come up in search results when people look for content related to your niche.

By combining these strategies with patience and consistency, you can significantly improve your chances of growing your Instagram following. Remember, genuine engagement and quality content are at the heart of any successful social media strategy.

2. What is the quickest way to increase the number of Instagram followers?

To quickly increase your Instagram followers, while emphasising legitimacy and sustainable growth, you can adopt several effective strategies.

It’s important to balance the desire for rapid growth with ethical practices to maintain the integrity and long-term viability of your account.

Here are some strategies to consider:

1. Optimise Your Profile: Make sure your profile is fully optimized for engagement. This includes having a clear profile picture, a compelling bio, and a link to your website or a landing page. Your profile should instantly convey who you are and what value you offer to followers.
2. Quality Content at Higher Frequencies: Post high-quality content more frequently to keep your audience engaged and attract new followers. Utilise a mix of content types like photos, videos, and stories. High-quality content that is visually appealing and engaging tends to get more shares and likes, which can help increase visibility.
3. Leverage Hashtags: Use relevant and trending hashtags to increase the visibility of your posts. Research hashtags that are popular within your niche but not so saturated that your posts get lost. You can use up to 30 hashtags per post, but quality over quantity often proves more effective.
4. Engage Actively: Engage with other users by liking, commenting, and sharing their content. Engage in conversations on posts that use popular hashtags from your niche. This increases your visibility and can lead visitors back to your profile.
5. Cross-Promotion Across Channels: As mentioned, utilise other platforms to promote your Instagram account. If you have a presence on other social media platforms, a blog, or an email newsletter, use these channels to direct traffic to your Instagram page. Integrating your Instagram feed into your website can also help.
6. Instagram Ads: Using Instagram's paid advertising features can provide a significant boost in visibility and help you reach a larger, targeted audience quickly. Instagram ads allow you to specify demographic information about the audience you want to reach, which can lead to more effective growth.
7. Collaborate with Influencers: Partner with influencers who have a sizable and engaged following. Influencers can introduce their followers to your account, leading to a rapid increase in your follower base. Choose influencers whose branding aligns closely with yours for the best results.
8. Timing Your Posts: Post when your audience is most active. Use Instagram's analytics to find out when your followers are online and more likely to see and engage with your content. This can increase the reach of each post.
9. Story Highlights and IGTV: Utilise Instagram’s features like Story Highlights and IGTV to maintain interest and encourage more prolonged engagement. This content stays on your profile longer than regular stories and can act as additional content for new followers to explore.

While these strategies can help increase your followers relatively quickly, remember that authentic growth is a gradual process. Building a genuine connection with your audience tends to yield more loyal and engaged followers in the long run. Avoid the pitfalls of shortcuts like buying followers or using bots, as these can damage your credibility and potentially lead to your account being penalized by Instagram.

3. Is it possible to buy Instagram followers?

Buying Instagram followers is indeed possible, and it's a practice some individuals and brands resort to in an effort to appear more popular or influential.

However, there are significant risks and drawbacks associated with buying followers that can ultimately harm your credibility and the effectiveness of your social media strategy.

Here's a deeper look at why buying followers is discouraged and the consequences it can have:

1. Low Engagement: Purchased followers are typically either bot accounts or inactive users who will not engage with your content. This results in a noticeable discrepancy between the number of followers and the amount of engagement your posts receive. Such anomalies are easy for both your audience and potential business partners to spot.
2. Violates Instagram's Policies: Buying followers breaches Instagram's terms of service. Engaging in this practice can lead to punitive actions from Instagram, including the temporary suspension of your account or, in severe cases, a permanent ban.
3. Damage to Reputation: Authenticity is highly valued on social media. If your audience discovers that you've bought followers, it can severely damage your reputation and trustworthiness. This is particularly detrimental for businesses and influencers whose credibility is central to their brand.
4. Poor Quality of Followers: Purchased followers are generally of poor quality with no real interest in your content. They contribute nothing to the community you are trying to build and cannot convert into actual customers or loyal fans.
5. Skews Performance Metrics: Having a large number of inactive or fake followers can distort important performance metrics such as engagement rates, which are crucial for assessing the effectiveness of your social media strategy. This makes it difficult to measure true audience engagement and growth.
6. Impact on Influencer Marketing: The practice of buying followers has led to skepticism in influencer marketing. Brands are increasingly vigilant and use sophisticated tools to analyse the authenticity of an influencer’s followers before engaging them for marketing campaigns. Influencers who buy followers risk losing potential collaborations and sponsorships.
7. Temporary Effect: The boost you get from buying followers is often short-lived. Instagram regularly purges fake accounts, which means you could see your follower count drop suddenly and significantly.
8. No ROI: There is no return on investment when you buy followers because these followers do not engage with your content or contribute to your business goals. The money spent on buying followers could be more effectively invested in legitimate marketing strategies that attract real, engaged followers.

For sustainable and beneficial growth on Instagram, it is advisable to focus on genuine strategies like creating engaging content, interacting with your audience, using effective hashtags, and leveraging Instagram’s advertising tools. These methods help build a loyal following that is interested in your content and more likely to engage with your posts, ultimately supporting your goals on the platform.

4. Why don’t hashtags work on Instagram?

Hashtags are a fundamental part of the Instagram ecosystem and can significantly boost the visibility of your posts when used correctly.

However, some users may feel that hashtags aren't effective, often due to misconceptions about how they work or improper usage.

Here’s a look into why hashtags might seem ineffective and how to maximize their potential on Instagram:

1. Overly Generic Hashtags: Using extremely popular hashtags (like #love, #happy, etc.) can actually be counterproductive because your post can quickly get buried under the millions of others using the same tag. It's important to find a balance between popular and niche hashtags to ensure your content stands out.
2. Irrelevant Hashtags: Hashtags should be relevant to the content you are posting. If the hashtags are unrelated, it won’t reach the right audience, which can lead to low engagement. Additionally, Instagram's algorithm might view the misuse of hashtags as spammy behavior, potentially decreasing the reach of your posts.
3. Using the Same Hashtags Repeatedly: Repeated use of the same hashtags can lead to diminishing returns. Instagram might view this as spammy behaviour. It’s good practice to vary the hashtags you use to reach different audiences and keep your content fresh.
4. Hashtag Limit: Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags per post. However, using too many hashtags can sometimes appear spammy or desperate. It’s often more effective to use fewer, highly targeted hashtags.
5. Shadowbanning: Although Instagram has not officially confirmed shadowbanning, many users report experiencing it. This is when a user’s content is shown less frequently due to non-compliant behaviors, like using banned hashtags or engaging in spammy practices. This can significantly reduce the visibility of your posts.
6. Algorithm Changes: Instagram frequently updates its algorithm, and these changes can affect how content is displayed and discovered. What worked previously might not be as effective now, so it's important to stay updated with the platform's changes and adjust your strategies accordingly.
7. Competitive Hashtags: Some niches are highly competitive when it comes to hashtags. If many high-engagement posts are using the same hashtags as you, it’s harder for your content to stand out.

How to Use Hashtags Effectively:

• Research: Use tools and Instagram's own search function to find the best hashtags for your content. Look for hashtags that are popular but not overly saturated.
• Relevance: Always choose hashtags that are relevant to the content of your post and your audience.
• Mix it Up: Combine high-competition hashtags with less popular ones to maximize your chances of being seen.
• Location-Based Hashtags: If applicable, use location-based hashtags to reach local audiences.
• Industry-Specific Hashtags: Use hashtags that are specific to your industry to reach interested users who are more likely to engage with your content.

Mastering hashtags on Instagram involves a strategy tailored to your specific content and audience. It requires ongoing adjustments and testing to discover what works best for engaging your intended audience.