How to get more followers on Instagram depends on doing the right things consistently. The first step is an optimized profile. Then use Instagram’s features from posting reels to sharing stories, using relevant hashtags strategically. Keep your content high-quality, jump in on trends, and promote your profile elsewhere. Over time, you will witness steady, organic growth of your account.
I’ve built my Instagram following to over a million in less than a year. Wondering how I did it? I’m sharing all my strategies right here. Whether you’re a small business owner, an entrepreneur, or just someone hungry for followers, these strategies will help you grow faster by attracting more organic traffic to your account.
Honestly, one of the best starting points for me was buying a batch of high-quality, non-drop followers from the GrowthMount service provider. It gave my profile that initial spike of credibility, which attracted real people who trusted and followed me. From there, organic growth took off, and now, I’m here to show you how to do the same.
How to Get More Followers on Instagram for Free
While discussing how to grow Instagram followers, we mean to connect with real people who stay connected to your content. We can do this by combining both free and paid strategies. The paid methods give your profile a quick lift, helping to build your account’s authority. Using the free strategies to attract real audiences may take time, but it’s a long-lasting traffic gainer and is worth the wait.
1-Start With a Clear Purpose
Start your Instagram with a clear idea of why you’re here. Are you sharing fashion tips, skincare routines, or promoting your clothing brand? Whatever it is, your profile should instantly give off that vibe, otherwise, visitors will just scroll past without hitting that follow button. But don’t box yourself in too much. Post about other topics once in a while.
2-Optimize Your Profile
The first strategy is optimizing your Instagram profile, your virtual storefront. Your username, profile name, profile picture, bio, contact buttons, and story highlights all these categories together make up your account profile.
- For optimization, you must use keywords in your profile so that your targeted audience can reach you. The Instagram algorithm prioritizes those results in its search that have keywords related to your niche. Use keywords in your handle name, profile name, and in your bio.
- Your username should be search friendly and be consistent with your existing social handles. For example, if your bakery is called Cool Bakery, your username could be @coolbakery or other variations of this.
- Your profile name field is searchable, so you should use keywords here to help people find you. For example, you can set your name as Cool Bakery – Custom Cakes in Seattle or Cool Bakery | Cupcakes & Wedding Cakes. Now, when someone searches for custom cakes Seattle, cupcakes, wedding cakes your profile is more likely to appear because those keywords are in your name field.
- Your profile photo should be clear and help people recognize your brand. If the logo or photo has any text, it should be readable even on small smartphone screens.
- The word count of bio is limited to 150 characters, so use keywords to tell people who you are and what you do and make your account more discoverable. To increase your account reach, add a link in bio, such as Linktree, to direct people to your other landing pages about your products or services. You can also mention your business address.
- Save your best stories in Story Highlights after they expire. Group the stories in Highlights by themes or topics so that visitors can find the relevant content.
| Element | What to Do |
| Username | Keep it simple and searchable |
| Profile Photo | Use a high-quality image or recognizable logo |
| Bio | Clearly explain who you are and what value you offre |
| Highlights | Organize expired stories into categories (e.g., Reviews, Tips, FAQs) |
3- Add Keywords in Your Captions
Nowadays, Instagram algorithm searches by keywords, not only through hashtags or your handle name. Use keywords in your post caption to make your post more discoverable. Keep the word count to either below 20 for aesthetic posts, etc., or up to 2000 characters for educational posts.
Write the first 1-2 lines with curiosity-pulling words that stop the audience from scrolling and make them read the full caption and then follow your account. You can use any AI tool to write an impressive caption.
4- Use Relevant Hashtags
How to grow Instagram followers organically? One tip is to use highly relevant hashtags. Although you can use up to 30 in one post, Instagram only recommends 5–6. Combine popular and niche specific to increase visibility while avoiding spam impressions. Choose hashtags your audience searches for so your content can appear on the Explore page.
5- Post Consistently
Posting randomly won’t help you attract real fans on Instagram. Show up consistently with valuable posts that speak to your audience. The content should be relevant to your business or niche to attract the targeted audience. Here, the term content calendar is used to schedule Instagram posts.
Now, there must be a question buzzing in your head: How often should I post? Post at least once a day, whether it’s a Reel, carousel, or a Story. Instagram’s head, Adam Mosseri, suggests two feed posts per week and two Stories daily to stay active and visible.
6-Find Your Best Time to Post
Connecting with the above said, your posting time also plays a role in increasing the reach of your content. Mostly, Instagram users have experienced that posting in the earlier hours of the day hooks more users. But again, every audience has a different schedule. You can use different tools to track how far your content is reaching by observing the effects of different strategies.
7-Create More Instagram Reels
Instagram Reels play more part in increasing your account reach than posts because the algorithm puts video content first. Make a Reel short, around 7 to 15 seconds. You can add popular music clips and hashtags to get noticed by more audiences. Every time when I share a Reel, my analytics show a visible jump in my account reach. you can create reels with AI to make them more attractive and engaging.
8-Understand Your Analytics
Get into Instagram analytics to track your content reach. Which hashtags, content type, or which method is working best. Instagram’s native analytics is very limited; you can take help from other tools to check the individual post, reel performance.
9- Follow the Trends
Another point not to miss is following the trends, analyzing your competitors in your niche, and then posting or making reels on that trend. But be active, don’t post late or your content will become outdated. You can use this tip to get more subscribers quickly.
10-Promote Your Instagram Everywhere
Don’t keep your Instagram a secret, let people find you by mentioning your account on your website, emails, and other platforms like LinkedIn, TikTok, and YouTube.
The more places your handle shows up, the more visitors land on your profile and if they’re the right crowd, chances are they’ll hit that follow button to keep up with what you share on your page.
11- Go Live on Instagram
It’s not always about working behind the scenes, go live on your account to grab the attention of your existing fans and to build a potential community. You can do a Q&A, casual chats, discuss some trending news, or a tutorial if you are, let’s say, in skincare products, etc. This Live improves your account growth chart.
12- Connect with Your Community
Besides going live, replying to stories’ reactions, answering DMs, and chatting in the comments helps create a strong connection with your community. People feel valued when they see you noticing them, which builds loyalty and encourages them to share your content with their contacts and communities. This tip not only grows a loyal fan base but also helps spread your content further.
How to Gain Followers on Instagram -Paid Methods
In addition to the free methods mentioned above, I’ve also used some paid strategies to boost my account. Here they are.
Buy Instagram Followers
Don’t get worried about purchasing Instagram followers. Buying fake followers only becomes spammy when you use unreliable sources that rely on bots, which can trigger Instagram’s spam filters.
I recommend purchasing followers from trusted GrowthMount service providers. They don’t flood your account with obvious bots. Instead, they deliver stable, non-drop followers that look natural and help strengthen your profile’s authority without raising any red flags.
Run Instagram Giveaways
In the paid option, you can earn more fans by running giveaways. Usually the creators put two conditions to enter in a giveaway, to follow their account and tag a friend. People love free stuff and when you often run these giveaways, they are more likely to follow you. To make it a success, prize should be something your ideal followers really want.
Run Instagram Ads
If you have a budget in your hand and you are in the business of selling some product, you must run an Instagram ad to get your brand in front of a target audience. You can start with a small campaign, check the analytics, and then take the next step.
Collaborate with Others
Another way to expand your reach is to collaborate with influencers or like minded brands. It’s your choice whether you want to do paid partnerships or simple shoutout swaps, you can collaborate on co-branded posts or share each other’s profiles to tap into a similar audience.
Conclusion
All the above tips, both free and paid ones, really helped me to get more followers on Instagram organically. It’s not an overnight success, the whole game depends on how consistently you work. You can combine your manual efforts with some tools to manage your account easily. What really helps your growth take off is to keep it real and connect with your audience in a genuine way.
FAQs
What are some tools to increase the Instagram community?
Those who want to know how to get quick followers on Instagram, use some tools, both free and paid for this purpose.
- Later or Planoly help you schedule posts consistently.
- You can use Canva to design attractive posts.
- Similarly, with hashtag generators like Flick or MetaHashtags, you can find relevant, non-spammy hashtags.
- With Analytics tools like Iconosquare or Later’s Analytics, you can track what is working for you and what’s not like best times to post, top-performing content, etc.
Is it worth connecting with people on Threads to increase my subscribers?
Both Instagram and Threads profiles are connected, so with new features like drafts, saves, and trends, you can explore new communities and bring them to your page to turn them into your audience.
Does entertainment content perform best on Instagram, and why?
Yes, in my experience, entertaining content usually does better on Instagram. The app loves videos that are fun, creative, and make people want to watch.
Also Read: The Importance of Instagram Views in Building Lasting Influence
