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First off, when it comes to Instagram, know that you have influence over the lives of others.

You must stop waiting for permission to do what you dream about and start what you’ve been wanting to start. You must go out there and dominate. 

Besides, if you are not utilizing the free promotion that Instagram has allowed anyone with a phone, then you should be.

Of course, make sure that you have the time for the platform when you do decide to get out there and make sure to always be consistent with it.

Because when it comes to growing your Instagram following organically, it can actually work if you follow these steps outlined below.

These tips are genuine and useful, and they are really going to help you beat the Instagram algorithm, so you can make this cool and fun way of growing your business, help you, and not the other way around. 

Here are 20 ways to improve your Instagram account to gain more followers and reach! 

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20 Ways to Grow Your Instagram Following Fast

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Why You Need Instagram If you own a business:

• • Instagram is a great way to build your brand on a human level.
  • More people are using Instagram today, than any other platform.
  • 80% of users follow a Business on Instagram (that’s huge!).
  • Any size of business can thrive, no matter where you live and what you do.
  • Instagram stories can make your business more relatable, so you can build stronger brand recognition.
  • Instagram offers many ways to be more creative and it’s fun!

Now let’s get your Instagram in tip-top shape!

1. Don’t cheat the system.

First and foremost, this is going to be the most important tip before we head into the rest because you do not want to try to cheat the system.

Let’s say, if you were considering buying followers or if you were to play the whole follow and unfollow game — this will come back to bite you if you do. When you do the whole follow and unfollow approach, you have no idea who you are following, and your feed can have harmful videos and toxic content that you followed, without even realizing it. 

Also, purchased followers are typically bots or inactive profiles, so they won’t interact with your stories, posts, or content, and Instagram is really cracking down on shady activity, as of now, so if you get caught, your account could get suspended. It’s just really not worth it. 

2. Optimize your bio.

Your bio is the first thing that people see when they come to your profile, aside from the images that took them there. 

You need to make sure your bio is clear, represents who you are and what your intentions are on Instagram.

Make it fun, or make it memorable, but make it snappy. Make sure that it represents who you are and what you post about, to sum up, your business in one bite.

3. Keep a consistent content calendar.

The worst thing to do while attempting to get fans on Instagram is to share material at odd, random hours. If you’re fortunate enough to get users to support you at the beginning, you don’t want to make them regret they supported you in the first place.

Keep a daily calendar of posts to address this. Tailwind makes it easy to be consistent with your content calendar for Instagram. All you have to do is snap a pic, and then throw it in the Tailwind app to be scheduled for a specific date and time.

Usually, brands aren’t expected to publish more than a couple of times a day, so whatever the rhythm you like, just keep it regular. About 200 million Instagram users log in every day to make your network much bigger, so consider posting with a content calendar to hold your hand along the way.

Click Here If You Would Like To Get Your First Month FREE With Tailwind!

4. Interact with the right people & be real.

Did you know that being active, goes so much further, then posting every single day? 

That replying to comments on your own account isn’t being fully active either.  In fact, leaving meaningful and thoughtful comments on other accounts is what being truly active and real implies.

If you do this, it will really help kick-start your progress on Instagram and get your profile in front of others. 

Moreover, if you engage with other huge Instagram influencer’s accounts and they have a highly engaged community already, you’ll be able to tap into that community by contributing.

Get out there, become a part of the discussions, and find people that are most likely to be interested in the topics that you’re interested in, if you do, chances are these people will be interested in your content, and they will follow you!

5. Your Instagram profile picture should represent you in seconds.

When someone clicks through their feed to your Instagram profile, your profile picture is the first image that tells your potential follower what you and your business stand for, and your Instagram profile picture is what sets you apart, from your competition on Instagram. 

If your profile picture doesn’t look great then chances are you picked an image that doesn’t represent who you are, what your Instagram is about, or that doesn’t look very enticing for people to click on your profile.

Here are a few Instagram Dos and Don’ts regarding Profile Pictures:

• • DO Select between a personal photograph or a brand logo.
  • Don’t use a picture that is off-center.
  • Don’t pick a trendy picture you’re going to have to refresh regularly. 
  • DO choose an image with decent light and a strong contrast to stand out.
  • DO be colorful, as color is always going to supersede, black and white, or hard-to-see images. 
  • Do make sure that you provide a visual appeal about your job into your styling.
  • And if you are a business, and you don’t like your logo, well, that’s a whole different story.

Depending on what you are going for, 80% of Instagram users do follow businesses more, and maybe that statistic is skewed because most of the businesses we all know about like Nike or Anthropologie, draw up millions of followers. But aside from that, if you are a business and you like your logo, using your logo is a great start!

6. Use all 30 hashtags.

It’s fairly obvious that using 30 hashtags on Instagram posts would generate more views and likes. In fact, compared to previous results, a study found that using all 30 hashtags had an average of 135 % more Likes.

When it comes to Instagram, why shoot yourself in the foot and not give yourself every opportunity you have to succeed — use all thirty hashtags!

7. Improve your photography.

If you want to stand out on Instagram, you must keep to a creative and consistent theme, especially when it comes to your photos because if you don’t and your photos aren’t beautiful or engaging enough, then you’re probably never going to get the engagement that you deserve.

Plus, nowadays, all you need is a smartphone and a bit of understanding of how light works, how image composition works, and a little bit of knowledge about editing (more about editing tools in tip #8) and that’s really it.

Here are some good Instagram image tricks to always keep in mind:

• • Have a good understanding of lighting. Light is one of the main influences in photography.
  • Add layers to attract excitement. Although a clean, streamlined look is still in high fashion, transform your images by incorporating layers.
  • Using continuous bursts, for shots of motion, can capture the right shot.
  • Using the three objects rule, placing things in your photos by three will help create more unison.
  • Utilize white space for some visual elements.
  • Use multiple angles to change things up. 

8. Develop a consistent editing style or get Presets.

This goes back to what we just discussed in the previous tip, but you need to learn image editing if you want to succeed on Instagram.

It’s very simple really, as there are so many ways to edit an image that’ll make your photography picture-perfect for Instagram.

For starters, Lightroom is a software editing program that edits amazingly well, and it’s compatible with all the Instagram Presets, that you see available for sale on Instagram.

Most presets are very inexpensive from rates of $5 to $50, and when you buy a preset, they come with an easy-to-follow instructional video that’ll show you how to install it in the Lightroom app.

After the presets are installed in Lightroom, all you have to do is take a picture, and click the “preset” button, and your image will be instantly edited. 

If buying and installing presets, is not your thing, another thing you can do with your smartphone is download apps like VSCO or A Color Story. These apps already have different presets with filters downloaded, ready for you to use, and they can help make your feed look more cohesive as well.

9. Use the right hashtags & create your own.

We already addressed that using 30 hashtags has the ability to get your Instagram likes up by a whopping 135%. But what we haven’t talked about yet, is what hashtags to use. 

There is no doubt, that you will have to do your research when it comes to using the right hashtags, to promote your Instagram well, but here is something to remember; Top hashtags like #love or #ootd (outfit of the day) are usually oversaturated, and they may not get your Instagram seen amongst the crowd. 

Instead, try using smaller niche hashtags that will really give your account the extra boost that it deserves.

How do you find trending hashtags within your niche?

With a little bit of research from your competition, to see what hashtags they are using, you’ll be able to find the most relevant hashtags to use for your promotion strategy.

Also, don’t be afraid to experiment or create your own hashtag. The right hashtags can increase your visibility and gain you more followers!

10. Tag your location.

Studies show that images with the location included on Instagram can perform up to 79 % better, with a higher engagement rate, so include a location but only if you feel it’s safe to do so.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Instagram can tag the location of your photographs if the photo map is enabled. So if your user profile is public (not private) and your photo map is switched on, everyone will see the precise location of where the photo was taken.

How do you add or edit the location of an existing Instagram post?

• Tap (iPhone) or (Android) above your photo or video.
• Tap Edit.
• Tap the location name.
• Then tap Remove Location or Change Location (iPhone), or tap Find a Location.

11. Write a great caption.

If you write a caption that really connects with your followers by asking questions that generate genuine comments, that alone can explode your engagement and your growth.

Not only that, a fantastic Instagram caption can add meaning, show off the individuality of your company, entertain the viewer, and/or encourage viewers to take action.

Instagram captions can now be close to 2,200 characters in length, so use those characters wisely, contain emojis for some fun, and this will contribute to further participation to grow your Instagram following. 

12. Include a call to action.

The call to action (CTA) will be closer for you when it comes to making your Instagram community act.

It’s like an online way of telling your fans to make a deal. So, if you ask for it in the form of an image or a caption, it’s so important that if you don’t ask, you probably won’t get it. And a successful CTA not only convinces people to do something, but also tells them what to do, how to do it, and when to do it.

They can vary from a question related to the picture you uploaded, to a link in your bio to take your followers where you want them to go.

And even if your Instagram account is small, and you’re kind of nervous that you won’t get an answer, just do it. A great call to action will build engagement and make you seem like an expert within your profession.

13. Tag other people.

If you wish to reach out to your favorite companies, make sure you tag them in your posts to highlight their goods or services. Tagging others means that they will see the notification and the photo you tagged them in, and they might choose your photo to re-post to their Instagram community, thus gaining you more recognition for more followers on Instagram.

Now, you don’t want to overdo tagging because it will become very annoying if your photo isn’t relevant to the other accounts that you are tagging. So it’s best to always use your best judgment. 

14. Stay on topic.

This can be difficult for a lot of people because as humans we are very multifaceted, and we have many different varied interests, however, with regards to Instagram and gaining more followers, you really want to narrow your interests down to two to three subjects tops. The reason for this is, it will cause less confusion for your followers as you grow your account.

15. Post on trending topics.

Don’t forget to post on trending topics on your Instagram account, such as International Women’s Day, Human Rights Day, or National Puppy Day, and so many others. A lot of people are on Instagram on holidays and popular trending days, and you can help people discover your account, very easily this way. Plus, it also helps keep your account current and up-to-date.

16. Keep a consistent schedule & Post at the optimal times.

A lot of people just don’t know what time, is indeed the best time, to share on Instagram.  That’s because Instagram is so global right now.

However, social networking analysts claim that if you stick to posting at identical times a day, your fans might instinctively have a clearer sense of when to expect from you. They’re also going to fall into the habit of going to your account and checking for what’s new regularly, but that’s only if you remain consistent with your delivery.

Now when it comes to determining the right time to post, you can use logic and post when people use Instagram the most like in the mornings, lunchtime, or just before the night rush.

Or you can also be a little more scientific about it and use data from services like Iconosquare. Iconosquare is a data-driven software for Instagram, that will give you peace of mind scheduling, time-saving reporting, and in-depth analytics on when to post for your brand.

17. Switch to a business account, even if it’s personal.

When you switch to an Instagram business account you will gain access to stats and analytics at your fingertips. You’ll also be able to determine when Instagram tells you the best time to post is, you’ll gain insight into who your followers are, their demographic, and where they come from.

18. Reply to your comments.

In the beginning, replying to your comments should be fairly easy to do but as you gain traction and begin to grow, replying to comments will become more and more difficult. Nonetheless, it’s very important to write a genuine reply. These supporters of yours are the very essence of why you got into Instagram. It was to connect with other like-minded people and to change the world hopefully into a better place than when you started.

Doing so will create engagement, a genuine brand message for your new followers to see, and on days that feel extra hard, you can exchange love and kindness to feel a little bit better. 

19. Use Instagram stories & reels to get extra personal.

Instagram Stories/Reels are two great ways to improve your visual marketing strategy and build up your own community!

They are also great resources to help you get to know and appreciate your audience ten times better. Plus, the extra features, that keeps getting updated to the stories and reels sections, also further engage your community because you can leverage your audience’s opinions and useful input to help dictate your next content strategy idea.

You’ll also benefit from Instagram stories and reels in several more ways:

• • You will get more recognition from your existing followers because they’re going to see your face, as the first thing they see when they log into the Instagram feed.
  • The Instagram algorithm secretly favors people who are really active on Instagram stories. Just by using Instagram stories, you’re sending a signal to the algorithm that you should be ranked higher in the feed.

20. Help make the world a better place & Give people value.

Lastly, when it comes to growing your Instagram or anything that you want to do, you have to create meaningful work that helps people!

It’s almost a guarantee that your follower count, won’t be your main goal after you feel how great it feels to really be able to help people.

Because at the end of the day, followers or not, it’s about supporting others and offering people real service, that is of real value. 

After you receive sweet messages like, “Thanks so much for your hard work” or, “This was exactly what I needed today!”, these comments will bring you SO much pleasure and joy to make even more genuine good/helpful content for others.

So make sure that for everything you’re doing or are going to do, make it count, and make sure you’re helping people out while making the planet a happier place.

The value that someone else might possibly gain from your unique passion—-will be priceless — I guarantee it!

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