This article teaches how to get the first 1000 followers on Instagram. While growing your follower base without breaking the bank isn't an exact science, there are a few strategies you can use to make your profile more attractive to other users.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Optimizing the Profile
Step 1. Choose a theme for your profile
Themes serve two important purposes: They allow you to target and organize your photos, as well as ensure that users always know the general style of the content they will see on your profile. People will also be able to get an idea of your personality.
Themes also help simplify the content creation process, because having limits to respect is often better than total freedom
Step 2. Add a relevant and informative bio
You should mention your theme, your website (if you have one), and something interesting about yourself or your art process.
- We all have a motivation that makes the way or why we do things interesting; find your element of originality and quote it in the biography!
- You can also add tags to your bio if there are specific tags associated with your content.
Step 3. Choose an eye-catching profile picture
If there's a photo that captures the essence of your theme, content, and personality, use it. Otherwise, find an image that comes close; people should be able to look at your profile picture, your bio, and get an idea of what to expect.
Step 4. Connect your Instagram profile to social networks
You can connect Instagram to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and other platforms, so you can post your Instagram information on all the sites you frequent. In this way you will attract followers among the people who already follow you on other social networks and you will have greater visibility.
Step 5. Never make your Instagram posts private
When trying to increase your follower base, one of the downsides is that you can't protect your profile from people you don't know, otherwise you will alienate potential followers. Make sure your account is public, easy to follow and you will see that followers will arrive.
Part 2 of 3: Engaging Other Users
Step 1. Follow people who share your interests
It is not a mistake to follow as many people as possible in the hope that they will return the favor, but especially focus on the accounts that post content that inspires you. Those profiles are more likely to decide to follow you in turn, so you'll optimize your time than following any user indiscriminately.
Step 2. Like people's photos
For every 100 likes, you'll get about 8 followers, assuming you choose medium account photos and not celebrities.
While you probably won't be able to reach 1000 followers with this method alone, it's a good start
Step 3. Leave meaningful comments on the photos
It is known that commenting on other users' images leads to an increase in followers. Unfortunately, this means that many people write one- or two-word comments in hopes of being followed. By leaving a well-constructed message, the chances of the creator deciding to become your follower increase.
For example, on a photo of a personal office built with DIY, you can write "Wow, I love your new office! I'd like to see a guide to how you built it!", Instead of "Nice" or "It looks good"
Step 4. Write messages to users with few followers
In some cases, it's best to leave a nice message to people posting content you like; Not only will you make them happy, but you will also encourage them to follow you, especially if you are already their follower.
- Remember that sending someone a message can be interpreted as an invasion of their privacy. Write politely and respectfully when you contact another user.
- Never ask another user to follow you.
Step 5. Publish regularly
You could only post once a week and that wouldn't be a problem! However, try to always follow the same pattern (or even increase your frequency from time to time), in order to meet the expectations of your followers. You will lose following if your content arrives too late.
- This tip is more useful for maintaining your current following rather than expanding it.
- Try not to post more than a couple of times a day.
Step 6. Publish at the right time of day
In the morning (7: 00-9: 00), early afternoon (11: 00-14: 00) and late afternoon (17: 00-19: 00) are the moments of greatest activity on Instagram, so try to exploit them publishing at those times.
- These times are based on the Italian time zone, so please adjust accordingly if you are abroad.
- If you can't keep to those times, don't worry; several studies have shown that publishing in those time slots is useful, but not essential.
Part 3 of 3: Tagging the Photos
Step 1. Use tags in all your photos
The easiest way to do this is to write a description, leave a few spaces underneath (usually using periods as a separation), then enter all relevant tags.
Step 2. Experiment with the most popular tags
On sites like https://top-hashtags.com/instagram/ you can find the list of the 100 most used hashtags of the day, so try to include some in the descriptions of your posts.
- Remember that some tags are so used that they make your post harder to find.
- Don't use popular tags exclusively.
Step 3. Create your own hashtag
If you wish, you can create a hashtag yourself or use one that is not used often. Try to insert it in all your posts, as if it were a signature for your profile.
Step 4. Use a geotag for your photos
With the geotag Include the geographic location where the photo was taken in the post, so that everyone who is nearby can find it.
Step 5. Don't use irrelevant tags
Do not include tags in the description of the photo that do not represent it in any way, as this practice is often considered spam.
Advice
- The road to reaching 1000 followers must be followed one step at a time. Don't be in a hurry, follow the strategies described in the article and you will get there.
- The more proactive you are on Instagram, the sooner you will start developing your user base.
- Post as often as possible, but don't resort to spam. Don't post content every hour or one per minute; it would just be annoying and users might decide not to follow you.
- Like other people's posts, especially those with few followers.
Warnings
- Never bully on Instagram or any social platform; people would see your true nature and stop following you and talking to you.
- Never post a photo of a person without their consent.
- Do not post many photos at the same time, nor the same image multiple times.
