12 Ways to Get Instagram Followers in 2022!

As a brand, starting fresh on Instagram can be tricky. How do I get Instagram followers are questions we’ve all asked ourselves at one point or another.

Getting more Instagram followers should be a top priority for any business that uses Instagram for marketing, but it’s not as easy as it once was.

But how?

The days of shortcuts like buying followers or using bots are over. These tricks might boost your follower count for a short time, but they won’t do you any favors long-term.

That’s because the only truly valuable Instagram followers are real people who care about and engage with your brand.

Fortunately, there are lots of Instagram growth hacks to take advantage of.

Read on to discover our 12 ways to authentically get more followers in 2022

Table of Contents

#1. Have a thoughtful Instagram marketing strategy

To use any social network effectively, you need a clear plan.

Getting more Instagram followers is a great goal to start with. But followers alone won’t give you a successful Instagram account. Gaining followers needs to be part of a larger plan that connects to your business strategy and social marketing objectives.

Think about the reasons why you want more Instagram followers. What do you really hope to accomplish? Maybe you want to:

increase brand awareness
boost product sales
drive traffic to your website.

Staying focused on these business-oriented goals will help keep your Instagram account consistent. It will help you tell a compelling brand story that appeals to new profile visitors and helps build (and keep) a loyal following.

#2. Define your target audience

Ask yourself some questions about who you are trying to reach:

How old are they?
Where do they live?
What do they do for work?
When and how do they use Instagram?
What are their pain points and challenges?

Answering these questions will help you craft the right kind of Instagram content to reach the people on Instagram who are most likely to give you a follow. It will also keep you focused on the needs of your target audience so you can consistently deliver the type of content that makes them want to keep following you for the long term.

#3. Use Instagram Reels

If you aren’t sharing to Instagram Reels yet, you could be missing out on a huge opportunity to get Instagram followers.

Since Instagram Reels are available for anyone to view from the new Reels tab (as long as the Reel is shared from a public account), even users who don’t follow your account can discover your content.

Sharing your Reel to both your feed and the Reels page is an incredible way to increase your reach well beyond your followers and possibly go viral.

There are also plenty of creative ways to use Instagram Reels for your business — we’ve seen businesses use them to share tips and tricks, how-to videos, go behind-the-scenes, and more.

#4. Use keywords to appear in searches

Before people can follow you on Instagram, they have to find you. Not a lot of the text on Instagram is searchable. In fact, only two fields on Instagram contribute to search results: name and username.

Your username is your Instagram handle. It’s a good idea to make it consistent with the handle you use on other social networks, since this also makes it easier for people to find you. Use your brand name or a variation of your name that people are likely to use when searching for your brand.

Your name can be anything you like, up to 30 characters. Keyword stuffing is never a good idea, but it can be useful to include your most relevant keyword in the name field to improve discoverability based on the search.

#5. Use relevant hashtags to reach new users

We just said that the text of your Instagram posts isn’t searchable. But hashtags do appear in Instagram searches. That means using hashtags thoughtfully can be a good way to get followers on Instagram for free.

Including relevant hashtags can help people find your content after a search, or after clicking on a hashtag from another relevant post. Instagram users can also follow hashtags, so your hashtagged content may appear in feeds of people who do not yet follow your account.

You can include up to 30 hashtags in an Instagram post, but hashtags are often more effective based on quality rather than quantity. Do some experimenting to learn how many hashtags work best for your particular account.

Avoid hashtag gimmicks such as #likeforlike, #tagsforlikes, or #followme. These may give you a temporary boost in followers. But they will likely be bots or people only interested in being followed back. And that won’t help you build a meaningful, engaged audience on Instagram.

Instead, focus on using highly targeted hashtags specific to your photo, product, or business.

#6. Optimize your Instagram bio and profile

Two-thirds of Instagram business profile visits are from non-followers. Those new visitors are all potential new free Instagram followers—but only if your bio and profile convince them to click the follow button. They won’t do so if your profile is unclear, incomplete, or unappealing.

In addition to the name and username fields mentioned above, your profile includes your website (a clickable link) and your bio.

Make the most of the 150 characters in your bio to convey your brand identity and show new visitors why they should follow you. What kind of content can they expect?

If you have a professional account (business or Creator), you can also include additional details in your profile, like your contact information, type of business, and location. Make use of all the fields that are relevant to your business to give new visitors all the information they need to decide to follow.

#7. Promote your Instagram account on other networks

The most important way to get followers on instagram for free is to make it easy for people to find you.

Your Instagram profile should be easily discoverable. If you’ve already built a following on another social network, let those fans know about your Instagram account.

Share a link to your Instagram profile and give your existing social followers a reason to check it out. (Like an Instagram-exclusive coupon code, event, or contest.)

If you’re just starting your Instagram account, make sure to post some content before you promote the account elsewhere. Aim for a minimum of 12 posts.

You could also highlight some of the best Instagram posts on your other social channels. Consider boosting these posts with paid advertising to ensure that more of your Facebook, Twitter, and other social followers find and follow you on Instagram.

#8. Brand Collaborations

The power of a collaboration or a co-marketing campaign for your business is huge — it’s quickly becoming one of the most popular ways to get Instagram followers.

Teaming up with like-minded businesses and brands will introduce your profile to a new and engaged audience.

So when an Instagram user discovers your profile through a co-marketing effort, they’re likely to hit that follow button if they have similar interests or are the right demographic for your brand.

What’s more important is who you partner with. You want to make sure that you have a mutually beneficial partnership that will benefit both of your audiences.

#9. Embrace Instagram Stories

We’ve mentioned Stories in several of the tips already, but it’s worth calling this feature out specifically. Simply put, if you want more Instagram followers, you need to use Instagram Stories. Half a billion Instagram accounts use Stories every day, and 45% of the most-viewed Stories are from businesses

People who use Stories are highly engaged. According to Instagram, one in three stories results in a direct message.

Use the hashtag and location features in your stories to expose them to people who do not already follow you. This is still an underused way to get followers on Instagram for free.

#10. Optimize Your Instagram Posts

Are you paying attention to your captions, the hashtags you use, when you’re posting, and more?

Creating “better” Instagram posts takes more work but it can help draw more attention to your account and help you get more Instagram followers.

First, we recommend using a range of post types, from photo and video posts to carousels.

The benefit of diversifying your Instagram content is that you can track your metrics to look for patterns. For example, if you notice that your carousel posts get more engagement and drive more new followers, you can focus on creating more.

#11. Post More Consistently

There’s no denying the importance of consistency on Instagram.

By keeping to a regular posting schedule, you’re essentially letting your followers know what to expect from you. It builds a consistent experience for your audience.

Posting more consistently can also help with your Instagram engagement. When your followers expect you to post, they’re more likely to interact and engage with your content.

You’ll be more top of mind and, thanks to the algorithm, top of their feeds too.

That being said, keeping a consistent posting schedule isn’t always the easiest to do. Life sometimes gets in the way and that post that was supposed to go out on Tuesday — well, it’s getting pushed further and further into the week.

#12. Consider advertising on Instagram

Okay, this isn’t exactly a way to get free Instagram followers. But Instagram ads can be a powerful way to reach new followers, fast, by getting your content in front of people who would otherwise not see it.

And unlike buying followers, using Instagram ads is a totally legitimate and effective way to get more Instagram followers quickly with a small investment.

Target your audience by location, demographics, and even key behaviors and interests. You can also create a lookalike audience based on the people who already interact with your business.

Besides the feed, you can advertise in Instagram Stories and the Explore feed.

A much better strategy is to post great content on a less frequent basis!

With over 1 billion monthly active users on Instagram, it’s no surprise that getting more Instagram followers is a big priority for most businesses.

Ready to get more Instagram followers? Follow these steps above and start visually planning and scheduling your content!