How to gain more followers on Social Media
By Dhanya Bajpe
Instagram, as we know, is perhaps one of the most used social media of all, right behind Twitter, and on par with Facebook. Most of the younger generation prefers to use Instagram for its outlook on aesthetics and themed yet easily maneuverable features. From incorporating the very basic feature of messaging and inbox, and its ever changing theme enabled chat boxes, to the recent and more popular update of reels, based on the famous millennial and gen Z app, Tiktok, Instagram certainly doesn’t lag behind when it comes to trends. Based on these features, users incorporate their own social media skills and subtle yet convincing aspects of digital marketing, and obtain more popularity. This is perhaps the math behind becoming a social media influencer.
Now, how do you gain more followers in the first place, apart from the obvious personal contacts? Here, are a few ways to improve the number of fan following on your Instagram account:
- Optimize your account:
We all know how unattractive a user account can be, without each detail filled or customized into something attractive. Heck, we rarely accept or send follow requests to an account where the profile picture is missing or there isn’t much to look at, don’t we?! Thus, the most basic rule to gain more followers is to have an attractive user page. Any bit of creativity is always appreciated, and as long as you keep it well above the “cringe” line, it would be a decent start! However, we must remember that in this case, we aren’t merely trying to optimize an account, but also attract followers. Thus, it is necessary to have an original identity. Whether it is your brand that you’re trying to sell, or whether you’re trying to establish your content amongst your followers, it is important to have a set goal and a set base as to what your page is about.
- Consistency of posts:
It is necessary to be both punctual and consistent when it comes to posting content on your page. A page with increased consistency and punctuality attracts more followers, because who doesn’t like regularity! It is also recommended to schedule any event such as going live, or attending any major event, or even celebrating your own birthday, especially in the case of a content creator. Brand pages must necessarily try to incorporate give away or discounts in order to attract more consumers. After all, it is important to market your products in a consumer oriented approach. Of course this doesn’t mean you always host such events. After all, monetary value is necessary to support livelihood.
- Brand advocators and their importance:
It is quite necessary to be appealing to the consumer market when it comes to selling any merchandise or products of your own. However, a lucrative option would be to incorporate already popular and famous user accounts, like social media influencers, to popularize any product of yours. Marketing skills are extremely important, y’all! Approach them, and upon establishing a connection, send them your products for free (something which they prefer of course!) Establishing connections plays a huge role in you promoting your page as well.
- Beware of fake followers!
There are several apps out there that add a large number of followers to your profile, all for a small monetary value. However, these ‘followers’ generally tend to be bots. We all know how annoying bots are! It might be tempting to gain followers so easily, but you must remember that it isn’t just ‘gaining’ followers for a number, but also to interact with them. Fake accounts don’t tend to comment or like on your posts, thus, leaving a huge gap between the number of followers and the number of interactions. Fake accounts also don’t tend to buy anything, which might lower your profit.
- Promote your account:
Obviously, if you do not promote your page, you won’t gain many followers. This is where the use of hashtags comes in. Hashtags not only widen your user approach and draw in more followers, but also widen your very field of account usage. It is however, advisable to create a customized hashtag, to enable more user outlook to your account. You can also link more social media buttons, to broaden the follower range. Promote your ‘new’ social media account on every single social media you own!
- Keep track of what your followers want:
The phrase “the customer is always right” applies to social media content creation and brand promotion as well! In order to increase your consumer reach and sustain the number of your followers, it is important to post regularly within the range of their interest. This is where tools related to Instagram analytics pop in, as they help you discover the target field of popularity amongst users. This makes it easier to track and benchmark Instagram contents. According to the 2020 Sprout Social Index, consumers want to engage with visual-first content like photos (68%) and video (50%), followed by 30% who want to engage with text posts. Thus, apart from posting regularly and consistently, it is important to also engage actively with your followers. This also makes your followers happy, and as we know, a happy follower is equal to a happy user!
Now that you’ve seen all these tips, go ahead and make the best of your account following! What are you waiting for?!
