Compared to a year or two ago, it simply isn’t as easy to get more Instagram followers.
With over 1 billion monthly users, an ultra-smart algorithm, and tons of clever, creative brands on Instagram, it’s a competitive place if you want to grow your account and boost your following.
Thankfully, we know exactly how to make your business stand out, show off your brand, and get more followers on Instagram — so you can work smarter, not harder.
We’re sharing 12 new ways to reach your target audiences and get more Instagram followers in 2020:
How to Get More Instagram Followers:
Growing your Instagram account may not be as easy as it used to be. But there are some strategy tips and tricks you can try out.
In a nutshell (don’t worry, we’ll go into much more detail for each of these points!) here’s how to get more Instagram followers:
- Create an IGTV series
- Work with micro-influencers
- Write longer captions on your posts
- Appear in the related accounts suggestions on Instagram
- Treat your Instagram profile like a homepage
- Post more video on your feed
- Share more selfies (yes, really)
- Promote your Instagram content on other platforms
- Create a custom Instagram Stories filter for your brand
- Collaborate with awesome brands
- Use a branded hashtag to create an Instagram community
- Create memes that resonate with your audience
Ready to jump into the details? We’re giving you the down-low on each of these strategic tips to growing your account and how you can start implementing them in 2020.
Get More Instagram Followers Tip #1: Create an IGTV Series
IGTV isn’t going anywhere for 2020 — in fact, we’re expecting to see a lot more brands jumping on board and getting creative with Instagram video.
Jon Youshaei, Product Marketing Manager of IGTV, said Instagram is building an entire destination right in the Instagram app for people to go and browse.
“We’ve seen so many people go to this destination and find new content,” Jon says.
For viewers, this means that they can intentionally browse and pick a video when they’re in the mood to really engage and pay attention — kind of like how you could browse Netflix to find the perfect program.
So our top prediction for IGTV in 2020 is that brands will start using it as a platform for serial content, and viewers will turn into followers as they tune in for each new episode.
To take advantage of this trend, Jon recommends having a “repeatable theme and style that your audience can expect in every episode.”
Take a look at Lululemon’s Boob Truths series:
@lululemon
The video series features weekly segments on a single topic (how to find the perfect sports bra fit) and is cohesive in terms of set and format.
Plus, with the use of the Countdown sticker in Instagram Stories to promote the launch of each new episode, the execution was nothing short of “IGTV genius,” says Later’s social media strategist, Mel Brittner.
So if you’re thinking about launching your first IGTV series in 2020, now’s the time to start strategically planning so you can grow your following.
Consider what your audience wants to learn or see more of from your profile, and how you can better serve them through video content.
@trinnylondon
And don’t worry about budget — Mel explains that some of the best videos series out there are filmed on a low budget, but hook people in with some clever editing thanks to apps like LumaFusion and InShot!
Want to learn more about building the perfect IGTV strategy for 2020? Get all the insider tips from Jon Youshaei, Product Marketing Manager of IGTV when we chatted to him at LaterCon!
Get More Instagram Followers Tip #2: Work with Micro-influencers
If you’re looking to reach new audiences, Instagram influencer partnerships are by far the best performing platform for brands.
With an average 3.21% engagement rate compared to 1.5% across all social networks, having a strong influencer campaign strategy is a real asset to brands looking to grow on Instagram.
But it’s not just any influencers — brands are starting to sway towards building long lasting partnerships with micro-influencers. Simply because, when done right, micro-influencer marketing works!
Later teamed up with influencer marketing platform Fohr to learn more about influencer marketing trends and how brands can better work with influencer in the future.
And after analyzing influencers’ posts, Fohr found that micro-influencers have the highest engagement rates (averaging at 7%) on their feed posts!
In fact, influencers with 0-25K followers had higher engagement rates regardless of their genre, target audience, or topics.
But what does this mean for growing your brand’s Instagram following?
With a long-term partnership, a brand can build stronger affinity with the influencer’s audience. With regular collaborations, the audience will soon start to build trust in your brand, just as they have with the influencer.
So it’s important to not only find the right influencer to partner with, but to also build a collaboration project that resonates with their audience if you want to gain more followers from your influencer marketing efforts.
Check out how fashion micro-influencer Danielle Ward of @littlefashbird regularly partners with clothing brand Warehouse.
Her long-standing partnership with the brand means that her followers are more welcome to seeing and engaging with her partnership posts.
Plus, with the combination of a discount code, and regular perks for her audience, her followers soon become Warehouse followers too.
Want to learn more about Instagram influencer marketing in 2020? We have a jam-packed industry report to help you plan out your year’s campaigns! Download it now for free!
Get More Instagram Followers Tip #3: Write Longer Captions on Your Posts
If you’re looking to get more followers on Instagram, it’s time to let your audience in.
Instagram used to be all about the visuals — a cohesive aesthetic, high-quality photography, and on-brand images were a must. But the biggest trend for 2020 is authenticity, with long-form captions that allow your audience to learn more about you, your brand, and your mission.
In fact, according to influencer research by Fohr, the average caption length has more than doubled since 2016.
And in 2020, our feeds will be filled with an average caption length of 405 characters — which averages out to be 65-70 words!
Influencers were the first to jump on the trend — Jenna Kutcher, Elise Darma, Quigley Goode, and Sarah Nicole Landry of @thebirdspapaya all share lengthy captions on their posts to give greater insight into their world or to share their knowledge.
But brands are now starting to take advantage of the trend too — especially when it comes to raising awareness for the causes that they stand for.
Take for example Finisterre, the sustainable outdoor clothing and surf brand. Their main mission is help people explore, protect the ocean, and create perfect, eco-friendly attire.
And while the brand tends to alternate with long and short-form captions, they often share little nuggets of insider info on their brand mission and ethos:
When you can share more with your community through your Instagram posts, you can build a stronger relationship with your audience (both new and existing).
It lets your audience be involved, and behind the scenes of our business so you might find you gain new followers, and better retain the audience you already have.
Get More Instagram Followers Tip #4: Appear in the Related Accounts Suggestions on Instagram
This is a majorly under-utilized Instagram hack to growing your following — and one you should definitely try out for 2020!
Instagram offers up a “Suggested for you” list when you visit an Instagram profile — you just have to click the downward arrow underneath the account’s bio:
Instagram curates this list of Instagram profiles based on your interests, who you follow, but also based on that account’s activity.
For example, if you click on the Suggested for you button on Later’s profile, you may find accounts like Instagram for Creators, Canva, Your Social Team and Over — all brands that we regularly engage and communicate with.
The Instagram algorithm can tell that we have a relationship with these brands and thinks that they would be of interest to anyone who follows Later.
You might also spot some of our industry competitors in that list — other social media management platforms or social schedulers.
That’s because Instagram knows we’re in the same industry based on the keywords we have in our Instagram bio, so recognized that we’re all in a related field, and might all be of interest to a new follower.
Appearing in this list is a great way to get more followers — as you may turn up in competitor’s Suggested for you lists, or other profiles that you’re aligned with that someone stumbling upon your profile for the first time might be interested in.
Unfortunately, there’s no scientific way to get on this Suggested for you list — it’s a game of trial and error (and some good luck along the way too!). But there are some things you can do to improve your chances:
#1: Review the Keywords in Your Instagram Name
Did you know that the Name field in your bio is completely separate to your username?
That means you can customize the name field in your Instagram bio, without changing your username or handle.
Check out how Elise Darma has used this name field to reveal more about her business:
The words you include in your name field are actually searchable on Instagram! That means that in the Suggested for you fields, other Instagram marketing influencers and brands will appear in the selection!
So do a quick review of what words you have chosen to use in your name field in your Instagram bio as it could be a real determiner on where and when you appear in the Suggested for you list.
#2: Engage with Complementary Businesses and Brands
Remember that Instagram is first and foremost, a social space. And the best way to let the Instagram algorithm know you have a “relationship” with another account is to like, engage, and comment on other brands’ posts.
Take for example Later and Fohr — while we may have completely different businesses, there is some strong overlap on who our audience is and what they’re interested in. They could be small business owners interested in Instagram marketing, or influencers looking to build relationships with brands.
Plus, we collaborated on special projects and support each other’s work. So it’s easy to see why a new Later follower might also be interested in learning more from Fohr!
Once you’ve discovered what brands you’d like to “be associated with”, all you have to do is start engaging with each others posts — easy!
Get More Instagram Followers Tip #5: Treat Your Instagram Profile Like a Homepage
If you want to get more Instagram followers in 2020 you need to pay attention to what your Instagram profile looks like as a whole.
Your feed is the first opportunity you have to make a great impression and entice people to hit the “follow” button. And since your Instagram profile is becoming as important as your homepage, you want to make sure it looks on point.
When someone visits your Instagram profile, they will decide in seconds whether or not to follow your business. How do they make that decision? By quickly scrolling through your feed, reading your bio, or clicking on your stories highlights.
When it comes to converting visitors into followers, it’s no longer just the editing style of your photos that need to be consistent.
You also want to have a great Instagram profile photo, an effective Instagram bio, active stories, and coordinating cover photos for your Instagram highlights.
Luckily, it’s easy to build a professional-looking feed with a well-curated and cohesive Instagram aesthetic!
@artifactuprising
Gorgeous Instagram aesthetics aren’t a new trend on Instagram. In fact, businesses of every size, from startups to super-brands, are curating their feeds to appeal to new followers.
Your feed doesn’t have to adhere to the all-white, picture-perfect, minimal aesthetic of Instagram to be successful, it just needs to be consistent with your own brand and target market.
Instagram influencer Jasmine Star suggests aiming for 9-12 different content categories to make up your profile’s feed, and to alternate between them when planning out your grid.
Why? Because when we start to think of our Instagram content in grid-format, 9-12 categories is the magic number that represents each post in your feed as a new follower scrolls through your profile.
@jasminestar
So when a visitor lands on your profile and knows exactly what they can expect to see on your feed, they’re much more likely to hit that “follow” button.
Of course, your aesthetic now extends to your Instagram Stories and IGTV videos too — everything you post to your profile should all have a cohesive and complementary design theme.
Check out how jewelry brand Chupi have matched their grid and Instagram Stories aesthetic to their IGTV videos perfectly:
So whether you’re posting on Instagram Stories, publishing an IGTV video, or creating highlights for your profile page, you need to make sure everything aligns with and represents your overall branding and Instagram aesthetic.
You can plan the look of your Instagram feed and aesthetic by using an Instagram marketing platform like Later for free.
Later makes it easy to schedule your posts ahead of time, and you can drag and drop your posts on the visual planner to create the best look and feel for your brand.
Here are some tips for nailing your aesthetic from every Instagram angle:
Tip #1: Get to Know Adobe Lightroom
Lightroom is super powerful when it comes to editing and enhancing your photography, and you can download and use the mobile app for free.
Purchasing Lightroom presets from professional photographers is a great investment in not only making your Instagram feed look great but getting more Instagram followers too. You can find some of our favorite Lightroom presets in this blog post!
No idea where to start with Lightroom? Photographer Maddy Corbin walks you through every step of how to use Lightroom presets in our video below, or you can read the steps here.
Tip #2: Use Instagram Stories Templates
If you regularly post on Instagram Stories (which you should be!) you might want to start using Instagram Stories templates this year. This will help make your stories more uniform and complementary to your feed posts.
There are tons of different apps like Canva, Unfold, and Over that can help you with creating templates.
We love using templates so much that Later teamed up with StoryLuxe to create Instagram Stories templates for you to use!
Tip #3: Introduce Your Brand Through Instagram Stories Highlights
The highlights on your Instagram profile give you an opportunity to court new followers with your best content and give them a sense of what your business is all about.
Here at Later, we created a series of stories specifically for our Instagram Stories highlights, so that even if visitors didn’t follow us, they would still be able to learn about the benefits of using Later.
We make sure to always keep our highlights up to date, especially when we’re launching something new and exciting.
We also created highlights for other features like our downloadable freebies, content planning, analytics, and blog posts.
Not sure what to post on your highlights? Think of your Instagram highlights like landing pages on your website. If you’re an online store, you could create separate highlights for dresses, tops, and shoes, or sort them by collection, and then create other highlights for FAQs or shipping information.
Don’t forget to make sure that both your Instagram Stories content and the icons you’re using for your cover images are in line with your overall Instagram aesthetic!
Ready to plan your feed and grow your Instagram in 2020? Sign up for Later – it’s free! Design an Instagram aesthetic, schedule your posts, and track your growth with analytics:
Get More Instagram Followers Tip #6: Post More Video on Your Feed
Video is the future of Instagram and a ton of brands are now creating long-form video content for IGTV and their feed to drive real business results.
IGTV is super-immersive and, thanks to some recent changes, more closely connected to Instagram so it’s easy to align your Instagram audience with your IGTV content.
Plus, video content tends to get more traction on your feed — more engagement and eyes on your video posts could result in more followers!
Thanks to the new IGTV preview feature for the grid, it’s even easier to double-up your efforts and make the most of your video content.
And don’t forget! If your IGTV video appears on the Explore page, it gets 4x more space on the page than a photo post — so all eyes will be on your videos!
Video content is here to stay, so if you want to start growing your profile, you need to start incorporating more video content in your Instagram strategy.
Want to learn more about Instagram video? We have the Ultimate Guide for everything you need to know about IGTV, Instagram Stories and feed videos!
Get More Instagram Followers Tip #7: Share More Selfies (Yes, Really)
There’s no denying that Instagram is still a very social place. And people want to follow accounts that they can relate to, regardless of whether that’s a brand, influencers, or person they went to high school with.
So it’s important to make your Instagram account as personable and relatable as possible, and really show off what your business and brand is all about if you want to get more Instagram followers.
This all tied back to 2020’s biggest trend — authentic content! Plus, did you know that photos with faces get 38% more likes on Instagram?
@everlane
One of the easiest ways to introduce new audiences to your brand is through video. You can immediately set the tone, share some behind-the-scenes footage, and show off what sets your brand apart.
Mejuri is a great example of a brand that shows off its ethos and business through Instagram Stories and videos. With regular appearances from the brand’s founder, designers, and wider business team, you really get to know and love the whole brand!
If you follow Later on Instagram, you might spot the team popping up to announce new courses, tools and features, or just to say hello
@latermedia
In 2020, people want to know the people behind the brand, just as much as the business and products.
Plus, there’s no better spokesperson for your business than your employees! Why not ask your team to post and share content about your business plans, launches or special campaigns this year?
If you can get your team involved in creating company content for your brand, it adds more personality and behind-the-scenes insights for your followers. You may find your page will be seen by new audiences that already have connections with your employees and have an interest in your brand!
Feeling a little camera shy? Don’t fret! Everyone who starts out doing to-camera style videos feels just the same! Remember that you’re showing more to your audience with your vulnerability and honesty, and the more often you do it, the easier it will become.
So next time you’re crafting an Instagram story, or planning an IGTV video, think about including more face-to-face screen time and introducing your followers (both old and new) to your brand.
Get More Instagram Followers Tip #8: Promote Your Instagram Content on Other Platforms
If you want to get more Instagram followers, it’s time to think about your Instagram strategy as a part of your wider marketing efforts and look at how you can grow outside of the Instagram app.
Instead, think about how your other marketing channels — like your website, email newsletter, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest — can lead your audience to your Instagram page.
Cross-promoting your Instagram content on other channels is a really easy way to guide your existing followers to your Instagram page (where they’re likely to tap follow as they already know your brand!) or introduce yourself to new audiences if they’ve found you from a different platform.
Here are a couple of tips on how to start cross-promoting your Instagram content on other platforms:
#1: Integrate Your Instagram Feed into Your Website Design
This is such a simple change that could really help you get more Instagram followers.
If you’re hosting your website on WordPress, there are tons of different plugins that can help you integrate your Instagram feed into your website.
@theannaedit
Now every visitor that comes to your website will see your beautiful Instagram aesthetic and might just want to see more and follow!
#2: Invite Audiences to ‘Find out More’ on Instagram
If you have a platform, like YouTube, for example, that’s really thriving with an engaged audience, you can use this follower-power to invite audiences to check out your Instagram feed, especially if you’re sharing something exclusive there.
For example, if you are a fashion brand, you could share a preview of your new collection on YouTube and invite your viewers to check out the big reveal of the whole collection on Instagram Stories on a specific date.
#3: Add Your Instagram to Your Email Marketing Campaigns
Whether you have a small footer with links to your social accounts, or send an entire email focused on increasing your followers, don’t ignore the power of your email list if you want to get more Instagram followers!
Ps. If you want to join our newsletter (it’s jam-packed full of Instagram marketing trends, tips and advice on how to grow your brand!) you can sign up here!
Get More Instagram Followers #9: Create a Custom Instagram Stories Filter For Your Brand
“Augmented Reality,” or AR for short, may seem like space-age jargon, but it’s kicking off in a BIG way on Instagram.
What started out as cute puppy ears or heart filters on Instagram Stories, has now evolved into a whole library of thousands of filters that level-up your stories content.
Apart from the content and AR creators on Instagram who have used Facebook’s Spark AR Studio to create camera-effect, color grading and fun face-altering filters, we’ve spotted plenty of brands getting on board the trend too.
We’ve seen creative AR Instagram Stories filters from brands like Kylie Cosmetics, Rihanna, Gucci Beauty, Adidas, and Summer Fridays.
@summerfridays
With just a simple cloud background, Summer Fridays have created a fun, highly usable and on-brand filter for their followers. It’s even named after their best selling facemask, Jet Lag.
And that’s not all — AR filters are now helping people shop with Instagram!
As reported by Vogue, Scandinavian retailer Carlings is using Instagram to create a digital shopping experience for their followers and fans.
After creating a sold-out digital clothing collection last year, Carlings has now released the €40 “Last Statement” T-shirt — the logo triggers various designs that appear on Instagram through augmented reality filters!
Image: @vogue & @vice
While shoppable AR filters may not be achievable to every brand, the real benefit to having a custom Instagram Stories filter is that when someone uses your filter, their viewers can see who created it in the top left hand corner of the screen.
From here, a viewer can tap on the filter name or the creator, and be able to try on the filter for themselves.
It’s a creative way to get more Instagram followers and get your filter in front of a new audience in a lighthearted and fun way.
Ready to take the leap in AR? Here are a few tips when creating a custom Instagram Stories filter for your brand:
#1: Make it Shareable
Remember that every time someone uses your AR filter, your brand name will be across the top of the post, along with a prompt from Instagram to try it out!
But if you really want to encourage more shares, take some inspiration from Instagram’s AR filter collaboration with Maddie Ziegler to promote kindness.
When selected in selfie mode, the filter causes hearts to fill the screen, and you’ll be prompted to tag a friend you want to support.
A simple call-to-action like this could make all the difference to the number of shares you see with your AR filter!
#2: Include Your Branding
Without going into a full-blown sales pitch, you want to make sure you’re including some element of your business branding in your AR filter.
This will help boost your brand recognition and provide a friendly reminder to new audiences of who created the filter. Adidas does this really well with their AR filter!
#3: Keep it Fun
Some of the best AR filters are the simplest — they’re just there to add a little fun to your Instagram Stories.
Check out how Disney has nailed the fun filter game by including cute Minnie and Mickey Mouse ears to their AR filter.
Get More Followers on Instagram #10: Collaborate With Awesome Brands
The power of a collaboration or a co-marketing campaign for your business is huge!
Teaming up with like-minded and complimentary business and brands will introduce your profile to a new and engaged audience you may never have reached before.
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.
Plus, co-marketing campaigns don’t have to be complicated or costly! What’s more important is who you partner with. You want to make sure that you have a mutually beneficial partnership and that both your audiences will benefit from your collaboration efforts.
We chatted to Jess Ruhfus, founder of Collabosaurus, a marketing tool that connects brands for clever collaborations and partnership, for her insights on the trends.
“Brand-by-brand collaborations can be incredibly powerful,” says Jess.
“In our experience, a brand-by-brand partnership can double your organic reach without any monetary spend. And they’re up to 25x less expensive than digital advertising!”
And some of the best collaborations come from brands and businesses that are in completely different industries!
While some brands have set no limits for their collaboration efforts — take for example Barbie and Airbnb’s collaboration to create a real-life Malibu Dreamhouse:
Others have kept things simple, like Alfred Coffee and Ritual teaming up to create cute, colorful and on-brand coffee sleeves for their customers:
And don’t worry if you’re not an Instagram giant like Airbnb, Alfred or Barbie yet, even smaller brands under the 10k mark can still benefit from collaborations.
Instagram Stories takeovers, co-written blog posts or eBooks and co-hosting Instagram Live sessions and IGTV videos are easy and quick ways to create a co-marketing campaign that could make a real difference to your followers this year.
Get More Instagram Followers Tip #11: Use a Branded Hashtag to Create an Instagram Community
Branded Instagram hashtags are a great way to help spread the word about your business, find content created about you by your followers, create a community around your business, and attract new followers.
In fact, according to a study by Simply Measured, 70% of the most-used hashtags on Instagram are branded hashtags created by businesses.
A branded hashtag is a hashtag that’s unique to your business. It can be as simple as your company name, tagline, or the name of one of your products or campaigns.
Or it can be a hashtag that has nothing to do with your brand name, but has everything to do with your brand identity. A great example is Herschel’s #WellTravelled hashtag, which the global accessory brand uses to encourage their fans to upload photos of the adventures they experience around the world.
Some brands, like Airbnb use branded hashtags to curate their whole feed by reposting and sharing their fans’ photos, videos, and stories with a strong strategy in hand.
Using the hashtag #airbnbphotos, the Airbnb social team is able to find and share images of their stays to their Instagram feed. The result is a curate Instagram feed made up entirely of user-generated content (UGC).
@airbnb
So if you’re looking to grow your business (especially within younger demographics) UGC can seriously help skyrocket your sales and build true brand loyalty.
In fact, UGC is so important when it comes to successfully marketing your business online, that Later has created some great tools and features to help you find, organize, and schedule user-generated content in minutes!
From easily finding content you’ve been tagged or mentioned in, to reposting content from your brand’s fans and loyal followers, Later has you covered!
Get More Instagram Followers Tip #12: Create Memes That Resonate with Your Audience
Brands have realized the power of clever Instagram memes, especially when it comes to building brand identity, driving product interest, and getting more followers.
While most of us will immediately recognize a meme when we see one, nailing down a definition is surprisingly difficult to do.
In the broadest sense possible, a meme is any piece of media that passes from person-to-person on the internet. They usually have some kind of cultural relevance, they’re often funny or clever, and they typically feature a combination of text and imagery (this can be a photo, a GIF, or even a video).
Take for example Later’s recent take on ultra-popular Netflix show You, and the power of Instagram analytics:
But while they may be difficult to define, there’s one thing that’s for certain: memes are really popular on Instagram — like really, really popular.
Some brands like @girlboss and @hellosunshine have acquired millions of Instagram followers thanks to their witty and playful use of memes in their Instagram strategy.
But there’s still the challenge of integrating memes into your grid without compromising your aesthetic.
Jordan Hughes, Social Media Lead at Ritual explains that it’s all about honoring your brand’s color palette as you design and integrate a meme into your feed.
“Just adding those little elements, like our brand colors or signature layout from our creative team, makes it still look low-fi and organic, but recognizable as our content.”
Just by injecting a little element of fun into your day-to-day content can do wonders in converting your audience into loyal followers!
Want to learn more about how memes can increase your follower count and improve engagement? Check out this blog post where we run through how you can start using memes to your business advantage.
Growing your Instagram account can often seem like a challenge, but if you follow the right techniques and strategies, you could definitely get more Instagram followers in 2020!
Remember it’s a combination of creative content, targeting the right audiences, and promoting your business in the right way. Try out some of these tips in 2020 and see how much your account can grow this year!
Ready to grow your Instagram following in 2020? Sign up for Later to plan, schedule and post to Instagram and track your progress with Later’s Analytics!
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