As of 2015, Instagram has recorded a massive 400 million users.As of 2015, Instagram has recorded a massive 400 million users. It’s growing at a faster rate than any other social media platform, so it’s not something to be ignored. Most brands and businesses can benefit from having an Instagram account, especially if your brand is quite visual.

Sharing your first image on Instagram can be exciting yet disheartening at the same time. You might not get the initial reaction you expected. Your first few images may only be seen by a handful of people and you may not see your likes and follows grow too quickly. At this point you might feel like giving up on Instagram altogether. However, it would be a shame for your business or brand to pass up on the opportunities Instagram can offer if used correctly.

We’ve come up with 10 ways on how you can increase your followers and likes on Instagram.

Research Hashtags

Choosing the right hashtags can help get you noticed in the right places. Do some research on popular hashtags and start using them. Make sure they’re relevant to what your brand is about. You could also check what tags your competitors are using to get noticed. Using the same tags puts you in front of the same audience.

Bio

Instagram only allow for 150 characters in your bio, so think carefully about what you say. Make sure to mention who you are and what you do. This is the first thing people see when they find your profile so make sure it’s clear and to the point. Your bio is also the only place that Instagram allow you to put in a clickable link. Make good use of it by linking to your own website.

Promote

When you set up your Instagram account make sure to reach out to your existing friends and followers on other social media platforms you’re using, like Facebook and Twitter.

Engage

Engaging your audience is one of the best things you can do to gain new followers. When sharing a photo, ask your audience to do something, like ‘Leave a comment and let me know what you think‘ or tell them a bit about the photo leaving the option open for questions.

Don’t go on a liking spree to try get attention. This isn’t real engagement. Instead try to interact with other users, and thank them for their comments on your images.

Another no-no is commenting on other peoples post with ‘great‘, ‘wow‘, ‘love‘. Sometimes this can appear spammy as certain spam profiles can do exactly that. Instead write a positive sentence or two to show you’re human. It will seem more natural and meaningful that way. There’s a good chance the author will become curious to see who you are and maybe even follow you in return.

Post Regular

It’s entirely up to you how often you post on Instagram but it’s best to keep it consistent. Whether you post 3 times a day or 3 times a week try keep the consistency going. You don’t want people to forget who you are. You’ll gain more attention and build up a larger following over time from doing this. I don’t recommend posting more than 3-4 times a day, you don’t want to annoy people by filling up their feed.

Location

Switch your location on. People in your area will be able to connect with you that way.

Time

Figure out what times work best for you. It’s all about trial and error. I find the best time to post is mid week, but this can vary for everyone. Monitor your engagement overtime to see when your users are most active.

Filters

Filters are  a good way of giving your photos an extra boost but if they’re overused they can also make your images look bad. Experiment with different filters and see what works. Some research suggests that not using filters can actually create more engagement.

Images

Use your own images, don’t ever take another person’s image and claim it as your own unless you’ve gotten permission. Create a portfolio of high quality images that are relevant to your brand. Nice images are what keeps your audience engaged for longer. If you’re not very artistic there’s plenty of free photo editing options online to help you with your images. PicMonkey is a great tool for doing exactly that.

Analyse

Analysing your Instagram should be just as important as posting images. You should be monitoring engagement, times of day people interact, who’s following you, popular hashtags,progression etc on a regular basis. Iconosquare  is a fantastic tool that allows you to do just that and more.

To Wrap Up

By following these 10 tips you’re sure to see more followers and likes in no time.

If you don’t have an Instagram account yet and would like to set one up, read our article on Creating an Instagram Account . If you’re already familiar with Instagram check out our article on 12 Mistakes You’re Making On Instagram.