Proven techniques to build your Instagram audience (no shady stuff)

Growing an audience remains one of the biggest social media marketing challenges for businesses of any size today. Many brands view Instagram as a land of opportunity, filled with potential customers eager to buy their products or services. Yet, the average Instagram business account only grows its following by 1.69% each month. It doesn’t matter if you’re mom-and-pop or a big box with an endless advertising budget — getting new Instagram followers isn’t as easy as throwing up a shiny commercial on social media and watching the sales roll in — it’s way more complicated than that. Instagram users just don’t give that precious Follow to anyone these days. 

Great content is essential, but it’s wasted if there’s no audience to appreciate it (and learn about your products). To reach the right people, you need to attract new followers consistently. With a broader audience, you can expect:

• Increased engagement
• Enhanced brand awareness
• More sales
• Higher revenue

Some 90% of Instagram users follow at least one brand on the platform, and 200 million visit at least one business profile daily. That’s a massive opportunity.

The Changing Face of Instagram Marketing

Understanding and leveraging emerging Instagram features is crucial to stand out in such a crowded field of Instagram users. Instagram continues to prioritize Reels and video content, pushing them even harder in users’ feeds. That means your social media strategy should include short-form videos to capitalize on reach and engagement. Additionally, Instagram’s updated algorithm in 2024 now rewards user interactions — likes, saves, and comments — more than ever, so optimizing your content to encourage these actions is super vital.

And don’t overlook Instagram’s expansion into social commerce. Features like the in-app Shop and shoppable tags, enhanced for 2024, allow businesses to create seamless purchase experiences. Brands that use these tools effectively drive that follower count up and turn passive scrollers into paying customers. 

When a small business wants to increase its Instagram followers, it needs to approach the task with a well-defined strategy and an understanding of its target audience. Here are some essential considerations:

1. Define Your Brand Identity and Audience: Knowing who you are as a brand and who you want to attract is crucial. Craft a consistent brand voice, aesthetic, and messaging that aligns with your audience’s values and interests. Use Instagram Insights to analyze your current followers’ demographics and engagement patterns. Then, tailor your content to speak directly to that group while staying visually cohesive and on-brand.
2. Create High-Quality, Value-Driven Content: Instagram is a visual platform, so it’s essential to produce high-quality images, videos, and graphics. Content should provide value to your audience through educational posts, entertaining Reels, or behind-the-scenes Stories. Keep up with trends, use hashtags strategically, and ensure your content has a consistent theme and style. Posts that showcase authenticity and originality are more likely to gain traction and followers.
3. Engage Consistently and Meaningfully: Engagement is a two-way street. Don’t just post content and disappear—respond to comments, like posts from others in your niche, and engage with your followers’ content. The more genuine interaction you show, the more likely users are to follow back. Use Instagram Stories, Q&A stickers, and polls to invite interaction and build a sense of community around your brand.
4. Leverage Instagram’s Tools and Features: Instagram provides a suite of tools designed to increase visibility and engagement. Use Reels to take advantage of Instagram’s push for short-form video content, or go Live to connect with your audience in real time. Incorporate Instagram Shopping and shoppable tags if you’re a product-based business to reduce friction in the purchasing process. Experiment with content types, like carousel posts and IGTV, to see what resonates most with your audience.
5. Collaborate with Influencers and Partner Accounts: Partnering with influencers and complementary brands can amplify your reach significantly. When collaborating with influencers, choose those who align with your brand values and have a robust and engaged community. A well-executed collaboration can introduce your brand to a broader audience, bringing in new, relevant followers.
6. Optimize Your Profile and Use Strong CTAs: Your profile should clearly communicate your business. Use a recognizable profile picture, write a compelling bio that tells visitors what you offer, and include a call-to-action (CTA) like “Shop Now” or “Learn More” that directs users to your website or a specific product page. Adding a relevant hashtag to your bio can make your profile more discoverable.
7. Post When Your Audience Is Most Active: Timing matters. Use Instagram Insights to identify when your followers are online and schedule your posts for those windows. If your target audience is spread across multiple time zones, experiment with different posting times to see when you get the most engagement.
8. Analyze and Adapt: Regularly review your Instagram analytics to understand what’s working and what isn’t; track metrics like follower growth, engagement rates, and click-through rates to measure success. If a specific type of content isn’t resonating, don’t be afraid to pivot your strategy and try new formats or approaches.
9. Stay Authentic and Transparent: Authenticity is critical to gaining loyal followers. Share your brand’s story, show the people behind your business, and be transparent about your values. Audiences can quickly spot inauthentic behavior, and building trust with followers is essential for sustainable growth.

Why You Should Skip Buying Followers

We’ve got one warning before diving into specific tactics: don’t purchase followers. Paying for followers is ineffective because the quality of those accounts is typically low — they may even be bots or inactive users. Those accounts do nothing for engagement metrics like comments and shares. Buying fake followers will punish your Instagram SEO and hurt any chance of experiencing new follower growth. 

Instagram is vehemently against buying followers, and there are several good reasons why it’s a strategy that’s not just frowned upon but can actively harm your account’s performance and credibility. Here’s why:

1. Fake Followers Don’t Engage: Instagram’s algorithm favors content that receives high engagement (likes, comments, shares). When you buy followers, they’re often bots or inactive accounts that won’t interact with your posts. So, while your follower count might increase, your engagement rate (the ratio of interactions to followers) will drop drastically — signaling to Instagram’s algorithm that your content isn’t worth promoting, leading to less exposure.
2. It Damages Your Reputation and Trustworthiness: Social media is about authenticity and transparency. If people discover that you’ve bought followers (and it’s often easy to tell based on sudden spikes in follower count or low engagement rates), your brand or personal credibility will take a hit. Real followers value genuine interactions, and fake followers undermine the trust you’ve built or are trying to establish.
3. Instagram’s Algorithm Penalizes Inauthentic Activity: Instagram’s algorithm prioritizes meaningful interactions. When it detects a sudden, suspicious influx of followers or abnormal activity, it can penalize your account by limiting your content’s reach or even shadowbanning you — meaning your posts won’t appear in hashtags or the Explore page. That makes it harder for genuine followers to see your content.
4. You Risk Getting Your Account Banned or Deleted: Instagram’s terms of service prohibit using third-party services to boost your follower count artificially. If Instagram catches you buying followers, they can remove them, temporarily restrict your account, or even delete them entirely. That’s particularly problematic for businesses that rely on their Instagram presence for marketing and sales.
5. Buying Followers Doesn’t Translate to Business Growth: Unlike real followers, fake followers won’t visit your website, purchase your products, or recommend your services. Businesses that buy followers often see zero impact on their sales or brand awareness because they aren’t reaching potential customers. Worse, it dilutes your analytics, making evaluating content performance and resonating with authentic audiences harder.
6. It Can Hurt Your Relationship with Real Followers: If your real followers notice that you’re suddenly amassing thousands of fake followers, they may feel alienated or duped, causing them to unfollow or disengage with your content. Instagram users today value genuine interactions and can spot inauthenticity quickly.

A large but inactive follower base leads to poor engagement rates, causing the algorithm to hide your content from more valuable potential followers. Fake followers will also prevent your posts from appearing on the Explore page and hinder your ability to connect with authentic audiences. 

Proven Strategies for Boosting Your Instagram Followers

Now that you know what not to do, here are some tested and successful techniques for increasing your Instagram following:

• Leverage Instagram’s New Features: With the rise of Reels, Stories, and Instagram Live, diversify your content to maximize visibility. New updates to Instagram’s algorithm in 2024 are more likely to favor accounts that use multiple content types.
• Optimize Your Instagram Bio: Your bio serves as a first impression for new visitors. Make it count. Include your business name, a brief-but-compelling description, and a clear call-to-action (CTA). Adding a relevant hashtag to your bio can increase your visibility in searches.
• Showcase User-Generated Content (UGC): People love to see how real customers use a product. Featuring UGC in your feed and Stories fosters trust and gives your profile more social proof. The home goods brand Habitat receives significant UGC thanks to lifestyle bloggers tagging the brand in posts.
• Tap into the Power of Social Commerce: In 2024, Instagram’s Shop tab and product tags have become even more advanced. By linking products directly to your posts and Stories, you reduce the friction in the purchasing process. Fashion brands like H&M have successfully used these features to showcase outfits in real time and drive direct purchases.
• Use Video Content to Drive Engagement: Video remains king. Reels, in particular, have shown a high reach and engagement rate compared to other formats. According to Instagram’s Head, Adam Mosseri, video content will continue to take center stage as Instagram evolves to compete with platforms like TikTok.

Coming to you live from…literally anywhere

Instagram Live isn’t just another tool in the social media toolbox — it’s a direct line to your audience. Brands that use Instagram Live effectively can engage with followers in real time, building an immediate connection that feels personal and authentic. Unlike pre-recorded content, the spontaneity of Live broadcasts allows for more transparent interactions, where brands can answer questions on the spot, demonstrate products, host Q&A sessions, and get instant feedback.

For brands, it’s a unique opportunity to humanize. It’s not just about showcasing a product or service; it’s about letting people see the faces and personalities behind the brand while using some slick Instagram marketing. This transparency fosters trust, making followers more likely to engage with future content, recommend the brand to others, or convert into customers. With features like real-time comments, the question sticker, and the ability to invite guests for collaborations and do a giveaway, big and small companies can make each Live session an interactive experience that strengthens community bonds.

Instagram’s algorithm prioritizes live videos, pushing them to the front of the Stories feed and giving brands more visibility. It’s a killer way to stand out, draw attention, and engage with audiences beyond likes and comments, making it a powerful tool.

Posting best practices  

When should you post to get the highest engagement? It depends on your audience and industry, but a few general trends have emerged:

• According to Later, a top social media scheduling platform, the best time to post on Instagram is 4am, adjusted for time zones.
• Sprout Social’s data suggests a broader range of peak times, noting that late morning to early afternoon slots tend to see the most interaction.
• However, the most effective posting times vary widely depending on your niche and your followers’ behavior, so it’s best to analyze your data for insights.

Take advantage of Instagram’s enhanced algorithm

Understanding Instagram’s algorithm is crucial to achieving higher engagement. As of 2024, the platform considers six primary factors:

• Interest: Prior interactions with similar posts influence what appears in a user’s feed.
• Relationships: Posts from friends, family, or accounts users interact with frequently get priority.
• Timeliness: More recent posts receive better placement.
• Frequency: Users who check the app often are shown more current content.
• Following: A diverse following leads to a varied feed.
• Usage: The amount of time a user spends on Instagram impacts what they see.

Experiment and learn

Experiment with content types — carousel posts, Reels, Stories, and Lives — to find what resonates best with your audience. Monitor Instagram analytics to track which content formats work for your account and use that data to refine your strategy.

Experimentation is vital for Instagram creators, especially small businesses, because it provides valuable insights that can guide them in refining their Instagram content strategy. Trying different post formats — Reels, Stories, carousels, or Lives — helps determine what resonates most with their audience and reveals what drives the best results. Instagram’s algorithm rewards content that engages viewers, and if creators stick to the same formula, they might miss out on tapping into new trends or finding fresh ways to connect with their followers.

For a small business, each post is an opportunity to speak directly to potential followers and cultivate brand loyalty. By experimenting, brands can uncover surprising trends, like a higher engagement rate when using video versus images or better response times during evening posts versus morning ones. It also helps creators stay relevant by adapting to what works for them and their audience, maximizing reach, and ultimately driving more traffic to their profiles — that’s social media marketing 101, y’all. 

For example, a bakery might discover that posting behind-the-scenes (BTS) videos of their pastry-making process (Instagram Reels) garners more comments and shares than static images of finished products. Meanwhile, a fitness instructor might find that polls and Q&A sessions on Instagram Stories engage their audience more effectively than long-form video tutorials. In both cases, the insight gained through experimentation can inform future content choices, optimize audience interaction, and solidify the creator’s presence on the platform, all while pumping up that follower count. 

Positioning Your Brand for Success 

Navigating Instagram’s evolving social media ecosystem requires a solid strategy that taps into new features and aligns with your brand’s voice and goals. The brands that thrive understand the platform’s nuances and consistently deliver value through engaging content. Use these insights to take your Instagram presence from average to extraordinary, driving engagement, increasing followers, and boosting your bottom line. Remember to post regularly to grow that follower count, but don’t buy fake followers. 

Make this the year you dominate Instagram — organically.