Instagram’s growth shows no signs of slowing down. Of the billion daily active Followers, 200 million consults at least one professional account every day. Instagram is a great platform for marketers and entrepreneurs. But there are 25 million business accounts on Instagram. This means it’s a difficult battlefield for brands that don’t have a well-planned development strategy.

If you’re wondering how to shine in this crowded room, you’re not alone. The competition on Instagram is clear. Some brands resort to questionable practices such as using bots to generate likes, buying followers, and using third-party apps to automate engagement. To protect the integrity of the feeds, Instagram has imposed a shadow ban. The ban prevents posts from wine brands from appearing in search results and follower feeds, resulting in lower engagement.

But don’t worry. There is no need to resort to questionable techniques and risk a ban. You can increase your Instagram followers and engagement on Instagram organically. Without spending a dime, you can maximize the visibility and distribution of your content.

Top 5 Ways to Grow Your Instagram Account Organically:

1. Optimize your posts:

The content is always sovereign. Especially on social networks full of poor-quality content. By following some tried-and-true posting habits, you can optimize your posts to make them engaging and impactful. Decipher the Instagram algorithm: Instagram evaluates posts using artificial intelligence to decide which posts appear first in followers’ feeds. Posts from people who appear to be “friends or family” are rated higher than random posts. Then you need to write DMs, like, or comment on your target audience’s posts.

Instagram also rates posts that are relevant or interesting to the followers higher than others. The most recent posts are prioritized in the Instagram algorithm. What does that mean for you? You need to post regularly. To find new content ideas, study your target audience’s follower behavior and then create content they can relate to.

Optimize visual content:

Your Instagram content must be high quality and optimized in size and duration (in the case of videos). To create engaging visual content for free, you can use professional editing tools. You can use filters and overlays to increase the shine factor of your photos.

When uploading IGTV videos, limit them to 15 minutes. The file format must be MP4 and the cover images must be in JPG or PNG format. It’s best to keep the aspect ratio of 9:16 and the resolution of 720 pixels or more.

Post at the optimal time:

Instagram Insights can help you create comprehensive buyer personas for your Instagram followers.

This allows you to discover your followers’ most active moments. To access Instagram Insights, you may need to switch to a business account. influencers and content creators make life easier with Instagram Creator accounts. You can find out the best times to post by analyzing the “When are your followers on Instagram” graph.

2. Keep your followers engaged:

So you’ve understood the Instagram algorithm, created eye-catching images, and posted them at the right time. Are your engagement rates still not as high as you would like?

This could mean your content lacks flavor. Your followers ignore or reject your content. You have to press the accelerator pedal. You need great ideas that will make your followers sit up and take notice of your content. If you’re suffering from writer’s block, you can get inspiration from these ideas:

Instagram Stories:

Instagram Stories lets you tell your brand’s personal story. Stories have more impact than photos and don’t fill followers’ feeds. If you have a business account and have more than 10,000 followers, you can add a swipe up to your Stories and drive traffic to your website. Stickers in stories can further increase engagement.

Instagram Live:

As the name suggests, Instagram Live allows you to broadcast live videos. This is a great way to get the top spot in your followers’ stories section. Live videos appear honest and captivate viewers for longer. In live videos, you can include interviews, product demos, and Q&As with viewers. Remember to have the basic script and format on hand to avoid mistakes.

Instagram Television (IGTV):

Likes Stories, IGTV supports longer videos with cover photos. You can use them for promotions and influencer takeovers. Many free and sophisticated movie-making apps like iMovie and FilmoraGo can help you record great videos.

Hashtags:

If you want to grow your audience, you need to explore new territories. Hashtags can help your posts appear in trending circles. HashtagsForLikes is a great hashtag tracker that finds popular tags for your brand.

Contests and Giveaways:

Contests and giveaways are smart strategies for attracting new followers. You can ask candidates to tag their friends and/or follow your page. Your brand can gain more exposure and your followers can win great products in return.  Views: You can involve your audience in your journey by posting behind-the-scenes videos and trivia. You can also promote upcoming events and products by posting previews of them.

follower Generated Content:

Follow-up-generated content is a great way to increase brand awareness. You can create a branded hashtag and encourage your followers to follow it and add it to their posts. This way you can collect a lot of valuable content that you can repost in your stories.

3. Use Instagram Shouts:

Co-promotion is the be-all and end-all on Instagram. You can share feedback with relevant influencers to ensure the strategy benefits both parties. A post is a brand mention, usually accompanied by a profile link in the caption. Often the mention of a brand is accompanied by a photo of the brand being advertised.

You can use hashtag searches or influencer marketing tools to find people in your industry. Then analyze their channels to identify people who post regularly and get high engagement. Like and comment on their posts, then ask them if they would like to share their opinions with you.

4. Program content:

Reposting or reposting other people’s content on Instagram is a great way to grow your audience and build marketing relationships. But unlike Twitter and Facebook, Instagram doesn’t have a “share” or “repost” button.

Additionally, if you share someone else’s work on your account, you risk copyright infringement. The reschedule tag must be followed on Instagram. If you repost someone else’s content, you can attribute it to the original creator. Build relationships with the brands whose content you want to reschedule. So ask in advance if you can repost their content. To get around the lack of a one-click repost button, you can use free apps like Repost for Instagram. It allows you to repost instantly or save posts for later.

Even if you repost follower-generated content to your feed and stories, you must ask the follower in question for permission.

5. Meet Influencers:

Influencers are people or brands that influence their followers. The trust that influencers have built with their followers can influence their purchasing decisions. By collaborating with influencers, you can reap big benefits in terms of engagement, follower count, and even sales.

They might feel inspired to try your products or follow your social media accounts. But why should an influencer promote your brand? What can motivate them to be your advocate? The answer is reasonableness plus compensation. Some micro and nano influencers also accept merchandise, exclusive offers, or thank-you rewards as compensation.

Final Thoughts:

The organic growth strategies covered in this article will help you stay ahead of the competition. An additional advantage is that these strategies do not reduce your profit margin because they are free or very cheap. You’ll keep smiling at the bank!

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