8 Best Ways to Grow Instagram Followers Organically

Do you find yourself on a quest to grow your Instagram followers organically?

“I wish I had the swipe up feature… but I’ll never reach 10K followers.”

Oh, look, another picture of flowers… with 3,000 likes.

And then there’s your post…. With 6 likes… after 20 minutes. *face-palm*

Sound familiar? Well, you definitely aren’t alone.

With so many gurus out there shouting that you too can make millions on Instagram, it’s easy to feel as if you’re missing something…

Like some vital secret that is supposed to grow your Instagram organically overnight.

But let’s get a couple of things straight:

Many Instagram influencers BUY their followers. In fact, this epidemic is costing brands roughly $1.3 billion annually.

Not as authentic as they claim, huh?

But the truth is, Instagram success doesn’t happen overnight. Anyone who tells you otherwise likely falls into the above category.

You’ve probably heard of organic Instagram growth, but do you really know what it means?

Organic growth refers to simple marketing strategies that your business can use to naturally grow your presence and grow Instagram followers organically.

In other words, this is free growth that doesn’t require you to spend money on advertising or paying for engagement.

So without further ado, let’s dive in!

Here are 8 seeds you can plant to grow Instagram followers organically

Step 1: Post to Instagram Consistently

Consistent does not mean constant. I’m not saying that you have to post every day, your audience just has to know when they can expect to hear from you.

Set your own rules (after all, that is the benefit of running your own business right?). Pick the days and times that you want to post and stick to it. 

When deciding on a schedule, just be sure to check your analytics and schedule posts for when your audience is most active online:

This doesn’t mean you have to manually post each day and set aside whatever you’re doing for the gram.

Take one day out of the month to create and batch out your content. Then, use a social media scheduling tool like Buffer or Hootsuite to schedule out your content in advance:

According to Neil Patel, if you make a habit of posting several times a day and then suddenly transition to only once or twice a week, you will start to lose followers and engagement quickly.

In other words, consistency is the name of the game, especially for those in it for the long haul.

Another key thing to remember is that you don’t want to post and ghost. Make sure you are choosing times to post when you will be available to hang out on the platform for a bit to engage with your audience:

Engaging in the comments during the first 20-30 minutes is key for boosting your post in the algorithm. Essentially, it tells it that your post must be of value if others are engaging with it… So don’t leave them hanging!

To summarize, the sooner your engagement rate increases, the better your post will perform and more likely it will be found by others in the algorithm.

Step 2: Prioritize Quality Over Quantity Content

Instagram tells us to create great content. 

But, how exactly do you define “great?”

While there might not be one clear answer, you can certainly start by improving your photography or graphic design skills.

Instagram is an aesthetic platform, after all. Your photos are everything, and your feed needs to look good.

Take advantage of free apps like VSCO, Snapseed, or the mobile version of Lightroom to give your images a more Insta-worthy feel:

However, before posting… I want you to ask yourself “what is the point?”

In other words… What value are you providing your audience?

Aesthetics are great. But remember, you’re a business owner, so aesthetics alone just won’t cut it.

Here are a few ways you can share value with your audience:

• Educate on a particular topic (not just any topic, only the ones they follow you for)
• Answer frequently asked questions
• Share insight into your workflow
• Tell a story that illustrates a point
• Offer free resources
• Discuss new trends in your industry
• Motivate and inspire 
• Share behind the scenes content (yes, this includes the humans behind the brand!)

Step 3: Engage With a Variety of Users

A lot of the advice you read online tells you to engage on Instagram by liking and commenting on posts, which isn’t wrong… but there’s more to it than that. 

If you want Instagram success, you must engage with your target audience, your industry peers, as well as relevant influencers in your niche. 

So how do you find them? Now isn’t that the golden question. 

Start with past clients

Continue to engage with your past customers and clients, even after your work together is complete.

But, you never know when they might be looking for your services again, or better yet, refer you to others. Never underestimate the power of word of mouth.

Search industry-specific hashtags to connect with others in your niche

Step 1: Go to the search feature on Instagram and start typing in hashtags that are relevant to your niche.

Step 2: Start with the top posts working your way down to the most recent and start engaging with the posts you find.

Step 3: Pick a few people you are genuinely interested in, browse their page, and leave thoughtful comments.

Doing so will naturally make them curious about YOU when you show up in their notifications, and ideally they will reciprocate.

However… DO NOT just start spamming people!

Instead, engage with the intent of forming relationships, and not just simply increasing your followers.

You can try commenting by answering call to actions or asking questions of your own:

Remember, responding with a string of emojis or a one-liner is not enough. 

Keep it genuine!

Step 4: Have an Instagram Hashtag Strategy

One of the biggest steps to grow Instagram followers organically is through the use of hashtags.

Did you know that you can include up to 30 hashtags per Instagram post?

The important thing to remember is that you can not use the same 30 hashtags every time or the algorithm will show your posts less frequently, and potentially shadow ban. you.

My advice? Start a google doc or simple spreadsheet and start collecting relevant hashtags. You can find them by:

• Looking at the kinds of tags your competitors are using
• Checking out industry influencers’ tags
• Using the IG search feature to find your own and browsing the related hashtags it displays at the top

When searching for hashtags you should start by looking up general tags.

For example, #legworkout is highly competitive with over 1 million posts! If you want your content to be seen and have a chance to rank, then I’d suggest searching for hashtags with a lower volume.

Luckily for you, Instagram does the work for you. At the top of the search feature, more related tags will appear. Often times these are more specific based on industry, niche, or audience.

Essentially, this is a quick and easy way to build a massive list of related tags that you can rotate through on your posts. 

To recap, aim to use hashtags with anywhere between 10,000 and 500,000 posts. This will ensure that your post doesn’t get buried under millions of posts. You can also use a tool like HashtagforLikes for hashtag suggestions.

Step 5: Experiment With Instagram Stories

Instagram stories are incredibly powerful for driving organic growth right now as feed posts are becoming less popular.

While our feeds tend to be beautiful, curated, and scheduled… Stories give brands a chance to truly be “natural.”  

You should aim to post at least one thing to your story every day. In my opinion, though, you should always have the circle with your profile picture lit up with stories.

This helps you stay relevant and at the top of your audience’s minds.

Users see stories of the accounts they engage with most pop up at the top of their home page. All the more reason to provide value that keeps your audience clicking!

Just remember that stories aren’t exactly just for uncurated shenanigans…

I encourage you to use. Instagram Story apps such as Designlab that will help you create stand out graphics that will draw your audience’s attention and keep them engaged:

Feel free to get creative here and test out different story ideas until you find what works for YOUR audience.

Some different ways to use Instagram Stories:

• Share a sneak peek from an upcoming launch
• Promote a recent blog post
• Share your recent feed post (just in case they missed it earlier)
• Mini-trainings about hot topics
• Answer frequently asked questions
• Use stickers! E.g.: take polls, ask questions, make quizzes, and include sliders for higher engagement

Step 6: Collaborate with Key Influencers and Brands

Collaborating with other brands and influencers is an amazing way to get your business in front of new eyes on Instagram. 

The key here is not just any eyes, but more eyes in your target market. Makes sense that if you sell protein supplements, then you would probably look to collaborate with fitness influencers, right?

Let’s dive into the few different ways you can collaborate with others in your niche…

Instagram Story Takeovers

Have something valuable to share that you think would resonate with someone else’s audience?

You each can guest post or do an Instagram story takeover on each other’s stories. (psst… you don’t actually have to have access to the other person’s account.)

Simply record your video and send them to each other. Post your collab partners’ video to your account!

This can be a win-win for both of you, especially when you share an overlapping audience.

Product Flash Sales and Bundling

Combine your products or services with someone else’s and offer a discounted rate when a customer purchases them together.

Again using the protein powder example, let’s say you collaborate with a fitness influencer who has their own training and coaching offers…

One idea could be to have that influencer offer a special promotion on one of their plans when bundling it with your supplement, or vice versa and you can offer the discount (or both!).

Sweetening the deal definitely never turned any customers away ;).

Host Instagram Giveaways

Encourage engagement for both parties and go in together on a fun gift for some lucky follower(s).

Alternatively, if you’re the brand, offer a few freebies to a key influencer to host a giveaway with his or her audience.

Here’s an example:

You can specify certain requirements to be entered to win, such as liking and following your account, tagging a friend, and so on.

Giveaways tend to be a pretty interactive way to gain new fans, and is one that I highly encourage!

Step 7: Understand Your Instagram Insights and Analytics

If you have an Instagram business account you have access to analytics that will help you understand your audience’s behavior and better plan your content.

You can track data from your feed posts as well as your stories.

A few important insights to monitor:

• Reach: The number of unique accounts that have seen your posts

• Impressions: How many times your post has been seen (this could include repeat views from users)

• Engagement: Feature that allows you to see what your most liked, commented, and saved post was. (Perfect for gauging what kind of content your audience prefers)

• Website clicks: Self-explanatory but the goal of a high converting Instagram page is to send traffic to your website, after all! To increase this number, consider writing and promoting a new blog post. Even better, offer a new freebie or lead magnet that your audience can opt-in for by promoting it in your posts and stories.

Step 8: Ask Your Audience What They Want, and Deliver

Here’s a shocker…

Even the most successful instagram marketers can’t read minds.

You can make some pretty educated guesses on what your audience wants to see based on the strategies above… but asking will always be clearer.

Plain and simple.

Ask them to vote for preferred content using polls or the question sticker on your stories.

This surface-level data gives you a good starting point. If you want more in-depth answers you can create a longer survey and link to it in your bio.

The catch? Human nature will lead your audience members to ask “what’s in it for me?”

If you opt for a longer survey make sure you are thanking your audience for their time!

Enter their name for a chance to win a gift card, a free product, service…

Or simply give away a free resource to anyone who participates. 

Let’s Recap

In short, don’t overthink your Instagram strategy… too much.

Start making the platform work for your business by implementing these organic growth methods:

• Consistent posting
• Quality content over quantity 
• Engage with your audience
• Choosing relevant hashtags
• Taking advantage of Stories
• Collaborating with key influencers and brands
• Learning to read Instagram insights and analytics
• Ask your audience straight up what they want to see

is instagram part of your current marketing strategy?

I’d love to hear from you and how (or if) you’re currently using Instagram in your marketing strategy. Let me know below why or why not! If you’re already crushing the Instagram growth game, share your best tips with us below.