Instagram beginners can often feel like they’re in over the heads. Sure, many of us use Instagram to share photos and keep in touch with friends. However, let’s be honest. There comes a point when you stare at that “Followers” number and think “How can I be more popular?”
It’s a perfectly natural thought. Growing your followers count is a great way to meet new people, experience new viewpoints, and even get a little boost in self-confidence. Instagram beginners might feel overwhelmed by the prospect of attracting more followers, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want them.
Getting those extra followers is another story. While attracting more followers doesn’t happen overnight, there are plenty of ways that Instagram beginners can naturally attract more followers. Actually, there are things that Instagram beginners can do to attract more followers that even veteran users might forget about.
From better photo descriptions to clever hashtags, here are just some of the ways that Instagram beginners can start getting more followers.
Post Regularly (But Not Too Often) – Top Instagram Beginners Tip
Anyone successful Instagram user will tell you to post regularly. Regular posts keep you in people’s minds and ensure your content is in their feeds. However, there’s a difference between posting regularly and posting often.
Posting when you visit that great new restaurant or when the dog did something funny? That’s good. Sending posts to talk about how boring this day is? That’s bad. Instagram isn’t Twitter where it’s not unusual to send out multiple posts a day. Doing so makes it that much easier for people to stop following you.
Try to set a fair minimum number of posts a week. Don’t be afraid to exceed that number occasionally, but try to stick to it.
Don’t Post The Same Things All the Time
It’s nice to have interests, favorite places, and a routine. Pretty much everyone has those things. The problem with a routine is that it doesn’t always make for interesting Instagram posts. You love your morning coffee from your favorite place, but not everyone always needs to hear about it.
Not making repetitive posts is a fairly simple process. Just be honest with yourself when it comes to how often you post the same kind of content. If you start to notice that a lot of your posts are blending together, just change things up a bit. Basically, stop posting your routine.
Learn to Look At Your World For Instagram Content
While you don’t want to post the same things every day, you also don’t have to go on incredible adventures for Instagram content. In fact, sometimes you have to learn to look at your world through the eyes of your Instagram account.
What does that mean? It means that you need to start seeing what things in your life and out in the world are interesting to share. Everyone knows they can post pictures of food, but what about that mural you walk by every day? What about a visual that reminds you of something from your childhood.
If you see it and it interests you, consider sharing it.
Don’t Stress About Your Profile Description
Generally speaking, social media profiles are important. They let people know who you are, why you’re here, and show off your personality. However, profile importance varies from site to site. It’s very important on Twitter, very important on Facebook, and just a bit less important on Instagram.
That isn’t to say you should have a boring profile or no profile at all. However, your profile should be a concise, clean, maybe a little funny, and not much more. Sitting there and stressing about making the perfect profile really isn’t as important as posting great content and creating a network.
Be sure to have a great profile picture, though.
Keep Up With Trending Topics (But Don’t Overdo It)
It’s important to keep up with trends. We don’t just mean the latest fashion or the hottest new restaurant but also the actual topics that are trending on Instagram. Posting content related to trends is a great way to get your posts noticed by new people.
However, you don’t want to be “that person” who posts for everything that is trending. If you just post things related to the hottest topics, it makes you look very phony and quite boring.
Again, it’s all about balance. Find the trends that mean something to you and post about them. Don’t go crazy with it, though, especially when you’re trying to get new followers.
Don’t Overuse Filters
Filters are a big part of the Instagram experience. They help make photos look amazing and they’re incredibly fun to use. However, there is such a thing as too many filters.
Actually, using a filter for every photo isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the Instagram world. It’s not great, but it’s not a mortal sin. What’s much worse is using highly elaborate filters for every photo.
Think of it like ordering a high-quality steak and smothering it with ketchup. Sometimes, the flavor and impact of a photo is good enough without the elaborate filter.
Be Yourself on Instagram and Not an Instagram Star
This ties into the idea of not following every trend, but is a far more important overall lesson.
See, there are people who can be generic enough to be an “Instagram Star,” but you’re probably not one of them. That’s ok, though, because being an Instagram Star is secretly kind of sad. What’s not sad, though, is being yourself. If you’ve got a hobby, share it. Don’t worry about how someone you never met will perceive it. If you’ve got a favorite cafe, share it. Don’t worry about whether there’s a line out the door every day.
Being yourself is the key to establishing a foundation on Instagram. You can grow from there, but you need that foundation.
Be (Mostly) Positive With Your Posts and Comments
The sad truth is that a certain degree of negativity can actually be somewhat popular online. It’s not a great lesson, but it’s one that often proves to be true.
However, you run a very serious risk when you make negativity “your brand.” When your every post and comment is negative (or even angry) you run the risk of establishing an identity for yourself that is hard to escape. Worse, you’ll actually become a worse person by furthering a negative identity.
Try to be positive when you’re posting and commenting. When you do go negative, try to be clever about it.
Be Funny
Speaking of being funny…err…be funny.
Ok, it’s pretty generic advice, but it’s advice that people forget. Humor, or kinds of humor, is a universally popular idea. Good humor transcends politics, preferences, and other things that alienate and isolate. Of course, the key word there is “good.” Bad jokes tend to not go far on Instagram. Constant attempts to make bad jokes can straight up drive people away.
You don’t have to be the funniest person alive, but it’s a good idea to hone what your sense of humor is and utilize it as often as possible. When in doubt, keep things light.
Start Following More People That You Meet
You can be too pushy when you’re trying to attract Instagram followers. In fact, a lot of people are. Still, a little aggressiveness is the only way you’re going to get your name out there.
So far as that goes, it’s a great idea to start trying to follow more of the people that you meet in your daily life. This can be inappropriate in certain circumstances, but it’s perfectly acceptable in others. For instance, following some of the people you work with is a great way to start building a social media network.
The important thing is to not leave possible connections just lying out there.
Be as Active of a Follower As You Are a Poster
Truth be told, top Instagram posters are often popular enough to just stick to posts. However, you’re not a top Instagram poster. At least not yet.
That being the case, it’s important to be just as active of a follower as you are a poster. That means liking – and certainly commenting – on a variety of posts. Most importantly, it means staying engaged with your followers.
More than just a helpful tip, being active as a follower is also how you actually have fun with Instagram and not just worry about how many followers you have all of the time.
Know When to Mix Your Personal and Professional Lives
If you are a business owner, it’s a good idea to keep a separate account for your business. Combining your personal and business accounts creates some potentially awkward situations. It’s just unprofessional.
However, there are times when mixing the two is a good idea. You don’t want your business account to be little more than pitches and what you’re working on. At the same time, you’d be a fool not to use your personal account as another way to promote your work from time to time.
The key is to be consistent with how you blend the two. Don’t overdo it, but don’t underutilize this technique.
Link Your Instagram Account to Your Other Social Media Accounts
Assuming that Instagram isn’t your only social media profile, it’s important to make sure that your Instagram account is linked to your other social media accounts.
Doing so is incredibly simple. Just press the settings button on your Instagram account, go to linked accounts, and add any other social media accounts you may have. Once you do so, you are able to easily share your Instagram posts to other accounts via the share button.
However, linking your accounts doesn’t stop there. Be sure to also provide your social media information in your Instagram profile. This makes it that much easier for people to find you elsewhere.
Don’t Be Obsessed With Original Content
Creating your own content is a big deal. Original content gives people a reason to go to your profile over other people’s profiles. However, original content is hardly the only kind of content that attracts followers.
Don’t be afraid to post content to your Instagram profile that you find from other sources. To be clear, we’re not saying you should just steal other people’s content. You should always give credit to creators whenever possible.
At the same time, being the person who is always up on the latest hit video, meme, and other similar internet content can be just as valuable as creating said content.
Write Clever Photo Descriptions
No matter what kind of content you post on Instagram, make sure that you take the time to create a clever description.
The truth of the matter is that there’s a lot of content out there that is pretty similar. Unless you’re famous for something outside of Instagram, the only way to make your content stand out is to attach it to some kind of hook. That’s where descriptions come in. They’re a great way to make anything you post stand out. They also help engage whoever is viewing your post.
Instagram may be a photo heavy network, but great descriptions mean a lot.
Stat Tagging People Whenever Possible
Not everything you do on Instagram has to get you a ton of followers right away. Some things just help you achieve your follower goals a little faster. That’s certainly the category that tagging people belong in.
Tagging is one of the simplest things you can do to attract followers. Whenever you post a photo featuring someone you know, select Tag People from the share screen, tap that person, and search for their Instagram profile.
This has a few effects. It not only serves as a call to action for those people you tag, but it encourages them to share that post with others.
Only Use a Few Hashtags and Learn to Use Different Hashtags
Hashtags are a seemingly simple concept. You post something, you use a hashtag to make sure people searching for terms can find it easily, and you’re done. However, the truth is that not everyone knows how to use hashtags.
First off, stop spamming every hashtag topic. Instagram is cracking down on that. Instead, learn to only use relevant hashtag topics. You can use more than one, but try to limit your hashtags to a few at most. Second, stop using the same hashtags over and over. Instagram’s algorithm is getting wise to this trick and is filtering those kinds of posts more and more.
The point here is that smart hashtags do more than a lot of hashtags.
Don’t Buy Followers!
We get it. Someone comes to you and says “Hey, you give me a few dollars, and I’ll give you a thousand Instagram followers.” It’s tempting, popular, and an incredibly bad idea.
Without trying to scare you with the legality of the whole process, you should first know that a lot of those services are little more than scams. Even if you find one that works, you have to consider the practical repercussions of this action. A profile that suddenly gets a ton of mysterious followers is going to look very strange to anyone that is actually following you.
At the very least, buying followers as soon as you start an account is just an awful idea.
Leave a Reply