5 Instagram Marketing Tips to Build a Solid Follower Base in 2021

Let’s face it. Instagram is nothing like what it used to be back when it was launched.

These days, marketing on Instagram has gotten much more challenging with significantly increased competition in every niche and many restrictions by Instagram’s algorithm too.

However, marketing on Instagram can still be done in a pretty effective way. You just need to think out of the box, and apply some of the latest Instagram marketing tips that are working pretty well in 2020 as well.

So let’s jump in.

Focus on Setting Up Your Profile

We know it’s tempting to go right after your target audience to build a follower base after starting an account, but you would really have a hard time growing your follower base if you don’t “set up” your account and profile properly.

By setting up your profile, we mean making it crystal clear to your followers what niche you’re in, what your profile is all about, and a bio that helps you stand out from the crowd.

Needless to say, you need a high-quality, catchy profile pic too. In addition, when you’re about to start your marketing efforts to build up your follower base, you need to make sure your latest posts would quickly get the attention of people in your niche and help generate engagement with them.

More importantly, you need to give something to your target audience to trust them into following you. Even if your profile ticks all the boxes but has like 20 followers, it would be off-putting for your target audience to follow you as it doesn’t inspire confidence or trust or even give them a reason to dive deeper into your content.

This is one of the most important reasons marketers who are seriously looking to utilize Instagram as a social marketing platform to its full potential buy real-looking quality Instagram followers when starting out, so that it can lead to a snowballing effect and help them build a large follower base with their real target audience.

Switch to a Business Profile

As we said above, setting up your account is crucial if you want to have a long-term growth strategy on Instagram. And switching to a business profile is one of the best things you can do right when getting started.

Image credit: Infographic World

This is simply because a business profile comes with a host of benefits that you don’t get with a personal account, which is what you start with by default on Instagram.

Here are some of the most notable features you unlock with a business profile.

• A contact us button on your profile that allows your followers to get in touch with you right on Instagram
• The ability to start and run ad campaigns on Instagram without using Facebook’s complicated advertising tools
• Access to some pretty neat and useful insights and analytics about your account that would go a long way in understanding your target audience and refining your content strategy

Of course, there are some other benefits too. If you’re looking to build your Instagram account with a commercial interest in mind, then the “business” side is where you need to be.

You can easily switch to a business account by going into the settings and clicking on the “Switch to Business Profile” button.

You Need More Than High-Quality Images!

A lot of people have this misconception that they simply need to post high-quality pictures and (occasionally) high-resolution or HD videos and they will be all set for building a huge follower base in a few months.

Often times, they will end up with disappointing results. You see, if you’re a business, you likely have quite some competition, and probably none of your real competitors are posting crap pictures or low quality videos.

They all know what high-quality images and 1080p videos mean. So, in other words, you can’t stand out and attract followers just by posting high-quality pictures and videos.

The actual content of your posts is actually going to be the “make it or break it” factor. What we suggest is to have a great mix of different types of content.

The diversity in content can really do wonders for converting your profile’s “visitors” into followers. Similarly, at least make sure your posts are not too similar to one another, even if they are high-quality.

When each of your post feels like a different story, your target audience would certainly find value in following your account. Not just that, but you will be able to engage them better with your content in the long run as well.

Finally, make sure you also give your posts captivating captions. They need to be short, but they should be impactful and get the point across in a sharp way.

Engaging with the Most Active Users

Following your target audience or engaging with them in other ways like liking or commenting on their posts is one of the proven tactics on Instagram to build a follower base. However, often times, people get poor results with it as the following to follow back ratio is very low.

But here’s the trick. Instead of simply following or engaging randomly with the followers of other large accounts in your niche, you should consider engaging with their followers that actively engage with their content such as commenting or liking their latest posts.

By engaging with the followers of large accounts who have either commented or liked their latest posts, you make sure that you’re engaging with very active users, as well as users who just don’t follow and forget accounts, but actually interact with their content.

However, make sure you don’t follow or perform other engagement actions very aggressively, as it could lead to a ban or temporary restrictions on your account.

Utilize Influencer Marketing

If you’re looking to grow your account quickly while also having the opportunity to start converting users from your target audience on Instagram into your customers, then nothing can beat influencer marketing.

Image credit: Yotpo

Influencer marketing simply means paying well-known users in your niche with a large or engaged follower base to promote your profile, products or posts. These promotional posts on their profile can either be for 24 hours or forever – or any other timeframe for that matter – depending on your deal or agreement with them.

This type of marketing, when done right, can bring you a lot of followers or sales – depending on what your target was and how you approached it – in a very short period of time.

However, choosing the right influencers is the most important part of the process, and getting a good idea of their engagement rate with their followers is one of the most important metrics to go by here.