Benefits of a Large Instagram Following: Keep Pushing to Get There

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Karen Lin

Instagram 101 | Aug 17, 2023

Want More Real Instagram Followers?

“There’s strength in numbers,” as the saying goes. When it comes to the benefits of a large Instagram following, this also rings true in more ways than one. A massive following denotes many great things about an account, whether personal or professional. Instagram has become the cornerstone for personal, social, and business connections. The higher the number of followers, the more vast one’s network of connections. Let’s explore the benefits of a large Instagram following for various accounts.

A crow of people representing the benefits of a large Instagram following.

The Only Benefit of Using Instagram

If there’s only a single benefit of using Instagram, it has the opportunity to make easy and meaningful connections. With more than 1 billion active users every month, Instagram is one of the busiest online hubs for socializing. You can stay in touch with family and friends wherever they are. You can build a community around your brand, expand your business reach and improve customer relationships.

Among the significant benefits of a large Instagram following is that your follower count can serve as a badge of honor. And this badge lets you unlock even more opportunities to make connections. Your follower numbers may symbolize highly enriched interpersonal relationships, popularity in your field, or business integrity.

There are also tons of tangible benefits of a large Instagram following. And each one is a good enough motivation to push you to keep growing your Instagram the right way.

What Are the Benefits of a Large Instagram Following?

The benefits of a large Instagram following may vary depending on your account type, size, and industry.

Benefits of a Large Instagram Following to a Personal Account

Using a personal account to manage your brand gives you limited access to use marketing tools. But if you grow your account successfully, here are the benefits of a large Instagram following.

  1. Keep in mind that you have the option to keep your account private or make it public. Maintaining a private personal account with a large following will make your followers feel more valued.
  2. You can create a private network of rewarding connections if you keep your account private. It means your competition won’t easily access information about your activities and followers.
  3. A large following can help you sustain your business even without the benefits of advanced features available only to professional accounts.
  4. If you’re doing affiliate marketing, a large following means more opportunities for conversions.
  5. A large following translates to a more significant influence. This is beneficial if you’re promoting a cause or striving to become a thought leader or authority in a specific subject matter.

A massive audience at a concert.

Benefits of a Large Instagram Following to Local Businesses

The marketing and analytical tools available to professional accounts can help local businesses stay strong and competitive within their community. Growing your audience online is, of course, crucial to fostering meaningful connections with your target market. Here are the benefits of a large Instagram following if you’re running a local business.

  1. More followers will give your business more excellent stability.
  2. More followers will help you stay competitive with other local businesses, as well as with branded franchises.
  3. A large following will help you stay relevant and keep up-to-date with changing industry trends and customer needs.
  4. More followers can help you expand your reach beyond your community.
  5. High follower numbers can lead to opportunities for business expansion.

Benefits of a Large Instagram Following to Influencers

Influencers can only thrive by continuing to amass more followers. These are the benefits of a large Instagram following if you’re an influencer.

  1. A large following will allow you to climb up the influencer ladder. From the maximum 10k followers of nano influencers, you can level up and become a micro-influencer with 10k to 100k followers. With continued growth, you can grow your follower base to become a macro influencer with 500k to 1M followers.
  2. More followers mean more opportunities for collaboration. Brands often choose influencers based on the size of their audience. The higher your follower numbers, the greater your chances of landing a lucrative brand partnership.
  3. More followers translate to credibility. The number of followers you have indicates how much trust people have in your brand and your content.
  4. A massive following means popularity and more money. Your follower count dictates how much you can earn from brand collaborations and how much direct sales you can make from your audience.
  5. More followers can give you celebrity status or make you an industry leader. It means you can reach a point where you can create a personal brand with your products.

Photographers taking photos of a celebrity.

Benefits of a Large Instagram Following to Medium or Big Brands

Tons of consumers are flocking to Instagram to discover new products and services and to go shopping. Medium or big brands must establish a strong Instagram presence to remain competitive. Here are the benefits of a large Instagram following for established brands.

  1. More followers allow you to engage directly with your customers and build loyalty.
  2. More followers can translate to a wider content reach and higher engagement, which is critical to top-of-mind brand awareness.
  3. A huge Instagram following can help you achieve your business goals and set new milestones.
  4. Soaring follower numbers will push you to stay ahead of your biggest competitors or, at least, go toe to toe with them.
  5. A large following will help you maintain good profits month in and month out.
  6. A large following can guide you toward emerging trends, so you’re always up-to-date on your target market’s interests and needs. Your audience can also inspire you to develop new products/services.

Benefits of a Professional Instagram Account

It’s common practice these days for small-scale brands to use their personal Instagram accounts. While you may already be happy with your results from a personal account, you can derive even more benefits from a professional Instagram account. Here are the top 5 reasons you should consider switching to a professional Instagram account.

  1. Gain access to Instagram Insights. Insights give you access to valuable and actionable data. You can use the information to keep growing and maximize the benefits of a large Instagram.
  2. Following. You can find out your posts’ performance based on several factors. These include the number of accounts reached and the number of engagements, how many followers you gained within a certain period, your audience demographics, and so much more. Insights are available for regular feed posts, Stories, Reels, and all boosted posts.
  3. Optimize your profile with a Contact button and Action button. Being a popular choice among consumers is one of the many benefits of a large Instagram following. You can make it easier for your followers to engage with your business via a Contact button. You may also use one of these action buttons: Order Food, Book Now, and Reserve.
  4. Open your Instagram Shop and make posts shoppable. Make shopping convenient for your customers by allowing them to purchase directly from your posts. You can create a product catalog through the Instagram Shopping feature, tag products in your posts, set up payment, and more.
  5. Identify your category or industry. You’ll be asked to specify your category or industry when you switch to a professional account. It will be displayed right under your name on your main profile page.
  6. Enable ads. Ads are essential to reach more people and keep growing on Instagram. When you switch to a professional account, you’ll be able to boost regular posts in your feed, Stories, or Reels. Or you can run ad campaigns via Meta Ads Manager.

Person managing their Instagram business using a laptop.

How to Switch to a Professional Account

Two types of Instagram professional accounts will help you reap the full benefits of a large Instagram following. Choose the Business account if you’re a retailer, local business, brand, organization, or service provider. Select the Creator account if you identify as a public figure, content producer, artist, or influencer.

Switch From a Personal to a Business Account to Reap the Benefits of a Large Instagram Following

Follow these steps to switch from a personal to a business account.

  1. Go to your profile and tap Menu in the top right-hand corner.
  2. Tap Settings. Note that the Switch to professional account option will be listed directly under Settings for some accounts.
  3. Tap Account and then tap Switch to a professional account.
  4. Tap Continue.
  5. Select a Category for your business and tap Done.
  6. Tap OK to confirm, tap Business, and then tap Next.
  7. Add contact details and tap Next, or tap Don’t use my contact info to skip this step.
  8. You can follow the steps to connect your business account to a Facebook Page associated with your business. Linking to your Facebook page will give you access to allof the features available for businesses across Meta. At this time, only one Facebook Page can be connected to your Instagram business account.
  9. Tap X in the top-right corner to return to your profile.
  10. To display or hide business information on your profile, go to your profile and tap Edit profile. Go to Profile display under Public business information to choose whether you want to hide or display your category label and contact info. Then, tap Done.

Switch From a Personal or Business Account to a Creator Account

Follow these steps to switch from a personal or business account to a creator account:

  1. Go to your account and tap Menu.
  2. Select Setting and then select Account.
  3. If you are migrating from a personal account, choose Switch to a professional account and tap Creator. If you migrate from a business profile, choose Switch to a creator account.
  4. Select a category that best describes what you do.
  5. You can connect to your Facebook Page; if you already have one, select it from the list that appears.
  6. Select Skip; if you do not want to link a Facebook Page.
  7. Review your contact information. At least one form of contact information is required. You’ll have the option to display or hide this on your profile.
  8. Choose your profile display options. You can decide whether to hide or display your category and contact details on your profile.

Benefits of 10K Followers on Instagram

More followers mean you get more eyes on your Instagram content. Getting 10k followers on Instagram is a significant milestone for brands. It isn’t easy to get there, but from 10k followers, the growth path typically becomes easier. Here are the considerable benefits of 10k followers on Instagram.

  1. Live Badges. When you go Live on Instagram, your viewers can buy Badges to show their support. Instagram Badges allow you to earn money from the content you create. Badges in Live are available to eligible creators in the US with at least 10k followers.

    Note that “Access to badges for eligible creators in the UK, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Japan, Australia, Turkey, Brazil, and Mexico is currently invite-only. Head to Settings > Creator > Badges to check your invite status.”

  1. Eligibility for Instagram recommendations. You’ll have a higher chance of getting your page recommended by Instagram to other users when you reach 10k followers. Milestone. Users receive personalized Instagram recommendations according to a number of signals, such as “such as how many and how quickly other people are liking, commenting, sharing, and saving a post.”

    Being easily discovered via Search is one of the benefits of a large Instagram following. This is another key signal that puts you high on the list for Instagram recommendations.

  1. Opportunity to earn from Instagram Reels Play bonus program. This program lets you earn a bonus payout from Reels if you meet the specified bonus requirements. You need a professional account and must be an eligible creator to set up bonuses.

    Participating in the Reels Play bonus program gives you 30 days to accomplish the target number of plays for your chosen Reel. You’ll also be given several milestones in your progress bar, and you can earn smaller bonuses when you hit them.

Person putting on a headset and getting ready to record an Instagram Reel.

How to Gain a Large Following on Instagram

Mastering the strategies for how to gain a large following on Instagram requires focus and commitment; for many, it also takes a long time. But when you accomplish this feat, the benefits of a large Instagram following create a snowball effect that propels you toward lasting growth.

Among the tried and true strategies for Instagram growth, precise audience targeting and focused organic content promotion is the combination to beat. Add a hefty dose of social media expertise to this mix. What you’ll get is an Instagram growth formula that works for every time and any niche.

You can get all three when you team up with Path Social. Path Social is a social media management service with a proven track record in Instagram growth. You can expect steady growth with real people genuinely interested in your brand with the help of Path Social’s proprietary AI targeting technology.

Path Social also gives you the added advantage of their in-house social media specialists. They do all the heavy lifting in putting your content in front of the right audience.

Trusted by more than 20 thousand Instagram brands across all niches and industries, Path Social is your best bet for lasting and rewarding growth. Start growing and gaining Instagram followers today!