Buy Local Instagram Followers: Boost Local Love for Your Biz

When business owners create an Instagram account for their brand, they might clamor to get everyone’s eyes on their content. Their logic probably goes like this: the more people see my content, the more customers I’ll have in my shop. But trying to get every single person’s attention isn’t always the smartest path to take, especially for small businesses. It’s better to capture the hearts of your local clientele first. So, is it a good idea to buy local Instagram followers to jumpstart your business page?

Local Instagram followers are incredibly important for brands, especially boutique shops and establishments that rely on foot traffic for success. That way, you’ll be posting content to promote your business to people who can actually access it. But what is the best way to capture this local audience’s attention? Is buying followers the only way you can do it?

Today, we’ll take a deep dive into whether buying local fans might be good for your Instagram business page. Are you not comfortable buying followers online? We’ve also thrown in our top tips for getting local followers in other ways. Keep reading to learn all these and more!

What Is Hyperlocal Social Media Marketing?

Hyperlocal social media marketing is an online strategy that allows you to push out content to a localized audience. It involves promoting content on social media platforms to reach a specific group of people in a particular geographical location.

This can be useful for many reasons, like reaching people who live near your business or promoting cultural content. For small, local businesses, this kind of marketing can boost foot traffic and, consequently, sales and growth.

But this type of marketing doesn’t just have to do with targeting. It also refers to creating interesting, relevant content tailored to your local target audience. To do local social media marketing right, you need to have a deep understanding of a community. Then, you must create content that will resonate with them.

As a result, your Instagram content can get tons of engagement from this local audience. You’ll create buzz for your business and get more people interested in patronizing it wherever you’re located. It inspires people to support local businesses, whether through exciting content you put out or word of mouth.

Why Is Local Marketing Important for Businesses?

Having a local marketing strategy on Instagram is important for many reasons. Its biggest benefit is that you can promote your business to people who live within your establishment’s vicinity. You’ll be reaching out to low-hanging fruit—a.k.a. people who can drive to your physical store to check it out.

Let’s say you have a brick-and-mortar shop in a small town and want to use Instagram to drive foot traffic. If you promote your content to a mass audience, you might reach people from faraway cities. Sure, your content might get tons of engagement. But these people will find it hard to visit your shop if they live a few cities (or even states) away. You won’t meet your goal of getting more people to your shop unless you reach local customers.

If you want your small business to boom, you must first connect with your local community. That way, the impact on your business will be more immediate. You’ll get more customers to your store and close more deals to rake in a profit.

Is It Possible To Buy Instagram Followers by Location?

If you want local followers fast, you might be wondering, “Can I buy Instagram followers by location?” Technically, yes, you can. There are plenty of third-party sites and apps that sell followers by city or country. But we do have a few caveats to share about this.

Buying followers online might seem like a great way to skip the hard work and get followers fast. But sometimes, doing this can backfire on your Instagram page big time.

By buying fake followers from third-party websites, you might get inauthentic engagement on your content. This happens if you buy from a sketchy site that delivers ghost followers or bot accounts to your fanbase. This will tank your visibility on the feed, making it difficult for your real, active followers to see your posts.

Plus, buying followers online goes against Instagram’s community guidelines—the social media platform values authentic engagement. If your actions flag the system and it finds that you’ve been partaking in inauthentic activity, there may be consequences. You could get a shadowban on your account, which hurts your visibility on the feed even more.

So, if you’re thinking of buying local followers online, make sure to avail of packages only from trusted websites. Don’t buy followers from sites that don’t have good reviews or ask for your password. Only go for tried and tested sites that are known to deliver high-quality followers.

Some examples of sites like these are Twicsy and Buzzoid. Both these websites promise to provide genuine followers to their customers. You can choose between high-quality followers or active followers. High-quality followers have profile pictures but won’t post new content. Meanwhile, active followers are non-drop followers who will engage with your posts. These sites will never ask you for your password or provide you with fake accounts. 

Types of Businesses That Might Want To Buy Local Instagram Followers

Many new businesses might consider buying local followers to jumpstart their Instagram business page. But because of the potential repercussions on the platform, it should only be a one-time, temporary strategy. After all, you don’t want to run the risk of getting fake, inactive accounts as followers for your business!

Plus, every type of business doesn’t need to have a primarily local audience on Instagram. Retail stores, for example, can target people from all over the country if they have e-commerce websites. They don’t need to drive foot traffic to just a single store. Instead, they can simply focus their Instagram marketing efforts on boosting website visits and conversions.

So, what kinds of businesses would do well to work on getting local followers on Instagram? Here are just some of them. 

Cafés and Restaurants

First, we’ve got food establishments, like cafés and restaurants. Unlike retail stores that can put up a shopping website online, these businesses depend on foot traffic for success. People need to physically sit down at their tables and order a meal for the business to turn a profit.

So, having local followers on their social media channels will be a big help. On these platforms, food establishments can promote their menus and specials to entice locals to dine with them.

Gyms and Fitness Studios

Unless these fitness studios and gyms have online programs, customers need to come in and work out at their locations. So, if a gym owner wants to promote their brand online, targeting local audiences is a must.

Fitness business owners can post content about membership deals and their gym’s features. And if they pique the interest of locals, they can expect more foot traffic to their locations.

Event Venues and Other Spaces for Rent

For businesses like event venues, commercial units, and coworking spaces, their location is their main product. If you run a business like this, you can’t close a sale unless a customer uses the space in person. The only way to get people to come to your space is by reaching out to locals near the area.

Home and Construction Services

Most contractors, cleaners, and landscaping companies offer their services only in a specific city or region. So, these businesses only ever need to promote themselves to a relatively small number of people. If these business owners wish to be active on social media, they should focus their efforts on local followers. That way, they can close deals with customers who live in areas where providing their services is completely feasible.

How To Get Local Followers on Instagram: 7 Other Ways To Do It

Don’t want to buy local followers from a third-party website? That’s fair, too. Thankfully, there are plenty of marketing techniques you can try to build a local following on Instagram. From paid ads to getting organic followers through fun, local campaigns, there are many ways to promote your business locally. Here’s how to get local followers on Instagram without having to buy them from third-party sites.

1. Set Up Instagram Ads To Reach Your Local Target Audience

If you have a sizeable marketing budget, the easiest way to reach local customers on Instagram is through paid ads. Instagram ads let you promote your products and services to your specific target audience. The platform’s ad setup allows you to choose specific audience demographics, like age, sex, and—you guessed it—location.

Through paid ads, you can push out your content to people within your local business’s vicinity. That gives you the flexibility to tailor your visuals and messaging to talk to your community in a localized way. It’s perfect for content about special in-store offers, big sales, local events, and more.

Sure, you’ll need to spend money to reach your local audience if you want to do it through ads. But because you’ll be targeting it to people in a specific geographic location, it ensures you’re not throwing away money. You won’t be wasting a cent on people who can’t even physically come to your store. It’s cost-effective and will help you meet your goal of getting more local Instagram followers for your business. 

2. Optimize Your Instagram Bio To Show Your Business Location

Make sure you include your location on your Instagram bio. That way, anyone who visits your page will immediately know if your shop is near their area. If they see that your business is a local one within their city, they might give you a follow.

Plus, having your location written in your bio makes you more searchable on Instagram. If anyone searches the name of your neighborhood on the platform, you could come up in the results.

It’s natural for people to follow businesses or establishments on Instagram if they’re in their local neighborhood. Not only is it a way to support local businesses, but it also allows people to learn about your brand. 

3. Use Location Tags in Your Content

Another way to allow locals to discover your Instagram business page is by adding a location tag to your content.

Geotagging posts is an excellent way to put your business on the map. Each location tag has its dedicated page. That page houses every post that uses that tag. If locals were to scroll through your city’s location tag, they would come across your content. And if they like what you have to offer, they might just follow your page.

4. Include Local Hashtags in Your Post Captions

If your local neighborhood or city has an official hashtag, use it in your post captions. This shows that you are proud to be from your hometown. Plus, if anyone in your area follows that tag, your content will show up on their feed. This is a fantastic way to reach local audiences that don’t follow you yet.

Using local hashtags shows potential followers that you are proud of your brand’s local identity. It’s very helpful, especially for businesses that incorporate their location into their branding. For example, if you own a pizza place in Brooklyn, you might want to use popular New York hashtags. These include #ilovenewyork and #NYC.

You can get even more local and specific if you live in a smaller town. For example, content posted by people and businesses in St. Petersburg, Florida, often includes their city’s tag #sunshineshere. Do your due diligence and research popular local hashtags in your city and use them to reach local audiences.

5. Collaborate With Local Influencers

Reach more locals on Instagram by collaborating with influencers who have a huge influence in your city. These influencers don’t need to have hundreds of thousands of followers. They just have to be respectable community leaders with a sizeable following that locals listen to.

Local influencers have a deep understanding of what people in their town like. When they create content online, locals listen. Working with them helps you reach a wider local audience while increasing your credibility on Instagram. If you’re lucky, many of your brand influencer’s active followers might check your page out and follow you as well.

Partner with local creators through small influencer marketing campaigns promoting your business. You can sponsor some of their posts, where they can make noise about your business and its location. Part of your deal can also be cross-promotion. As your brand ambassadors, these influencers can promote your Instagram content on their social media channels.

6. Promote Your Social Media Platforms at Local, On-Ground Events

Participating in local community events is one of the best ways to promote your business within your neighborhood. From weekend bazaars to food markets to carnivals, being at local events helps foster a relationship with your local customers. Being at on-ground events means having face-to-face interactions with locals. This creates a stronger, more emotional connection and sense of community with them.

These events are also a terrific opportunity to promote your Instagram page. Have a banner at the event with your business name, location, and IG handle. That way, anyone at the event who is interested in your brand can easily give you a follow.

You could even incentivize locals who follow your page while they’re at the event. Maybe you can give out small discounts for customers at the event who can show that they’re following your account. 

7. Create Local Instagram Challenges

Boost awareness for your brand while engaging users in your area with a fun, branded, local Instagram challenge. Ask people from your city to post content that only locals can. These include a photo challenge posing at a popular landmark in town or sharing their favorite restaurants in their area. You can also go the hard-sell route and ask users to post content using your products or at your location.

Of course, find a way to tie the challenge back to your brand, perhaps with a branded challenge hashtag. If the challenge you started goes viral, it can lead more locals to your business’s Instagram page. If they like what you have to offer, there’s a big chance they’ll give you a follow.

Get More Locals To See Your IG Content With Path Social

Localized Instagram content is a terrific way to show your local target audience what your business can offer. It helps connect you with your neighborhood and community—a.k.a, your most important customers. That way, you don’t have to buy local Instagram followers; they come to you.

Do you want more local audiences to see your content? We at Path Social can help. Our targeting algorithm hunts down your niche audience and promotes your content to appear on their feeds. This boosts reach and engagement while giving you an uptick in genuine followers. Grow your online community and get more local followers with our help today!