How To Grow Instagram Followers Organically: 12 Key Tips

We live in an era where influencers are throwing money at anything that promises to give them more Instagram followers. Some pay for growth services to quickly attract an engaged audience, while others use more extreme strategies and buy their followers. 

But at the end of the day, organic growth is still the most sustainable way to get fans on Instagram. In this guide, we’re teaching you how to grow Instagram followers organically.

How To Increase Instagram Followers Organically: 12 Tried and Tested Tips

Don’t want to spend a dime just to get more followers? You don’t need to! There are many ways to perfect your content strategy and organically attract your target audience to your page. Not sure where to start? Here are 12 of the best hacks for organic growth on Instagram.

1. Optimize Your Profile To Rank High on Instagram SEO

To find new pages to follow, many Instagram users will look up their favorite lifestyle topics on the search tool. This can be anything from “vegan recipes” to “yoga.” And if you add relevant keywords in your bio, you can show up at the top of the search results.

This practice is called Instagram SEO or search engine optimization. The idea is to lead more people to your page by appearing on Instagram search. So, use trending hashtags in your niche and keywords related to your content pillars in your bio or display name.

For example, let’s say you’re a travel influencer. Your bio should be filled with strategic buzzwords according to your niche, like “solo adventures” or “Asia travel.” You can optimize your profile further by adding the keyword “travel” to your display name. It can be something like, “Travel the World with [your name].” That way, anyone searching any of those phrases might stumble upon your page in the search results.

2. Consistently Post Entertaining, Helpful, Shareable Content

Our next tip for how to get organic followers on Instagram is by posting high-quality, meaningful content your fans love. People naturally gravitate to content they love, whether it’s entertaining videos that make them laugh or helpful life hacks. Churning out quality content that will enrich your target audience’s lives is a foolproof way to grab their attention.

Interesting, exciting content is also shareable. When people share your content on their Stories or with their friends, more people discover your profile. That can mean even more fans for your page! That’s why many people consider engaging, creative content the best organic growth strategy there is on social media platforms.

3. Stick to the Most Popular Content Types

The Instagram algorithm prioritizes some types of content over others. The key to getting more eyes on your Instagram profile is to figure out which post formats these are.

It’s an open secret by now that the algorithm favors Reels over most other Instagram formats, from photos to carousels. A Socialinsider experiment also found that Reels get higher impressions than other formats on Instagram. That’s proof right there that Reels are always destined for more views and attention from people!

So, if you have the chops for seamlessly editing videos, pour your efforts into creating short-form video content. Posting Reels increases your chances of being discovered by new people—at least more than if you concentrate on photos.

4. Create a Series People Will Want To Follow Closely

One tip we have for how to gain Instagram followers organically through Reels is to create a gripping video series. It can be intriguing but informative, like a series of recipes featuring ingredients that don’t typically go well together. Or, you can get people invested in a DIY project, which you update them on through weekly Reels.

One viral video is great, sure. But it’s even better to have people coming back for more when they love your content. Getting people excited for your series’ next “episode” is an awesome technique for getting people to follow your account.

5. Post Content During Optimal Times

The Instagram algorithm decides which posts to push out more onto the platform depending on their engagement rate. The more engagement you drive, the higher your chances of appearing on people’s Explore pages. And the more people see you for the first time on their Explore page, the more followers you potentially gain.

One of the best ways to drive high engagement for your content is by posting it at the optimal time. That means uploading your content when your current followers are most active on the platform. (Pro tip: That’s something you can see on Instagram Insights!)

If lots of people are online when you post, you’ll likely get tons of instant likes and comments on it. On the contrary, if you post at a “dead” hour—like when everyone’s asleep—you get little to no engagement.

Your goal is to get as much engagement as possible on your post as soon as it’s up. This signals to the algorithm that your post is relevant to your target audience. So, it will start pushing it out to more people, boosting your discoverability on Instagram.

6. Use Niche Hashtags in Your Content To Target Specific Communities

You’ve heard it a million times—hashtags are great at getting you organic followers on Instagram. And while that’s true, there’s more to the story than that. It’s not just any random set of hashtags that can catapult you to Instagram fame. No, it’s niche-specific tags that will do the trick.

Broad, generic, super-popular hashtags have millions of posts competing for the spotlight. Plus, they cater to a wider audience that isn’t so targeted. With niche-specific tags, you can be more pointed with who sees your post, allowing you to reach specific Instagram communities.

Let’s say you’re a photographer who loves posting photos of nature and the great outdoors. Your instinct might be to use the most popular IG photo hashtags, like #photooftheday or #photography. Those will definitely help. However, niche hashtags like #naturephotography, #earthfocus, and #naturecaptures make it easier to catch the attention of nature photography lovers specifically.

7. Add a Location Tag To Let People Know Where You’re Posting From

It’s always a fantastic strategy to captivate users whose interests align with your niche. But another route you can take is catching the attention of people interested in where you are. You can do that by adding a location tag to your posts.

Pinning your location is a terrific way to get discovered by local communities or people interested in a specific city. You can go as broad as pinning major cities or as specific as pinning neighborhood cafés in a small town. When people explore content from that area, your post might come up, leading potential new followers to your page.

8. Inspire User-Generated Content With a Community Hashtag

Don’t want to pay for ads? Encourage your fans to create user-generated content that promotes your page in a subtle way instead! In a way, this is sort of like word-of-mouth advertising, and it’s absolutely free.

The idea here is to inspire your current fans to post content that mentions your page or brand. When their followers see it, they might be enticed to check out your page. This flow of traffic is bound to get you new followers!

One way to make posting user-generated content more fun for your fans is by creating a community hashtag. For example, if you’re a food influencer, you can conjure up a tag like #10MinuteRecipeswith[YourName]. Then, invite your fans to share photos and videos of them whipping up your recipes and use the hashtag. This gets the word out about your page in a strategic way.

9. Speak Up About Social Issues You Care About

A 2023 study showed that activism positively impacts how people see influencers, especially when they’re consistent with it. The more you try to make a social impact, the more fans you’ll get.

So, if you want to attract like-minded people to your page, talk about social issues you’re passionate about on Instagram. Creative informative Reels about issues like mental health and LGBTQ rights. Have an open discussion in the comments about current events. Be vulnerable and talk about advocacies you care about.

Sure, this technique might be a little risky and controversial. But when you attract fans who agree with your stance on social issues, you’ll know it was definitely worth it.

10. Join in on Fun Social Media Challenges

Posting an entry to a trending social media challenge is an awesome way to leverage a viral cultural moment. When people go crazy over an Instagram challenge, they look through everyone’s entries. By simply taking on a fun challenge and using the challenge hashtag, you expose yourself to a wider audience.

You don’t have to join difficult challenges like the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge or the Cinnamon Challenge. It can be as simple as the bottle flip challenge or the hottest new dance challenge. Remember to add your own twist to your entry to make it stand out!

11. Host Games to Leverage People’s Competitive Spirits

Another way to get organic followers is by piquing people’s competitive spirits and adding gamification to your content strategy. Create games out of your posts, like the “avoid saying the same thing as me” game or silly trivia questions. You can even have a cool prize up for grabs for the winners.

If your game is a hit, more people might discover your page and give it a follow. I mean, everyone’s a sucker for a fun game, right?

12. Collab With Other Influencers in Your Industry

Our final tip for getting more followers for free is to collaborate with another influencer. Create content with them and publish a joint post for both of your audiences to see. That way, their fans might discover you for the first time and vice versa. It’s a mutually beneficial partnership where you borrow each other’s influence to potentially get more followers!

There are many types of collabs you can work on with another creator. It can be something as simple as a selfie of you guys hanging out published as a collaborative post. It can also be more complex, like a series of Reels you work on as a team.

Which of These Would Organically Grow Instagram Followers: Hashtags or Content?

Some creators constantly have this burning question in the back of their heads. To grow organically on Instagram, do you really need to come up with high-quality content all the time? Or are hashtags enough to save the day and make potential fans flock to your page?

To succeed on Instagram, you need to strike a balance between both. Churning out impactful content that resonates with others is a must if you want genuine engagement and support from fans. On the other hand, it’s hashtags that will help your target audience discover your content in the first place. The two make for the perfect recipe for organic growth, so you must nail both. 

And That’s How To Grow Instagram Followers Organically!

When people like what you post, there’s no need to spend tons of money to get followers. They just come and gravitate toward your page and happily consume your content. So, if you want to gain organic followers, focus on perfecting your creative, engaging content strategy. Strong content and an even stronger relationship with your target audience will be your weapons in finding Insta-fame.

It’s a must for any creator to how to grow Instagram followers organically. But if you have spare cash, it won’t hurt to invest in an organic growth service for even more followers. We at Path Social use only organic methods to promote your content to people. So, you get real followers from our efforts every single time.

We’ve helped over 30,000 brands make it big on Instagram, like Modern Fit, whose fanbase and engagement rate we doubled. Want an engaged audience for your page, too? Work with Path Social and get 100% real, authentic followers today!

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