Instagram and influencer marketing have skyrocketed since it first made its mark.
The reason is mainly associated with how consumers make decisions these days. You will be shocked with some of the most recent stats about how customers purchase:
✔️ 57% of consumers prefer to shop online, 31% of consumers prefer visiting the physical shop, while 12% of consumers said both ways are the same for them. (Bizfeel)
✔️ About one-third of consumers said the top reason to shop online is the ability to shop 24/7 (32%), followed by a lower price (29%), convenient (22%), and save time (17%). (Bizfeel)
✔️ In case you’re wondering if consumers shop via social media, 55% of consumers have made purchases via social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.
These numbers are only getting bigger year after year.
These stats might vary depending on the industry, but we can’t deny the impact that social media has on the decisions consumers make; which is why brands and small business owners want to sprint their likes and followers on social media.
How do you get real Instagram followers for free? You’re about to have lots of strategies here.
Getting Social Media Followers Won’t Fuel Your Banking Account Unless You Understand One Thing
Social media is not a SALES channel, it’s a COMMUNICATION channel. It needs multiple participants in order to have real communication.
In order to exude the “coolness” factor, it’s essential that you take the time to build a well thought out content marketing plan, so that your message is communicated in front of the right audience and they can feel compelled to engage with your content.
Instagram Followers And Likes Still Matter (And Facebook Too)
As of April 2019, Facebook is by far the most popular social network with over 2.3 billion global monthly active users but Instagram, the mobile photo and video-sharing application launched in 2010, is quickly growing in popularity.
As of June 2018, there are an estimated 1 billion Instagram monthly active users worldwide. There are an estimated 107 million Instagram users in the United States alone, a number which is forecast to grow to almost 126 million in 2023. Source: Statista.
User Experience Is Key
According to the company, the secret to their success is their unique visual storytelling approach to social media.
Users registered with the platform can upload pictures and videos, to which they can also apply filters, frames and other effects. They can also attach captions, tags of other people/accounts, whether friends, celebrities or companies and hashtags, which make the media easy to find if one is looking for specific subjects.
There are a reported 60 million photos uploaded to Instagram every day. Therefore, small business owners and brands need to have a game plan before jumping into the Instagram world.
It’s not just about uploading emojis and funny pictures. It’s about the experience that your users (followers) will have with your world. This is why, before I give you hundreds of strategies to boost your followers, we need to make sure your Instagram feed and Facebook timeline pass the test!
How Do You Make A Good Instagram Feed?
Create Content For A Niche
Your social media channels are robust marketing instruments capable of reaching a massive audience faster than you can imagine.
You need to create content regularly for your Instagram feed. But not just any kind of content. Focus on a particular niche first, so you can have a group of people with similar interests.
Create your content on a variety of topics in your niche that your target audience is searching for on the internet and boost your content with visuals so that you can stand out.
Once you have a captivated audience, communicate with them to find out what types of content they love to read and create those.
Use social contests, throw a question or two at your audience on social media. At the end of your post, ask them what they will love to read or see next.
It should not take you more than a few weeks to see those conversations happening, just from the content you share.
Build Brand Trust by Being Active On Stories
Regular posts consisting of relevant Instagram content on your Instagram profile is crucial to building trust.
Many brands and small business owners fail to use stories to share their content. Mainly because they don’t understand how powerful they can be.
Think about stories as your avenue to share the “behind-the-scenes” of your life and/or business. When you show you’re human, authentic, and transparent, you can almost instantly begin to break the ice to genuine connection.
Remember that Instagram users love stories. Use them to show them how passionate you are about your business. Don’t share products. Instead, invite them to learn more details on your website. In this way, you build your email list, while building trust with your audience.
Instagram stories are a great way to build your email list.
Build Awareness By Having A Visual Voice
If you are a business, I cannot stress enough the importance of finding your visual voice.
Your feed is your business card and the face of your business. Behind every face, there is a personality. Your Instagram theme is that personality. Which is why it is important to get that right.
Look at our favorite Instagrammers right now. Most of them usually talk about the same topics all the time. They talk about what they are passionate about and this is why you are following them. These topics make people want to come back for more.
Pay Attention To Metrics
Most people confuse impressions with reach. Impressions are the number of times your post will show up on someone’s timeline. Impressions can inform the potential of your content’s visibility, but reach is the number of accounts that actually saw your content.
If you want more engagement, your first metric to pay attention is the reach. Once you reach a healthy audience, the next metric to pay attention is website traffic.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that your social media channel is going to be your sales channel. Again, social media is your point of conversation. People find you via social media, but that’s not the only channel they will use as a factor to make the decision to work with you.
With this in mind, let’s explore how to gain followers on social media!
I have a list of 100 ways so I’m giving you 75 here and you can download the rest and study later!
But, again, keep in mind that more followers alone won’t grow your revenue.
75 Ways To Grow Your Social Media Followers (Expert Advice)
1.Clean your first impression starting with your profile and cover photo. Use Photofeeler.com and get unbiased reviews.
2. Great new headshots and do an announcement! People respond to novelty.
3. “Ask for recommendations” post. Invite people to give you their opinion about something. Everybody has an opinion! Pro tip: use the recommendations feature on Facebook.
4. Add your social media handles in your email signature.
5. Cross promotion. If you want to build Instagram followers, share your handle in other platforms: LinkedIn, Facebook, Facebook Groups.
6. Before/After Story! Share a before and after story and ask your current followers to share. People love great stories!
7. Your tagline. Ask your warm market! “I’m looking to connect with ____. Who do you know who ____?” Since you are building followers, use that space to ask for new followers!
8. Start with your warm list and send a warm email to ask your connections for followers.
9. Be a conversation starter in groups where you can reach people from your Avatars (ideal client profile). Facebook Groups, LinkedIn Groups.
10. Use your personal accounts to feature the other accounts you want to grow. Example: share your business page with your friends.
11. Team Tag! Select a few friends who want to grow followers. Play team tag so you can reach their audience and attract new followers.
12. Visit popular Facebook Pages and leave amazing comments. (Guerilla Marketing 101). Not sure which ones? Use the Audience Insights IQ feature.
13. Craft a tour of your city and show your audience your favorite places. Take great pics and tag as many public places as you can! You should get 100’s of followers per visit if you select the right spots! Pro tip: use Facebook live to get more engagement!
14. From the same tour grab videos and upload them to YouTube. Add your social media handles on the description so people can find you!
15. From the same tour, build a Pinterest board. Add your other social media handles in the description.
16. We are not done! Take your images and upload them to Google Maps. Add your handles as well.
17. Hashtag boards on Instagram. Find them and leave comments under relevant accounts. Procure to leave real comments not just emoji.
18. Find hidden spots on the Internet and leave your social media handle in comments. Quora.com is a great spot.
19. Your business card! Add your handles so people can find you.
20. Build a Facebook Group and offer a freebie to every new member (you will need to solicit them using your profile)
21. “Operation 10-5-1”, play detective and send a cold request (no spamming). This strategy is explained in my book, The 6 Golden Rules of Social Media.
22. Host a 10-Day show! You want to be in front of people as consistent as possible.
23. Host a Challenge. Instead of a quick video tutorial, create a series of steps and tell people you will reveal one new step every day. This brings your followers together.
Pro tip: use ManyChat (Facebook Bots) to get more followers in automatic pilot!
24. Weekly show- perfect for Facebook live or Youtube. Add your social media profiles in the description of each episode.
25. Use OBS to stream old videos using Fbk live or the new Facebook Premiere.
26. Build a personal profile with friends and their connections and turn that into a business Page! This will get you a new page with followers. Your profile’s followers, friends and friend requests will get notified that you’ve created a new Page! Click here to learn more.
27. Giveaway
28. Contest
29. Press release add your social media handles
30. Submit blog to newspaper
31. For live events, booths, add your social media handles to a stand-up banner
32. Marketing collateral- promo materials
33. Flyers
34. Feature brands in your posts and use #’s so other followers can find you
35. Feature micro influencers (share their content)
36. Build a blog and use Google SEO to drive traffic. Then turn your Google traffic into social media followers.
37. Interview experts.
38. Leave book reviews on Amazon.
39. Blog about your Netflix show or share it via social media and tag the show’s page.
40. Participate in community pages and have real conversations about things that you enjoy in life.
41. Sponsor local events so they share your social media page!
42. Sponsor online events! Online summit!
43. Instagram stories – craft your own template and make sure you know the #’s secrets
44. Poll
45. Podcast – you start one
46. Podcast- you get interviewed
47. Use SEO to optimize your YouTube channel
48. List your services via Upwork
49. List via Freelancer.com
50. List via Fiverr.com
51. Network with Facebook friends of friends so you can expand your network
52. Add your handles on your Linkedin summary
53. Create a Guide and share via social media (freebie)
54. Pinterest board (leave your social media info)
55. Pinterest connections
56. Get interviewed at some else’s Youtube
57. List your services at Thumbtag
58. Search for job postings and find people who work at those companies
59. TaskRabbit
60. Alignable
61. Google local guides
62. Upload pics on Google My Business
63. Leave reviews on Yelp
64. Leave reviews on Google
65. ServiceWhale
66. SlaveLabour
67. Meetup
68. Search on Facebook – events
69. Linkedin search- advanced search. Find people to connect with.
70. Direct mail campaign
71. Chamber of Commerce listing
72. Build a profile on SoundCloud
73. Create infographics.
74. Use real images instead of stock images.
75. Leverage the power of video and create amazing content.
In Conclusion
I want you to imagine a year from now, your social media accounts are lead engines. Imagine what that could mean for your business growth!
We didn’t get to talk about Twitter which means we have more to talk about!
