Growing on Instagram is hard as is! But believe me when I say you don’t have to grow a community by doing loop giveaways, comment pods, and other outdated tactics. That’s why today we’re covering how to gain Instagram followers organically in 2024.
As a full-time influencer, I’ve been able to beat the Instagram algorithm and gain 100K followers. The best part about this is I have students seeing this kind of organic growth too!
One of my Instagram influencer course students went from 4,000 followers to 90,000 followers in a year—that’s huge!
This has nothing to do with luck and everything to do with strategy—let’s get into that now!
Written by influencer coach Dani The Explorer
But First, Why Focus on Instagram Organic Growth?
By growing organically on IG, you can become an Instagram influencer and make money as a content creator!
When you buy bots or join loop giveaways to get followers, you run the risk of ruining your engagement.
Not to mention, Instagram can ban your account.
Same goes for the follow, unfollow growth methods.
How to Get Followers On Instagram Without Following or Liking
Do you want the real secret on how to grow Instagram followers organically? Here it is:
POST BETTER CONTENT AND POST CONSISTENTLY.
Yep. It doesn’t get any clearer than that. So while I will be providing you with 22 ways to gain organic Instagram followers, if you only take ONE thing away from this blog, it should be consistency.
At the end of the day, the best way to organically grow Instagram profiles is through consistently posting great content.
Of course, no one ever wants to say that or tell small creators that because it’s “hard.”
With practice, though, it really isn’t!
But when you make organic growth a priority, it can be really easy to pitch brand deals.
Pro Tip: The Instagram algorithm changes regularly, which can impact growth. So keeping up to date with the best tips is essential!
How to Gain Instagram Followers Organically in 2023
#1 Have a Consistent Look with Your Photos and Feed
A great way to continue to gain organic Instagram followers is by sharing a consistent look throughout your photos. You can do this by using aesthetic photo editing apps.
If you have a particular editing style you like, creating a preset for yourself can save you time with the editing game.
Even if you take iPhone pictures and don’t edit them, it’s about having a recognizability factor to your feed. Maybe that means you’re always the subject of your images, or you have a certain sense of style that’s easily recognizable.
Heck, perhaps you take all of your photos on film.
Whatever your method is, find a way to easily recognizable your personal brand.
Read Next: 6 Reasons You Aren’t Landing Brand Deals
#2 Have a Seamless Aesthetic on Your Profile
Okay, you have a preset you’re using for your photos, but what about the rest of your profile?
When someone lands on your profile, they should know who you are right away, and your brand should stand out.
Make sure that your brand and aesthetic match across all aspects of your profile:
- Instagram Cover Highlights
- Your Profile Pic
- The overall theme and consistency of your photos
Little details like this go a long way!
#3 Schedule Your Posts and Plan Your Feed
Plan and schedule your posts ahead of time to gain organic Instagram followers in 2024.
Scheduling can help you have a consistent look to your feed AND stop stressing about, “Oh no! What do I post today?”
Let’s be honest; when that happens, sometimes we don’t post at all or write a half-assed caption that gets us nowhere.
I also love being able to schedule posts so that they’ll go live, and I don’t have to worry about getting online while I’m out.
Pro Tip: Planning is a great way to naturally incorporate Instagram sponsored posts into your feed too!
#4 Niche Down
This tip on how to grow Instagram followers organically is actually pretty popular.
Niching down can be difficult for some people to fathom because feeling like you’re in a “tight box” can stink, right!
The truth is, when you niche down, you actually have more creative control over your Instagram content.
You can have better direction and develop boundless ways to create recognizable content across your feed.
And if you make very niched down content, it’ll be easier for you to attract a very specific kind of person to your feed. Thennnnnnn, you can turn them into a fan!
Pro Tip: When you have a rock solid relationship with your niche audience, you can charge more for brand deals. Not sure what to charge? Check out my>> free Influencer Rate Calculator!
#5 Use Niche-Specific Hashtags
I’ll admit, hashtags aren’t my favorite way to grow, but with the launch of Instagram Search, hashtags are a great way to make your content search-friendly!
Think of them as keywords for your content. For example, if you post about Style Tips, literally use the hashtag #styletips on your posts. This way, anyone searching for style tips on Instagram will see your posts.
You might even benefit from using them when you write engaging Instagram captions!
#6 Create Your Own Hashtag
Creating a branded hashtag is a GREAT way to get more Instagram followers.
When you can create a catchy hashtag and encourage your audience to use it, then share their use of the hashtag on your stories, your followers will go crazy and engage!
From there, potential followers and current followers will start competing for space on your Stories in the hopes you’ll notice them in the hashtag.
When considering how to gain Instagram followers organically, share-ability is huge!
Pro Tip: This can be a great way to get more views on Instagram Stories too!
#7 Find Your Purpose & Be Authentic (Major Key to Instagram Organic Growth)
While you might have an excellent brand going for yourself, are you clear on your why?
Why should people care about following you, and why are you showing up on social media?
Once you’re clear on your why you’ll go all-in and create content that will convert potential followers.
Be authentic in the way that you show up!
This is another way to boost engagement. I’m not telling you to share your vulnerabilities in a way that makes you uncomfortable.
By being authentic, I mean stop trying to replicate every single piece of content or personality you see.
#8 Give Your Bio a Refresh
Update your Instagram bio and name to have keywords that indicate what your content is about to Instagram.
When you do this, you’ll make it easier for Instagram Search features to categorize your profile and push it to users who may be interested.
Read Next: How to Turn a Free Gift into a Paid Collab
#9 Create a Story Series
Don’t stop the brand consistency at highlight covers and imagery; take it to Instagram stories too!
Plan your stories out in advance. Know where your story content is going and what you’re sharing with your audience.
Create stories that go with your highlights! Like to talk about beauty products?
Then, create a story series called “Beauty Fridays,” where you share some excellent beauty products you’re loving every Friday.
Read Next: How Much to Charge for a Sponsored Instagram Post
#10 Show More BTS in Stories
Followers love seeing more of you!
Of course, they love the beautiful photos or other curated content you are creating for them, but they also want to see the BTS (behind-the-scenes).
They want to know the real you and know that you aren’t so different from them after all!
I suggest using Instagram Stories to do this.
You can show people what a day in your life looks like or behind the scenes of a photoshoot.
The key here is to create a deeper connection with your Instagram followers.
#11 Create a Story Template
By “Story template,” I mean a story slide followers can fill out and share on their Stories and re-share!
Templates had a moment a couple of years ago with folks making templates like “this or that,” “bucket lists,” etc., but they work!
Templates are a great way to engage your audience!
Freebie: Enroll in my Free Reels Course — 0 to 100 Reels Challenge was designed to help you create videos that get you upwards of 100 new followers a week.
#12 Create a Filter
This tip is a little more complicated than the others, but face filters can get a crazy amount of reach!
If you create a face filter people enjoy, they’re likely to use it on their stories, which means you’ll get exposure from other people creating content of their own.
#13 Tag Creators in Your Stories
Reach out to other content creators and collaborate with them.
When you do so, create a fun series together, then share each other’s handles on your Stories.
You can even collaborate by doing a fun shared giveaway and sharing that on your Stories.
Doing so can help you both grow because it will help you reach each other’s audiences.
I love starting with Stories, though, because users can easily tap through any tagged handles.
#14 Use the Collab Post Feature
The Collaborator post feature on Instagram is a new way to get in front of users organically.
So whether you have a second account or a friend you’re going to collab with, using this feature will automatically put your content in front of a new set of followers.
It’s a free and great way to get in front of new users!
#15 Share Content Across Other Platforms
By this, I mean you need to be posting on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, and your blog!
If a new app or social sharing platform takes off, you should be sharing content on it.
While you can only post on Instagram and call it a day, by not spreading your wings, you’re missing out on sooooooo many potential followers out there!
Only want to post on Pinterest? That works! Start by picking one additional social media app and going from there.
#16 Engage with Your Audience
A B-I-G way to grow on Instagram is by engaging with your audience. I know… you’ve heard it 1,000 times, but it’s true. Let your audience know that you care about them by engaging. Respond to their messages and comments.
Check out their pages and let them know that you like what they’re creating. If you genuinely want to grow on Instagram in this day and age, you need to be active and engaging on the platform.
Pro Tip: This is a great way to beat the Instagram algorithm too!
#17 Ask Questions
“Ask questions” comes off as vague advice, I know, but what I’m really telling you to do here is to ask your audience questions.
Ask them what they want to see from you, or heck, ask them how their week is going!
And if you are having trouble deciding what kind of content to create next, this is an excellent way to source your followers’ ideas.
#18 Use Your Analytics
How often do you check your Instagram Analytics?
When I first started posting and trying to grow my audience, my answer would have been: NEVER.
It turns out it can be handy to know a thing or two about your audience, like the exact times they will be online engaging with you… Yup. Convenient, I know.
Ensure that you’re taking advantage of the analytics that Instagram already shares with you and use those to grow your account.
#19 Post Carousels
It’s said that when you post a carousel, you’re likely to get 14% more engagement than you would with a static Instagram post.
Carousels can be a combination of multiple photos or photos + videos.
They help tell a better story to your followers and potential followers!
#20 Post Reels
Instagram Reels are having a MOMENT rn!
That’s why in my Instagram influencer course we cover Reels Best Practices Instagram told me about on a call I had with them!
Look, when Instagram creates a new feature, they favor accounts that use it. Reels are Instagram’s competitor to TikTok, and my my, they’re not going anywhere in 2024.
Viral Reels are here to stay and have been getting folks upwards of MILLIONS in reach.
Tool You’d Like: Click here to enroll in my free Reels Course!
#21 Go Live
Instagram Lives really had a moment in 2020. Why? With isolation, people crave connection.
Lives are a great way to foster that connection and keep your audience interested in what you’re up to.
After the pandemic, Instagram started to lean more into Lives introducing bonuses and features like “Badges.”
Lives don’t have to be anything crazy.
You can hop on for 15 minutes, ask questions, give a life update, start a conversation, etc.
#22 Use Video Everywhere
Sure, you can post Reels and you used to be able to post to IGTV, but are there other ways you can use video on Instagram? Yes.
I suggest using videos in your Stories AND mixing them into carousel posts when you can.
Video is simply more engaging and will continue to be important for organic growth.
List of Tips for Gaining Instagram Followers Organically in 2024
- Have a consistent look with your photos and feed
- Schedule your posts and plan your feed
- Niche down
- Have a seamless profile aesthetic
- Create a Story series
- Use niche-specific hashtags
- Show more BTS Stories
- Share content across other platforms
- Tag creators in your Stories
- Engage with your audience
- Create your own hashtag
- Use your analytics
- Post Carousels
- Post Reels
- Create a Filter
- Go Live
- Use IGTV & Video
- Ask questions
- Find your purpose and be authentic
- Create a Story template
- Use the Collaborator Post feature
- Give your bio a refresh
Your Next Steps
No one ever said growing on Instagram was easy, but hopefully, from this post, you can notice a few themes!
If you want to continue to learn about becoming an Instagram influencer, then I suggest you check out my other influencer tips:
