How to Gain Instagram Followers Organically and for Free in 2024

How to Get Instagram Followers for Free: SMM Specialist Tips

Every Instagram account owner dreams of gaining as many followers as possible for free. Instagram plays a huge role in promoting any business. As many know, this social network has long ceased to be just a place where you follow others' lives and like your friends' photos. For brands, Instagram is one of the largest sources of potential clients. Therefore, competition on this platform is fierce. To make your profile highly visited and, even better, profitable, you need to invest a lot of time, effort, quality content, and a bit of creativity. So, let's explore the methods to gain Instagram followers for free.

How to Properly Prepare Your Instagram Profile for Your Followers

An attractive Instagram profile is crucial for attracting potential clients. Remember, the main tool of the social network is its visual component. No advice on increasing followers, even from the most popular blogger, will be effective if your profile is poorly executed. Just making good photos and videos is not enough; everything is important here: from the username to the proper presentation and interest. First, think about what would interest and motivate you to subscribe to a profile. Check out the accounts of other companies in your industry to evaluate and understand how you would like to showcase your company and decide what should definitely not be in your Instagram account.

Let's break down what should be included in an Insta-profile:

Username & User Name

For any entrepreneur, the uniqueness of the company name is their strength. In a way, it's easier to interest with a product than to attract a consumer with the name of your brand. Instagram users indicate in the profile header:

• Username (Nikname): The name of your page that indicates the idea and encourages visiting it. It's better to avoid long names (the shorter, the easier to remember), excessive symbols, and numbers.
• User Name: The line displayed under the main profile picture and highlighted in bold. You can write the company name or information that represents the product (it's better not to make it the same as your nickname). Also, try to include keywords in the user name if appropriate for easier searchability.

Main Profile Photo

If you want to make a "wow-effect," take care of the main photo. It should not be on a distant topic, with small text, or unnoticed details. The photo should clearly represent the company and attract users' interest. For a brand, it's best to use your logo.

Instagram Profile Description

How to make a good and catchy profile description? Short information: what – by whom – why. In other words, a short biography of your company. You describe: what the company is, what you do, what products/services you provide, and of course, why you should be chosen. If it's a personal blog, change "what" to "who". You have 150 characters for everything :) The main thing is creativity.

Company Website Link

Adding links greatly improves the brand profile, especially if you have a company website, use additional social networks, accept orders not only through direct (e.g., via manager/bot in Telegram), or want to mention partners. This feature also adds convenience for clients and saves their time searching for information.

Connecting Instagram Profile to Facebook Business Page

Connecting Instagram to Facebook provides additional benefits:

• "Contact" Button: By clicking on this button, users can immediately call, find out how to reach you, or send an email.
• Hyperlink with Address: Clicking on it, page visitors get to Google Maps, which shows how to get to you.
• Category: Under the profile name, you can specify the business category, helping understand what you do (e.g., restaurant, car service, photographer, etc.).
• Statistics: You can view engagement, impressions, reach, the number of clicks on links and contact buttons; this will allow you to evaluate what you are doing right and what should be changed.

Ways to Attract Followers Without Money

After preparing your account for new viewers and potential clients, it's time to attract those followers. To ensure your work is not in vain, do not risk the reputation and banning of your company page, and use fair methods.

Let's consider a few examples of free advertising on Instagram:

Word of Mouth

An old-fashioned, always working way to attract people. Ask your friends and acquaintances to recommend your page on their accounts and briefly describe your company. The more subscribers they have, the better. You can also find accounts with identical numbers and criteria of followers and offer mutually beneficial PR. But, do not ask your direct competitors.

Following Potential Followers

Follow, like, and comment; at the very least, you'll spark interest to check your profile and see who is being active. You might attract the person and gain a follower. But remember, the Instagram follow limit is 300 per day.

Geolocations

Always add geotags to your posts, especially places where your target audience often visits. Users often use geolocation when searching for information.

Hashtags in Instagram: How It Works

Use a selection of hashtags for each post, including not only the most popular ones (100K publications), but also medium (1K to 10K) and low (up to 1K publications). Popular tags target a wider audience, while low ones give you a better chance to get into the "TOP results."

Recommendations for Instagram Accounts

How not to lose your engaged Instagram audience and attract new ones:

• Follow a clear content plan.
• Make your content diverse to avoid boring your audience.
• Add a "behind the scenes" section – show how work processes/employee tasks go (e.g., if it’s a clothing store, periodically create content with shipments, packaging, sewing).
• Stand out with your unique features, style.
• Use Instagram features to the fullest – record reels, go live, don't forget about your stories.
• Share relevant news – content directly related to your profile (promotions/new items), also important events in the world (holidays, describe interesting facts and use them for your purpose).
• Periodically use giveaways (make the conditions simple and easy).
• Make your profile informative – share useful information, don't forget about what is interesting to followers.
• Don’t leave the space under posts empty – use text that isn’t overwhelming but interesting.
• Comment – don’t ignore comments on your profile, but also use them on posts of your target audience.
• Use tags – your partners/clients/popular places – this will help attract followers (e.g., you have photos of your product in an establishment – tag it, at least the establishment's clients will see you in the "tagged" section).
• Create a branded hashtag – come up with one and place it in your profile description (in the future, your consumers will be able to use it to mark your company).

And if you have already passed all the above stages and brought your account to order, using all possible free methods of attracting Instagram followers, or you just need a more active start – learn how to properly set up and launch ads on Instagram, and work with bloggers.