It’s easy to pick up your first group of followers soon after you sign up for an Instagram account. Your friends and family — and surprisingly, one or two people who you’ve never heard of — usually follow you pretty quickly.
After that, though, it’s almost always crickets. Instagram users upload more than 100 million posts every day, and most of them quickly disappear. There’s simply too much competition for visibility to allow small accounts to thrive on the social media platform.
You can blame the Instagram algorithms for the difficulty you experience when you can’t attract an audience or add many followers. The algorithms are in charge of allocating exposure for posts, and they give almost all of the available audience to influencers and other popular accounts.
That leaves the vast majority of users with two choices. One is using old-fashioned, manual techniques to gradually bring in a follower here and a few followers there. The methods are still effective, but they require enormous amounts of time and manual work and don’t boost follower counts to very high levels.
The other option is to work smarter, not harder. Purchasing packages of Instagram followers sends a signal to the algorithms that your account is becoming more popular, so your content deserves to be seen more widely in random users’ feeds.
Before you know it, organic followers (ones who’ve seen your videos and decided to hit the “follow” button) start streaming in because of your added visibility. You’ll see your follower base grow rapidly, putting you on the path to true Instagram popularity and importance.
It’s perfectly legal and within the app’s rules to buy followers, but some people still prefer to go the manual route. That’s why this IG growth tutorial will give you all the information you need to build your follower count both manually and with purchased interactions.
Let’s get started.
Our Top Tip: Buy Instagram Followers — But Only Real Ones
Many users are dubious when they learn about the way that purchasing Instagram followers can supercharge an account’s follower base. They understandably see it as an out-of-the-box hack that can only lead to trouble.
They’re partly right. Most of the websites that sell Insta followers can get people into big trouble. Those vendors use bots to create what are called “fake followers” not linked to real accounts on the platform. The buyer’s account temporarily shows an increased follower count, but it quickly returns to “normal.”
That’s because fake interactions violate Instagram’s terms and conditions. They’re removed almost immediately, they don’t trigger organic growth, and the account using them is usually penalized or banned.
Successful users who buy followers as an integral part of their Instagram marketing strategy understand that the only follows that the algorithms count come from real people with real accounts on the app. They also know that a limited number of social media marketing firms can deliver them. The providers they use most often:
1. Buzzoid — This reputable supplier has contributed to the growth of countless Instagram power users since 2012, thanks to top-quality, legitimate followers, immediate delivery, outstanding service and support, and industry-leading results.
2. Twicsy — Twicsy entered the Instagram industry at just about the same time as Buzzoid and has provided the same level of quality and service since then. Either Buzzoid or Twicsy has topped all reliable rankings of Instagram providers for the last decade.
3. Rushmax — This provider began operations a few years later than the first two but has quickly become a viable competitor. High-quality followers and praiseworthy service back up the strong organic growth that Rushmax provides its customers.
If you’re wondering why using a third party to fuel your follower growth is a smart Instagram strategy, that’s understandable as well.
In a nutshell, the app has become so crowded (2.5+ billion users and climbing) that, at least for most people, dropping a new Instagram post is like dropping a pebble into the ocean. It’s unlikely that anyone except their existing followers will ever see it. Manual approaches to expand an account’s audience work so slowly that they can take years to pay off.
By contrast, purchased followers work quickly to dramatically increase exposure for a user’s photo and video content. They boost a metric called “follower growth,” and the IG algorithms use that measurement to determine which accounts should have their Instagram content shown widely. When you buy followers, you’re telling the algos your posts deserve more visibility.
That’s the secret sauce. As large numbers of potential followers who’ve never heard of you see your posts in their feeds, they get their first chance to watch what you’ve created, like it, and hit the “follow” button. Those new subscribers to your account are called organic followers, and they propel users’ popularity and influence on the Gram.
Make no mistake. Buying a package of Instagram followers from one of the social media management services we’ve mentioned isn’t an instant ticket to influencer status. None of your new viewers will want to sign up if they don’t enjoy the post they’re seeing, or if they think there’s no real value to following your account long-term.
To avoid that problem, you need to take steps to optimize your content and account before deciding to buy IG followers — and they are some of the same steps required to accumulate new followers manually. To put it another way, you’re not done yet. Read on.
Tips for All Users Trying to Grow Their Follower Counts
Whatever social media strategy you’re using, you have to make sure your Instagram profile and content are on point if you want to attract viewers and convert them into followers.
Here’s the gameplan.
Optimize Your Account
If surfers find you on Instagram, they should be able to quickly understand who you are and the type of content you post. (More about content strategy shortly.) Your IG profile is where they should easily find that information.
- Start with your Instagram bio. You have only 150 characters to make your case to potential followers, so put a great deal of thought into what you want to say. The focus and goal of your account should be stated clearly, and it’s even better if you add a touch of humor or personality. Include one or two keywords linked to the primary topic you post about; that will provide “SEO food” for the app’s search engine.
- Next, add any links to outside sites you may own or contribute to. Include a brief call to action (CTA) to convince people to click on them. If you have multiple links to add, templates are available for Instagram use.
- Add your profile picture, and choose it carefully. A low-res photo or fuzzy graphics will convey the message that you don’t put much work into your account and content and may turn some visitors off.
- You may be opposed to one last possibility, but think about it anyway. If you change your IG username to include one of the content keywords we’ve just mentioned, you get another bite at the SEO apple.
Choose a Niche for Your Content
Instagram accounts with personal photos and videos are great for keeping friends and family up to date on what you’ve been up to. However, random surfers aren’t likely to be interested in that type of content, and you’ll have little chance of convincing them to follow your account if that’s all you create.
The most effective method of turning visitors into followers is to present them with a wealth of content that captures their attention so thoroughly that they hit the “follow” button — and the way to do that is to center your photos and videos around a single subject that aligns with the interests of many IG users. Once like-minded people find you, they’ll be likely to follow you.
In short, choose a topic you’re knowledgeable about and interested in, and create content that others with similar preferences would enjoy. For instance, your focus could be vintage autos, legendary baseball players, cooking tutorials, or home repair tips; as long as you think there’s a decent-sized target audience out there for your chosen niche, it’s worth pursuing.
Once you’ve become a popular influencer, your followers may be interested in learning about your personal life. Until then, keep your eye on the prize: a larger follower count.
Create Lots of High-Quality Content
One thing many potential followers want to know is whether they can count on you to regularly post great content. If they visit your account and only see one or two videos there, they may quickly move on.
That’s why it’s a smart move to produce and upload lots of compelling, high-quality content before you start trying to attract new followers and continue to post new material often after that. The latter will keep your existing followers from becoming disenchanted and deciding to unfollow you.
Pro tip: create a posting schedule and stick to it. That ensures you’ll stay on track and won’t get distracted. It’s even better if you check Instagram analytics to learn when your followers are usually online; posting at those times will ensure that you keep them satisfied.
Finally, produce the best, highest-quality photos and videos possible. Low-quality content won’t be enough to convince anyone to follow you.
Sweat the Small Details
Many users don’t give much thought to Instagram captions and hashtags. That’s a mistake.
The captions on your posts may be the best ads you can create for your videos, since the majority of people who use Instagram scroll quickly through their feeds unless they see something that grabs their attention. A well-written, short caption that’s thought-provoking, surprising, hilarious, or outrageous can turn a surfer into an eager viewer.
You should also use hashtags deliberately, not randomly. Relevant hashtags may bring in surfers looking for content that matches their interest; specific hashtags linked to trending topics on Instagram (you can find those topics on the app’s Explore page) may be a source of unexpected visitors.
And when uploading your Instagram content, think about turning it into carousels instead of individual posts. Carousels (posts that have two, three, or four photos or videos in them) bring in many more viewers than single posts, and they’re easy to create right in the Gram’s interface.
Tips for Finding More Followers Manually
Remember, as we’ve warned, this will be a long process that isn’t guaranteed to bring in very many new followers. However, if you’ve decided to take this journey, here are some of the techniques you can use.
Engage, Engage, Engage
All comments on your posts and all DMs you receive are opportunities to either convert a curious visitor into a follower or ensure that a current follower stays loyal for the long term. Respond to every engagement with your content. There’s a bonus, too: high engagement rates earn posts more exposure from the Instagram algorithms.
You may also attract followers by finding active influencers who focus on your content niche and engaging in their comment sections. Others who hang out there may find your comments interesting and seek out your account.
Repurpose Your Content on Instagram
The Instagram Reels section is the most popular area of the app, and Instagram Stories aren’t far behind — so if you’re only creating posts, you’re missing out on a large potential audience. Re-edit your videos into shorter formats and repost them as Reels and Stories as well.
You can also edit your best IG Stories into Instagram Highlights, which appear on your profile page and don’t disappear after 24 hours as Stories do.
Repurpose Your Content Outside of Instagram
You probably have accounts on other platforms like TikTok, X, or LinkedIn. Cross-promote your best videos there with a link to your Insta account, and you may bring some followers over from those other apps.
Explore Every Possibility
Successful campaigns to attract and retain followers can take many other forms, too. Just a few to consider:
- Giveaways that encourage visitors to submit user-generated content (UGC)
- Real-time Instagram Live sessions
- Content collaborations with influencers or current followers
- Running Instagram ads for your account
The more imaginative you become, the more sources of new followers you may find. Just don’t expect any of these methods to create the same level of follower growth and popularity that can be quickly achieved by purchasing Instagram followers.