How to get free Instagram followers for your business

How to get free Instagram followers for your business 

When it comes to starting a brand or business and going viral, social media is one of the first places you should consider. It is a convenient platform to share your idea and be easily heard. One of those social media Platforms people go to for traffic and audience is Instagram.

It started as a joke, and within three months of existence, it has grown its audience above 1 million and now it can boast of not less than 1 billion active users monthly, as of 2018.

Now you can begin to see why you must get free Instagram followers for your business. I will take you by the hands and show you the advantages of using this platform. I will also show you how to use this platform and get free Instagram followers. If you have been using this platform and do not know how to turn it into a cash machine, I will show you how to go about it. Before I step into all of this, let us consider why your business should be on Instagram.

Why you should use Instagram for a business 

Irrespective of what your niche might be, or what kind of business you run; do not make the mistake of thinking you do not need Instagram for your business. I know you are wondering what are you going to post on this platform.

But trust me, with little creativity and planning, you will discover that there is a lot to push on the internet via Instagram.

Below are seven reasons why you must use Instagram for a business

1. Use Instagram for a Business because your Customers Expect to See it

With the widespread of businesses on the internet and social media, your customers will expect to see your business on various social media platforms. Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms. They will expect to see your business there.

Although not finding your business there is not a bad signal. It is good to see your business presence. As such, you can create a profile and create content once in a while, and be sure you use Instagram for a business.

2. Use Instagram for a business to gain trust.

Business creates business accounts on Instagram. If your customers find your business on Instagram, it will help increase their trust level for you and your business. It does not only apply to Instagram but also other social media platforms

3. Use Instagram for a business to increase your sales

Instagram allows you to share your product pictures. If you sell products, you can share your product pic and videos. It might mean creating a product catalogue via a Facebook page, but not to worry, the advantage supersedes the stress.

4. Use Instagram for a business to direct traffic to your website.

Yes, you heard it right, use Instagram to generate website traffic. Just like I mentioned that you can showcase products. You can also showcase your blog post. Creat good content and use Infographics to get peoples attention on Instagram for your website.

You do not need to concentrate on just Instagram. You can do the same for Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms. With a good social media tool, you can post to multiple channels.

5. Use Instagram for a business to build an Online Reputation.

Building an online reputation is vital to your business. If you are growing a brand or building a business. You must be interested in what people see when they search for your brand name or any form of brand identity. You must have an Instagram account for your business 

6. Use Instagram for a business because your competitors do.

Do not give your competitors a hedge. If you are not using it while your competitors are, then you are giving them an edge. Check out what they are doing on Instagram, and you will find creating your own easy.

What I mean is picking inspiration and not copying their content.

7. Use Instagram for a Business to network with like minds.

When it comes to networking with other like minds, you can use Instagram for a business to meet people. Use the power of liking, commenting, and sending messages to businesses and individuals to start a relationship.

Now we have seen the advantages of using Instagram for a business. One unique way of creating an audience for your business on Instagram is getting followers. Although there are various ways of acquiring followers, one of those proven and cost-effective ways is to get free Instagram followers.

How to get Free Instagram followers

Let me nail it on the whiteboard, “gone are the days of a short cut and buying followers”. If you want to use Instagram effectively, you need to concentrate and build a solid business. Buying followers will not give your business continuous followership.

You need real people who care about your business content and who are ready to follow your business. One of such ways to acquire such is to get free Instagram followers via generic means. So doing you will be sure you are creating followers that are interested in your content.

Below is a list of proven strategies that you can use to get free Instagram followers for your business.

1. Ascertain the purpose of your Instagram Business

I believe you have spent time reading this post because of your business. As such, you want to get free Instagram followers for your business. The first thing is to determine the purpose of your account.  

Yes, you have read it. The need to set business goals for any endeavour. But here, we are setting a goal to make yourself accountable and also measure your results. It will help you improve on your content creation and another marketing strategy

Goals on Instagram can be creating audience engagement, affiliate marketing income, sell digital or physical products, increase your list of subscribers, generate more website traffic, onboarding the attention of influencers to your business and lots more.

Each of these goals is/are your choice. The bottom line is picking a goal that is measurable and achievable.  

2. Create and Design your Profile

I want to believe that you have identified why you want to run your business on Instagram. The next thing is to create a profile for your business. Note I did not say create a profile for yourself, but for your business.

It is going to be targeted at gaining the attention of people who are interested in your business. You will use photos and description that is attention-catching, such that it can help you get free Instagram followers.

Before I get started with how to go about it, you must see what your competitors are doing. Select at least three persons or business in your industry and see what their profiles look like on Instagram. With that, you will have an insight into what is expected. If this is the first time setting up your profile, then it is pretty straight forward. If you have an account already, then you need to look at modifying it to a business account.

3. Use relevant Pictures

Each Social media platform has its uniqueness; the same applies to Instagram. It is a picture driven platform. Instagram will continue to be a visually driven platform. Worth mentioning people tend to connect and remember visuals much more than text.

That said, you need to create visual content for your account. Create this visual content consistently. That way, you will be giving your brand a voice. Give time to designs and be consistent with content creation.

Your brilliant design will create engagement, while your consistency will build trust. Creating Picture, infographics should not be a nightmare. You can use free tools like Canva, and when you are comfortable with it you can upgrade to the pro version – Canva pro.

But you must ensure you create unique images. You can download images from Canva. They have a very friendly editing platform where you can change colours, text and even background images to suit what you want.

Do not forget that when selecting pictures, ensure you select relevant pictures to your content. Else, you will lose the trust of your followers. Lastly, do not forget that your priority is to get free Instagram followers. Add a call to action statement; it is your way of telling your subscribers what to do.

4. Develop a content strategy

Now you have a road map to what you are doing. Let us start working on content creation. It is one of the most important parts of your job.

Content is the vehicle for engagement. It is not just about creating a write-up but anything via which you can express yourself. It can be in images, video, infographic or text. One unique thing here is that you must be able to express yourself through it.

Worth mentioning is that your content must be targeted to a particular audience, you cannot afford to create random content. If you itemize goals, create the right profile, and create strategic content, you will get free Instagram followers that will continuously hang around your content.  

In creating the right content for your audience applying the elements of a story will make it pretty easy for you. 

Now, what are the elements of a story?

The Element of a story is answering the question of who, where, when, why and How.

Who answers who is the content made for?

The where answers where will they get the content?

The when answers when will it be delivered?

The why answers why do they need the content?

And lastly, the How answers how will it be delivered? It deals much more with the medium, and this is Instagram. It is majorly a visual platform, very similar to Pinterest.

5. Engage Keywords in your Content

You must learn to engage the power of keywords. Use relevant keywords to help people find you. Use keywords in your profile. Include your most relevant keyword in your profile is important.

It will help make it easy for people to find you, thus you will get free Instagram followers.

6. Embed your Instagram post on your Blog

Embedded post are always clickable, you can embed your own Instagram post on your blog and it will direct users to your Instagram. That way you will be directing traffic from your blog to your content.

You are creating awareness and you will get free Instagram followers that way. It is simple, just use a picture or screenshot from your Instagram post and add a link to it. That way you can direct your blog traffic to your Instagram profile.

7. Use Image Captions on your Images

I know you may be thinking image captions are not necessary. But they make a lot of difference, especially when you can use long captions.

Your Instagram caption allows you to create as many as 2200 characters. Out of this platform will display the first 3 lines. Ensure it is properly crafted and attention-grabbing, Then you have the winning ticket to get free Instagram followers.

It will not only get their attention but also encourage them to engage with it by commenting and liking your post.

8. Use Hashtags

When I see the word hashtag, two platforms come to my mind – Twitter and Instagram. As long as you want to broadcast your content on social media, you must use the hashtag.

Instagram followers are known to use the power of the hashtag. They are fond of moving from one hashtag to another. As such if you are targeting to get free Instagram followers for your niche, you must learn how to use the hashtag diligently.

Let us begin by seeing how hashtags work.

Unlike other platforms hashtag on Instagram is a category system. Take for example, as a content marketer one of those hashtags you will see me use is #LaptopLifeStyle, #ContentMarketing,

You will find people interested in blogging looking out for these hashtags. Your hashtags can be based on your location, lifestyle, product, community and lots more.

When using hashtags on Instagram, you should observe the following

1. Add hashtags in your comment
2. Avoid generic hashtags, use niche specific hashtags
3. Use between 5 and 25 hashtags in a post

Follow the procedure below on how to create your hashtags

1. Create an excel or any form of a spreadsheet for your hashtags
2. Don’t worry about where to start, use general hashtags that are specific to your niche.