Looking to expand your Instagram audience? Try these four tips to get new eyes on your Instagram account and grow your following.
Go live, and bring a guest
People who use Instagram really value authenticity! And nothing is more authentic than being candid and personal in front of a live audience. Give your audience business updates in real-time with Instagram Live. You don’t have to put on a show, simply share tips, upcoming product launches, promotions, collaborations or virtual events that are coming up!
To gain a wider audience for your Instagram Live video, try inviting a guest to join you and add their perspective to the discussion. You could interview an influencer, customer, co-worker or someone from another company within your industry. Try to find a guest who has a similar audience and value set to your business so you have something to offer new viewers.
Live video should feel raw and organic. It’s about showing the audience your true self and being relatable. So, don’t panic if you stumble over your words or the background in your video is messy. Just be yourself!
Create a shareworthy contest or giveaway
A well-planned Instagram contest or giveaway helps you build your audience, increases engagement with your posts, and boosts brand awareness. Launching a new product? By creating a giveaway, you could generate some excitement and interest!
Running your own contest/giveaway can:
- Attract new followers faster. Studies have shown that Instagram accounts that hold a contest or giveaway grow 70% faster than those that don’t.
- Engage with current and potential followers. By creating a contest that requires followers to tag friends, you’re increasing engagement signals to Instagram’s algorithm which will result in your content being featured more regularly in your audiences feed and potentially as a top post in the hashtags you used!
- Build and nurture relationships with your existing audience. When you give away something to your audience, it helps cultivate an emotional connection between you and your followers.
Check out these two giveaways we ran for our client, The Facial Room. These giveaways generated engagement, profile visits and website visits – which is the ultimate goal! 
If you decide to run a contest or giveaway, just ensure you’re abiding by Instagram’s rules and regulations.
Offer a lead magnet and build retargeting audiences
A lead magnet is an incentive that marketers can offer to potential customers in exchange for their email address or contact information – very valuable information if you’re running email campaigns. Lead magnets usually offer up a piece of free digital, downloadable content that is of value to your potential customer. Examples of valuable content you could create:
- E-book
- Guide
- PDF Checklist
- Report
- Whitepaper
- Video tutorial
- Free trials of product/service
Consider the obstacles and challenges that your audience faces. How can you help them overcome these? Could you package your insights into a free download? If so, then promote and offer them on your Instagram.
We suggest using Linktr.ee to set up links from your Instagram Bio to allow users to download your lead magnet.
Paid Instagram ads
Another way to ensure more people see your Instagram account is through paid Instagram ads! Before you set your Instagram ad campaign, make sure you understand your target market. It’s important that you have a great understanding of your target audience’s demographics so you can specifically target them.
Instagram ads are a great way to effectively communicate your products and services to potential customers! Instagram is owned by Facebook, so when you set up your ads, you’ll have superior campaign customization options, diverse formatting and various targeting capabilities, via Facebook’s powerful advertising platform.
Final thoughts
To increase your visibility and expand your audience on Instagram, focus on building a social community. Your social presence on Instagram has the potential to boost your brand awareness, build a reputation, strengthen your credibility and ultimately lead to sales.
Leverage some or all of the tactics mentioned above to gain more followers. Once you start attracting new followers, it’s important to ensure you engage with them, so reply to your messages, comments and make use of all of Instagram’s tools (pinned comments, swipe ups and polls).
Looking forward to having a successful holiday season? Check out our most recent blog! Now is the time to put your online marketing into overdrive to ensure your business has a profitable holiday season!
