Instagram is huge, there's no denying it. It has become the foundation of many brands' social existence, delivering cost effective traffic to websites, increasing sales and helping build an audience of engaged and loyal users. 

If you're feeling that your Instagram presence isn't performing properly, or is somewhat lacking, there are many strategies to get genuine, organic customers to become followers of your profile. The bigger your audience grows, the more opportunities you have to engage with users and create unique experiences for them.

It's important to distinguish between organic and non-organic followers on your Instagram account. Organic followers are actual people who are looking for a page like yours. These people will view your content and engage with it. Non-organic traffic are followers and likes which have been paid for by a non-reputable source. You can determine these profiles. They often have only a few photos or inappropriate profile pictures. They comment only in emojis or foreign languages. 

The number of followers on your Instagram profile means nothing if they don't engage, make purchases or visit your website. You can build your presence the right way by following the methods below. 

1. Follow, follow, follow, follow (and repeat).

This seems simple... however, there are so many people who don't do this. To put it simply, when you're starting out it's hard to get other people to follow you if you don't do the same for them. 

When you're searching for accounts to follow, try and find people who you feel fit with your style and personality. When you find an account with many followers, ensure you follow these too. They might like the attention and like you back. Instagram will suggest users to you which might make it easier for you too. Try hitting up your list of suggested users. On your homepage feed, you should see a curated "suggested for you" list of users from Instagram. 

2. Give out likes and comments.

Like and comment on as many posts as you can, particularly to posts which catch your eye or to users who you think might like your brand.

A positive comment will go a long way. Compliment them on their photography skills, their content, their haircut  . . . anything! People love being told they are doing something well. This is a huge part of the secret sauce of building your brand. You'll make somebody happy and might even get a follow in return. 

3. Start and continue conversations.

If there is a nice comment on one of your posts, a reply goes a long way. Be friendly and thank them for the nice words. You could even ask them a question about what their interests are or whether they have any similar content. When you're talking, make sure you politely ask them to follow your page if they would like to receive more images/content like this. In-short, have some meaningful interactions and make some new friends :)

4. Use hashtags.

Without a doubt, you need to use hashtags on Instagram. Instead of just tossing heaps of tags on every post and hoping for some traction, you'll need to develop a strategy on how to use them. Depending on the content you're posting, you may have it easier or more difficult than others. Hashtags are used on Instagram for people to find new content. 

Followers actively and passively engage with hashtags by either searching or following. Don't use 30 hashtags on every post you do. Use a maximum of 12 but 5-6 will work fine. Perhaps give this a try with some of your content. For one week, post content without any hashtags, and then the next week put 6 hashtags on each post. See the difference. 

5. Make your captions more descriptive.

You may have the best images on Instagram, however, you can't completely ignore words. Probably the best example of this on Instagram is National Geographic. They are great storytellers. Their words make the content even more engaging and more share-worthy. If you have a story to tell, there are people out there who want to hear it. Let's face it, most people at work are dreaming of being somewhere else. Why don't you give their imaginations a little holiday?

6. Make high-quality content.

Instagram is all about content. If you have crap content, you won't get many followers. Whether you're creating images or videos, I suggest doing a deep dive on YouTube about filters, camera angles, music and more. You'll find that you start looking at others' content differently.

Apart from high quality content, you'll need to make it interesting. I suggest to follow some influencers who are posting similar content and assess why their content has so many followers. You can post similar content until you have your own ideas. You can even ask your followers what kind of content they want to be receiving. As the old adage goes: fake it 'til you make it

Before you know it you'll be posting professional content and may even go viral. 

7. Develop a recognizable style.

The style of your page should reflect the identity of your brand. You should put some thought into what you want your customers to think when they view your content. The tone of your posts should also be well thought-out and consistent. When you're posting, have a look at how your post is going to fit in with the rest of your page. Is this serious, fun, relaxed or funny? You need to choose but keep it consistent. A handy tip is to keep the same filter in all of your images. This will help them look different, but similar. 

8. Light your photos well.

Ask any professional photographer what the most important thing about taking photos is and they'll all say lighting. I can't overstate how important this is, particularly because there are so many badly lit images on professional Instagram accounts.

Light in front of a subject will produce a flat image, whereas light to the side will give shadows and texture. It's easy to move the light when it's artificial, however, you'll need to move the subject when working with natural light. 

9. Feature faces often.

According to studies, photos which contain faces can receive as much as 38% more likes compared to images without faces. On top of this, they are up to 42% more likely to receive comments. 

The research found that age or gender didn't influence the engagement levels in the images. Also, it found that male users are as likely to get likes and engagement as females. 

So, it's OK to post your selfies but just don't post them every day!

10. Improve your Instagram profile with The Influence Booster.

The Influence Booster is the world's best platform for Instagram follower acquisition. We use a combination of real people and AI to target and reach out to the followers you're chasing. When you sign up, we send you a questionnaire about the type of followers you're chasing (don't worry, we step you through the whole process). Our account managers then undertake actions on your behalf to reach out to these people. Because this is manual growth and no bots are used, there's no way your account can get banned or attract spam followers. This means you can focus on generating content and we will work on getting you real organic growth. Check out our latest organic Instagram growth products: Influence Booster Instagram Services.