People are doing all kinds of crazy shit to grow their Instagram following these days. I’ve been actively growing my Instagram for almost 2 years now, am a part of numerous strategy groups on Facebook, and also keep up with emerging trends via countless blogs and articles. I really think I've seen it all! Here is a comprehensive list of ALL Instagram strategies - the good, the bad, AND the ugly - I have EVER come across, ranked in cost from free to literally insane.
FREE
Curate your profile
Write a succinct bio
Define your niche
Have a handle that is short, easy to read/spell/pronounce, and niche specific
Use a good profile pic
Post great content
Take high quality photos
Use consistent filters, but not too many and definitely not on full strength
format images to 4x5, portrait, no borders
Post content that fits the season
Post pictures with faces in them (no really, they tend to do better)
Write clever / unique captions
Ask questions in your captions to encourage people to comment
Buy cute clothes or accessories for flat lays, then return them
Draw people to your profile
Use all 30 hashtags on every post
Vary your hashtags between posts
Follow / unfollow accounts in your niche
Join engagement or like groups
Join weekly shoutout groups
Tag feature accounts, get featured
Encourage people to keep engaging with your content
Post consistently, but wait a few hours between posts and never more than 3 times a day
Post around the same time every day
Engage (like/comment) with others in your niche
Post to your story often
Write long captions / post video / use the carousel feature to keep users engaged on your content longer
$1+
Buy photo editing apps to develop a consistent aesthetic
Buy an app that lets you plan your feed in advance
Join several telegram like pods then buy a bot that does the liking for you
Buy fake likes and followers from shady foreign accounts
$10+
Sponsor your posts as a business account
Organize a solo giveaway
Organize a loop giveaway
Buy powerlikes
Or just buy an account that already has lots of (shitty, non niche-specific) followers
$100+
Buy decent lighting equipment and/or a tripod
Get the adobe creative suite for professional level editing capabilities
Curate your home meticulously
Buy / wear / tag popular designer brands in your posts
Buy a cute-ass puppy
Travel to popular or scenic locations for the photo ops
Hire an account manager (someone to do all of that free shit for you)
Hire a professional photographer
$1000+
Buy a nice-ass camera and lenses and then maybe take classes to learn how to use them
Get a bunch of Instagrammer friends, go on fabulous trips together, post pics of you all being besties
Secretly organize trips with other Instagrammers, post shockingly similar content, cry plagiarism, profit off of the drama. No really, this really happened.
Or just have a baby! It doesn’t even have to be cute. #doitforthegram
What do you think - did I miss anything? Is there anything you want to hear more about? Let me know in the comments!