We’ve been talking lately about how exactly to boost your organization marketing with Instagram. Contrary to what many people still believe, Instagram isn’t just a fun app where one can post food, holiday and family pics.

Instagram has become a powerful brand-building, audience-building and content-marketing tool for businesses. free instagram followers has over 200 million active monthly members sharing 60 million images and 1.6 billion likes per day.

A note of caution: there are several people on the market who promise to grow your Instagram followers by the thousands, but beware. A lot of them use fake accounts created by bots to inflate your numbers.

These kinds of followers have zero value. Actually, they are able to even be dangerous, wanting to steal your password or photos or infect you with a virus.

Based on the data security company Imperva, these bad bots take into account 28.9 per cent of bots on Instagram.

The easiest way to build your Instagram followers is by being authentic to your brand and your audience.

Here are 3 tips to help you get real Instagram followers:

Tell a Story with Hashtags

It’s great to use your business name as a hashtag, but you need to think beyond that.

In order to use your Instagram posts to obtain followers, use other hashtags that tell the story of the image you’re sharing. You wish to start a conversation when you’re sharing posts for things like:

Events

Promotions

Contests

Product launches

A good example of a brandname who does this well is @Tostitos. They utilize the hashtag #GetTogetherAlready to encourage people to gather and share their chips, and also to use the hashtag when they share photos of these meetups.

By using engaging, relevant hashtags, you may be discovered in Instagram searches and hopefully build up followers on Instagram.

Get Creative

Instagram is focused on photos, so many people think about the caption being an afterthought.

Don’t neglect the image caption! You will generate engagement and promote sharing by using descriptive words that will engage, inspire and entertain your followers.

Here are some ideas to help you build up followers on Instagram with your posts:

Use questions in your caption. Write your question at the start of the post so that people see it first.

Get personal with your post. Tell a tale about yourself, or how your product helped or inspired another person.

Ask people to tag others. Asking people to tag three of their close friends or tagging someone they are grateful for brings other potential followers in to the equation.

A great example of a brandname that does personal posts well may be the @NatGeo Instagram account.

They create breathtaking Instagram Stories with informative captions to teach the user on the plight of animals around the world.

Remember with regards to using Instagram posts to obtain followers, it’s about being authentic. Don’t use questions atlanta divorce attorneys single post or tell a personal story that isn’t genuine.

Go Local

One of the best ways to build your Instagram followers would be to get to know your neighbours!

Whether you’re creating Instagram ads or desire to promote your event in a specific area, you can see what’s going on near you by going to the search page and clicking on the Places tab.

Type in the positioning to start to see the geotagged posts for that area. Then visit relevant and recent tagged posts – not those of competing businesses, obviously – and leave a comment as well as an emoji and follow the individual if you like what you see. Hopefully, this will be the start of a natural interaction.

For example, if you offer life coaching services, you could type in your location followed by “entrepreneurs.” Local entrepreneurs may be searching for more work and life balance or help with life goals or career challenges.

Similarly, assuming you have a physical location that people have checked into on Instagram, touch upon those posters’ pictures to be sure they’re alert to your Instagram presence, and then follow them.

These are some of the best methods to build Instagram followers the correct way: no bots, no shortcuts, just old ways to engage with your audience and turn them into followers!

Susan Friesen, founder of the award-winning web development and digital marketing firm eVision Media, is really a Web Specialist, Business & Marketing Consultant, and Social Media Advisor. She works together with entrepreneurs who struggle with getting the lack of knowledge, skill and support had a need to create their online business presence.