5 Steps on How to Gain Your First (or Next) 1,000 Instagram Followers

It's no secret that business opportunities are continuing to grow on Instagram. 

But here's the deal: Unless you're famous, it's really hard to amass a huge following on Instagram without some hard work.  Luckily, there are a few things you can do right away to collect at least 1,000 quality followers for your personal or professional Instagram account. It's all about knowing where to invest your time and effort.  In this post, we'll discuss a few strategies that will help you gain those followers, from creating a follow-worthy Instagram profile to using contests, to staying true to your brand.

1. Create and optimize your profile

Customize your Instagram profile to make it look good. Tell your potential followers who you are, and give them a reason to follow you.

2. Designate a content creator

Just like there should be one (maybe two) people managing your other social media accounts, there should only be one or two people managing your Instagram account.  If possible, choose someone with experience on the platform who will "get" it — and be sure they stay updated on all new features Instagram has to offer from Reels to IGTV.

3. Follow photography and editing best practices

On Instagram, post quality matters. A lot. Your Twitter followers might forgive a few bad tweets, but a bad photo on Instagram is a big no-no.

4. Set a regular posting schedule

It's a good idea to have a solid number of great posts up – maybe 15 or so – before you start engaging people and working down this list. That way, when people visit your profile, they'll see a full screen of photos and will know you'll post great content regularly.  To start posting on Instagram, download this social media content calendar template first and plan out your posts. It's best to build a backlog of content ready a few days or weeks ahead of the publishing date.  This will ensure you always have content during holidays, vacations, and even creative blocks.

5. Allow outside contributors to curate your content

Although it's best to have only one or two people manning your account, one or two people can't be everywhere at once taking photos. What about that fun sushi night the engineers had last night? Or the event your head of sales spoke at earlier this week?  There's a whole breadth of content you'll want to post to Instagram, and more often than not, one person won't be able to keep track of it all.  One solution? Create a system where you can curate photos and content from members of your team.