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For businesses, content creators, and influential individuals alike, social platforms are the premiere pathways through which they can communicate with their widespread audiences.

Social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat provide opportunities to advertise products and collaborate with other creators, but all of these ventures are useless without a sizeable audience to consume the content being produced.

In essence, more followers means more influence, so users should be chiefly concerned with expanding and interacting with their followers. Here are 8 tips for getting more Instagram followers.

1. Choosing a theme.

Most people have the misconception that you magnetically attract Instagram followers to otherwise dull content; this couldn’t be further from the truth. Although social media works wonders for advertising teams and content creators trying to gain notoriety, having a pre-existing plan always trumps going in blind.

First and foremost, determining an account theme can benefit users tremendously when trying to attract new followers. Not only does this practice help with content creation in the future, but it also allows better understanding of the core audience; this leads into better audience interactions and natural growth through like-minded members of the same communities.

2. Instagram automation.

Instagram automation may seem a little niche at the moment, but several third-party applications exist that can simplify the process of posting on Instagram to nothing more than pre-loading a few pictures and captions into an app’s database.

Functions like scheduled posting during optimal times, understanding which posts gain the most followers. There’s even Instagram automation tools to grow your audience. Even though Instagress shut down, there’s many alternative Instagram automation tools you can use to increase your followers and engagement.

3. Engaging the audience.

While getting followers is difficult in its own right, keeping them an entirely separate challenge. For this reason, it’s crucial that users regularly engage with their audience. Whether this means posting consistently or personally responding to follower comments, the act of interacting with followers helps to build a more positive community relationship.

In addition, the amiable brand image these interactions create can also attract new followers. Although it takes consistent dedication, the efforts taken to keep followers can be equally effective in attracting new ones. Businesses can kill two birds with one stone by treating their followers well.

4. Connecting to other platforms.

As stated earlier, Instagram isn’t the only social sphere commanding people’s attention. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (to name a few) also boast millions of dedicated users looking to the platforms for information and content to consume. Therefore, interconnecting these platforms hold lots of untapped potential for accruing new followers.

Simply linking a Snapchat profile into an Instagram bio can not only expose audiences to one another and promote follower growth, but it can also provide followers access to new content native to certain social platforms. Ultimately, it allows users more followers and offers followers greater amounts of content.

5. Collaboration with other creators.

Although follower growth can be hacked by linking accounts on other social platforms, collaborating with other Instagram users and influencers can be equally rewarding for gaining new followers. Not only does interaction drive new ideas and content to an existing audience, but it also introduces an entirely new audience.

In essence, collaborating with other Instagram users promotes follower growth by revamping content with new ideas and also creating exposure to previously untapped audiences. Users should consider collaboration because of their many follower-associated benefits.

6. Changing up interactions.

As stated previously, followers require engagement to stay; otherwise, the user-consumer relationship begins to feel stagnant and there ceases to be a reason for sticking around. As an addendum, these interactions should be revamped every now and then to avoid another instance of stagnancy.

On one hand, simply posting consistently and replying to comments can work wonders for an account’s community atmosphere. However, inventive ideas like following sprees, giveaways, and personalized shout-outs can be much more impactful, and, if used purposefully, can create an account setting that attracts many more followers.

7. Consistent posting.

One of the biggest pitfalls of social media is inconsistency. On Instagram, photo and video posts give followers a glimpse into the daily operations or the core values of users. Without regular updates, followers may lose sight of these values and might jump ship.

Users should stick a regular posting schedule as much as they can to avoid losing followers. In addition, the presence of posts at regular intervals might attract followers who appreciate consistency.

8. Fresh ideas.

While consistency and follower engagement are very helpful in preventing stagnancy, reusing the same mundane ideas for posts can be hugely detrimental. For this reason, coming up with fresh ideas from time to time is tantamount to running a lasting Instagram account.

Whether these new ideas come from Instagram collaborations, follower events, or plain old-fashioned brainstorming doesn’t really matter because all three have the same end result of increasing account traffic, making new content, and attracting new potential followers.