Log in
Noticed you’re on an iOS device. Get our mobile app for effortless planning on the go.
Log in with planable.io
Noticed you’re on an Android device. Get our mobile app for effortless planning on the go.
Log in with planable.io
Planable is the best client-facing social media tool we've ever used and we've used a lot.
Wake up, social media bestie. It's time for a social media audit, or, as I would call it, a reality check. Social media audits are essential for any brand that cares about its social media results. They reveal what’s working, what’s failing, and how to improve....
Mar 26, 2025
If you want to bring attention to your brand, then learning how to get more followers on Instagram is a great start.
It’s no coincidence that so many brands and creators want to be successful on Instagram. It gives them an opportunity to increase their visibility, embrace visual storytelling through their posts, and grow their revenue in the process.
Having more instagram followers sounds even better now, right? Let’s look at how to increase your Instagram following by scheduling Instagram posts in advance and focusing on content that connects.
For people to fall in love with your content and follow you, they first have to find you. That’s why Instagram SEO is important when you set out to gain followers.
Focusing on Instagram SEO means making sure each element of your account, from your profile picture and bio to post captions and hashtags, is designed to work well with the platform’s algorithm and search results.
Here’s a list of ways to optimize your Instagram account:
Let’s take a look at a brand that has been winning at the Instagram game to see how they optimized their account. I’ll use @remarkable as an example:
reMarkable kept their profile picture simple but easily recognizable by using their logo. The bio is brief and has everything it needs, from a valuable keyword (paper tablet) to a call to action (Share your work with #reMarkablePaper) and a few important links. Their grid and highlight covers feature their brand’s color palette, looking professional, cohesive, and true to their image.
With your account optimized, it’s time to solidify your profile with a content strategy that will make Instagram users wonder why they haven’t followed you sooner.
I’ll take it step-by-step and explain how a good Instagram content strategy is built.
No brand and no content is going to be liked by everyone. If you want to create engaging and valuable posts, you have to know who you’re making them for. Outline the demographics, pain points, desires, and content preferences of your ideal follower:
Establishing the target audience is not a one-time thing. Both the algorithm and user preferences change, and you always have to adapt to them.
Even after you get the ball rolling with your content, keep an eye on how your target audience behaves.
When has doing anything without a purpose ever proved useful? Exactly. Setting goals for your content will give it direction:
Or perhaps what you’re aiming for right now is better engagement and a dialogue with consumers. Whatever your goals are, outline them clearly and update them regularly. They are the foundation for our next step.
Content pillars are a win-win for you and your audience. They make the content creation process easier for you and ensure your followers get diverse and interesting posts. This way, you can go beyond just promotional posts and add value.
For example, a fitness brand might focus on:
For your Instagram marketing strategy to succeed, you need to convey a consistent brand image and voice, and content pillars help you achieve that.
The algorithm favors consistent, high-quality posts, so maintaining a regular schedule helps your account stay visible. Set up a content calendar to have a clear image of what to post and when. Batch-creating your content can save time.
Content calendar view in Planable
However, don’t trade quality for quantity. Create as much content as you can while maintaining a high standard for your posts.
Instagram growth doesn’t have to come from Instagram alone. Use your other channels to bring attention to your Instagram account. This is a great targeted approach since the people you’ll reach have already shown interest in what you have to share.
This promotion doesn’t have to be limited to something simple like sharing a link on other social media platforms. Try to think outside the box. For example, you can use Instagram as your main means of communication.
Add “DM us on Instagram” as a call-to-action for promotions or challenges or even as a point for customer support. Or, use your other mediums of communication to cross-promote, like adding a link in your business email signature.
Online isn’t the only option, either. Add QR codes to printed materials like business cards, flyers, or packaging. If you have a brick-and-mortar store, you can even add the QR in your storefront or near the checkout and give discounts to those who follow.
Building relationships with other users helps you grow your follower count organically. By actively engaging with others, you make your profile more visible and build a sense of community around your brand.
You can start by getting involved in existing communities:
Engage with causes that your brand supports, showing the values you uphold. This will connect you with like-minded people.
Participating in trending templates or challenges can further improve your reach, making it easier for new audiences to discover you. But most importantly, engagement should always feel genuine. Instead of leaving generic comments, take the time to respond meaningfully, ask questions, and show appreciation for what others are creating.
Even big brands like KFC, Pringles, and Elf Cosmetics know the value of a humorous comment on another brand’s post:
People are more likely to follow you when they feel seen and valued, so focus on building a real Instagram community rather than just increasing numbers.
A solid hashtag strategy helps your content get discovered by people who are genuinely interested in what you share, while location tags make sure you reach the right crowd in the right places.
To make the most of hashtags, mix popular, niche, and branded hashtags:
Branded hashtags (your own unique tag, usually with the name of your brand or product) help build your community and encourage user-generated content. These take your probability of being discovered to the next level because they can be incorporated into challenges.
Adding your branded hashtag to your Instagram bio, like @fentybeauty did, can encourage more people to use it:
You can add up to 30 hashtags to your post, but that doesn’t mean you should. It’s recommended to stick with 3-5 relevant hashtags. Any more and you risk appearing spammy.
Location tags are the ace up your sleeve for local discovery. Whether you go broad and tag a country or city or narrow it down to a specific coffee shop or event venue, your Instagram posts will be visible to those searching for that place.
What’s better than exposing your content to one audience? Exposing it to two audiences. Instagram’s Collab feature makes that possible. Collab posts allow two accounts to share the same post, appearing on both feeds with combined likes, comments, and shares.
There are two ways you can create content with other accounts: organically or through a paid collaboration. The latter involves compensating a brand, influencer, or public figure in exchange for them to feature your content. @nike does this often by collaborating with famous athletes like @aurelientchm:
Before paying for a collab, make sure you’re partnering with the right account.
Your first instinct might be to look for those with the highest follower count, but that hardly means anything if their engagement is low.
A smaller account with a dedicated following could bring much better results, especially if their values align with yours.
Do your research on:
On the other hand, organic collaborations, like partnering with complementary brands, doing shoutout swaps, or co-creating content, can be just as effective. For example, a fitness coach and a nutritionist might do a joint Q&A session, or a photographer and a fashion brand could create a styled shoot together. These unpaid partnerships work well when both accounts have similar audiences and offer mutual value.
“Practice makes perfect” has become a cliche for a reason. You’ll make posts that you won’t think twice about and they will see a boom in engagement, and posts you’ll brainstorm and work on for days that will barely be viewed. You won’t know what works for you until you experiment. You have to try and, occasionally, you have to fail.
Especially when you’re just getting started on Instagram, you have to be open to using everything the platform has to offer. From funny Instagram Stories to educational Reels, you never know what will be the driver of your success. As Dan Knowlton pointed out in his blog on top-performing post insights:
The fastest way to succeed in marketing is to test lots of different things.
Embrace failures and learn from them. Over time, you’ll be able to weed out what flops and recreate the magic of posts that work.
The result of all this trial and error will be a solid content mix that you can feel confident will lead to new followers and more engagement. You’ll be able to schedule Instagram Stories, feed posts, and Reels, and reap the benefits of all your experiments.
The little blue checkmark next to your username is so coveted for a reason. First, it brings a new level of trust to your business. A verified badge signals that your account is authentic and noteworthy enough to deserve one.
Second, being verified also brings advantages when it comes to the algorithm. You’ll be prioritized in searches and stand out to those looking through the results list.
There are two ways to verify your account:
First, you must have a professional account that meets a set of eligibility criteria:
If these criteria are met, then all that’s left to do is:
Meta has opened up the possibility of getting a verified badge on Instagram for more users by introducing Meta Verified. This is a subscription that grants any professional or personal account the blue checkmark alongside features that increase your visibility and engagement.
Despite being paid, it also comes with a set of criteria. To be eligible, you must:
To subscribe to Meta Verified with a professional account:
There’s no question about your Instagram performance that data can’t answer. Staying up to date with your analytics keeps you in tune with what works and what doesn’t in your strategy. Not only does monitoring insights tell you what you’re doing right and wrong, but it lets you see how audience preferences have changed over time.
Instagram analytics in Planable
There are numerous metrics you can track for your account and content, such as:
Instagram’s algorithm and your audience are both continuously changing, and your content strategy should do so with them. Using Instagram analytics tools gives you the upper hand when it comes to fine-tuning your marketing efforts.
Running an Instagram account is so much easier when you have a trusted Instagram management tool to help you with all the steps I’ve detailed so far.
There’s a lot that needs your attention when you’re trying to grow a social media account.
You have to:
This all seems a little less daunting when you get to do it from just one tab.
With Planable, you’ll be able to manage multiple Instagram accounts from one place with little effort:
Because we rarely operate alone when running a digital marketing strategy, Planable lets you collaborate with team members and external contributors directly on the platform, making content edits and approvals a breeze. You decide who gets which permissions, keeping everything clear and efficient.
Workspace permissions in Planable
Aesthetics are everything on Instagram, and they go beyond each individual post. Planable’s multiple view options for your content give you a clear idea of what your audience will be seeing once your posts are live. With the feed view, you’ll get the authentic experience of scrolling through the content.
Feed view of content on Planable
With the Instagram grid view, you can gauge the visual appeal of your content at first glance. Adjust and rearrange the order of your posts so you can make a striking first impression that shows your brand identity at its full potential.
Grid view of content on Planable
Planable’s advantages don’t end when a post is shared, though. Track insights into your content performance and put them to good use when planning your future posts. With Analytics, adjusting your strategy for better results is no longer a guessing game.
With planning and collaboration now more efficient than ever, you have plenty of time to brainstorm new and exciting content ideas that will grow your Instagram account.
With so many algorithm changes and app updates constantly looming, you can lose sight of what works and what doesn’t when trying to grow an Instagram account. However, there are still proven ways to increase your follower count on the platform. With a can-do attitude and the ten tips I’ve outlined in this article, you’ll be seeing results in no time.
George – Content Marketing Strategist, storyteller, and self-appointed cringe detector. 7 years in marketing, starting from graphic design to social, campaigns, and content. Writes, shoots, edits – if it’s creative, he’s on it. Knows what’s funny, what’s fresh, and what should never see the light of day. Always up to date, always cooking up something (and trying to hit his protein goal), all while pretending to get 8 hours of sleep.
Create
Schedule
Plan
Analyze
Collaborate
Engage
Approve
