How To Get More Followers & Comments On Instagram

1. Find Your Niche

With almost 5m followers, it’s safe to say Aimee Song from @SongOfStyle knows her stuff when it comes to Instagram. And her top tip? “It’s important to be different and stand out, rather than following what everybody else is doing or what is trendy that moment.”

Song also stresses that, to be successful on Insta, you need to know your audience. “Remembering why you blog and why people follow you is the key,” she says, adding that paying close attention to the back-end of her social media accounts and understanding analytics is what helps her decide what type of content to post.

2. Put Quality Above Consistency

Thanks to Instagram’s new algorithm, there’s more pressure than ever to post as much as possible. But remember, there’s a reason for the modern-day adage, ‘Content is King’. As the algorithm also takes high engagement into account, it’s worth spending a little more time on your photos than posting mediocre snaps for the sake of it. Trust us, the results will be worth it.

If you’re looking for some ways to spruce up your Insta images, check out our round-up of the editing apps the style crowd can’t get enough of – from supermodel-approved software that makes your videos sparkle, to the filters all the fashion influencers are using.

3. Create A Colour Scheme

And speaking of consistency, ensuring all your photos have a similar ‘feel’ is the easiest way to make your profile look professional. With over 700k followers, Annabelle Fleur, aka @VivaLuxuryBlog, is well-known for her creative colour story. Her best advice? “Find backgrounds that play off your outfits. Props are everything – don’t underestimate the power of a vintage car or fun graphic wall to really make your Instagram outfits pop."

While monochrome or minimalist, washed-out images are easier to keep cohesive, the trick to making bright photos flow is by editing the tones – stick to either cool or warm – and finely tuning the brightness, contrast and saturation so each image is as similar as possible.

4. Make The Most Of Stories

As Jeremy Jauncey (the founder of 10m-strong Instagram account @BeautifulDestinations, and who also boasts over half a million followers himself) puts it, when it comes to Stories, editing is everything. “One the best aspects of Instagram Stories is they can be uploaded after an event has already taken place, unlike Snapchat which is typically shot live,” he says. “Because of this, photographers and videographers should aim to share curated moments that tell a story.”

Rather than using the Stories camera and posting straight away, Jauncey advises saving your photos and videos, and taking the time to edit them first – putting as much effort in as you would for a permanent Instagram post.

5. Pick The Right Time To Post

If you want to beat the dreaded algorithm, scheduling your Instagram posts for when the majority of your followers are online will make a huge difference. That’s because the algorithm doesn’t only look engagement, it looks at how quickly you get that engagement – and the first hour is crucial.

If your post racks up lots of likes and comments as soon as it’s posted, Instagram classes it as quality content, and will show it to even more of your followers. Make like the pros and use Later to visually plan and schedule your posts – it even analyses your followers and tells you the best time to share them. Or download the app Prime, which is favoured by smaller influencers and really simple to use.

6. Give As Much As You Receive

The sneakiest secret to getting your posts featured on the coveted Explore Tab? Hacking the algorithm by joining an ‘Instagram pod’ (if you’ve ever wondered why you see the same group of influencers commenting and liking all each other’s photos, this is why). Instagram pods communicate via direct messages or WhatsApp groups – every time someone in the pod shares a new Instagram post, they share in it the chat, and every member will then like and comment on the photo.

While those who make a living from Instagram may deem pods necessary, for the average Joe it’s a bit of an effort. But there’s a vital lesson to be learned – when you put yourself out there and show other accounts some love, you’ll be far more likely to receive genuine likes and comments back, boosting your engagement, and possibly making some new Insta-friends in the process.