How to Get Followers On Instagram When Your Account is Private

Get Followers on Instagram Private Account: It’s no hidden truth that businesses are flourishing on Instagram platforms. Whether it is to gain profitable traffic on landing pages, increase conversions or boost engagement on Instagram does it all. Even if it’s not business, Instagram is a fun medium bundled with a hundred creative content.

People have different approaches to generate engagement on the medium, some make their account public while some do for the secure option have a private account. Generating engagement on a private account is more challenging than a public account.

However many accounts find it more beneficial. In this blog we will take you to some useful ways to increase followers on Instagram private accounts. Whether it’s for brand or personal profile the steps will get you great results in the growth of engagement and followers.

Why Do Some Instagram Accounts Go Private?

Sharing memes on Instagram is a very common thing to do, You have shared and received funny memes too. However, there are numerous times when we open our inbox to view a post and find a ‘photo unavailable’ message. This has probably happened to everyone who remains active on the platform.

The trends started in early 2018, when memes accounts started going private leaving no option for non-followers to make a request to be able to see their content. The action spread with a blaze and hundreds meme accounts deployed this strategy.

There are people that are against the meme sites going private, in fact hundreds of people Tweeted to ban meme accounts going private or to make it a basic instagram manner of not sending memes from private accounts. 

Although there are notorious memes accounts forcing users to follow their account, there are also accounts who are just concerned about their privacy and go private on Instagram for good. 

Here are some major reasons for brands to go private

It features privacy and personalized content is a trend that was seen in Facebook Groups. The strategy here is to limit the account to valuable and potential audiences who really care about the brand and high-quality content.

It creates a sense of exclusivity: Private accounts make the non-followers curious and existing followers feel valued. It also creates a sense of FOMO for several users, especially when launching new products or rewards. 

It increases followers: As mentioned earlier, accounts like memes or eCommerce who have shareable content tend to keep their profile private to entice non-followers to follow their page. 

Makes current followers stay: Unlike public accounts when a user leaves a private account, they are instantly notified confirming if they really wish to unfollow. This extra step can impact the retention rate.

Provides more control: Going private gives the account holder the option to welcome potential and genuine followers they require as a brand. 

How to gain Followers on Instagram Private Account?

Mentioning your interest or niche on your Instagram profile is the first thing to do. For a private Instagram profile is the only thing the new followers will see, so it’s better to make it right. To do so you must ask yourself what are a few questions you can ask yourself for writing a description on your profile: what are the posts that will be uploaded on your profile on a regular basis. 

Interesting Read:- How to spot fake Instagram followers

Keep your description short and on-point as people will only glance at your profile and not to come read. Use appealing words and emojis that can draw the attention of users to your profile.

Include a call to action

A call to action on an Instagram profile is a great way to promote your website or blog. All you have to do is add a link to your article or site. Instagram provides space for only one link in the bio, but you can take help of third-party tools like AllMylinks or Linktree to add multiple links. However, you need to be very careful as these tools might get you blocked. It is better to avoid risks and paste one link. Also, you can keep updating the links as per new blog or product launches. 

There are different ways to navigate users on the links, such as put an arrow symbol on your profile, or post a content on your feed or story giving the message.

Using relevant emojis on your profile gives your audience the right message in limited space. For instance, if you have an online cosmetics shop you can post lipstick emoji to generate interest from users. However, make sure not to excessively use emojis on profile as it makes your profile look ugly. Your profile should  have a good balance between text and symbols.

Have a Good Profile Picture

After a good description the second most important thing for a private account is a good profile picture. Even if it appears small, an appealing profile picture is enough to make your profile stand out. 

Here are a few tips to consider for choosing profile picture for private accounts

Profile picture for personal account

For a personal account it’s best to post your own picture so the people who already know you can easily identify you on the profile. The profile picture is going to appear very small especially in mobile phones so our advice is to upload a selfie or close picture. A full body picture makes it difficult for others to identify the image. 

Profile picture for business account

For businesses, logos or brand images are the best thing to post. A good profile picture will leave a good impression on valuable customers. If you have not created a logo for your brand yet, it’s time you do it now. With a unique logo you can create a brand identity which helps people to recognize your brand and identify your products. 

On the other hand if you don’t use a relevant brand image for your business, it will not only make it look unprofessional but also affect brand value.

Follow Everyone You Know

Another way to expand your Instagram reach at an initial stage is to follow everyone you know on the platform, it could be friends, families, colleges, potential users, relevant business sites, anyone who is good for your business etc.  however don’t send request randomly to people, just person you know and if possible ask them to refer your account to other users. 

Also look into instagram suggestions to find followers with my mutual friends. Instagram has a mutual feature visible under the user’s bio. People with most mutual friends are better to share requests than those with no followers, as they are more likely to follow you back.

Collaborate With Brand Advocates and Influencers

If you are looking to gain followers for your business account, it is crucial to know the value of your audience. The follower reach gained organically generates more chances to have potential buyers and customers. So how to make valuable customers follow your account, to do so you need to spend a substantial amount of time on your own Instagram as well as on others. 

Make your brand visible on Customer feed by sponsoring user generated content. To get UGC, you can host an online contest or online challenge. This way you will be able to generate instant engagement and make your brand visible to a wider audience. The success of these campaigns proves that your audience is invested in your brand enough to repost your content and create UGC content for you. 

Another way to reach a wider audience for your brand is to find accounts with larger accounts with a larger database of followers within your industry like a well-known influencer or brand. 

While you collaborate with potential brands make sure you are giving them valuable content, and avoid being too promotional. Co-create marketing plans with collaboration, to build reliable and long term audience databases.

Avoid Fake Instagram Followers

No matter how tempting it is to buy followers it is always going to outweigh the benefits of organic followers. Apart from showing a good number of follower on your page, there is no much benefits of having fake followers, moreover fake followers tend of many drawback like the ones below:

New followers feel deluded: If a user follows your account, seeing hundreds or thousands of followers listed only to find an account with less credibility will feel misguided and leave the page soon enough. On the other hand, organically gained followers will help you build long-lasting relationships. 

Have no ROI:  Fake followers are just for the numbers,  they are not going to contribute in making a product purchase. After all, there is a reason people choose to follow brands and businesses on Instagram, which is to know more about the brand products they value and make purchases. They are the actual spenders who are ready to purchase your products giving monetary value to business.

Create little-to-no buzz: Unlike real followers, fake followers generated with bots or fake accounts are not going to create much engagement on your profile which involves likes, shares and comments. Moreover, If instagram identifies these bots and accounts it will automatically delete it with engagement cavity. 

Note that real users are more inclined to real responses, brands who respond to customer comments and messages are more likely to generate more engagement and followers than those who don’t. Hence you must offer the value to your customers they need to trust your brand. 

Showcase your Instagram everywhere

Show your profile to people on other sources, after all people need to see your profile to follow you. Enlist or link your profile to a website or other social media platforms. Don’t miss out on any chance to tell people about your Instagram account, mention it in your business cards, add clickable buttons to your website, blogs and more. 

Cross-promoting your Instagram account on other platforms is a rewarding step. If you have established good followers and credibility on Facebook, Twitter or more, you can share your Instagram content encouraging them to follow you on your Instagram page. You do not have to directly ask them to follow, just share valuable content that interests users and entice them to look for more such posts. 

Thankfully, Instagram features numerous options for content like IGTV, Reel, Stories giving you more options of creative content for your audience. 

Post content that followers want

Sharing the content that most interests your audience will keep your existing followers in the long-run and when they share your content on their respective feed, new followers come on your way. Although it is not as easy as it sounds, if you analyze Instagram posts through you will find that some content create way more engagement than others.  

Hence testing content is crucial to find out what consent will your audience most like. This involves testing everything from posts, filtes, hashtags, captions, captions and more. Don’t even miss out on the smallest detail as it can make a huge difference.

Always keep your eyes on the latest social media trends to make sure you are posting on-demand content on your feed. Furthermore, analytics tools will help you step further for Instagram analysis. Making it easier for you to track and benchmark valuable content across wide instagram accounts. 

If you are confused on how to begin your analysis, initiate with analyzing your competitors. Monitor their activities and post see what they are doing differently that drives engagement on their feed. You do not have to copy them, just incorporate a strategy that can excel or compete with their posts.

Get the conversation started

Another way to pitch your Instagram account to followers is to talk about.

Social media conversation is one of the effective ways to be aware of your Instagram medium. As per a Social Index Report published in 2020 over 68% online users engage with pht content, over 50% engage with video and 30% with text. 

Instagram is perfect for generating engagement enticing users with every type of content, by improving your caption writing skill. People are preferring to use social media channels for brand reference or queries, whether it involves enquiry about a product, asking questions regarding their recent purchase or more. They are more involved with brands on social media than any other platform.

Hence it is crucial for you to take initiative in consumer communication, respond to user queries or statements as much as you can. This can bring a huge difference in building stronger customer relationships. As per sprout social report, 89% of customers buy products from brands they are following on Instagram. Thus, paying attention to new visitors and making an effort to turn them as your followers pays you well. 

People on social media talk and recommend brands they trust to other users, hence the more you connect with your existing followers around your feed the more chances you gain to increase your followers. Don’t hesitate to reply to customers, even if it is a bad review comment, it gives them the message that your brand values their concerns and are ready to make amendments. 

Use Unique and Branded Hashtags

Hashtags have proven to be effective in gaining more followers on Instagram since a while now. If you are an Instagram marketer you will need to build your community and that’s what hashtags do for you. 

Even though Instagram offers enough space to use a multitude of hashtags in your caption, you should avoid mentioning hashtags that are excessively used. As it will sink your posts in the sea of millions of pictures and video connected with a similar hashtag. As per a report published by Social Media Examiner #love is the most used hashtag on instagram with more than 184 million photos. 

Analyze or search hashtags that your target audience are likely to use. If you succeed in finding the right hashtags then you will be more likely to boost engagements and followers. Branded hashtags provide you an opportunity to generate more relevance to your post around your brand or campaigns.

The best example of these M&M’s Instagram team uses hashtags like #mmspotlight to target his audience directly and create awareness. 

For Instagram Understanding hashtags use and using it on the profile are equally important. To know about this you will have to use a hashtag analytic tool that provides you insight on hashtag performance and data usage and makes you aware about the things the hashtags that best fits for your content.

Make your Instagram followers happy

There are so many tips and suggestions out there, however the most pominal thing is to make your audience happy. Instagram is all about the images If your followers are happy with your posts you will experience ecponstiall growth in your followers. Practice the tips mentioned in the blog to make your brand more credible and genuine, avoid sounding too promotional and needy.

For several Instagram are successful achieving this by building strong customer relationships and legitimately making their customers smile with their content.

Don’t forget to give your existing customer real value content as they are most crucial for your business. This can be done through different forms of content like inspiration content, memes or more.