Here is the ultimate guide on how to get more followers on Instagram, mastering the algorithm and discovering the tools that will make your job easier, promoting your music while staying authentic, and making that follow button extra attractive. Get more attention organically – don’t buy followers!
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1. Refine Your Bio
Your Instagram biography is the first thing people see when they visit your Instagram page, so it should be concise and regularly updated, especially if you’re a musician. New viewers should understand what you do within the first few seconds of checking out your profile, and fans should be able to find what they’re looking for with a quick glance.
Instagram bios are often very cluttered, so try to keep it simple. Include something short and sweet about you, a reminder about your most recent release, and a call to action; include ticket links to any upcoming shows you may have, the link to your streaming pages, latest music video, or merch page. Better yet, put all important links into one Linktree and put that URL in your bio – an efficient way of keeping everything people may be looking for in one place!
Don’t forget to be yourself. Although the bio is a great place to direct people to other sites and pages to know more about your music, it’s also designed to be a snapshot of your personality that those who don’t know you aren’t privy to yet. Throw in a little humor if it’s getting too serious or boring.
2. Develop a Strong Identity
Your Visual
Put yourself in the shoes of a potential follower visiting your profile for the first time and take a look at your content. Is your feed aesthetically coherent? Does it have the potential to spark curiosity and attract followers? Visual cohesion is a big factor that plays into whether or not a profile will stand out and leave a visitor wanting more. Feeds with noticeable themes tend to get more followers quicker because they convey personality. This is one of the influencer tactics that really does work – the more coherent the profile, the greater the potential following.
Your Voice
The other metric people use to get an understanding of who you are is through Instagram captions and comments. Your written voice should match your visual identity, but can also be interesting if the two oppose each other. Make sure you carry the same personality (which should be authentically yours, so is not subject to waver) throughout all your written interactions on the app as well.
Your Extra Curriculars
You’re an incredible musician, an outstanding guitarist, and you’re…. even better at baking? That’s the kind of thing you can share with your followers. Once in a while, give people a glimpse of your private life to connect with your followers on Instagram. Whether it’s a selfie with close ones or a clip of a different hobby of yours, treat your followers on Instagram like your friends and show them your day to day.
Quality Over Quantity
Although it may seem logical, it’s better to have few good pictures than a ton of poor ones. What is the purpose of your photo? Is it to announce an album release, video, or simply a good memory? Your content should vary depending on its purpose. Do not post just to post! Though the social network algorithms favor those who post consistently, your human followers will feel when it’s forced. Don’t spam, just stick to your guns and share only what you truly want to share. Your music tells a story – your Instagram must reflect it.
3. Be Consistent
As mentioned previously, the Instagram algorithm values the flow of content and consistent activity. Whether you’re an avid poster or not, it may help to create a calendar or schedule that will allow to know exactly what you’re posting and when. If this isn’t your thing, no worries! As long as you’re able to keep up with releases, concert dates/footage, and other announcements, you’re good to go. Stay engaged on the platform by scrolling a little bit, liking and commenting on posts, answering messages, and reposting stories you’re tagged in. The point here is to show the algorithm that you’re an active member of the app. In doing so, your content will be pushed to more people when you post, and you’ll be gaining a following at a steady incline.
4. Be Present On Other Apps
Use your other social networks to funnel your audience to Instagram, especially if you have a big following on another social media platform. The music industry is seeing hundreds of thousands of people flock from TikTok to IG, making independent artists gain more followers in a couple days than they have in years of activity on the app. Being active everywhere is an excellent way to grow, as you’ll be able to reach each app’s demographic with ease. Anyone who wants to be notified about what you’re up to on a more reliable and consistent basis than TikTok will be a become a follower on IG very quickly.
5. Do Not Buy Followers
It is best to have a community of engaged, present and active followers who will stay for the long term. Instagram is strict with paid systems. As soon as it detects “abnormal” activity, the account is “shadow banned” and left in the dark – content is no longer pushed out to followers and your engagement goes down the drain. Therefore, don’t buy Instagram followers! They’re bots, and will be flagged immediately. Get real people to join your community by growing organically. Your Instagram account will thank you for it, and so will your credibility.
Avoid tactics such as the old like-for-like, follow and unfollow, or taking part in an engagement group. These activities are also flagged by the app as being abnormal activity and can often land you in the same corner that buying followers would. Avoid anything that doesn’t feel legit, because it likely isn’t.
Tags are what allow people who don’t know you to find your content, so the art of tagging is unbelievably important to understand and nail down. Hashtags are the go-to way to let IG know what type of content you’ve posted, so choose 3-6 relevant hashtags for your content to include in the caption or first comment of the post. Make half of the hashtags more general, and half more specific. Look at what hashtags your followers are using and include them in a post. You can also search what the current trending hashtag is based on your niche. Here are 10 of the most visited hashtags for musicians:
- #music
- #musicvideo
- #musicproducer
- #singer
- #newmusic
- #songwriter
- #artist
- #musician
- #guitar
- #piano
If you want to get more specific try indie or genre-related tags, or use the names of artists whose music sounds similar to what you’re posting:
- #singersongwriter
- #indiemusic
- #indiemusician
- #newsong
- #newsingle
- #dancemusic
- #acoustic
- #johnmayer
- #danielcaesar
- #clairo
Tags can also be hidden! Reels have closed captioning available, and if you turn it on, the app will analyze your video’s audio and convert it into text. That text is analyzed by the algorithm and picks up keywords, so use it to your advantage! Turn on the captions, minimize them as much as possible, and move them off screen. The app will still take them into account. Same goes for any text you put on a story or Reel – write out a couple hashtags and move them offscreen, they’ll count!
7. Prioritize Videos and Audio
Instagram loves to boost video content, so make sure you’re putting up a combination of photo and video content. Make use of their audio feature for photo posts and use your own music in the background! If the post shows up on someone’s Explore page, they may continue to browse through your profile if they like what they’re hearing and become a new follower. Use catchy snippets of your songs in your Reels and post them consistently. The algorithm will love it!
8. Go for it!
You are unique, your music is unique, so your Instagram must be unique, too. Be yourself, keep interacting with your community, and stay consistent. You’ll attract followers by being authentic and unapologetically you.
| Read also: 7 INSTAGRAM TIPS FOR MUSIC ARTISTS
– Article written by Loren Synnaeve in its original version, translated by Mackenzie Leighton –
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3 commentaires
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