15 Ways to Get Free Instagram Followers in 2024

Instagram’s followers are people who choose to follow and see your posts on Instagram. On the other hand, “Free followers on Instagram” as the name implies, are users who voluntarily follow your account without any cost or payment involved – According to Microsoft Bing. 

Experts indicates that this can be achieved through 15 ways which are given below: 

1. Optimize your Instagram account

Optimizing your Instagram account means enhancing various aspects of your profile to increase free followers and engage the current ones.

When you spend time improving your profile, content quality, engagement, and overall strategy, you attract potential followers ﹘ Mrinsta Biz.

Profile optimization can help you get free followers in the following ways:

1. Create a Complete Profile:  An optimized profile with a clear bio, a recognizable profile picture, and relevant contact information makes a positive impression on people who see your Profile. 
2. Craft Quality Content for a Lasting Impression: Once someone lands on your profile, you only have a few seconds to convert them into a follower, and that’s usually done by a quick browse through your feed.  Research shows that 2 billion Instagram posts and photos get organic likes every day because of good content.
3. Maximize Your Reach with Strategic Hashtags: Using appropriate hashtags will increase the visibility of your posts and get them seen by a wide audience. Research indicates posts with the hashtag “oneness” receive at least 12.6% more engagement (2018).

Research by Zen Mastery (2018) found that 96% of US fashion brands use Instagram for advertising. 

So, experts believe that by creating a credible, interesting and relevant presence, you will get more followers based on interest in your content. In 2023, more than 500 million people use Instagram Stories every day, with 86.6% posting every day; about 60% saw or posted a story.

2. Schedule Instagram posts

Scheduling Instagram posts helps maintain a consistent presence, increasing the likelihood of attracting free followers by delivering quality content consistently.

By the following ways, you can schedule an Instagram Post:

1. Set up a Business or Creator Account: If you don’t have a business Instagram account, convert your personal Instagram account to a business or creator account in your settings.
2. Plan the content: Create a content calendar that outlines what you will post and when you will post.
3. Choose a Scheduling Tool: Use a scheduling tool like Buffer, Hoot suite, or Instagram Creator Studio.
4. Connect Your Instagram Account: Link your Instagram account to the scheduling tool. This may require providing permissions and signing in to your Instagram account.
5. Create and Schedule Posts: Craft your posts within the scheduling tool, including captions, hashtags, and visuals. Select the date and time you want each post to be published. 

By scheduling your posts, you can ensure that your content is posted at the finest time. Research also states that, 73% of Instagram users schedule posts on Instagram (2018).

3. Engage with customers, brand advocates and influencers on Instagram

Engage with customers, brand advocates, and influencers to attract followers for free by verbally and visually spreading positivity towards your brand. 

To attract them:

1. Connect with Your Customers on Instagram: Build Strong Relationships

Respond to comments and messages, solicit feedback, and provide excellent customer service. As an Illustration:

1. Nike is known for actively engaging with its customers through comments.
2. Starbucks often responds to customers.
3. Apple has a reputation for answering questions and providing technical support. 

2. Leverage Your Brand Advocates: Amplify Your Message on Instagram

Brand advocates promote your brand by praising and showcasing your products.  Such as:

1. Influencer  Kaitlin Reagan endorses cosmetic brand Maybelline.
2. Dermatologist Dr. Christopher Tomassian supports skincare brand Cerave.
   

3. Collaborate with Influencers: Expand Your Reach

Research believes that if the collaboration is well done and the product and the influencer are a good match, the responses are positive. Research specified that, 51% of marketers believe that they can gain better customers through influencer marketing (Tomoson, 2016).

In addition, according to Sprout Social (2020), 64% of consumers want brands to connect with them. So, engagement with customers, brand advocates and influencers is a good source of free followers.

4. Avoid fake Instagram followers

Avoiding fake followers on Instagram means to stay away from accounts that do not represent a real person.

It’s important to avoid these followers because they are either inactive or bots that don’t buy products, or avail your services. There are 4 proven ways to avoid these type of followers: 

1. Monitor Your Followers Regularly: Review your follower list to identify and remove suspicious or inactive accounts.
2. Use Instagram tools: Instagram provides tools to help you remove followers and block accounts. Use this feature if needed. 
3. Spot and block fake accounts: Look for common signs of fake accounts, such as low-quality profiles, generic usernames, and limited or repetitive content.
4. Report fake accounts: Report fake accounts to Instagram to improve the cross-platform experience.

Experts believe that by following these steps, you can help yourself become more confident and engaged on Instagram. The study also concluded that 30% of Instagram accounts are inactive.

5. Showcase your Instagram everywhere 

Showcasing your Instagram means to display your Instagram account everywhere for the purpose of promoting it. 

Mainly, there are 3 steps in which the profile is showcased:

1. Generate a QR Code: Create a QR code by tapping the three horizontal lines on the top of your Profile and click on the QR code which allows you to share your account with others.  
2. Share Profile Button: On the top right corner, there is a “Share Profile” Button, select it and you will get two options: To share the QR code of your Profile and to Copy the URL to your Profile. 
3. Select the Profile and Platform: Choose the social platform / person with whom you want to share your Profile. Remember, you can Share it everywhere; on other social apps as well as within text messages.  

According to research by We Are Social, only 0.1 percent of Instagram users exclusively use this app without using other apps. As specified by Sprout Social, most users use it along with other social media platforms to promote it.

6. Post content that Instagram followers actually want to see 

Posting content that followers want to see means creating content based on your audience’s interests and preferences ﹘ Mrinsta Biz. It is about understanding your audience and delivering content that resonates with them.

To post content on Instagram that your followers want to see, follow these 4 steps:

1. Identify what’s talk of the town: Stay on top of the latest trends in your industry and identify topics, styles and content formats that resonate with your audience. 
2. Ask for Review: Engage your followers with polls, questions and surveys on your Instagram stories to get feedback and preferences. 
3. Create purposive content: Share content that provides value, educates, entertains or solves problems for your followers.
4. Analyze what works for you: Continuously analyze what is working and what is not according to the data and feedback. 

By following these steps, you can post content that matches your followers’ interests and attract new followers who will appreciate the value and authenticity of your posts. 

In a survey by Sprout Social (2021), 76% of respondents said they would be more likely to buy from a brand that provides content they can trust. 

7. Make meaningful conversations with your audience on Instagram

Making meaningful conversations with your audience means interacting with your followers through comments, messages, and discussions. Its fostering connections, creating a sense of community and virtually building nice relationships based on empathy.

Below are the 4 basic steps to create a meaningful conversation with your audience: 

1. Respond Directly & Clearly: Pay attention to comments, messages and feedback.
2. Use Interactive Features: Use features like polls, surveys, and question-and-answer sessions to engage. 
3. Share Relevant Experiences within Posts/Stories: Connect on a personal level by sharing relevant experiences. 
4. Ask Questions on Instagram Story: Encourage discussion with open-ended questions that invite multiple perspectives.

These steps will help you connect meaningfully with your audience, build engagement, and attract free followers. According to Convince & Convert (2019), 53% of consumers expect brands to respond to their comments within an hour. 

8. Find Instagram hashtags where your followers hangout

Finding hashtags where your follower’s hangout means to use relevant and trending hashtags in your posts to reach your target audience. This can lead to increased visibility and attract more followers. 

To find the relevant hashtags where your followers hang out, follow these steps:

1. Instagram Search: Utilize Instagram’s search bar to find hashtags relevant to your niche. 
2. Use Hashtag Auto-complete Feature: Start typing and relevant hashtags will automatically appear.
3. Instagram’s Explore Page: Visit the Explore page and take note of the hashtags that are used in posts.
4. Trending Hashtags: Keep an eye on the trending hashtags section to discover what’s currently popular on Instagram.
5. Instagram Insights: Check the Insights to see which hashtags are driving the most engagement for your posts.

Many Hashtags remain in trend such as the #instagood has 1,726,639,056 Posts and the #art has 1,036,231,923 Posts, according to Instagram (October, 2023)

9. Leverage short-form Instagram video content 

Leveraging short-form video content means creating small clips, usually 30 to 90 seconds long, to grab more followers and engage the current ones. 

These short videos are widespread on Instagram and can help you get more followers in 5 ways:

1. Create engaging content: Use humor, storytelling, or educational content to engage your audience.
2. Leverage Trends and Challenges: Include trending challenges or topics to reach a wider 
3. Optimizing Video length: Keep your videos short and to the point. Short content is characterized by its brevity, usually ranging from 15 seconds to 60 seconds. 
4. Experiment and analyze: Try different types of short content and analyze the performance of each one. Adjust your strategy to what works best. 
5. Stay up-to-date: Monitor current trends and changes in the short video landscape to adapt your content accordingly. 

By following these steps, you can effectively use short video content to attract more free followers on social media platforms and engage a wider audience. According to Instagram Business, Instagram’s own data shows that 75% of users take action after watching a brand’s video.

10. Take steps to delight your Instagram followers

To “Delight” your followers means to exceed their expectations and create a positive experience – according to Hubspot.  It’s providing a great experience to followers through focusing on their wishes, interests and needs.

There are 6 proven steps to delight them:

1. Create a visually stunning feed that reflects your style. 
2. Use beautiful imagery, engaging captions, and consistent themes to captivate your followers. 
3. Respond to their comments, and make them feel valued. 
4. Host live sessions to interact with them.
5. Offer promotions or discounts to your followers.
6. Run exciting contests, giveaways to reward them for their support.

Experts believe that by creating a welcoming experience for your followers, you can lead towards many more followers organically.

11. Use geotagging to attract local followers on Instagram

Geotagging to attract local followers means geotagging your posts to target a local audience. Using geotags on Instagram is an effective way to attract local followers. 

There are 4 steps to attract them: 

1. Enable Location Services: Enable the location services on your device.
2. Add Geotags to Your Posts: Add geotags by clicking the “Add Location” or “Location” button. You can search for a location or select one from a list of nearby locations. 
3. Specify the location of Your Business: If you are a local business owner, specify the location of your business.
4. Use Hashtags with Geotags: Combine geotags with specific hashtags to place hashtags based on your location. 

By using geotags effectively, you can increase your visibility to local users and attract followers who are genuinely interested in your area or location. According to One Commerce, posts with a geotag receives 79% more engagement than posts without any geotag.  

12. Collaborate with influencers in your niche on Instagram

Partnering with influencers in your niche on Instagram can be a great way to gain more followers. For partnerships with influencers, there are 4 steps: 

1. Start by Identifying Influencers who align with your brand and have an engaged audience. 
2. Reach out to them with a Personalized message, highlighting how you can collaborate and how it benefits both parties.
3. Be clear about your expectations. 
4. Don’t forget to negotiate terms like compensation or product exchange.

Building genuine relationships with influencers can help you expand your reach and attract new followers. Research by influencing (2020) found that influencer marketing can generate 11 times more revenue than traditional advertising. 

13. Organize Instagram stories as highlights  

Organizing stories as highlights means providing an easy archive of stories for followers. Highlights allow you to showcase your brand, products, and content on your Instagram profile in a more consistent and organized way ﹘ Mrinsta Biz.

To organize your Instagram Stories into top stories that engage your followers: 

1. Choose Your Favorite Story: Select your favorite Instagram’s story to add it into the highlight.
2. Edit the Highlight and Use a Descriptive Title: Write a clear description name for each folder to explain what the audience can expect. 
3. Make Groups: Divide the stories into groups; according to the theme.
4. Keep it updated: Update your highlights with new, informative or interesting stories. 
5. Promote Your Highlights: Promote your highlights in regular Instagram posts or stories.

By organizing your stories into the spotlight in a structured and engaging way, you can effectively engage and attract followers. According to Instagram Business, Instagram recommends using highlights to engage your audience with evergreen content. 

14. Go live on Instagram 

Going live on Instagram means broadcasting a live video in real-time to your followers. It allows you to share moments, experiences and interact with your audience in a more immediate and authentic way by which you attract more authentic people. 

To go live on Instagram and attract more followers:

1. Simply open the Instagram app and tap on the camera icon in the top-left corner of your home screen. 
2. Then swipe right to the live option and tap on it.
3. Add a catchy title for your live session and start broadcasting. 
4. Engage with your audience by responding to comments and questions. 

Experts suggest that going live can help you connect with your followers in real-time and increase your visibility on the platform. According to Indian Times, singer MC Stan held a live session which had 541k views. The Instagram Help Center itself states that users engage more with live video, and it can help you connect authentically with your audience.

15. How can you Promote Instagram posts through instagram ads?

To promote Instagram posts through advertising, you need to target your audience, determine the budget and duration of the ad that will make sure you reach the desired audience.

16. Free Instagram Followers or Paid Instagram Followers?

Free followers are mostly real, but they are slow and rely on organic growth. Their reach is limited, and time does not guarantee it.

On the other hand, Paid Followers are mostly bots but they can be real as well.

Comparatively, Paid followers might be faster because they are paid to reach the desired audience within the desired time frame.

16.1 Is it okay to buy Instagram followers?

Yes, Buying Instagram followers is fine. Brands, Influencers, and celebrities also buy Instagram followers to boost their profile and fame. A study found that the singer Miley Cyrus has bought 45% followers, and the Korean Band ‘BTS’ has bought 47% of followers, which boosted their career.

However, you need to see whether the followers you have bought are active or not. Check the Profile, the ones with a complete profile who view your stories, like and comments on your post are real, and active followers. 

Conclusion

In this way, there are 15 effective ways to get free instagram followers in 2024. It is crucial to optimize your account, schedule posts, engage with followers, collaborate with influencers, avoid fake followers, delight your followers, showcase your account on other platforms, and actively engage with you audience. These strategies can help you grow your instagram followers and build a thriving instagram community.