How to get some followers on Instagram?

Good photos properly hashturged

you can only post so many pics of your cat. also try collabing with someone with a lot more followers. a shout out can help

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>>3138953
The first thing to think about before even posting a photo is what is the ultimate goal?? Answer: get more followers. How do you get more followers? Answer: get seen by more people. That is the only real thought process behind this guide, so if you don't like those two answers, you can also fuck off, why are you even reading this?

I will now list out the steps as clearly as I can, and attempt to leave no questions by the end of the post

Step 1: Have good content

This should be obvious. You can't put out shit content and expect people to applaud your failure as a photographer. Your photos should represent the best of what you have to offer using your camera. But having good content doesn't just mean having good photos, it means that you must also have content that is CONSISTENT. So if you're serious about having a landscape photography Instagram page, only post landscape photography, and nothing else. Think about it from the followers perspective, they saw a cool picture you took of a lake or something and liked it enough to say "I want to see more pictures of lakes and nature just like this!!" Why the fuck would they want to see a picture of your coffee in the morning, or why would they want to see some street """"""""""photography""""""""""? Pro-tip, they don't. Keeping your content consistent will keep these people interested in your content and continue to interact. I will explain later why it's so important to have your followers continue to interact.

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>>3139022
Step 2: Understand Hashtags and "Top Posts"

Hashtags are the number 1 most important thing on Instagram. It's essentially the only way anyone outside of your tiny group of friends will see your images. But you can't just indiscriminately throw out hashtags you see other people using like #instagood #wanderlust etc. because those are HUGE hashtags, that have thousands of posts being posted per second. Your shit is going to get buried so fast, it's just a waste of time. This is how you have to think about it: You can only use 30 hashtags, and you should use all 30 hashtags to maximize your exposure. Search any hashtag on Instagram right now. Notice how there are 9 "top posts" for any hashtag? THAT should be your goal, to get in one of those 9 spots for a hashtag. You get your images to the top posts by having your followers interact with your posts.

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>>3139023
Step 3: Picking your hashtags

Like I said earlier, not every hashtag is equal. There's no chance in hell that you will get a top post on #instagood which is closing in on 600Million posts right now, will have a better chance on a tag like #canont3i which only has 210 thousand posts. It will be much easier and more beneficial to have an audience of several thousand people on that one, than your post to be 100% ignored on a massive hashtag.

So which hashtags should you pick? Focus on these three aspects of a hashtag:

1) the size of the hashtag. The small the hashtag, the more likely you are to make it into a top post, but too small of a hashtag and it's also a waste as still very few people will see it. So figure out that "sweet spot" that will allow you to get the most people to see your post, while still being able to make it onto the top spot

2)Hashtag content. Make sure you're very understanding of what content is actually in that hashtag. For example, don't pick something like #landscape. That could mean anything from landscaping yards to landscape paintings or whatever. You want to pick a hashtag that people will absolutely be looking for the content you're putting out. You can focus on gear related hashtags like #canon_photos, location related #yosemite_nationalpark, or content related like long exposure #long_exposure_photos.

cont...

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>>3139024
3) Hashtags for sharing pages. This one is HUGE, and I can't stress this one enough. Obviously, there are Instagram pages out there that solely exist to share other people's content. These pages routinely have over 100k Followers, which is a massive audience if you can get them to share your image. So find some pages that you like that fit the kind style that your images are, read on their profile what requirements they have to share your image. Some require you to follow them, so follow them. Some require you to give camera info, give camera info, and obviously, use their hashtag. The chances of you making it onto their page will be multiplied if you can get into those top posts. So continue reading for a couple more tips on how to get them there.

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>>3139025
Step 4: Likes Comments and Interactions

So you have the hashtags you want picked out, now understand why. The algorithm that Instagram uses to pick the top posts obviously is a secret, but here's what we DO know:

1) More likes make it more likely to get in there. It's not a secret that likes help get your post seen.

2) Comments are weighted heavier than likes. Comments are incredibly important because it shows that people are truely interacting with your post. But how to get comments? Just pose a question in your post like "Whats your favorite part of this photo?" "Do you like this in color, or should I do it black and white?" Anything in an attempt to get people to interact. Even if someone comments on your photo, ask a question back "Thank you! This is truly one of my favorite spots in California, have you ever been here??" Boom, they will answer back with a second comment.

3) Audience retention is key. Just because you have 1000 followers doesn't mean 1000 people care. Instagram ALSO takes into account how much of your audience is actually interacting with you. Think about it like this. You have 1000 followers, chad thundercock has 800 followers. You both post a good photo with the same hashtag, you both get 200 likes on your images, Chad will be far more likely to get a top post because the equivalent 1/4 of his followers interacted with his post, where as with you only 1/5 of your equivalent followers interacted. Which will lead me to my next point.

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>>3139026
Step 5: Using stories

Stories on Instagram are like snapchat if you haven't used snapchat, it's just an image or video that is visible by only your followers for 24hrs. Now, why is this important?? By using the story function, your profile will shoot to the top of every single follower's page. "But all my followers see my stuff anyways!" WRONG. Instagram changed their timeline algorithm to actively suppress users, they make it so that it's sometimes difficult for your followers to see your content. Why? Ads. They want hobbyists to purchase ads on their platform to generate revenue for them. So they actively work against you, making it more difficult to be seen by people that are actually following you. So using these stories is hugely important at being seen by them. The stories don't have to be complicated. On your first post, just do a call to action (tell them to do something) by announcing to them that you have a new image on your profile and come check it out. Over the next hour or two, do a few more posts. Maybe show a before and after, or another image from the same spot that didn't make the cut. Whatever. It doesn't matter, all that matters is continuously updating your story because each time you do, it pushes your story to the top again, making it be seen by people that weren't browsing Instagram the first time you posted a story.

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>>3139028
Step 6: Interact with people outside of your bubble (optional)

This is outside of posting an image on Instagram, this is just a good way to get new people to see your stuff, and probably one of the most important pieces, believe it or not. Just search any hashtag that you commonly use and start going through and liking shit, just tons of shit. Maybe throw in a comment or two, and make sure you throw in a few details so they know it's a real person and not a bot "oh wow, this waterfall is amazing!" "Love the purple petals on this flower" etc. Yeah it sucks, yeah it's lame. But you can get 20 followers a day easy, just by doing this and not even posting content. And they're good followers to, meaning, they'll actually interact with your stuff in the future, making it more likely to get to a top post.

Hope this was helpful, I tried to leave no stone unturned in this guide. If there are any questions that are good questions, I will ad them to my guide for future posts. Good luck.

>>3138953
>started taking photos profesionally this year.
>profesionally
dude lmao
>your cat
>flower macros
>the local foreshore

>>3138953
>be white
>be grill
>post pics of bum
You dont even need a good camera.

Think IG will ever offer a custom sorting option for your pictures? there are some times where i wish I could sort of subject/location instead of date

Yeah, that would be really great

>>3139444
Yeah, that would be really great

>>3139029
Awesome guide. You kick ass and thank you

>>3139023
>You can only use 30 hashtags, and you should use all 30 hashtags to maximize your exposure.
I can't bring myself to do this. Seems so shameless and attention whorish.

>>3139444
just categorize your photos with really unique hashtags, that way people can click on the hashtags to getv to the desired category.

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>>3139470
Who gives a shit. Most people won't even read your caption. Just write something long enough so that the hashtags get burried under the "see more thing". That's one of the ONLY ways to get new people to see your stuff. Why would you post a photo that nobody can see?

>>3139477
>>3139470
Most people either make the hashtags into a comment (bad bc it wont autosuggest) or just add spacers after the caption like so:

Taking the train to DC!
+
+
+
#train #DC #vacation etc etc

What exactly is instagram and why should one care?

>>3139713
>What is instagram

Is this bait?

>>3138953
How many followers do you have?

>>3139713
I too put all my pictures in a shoe box and duct tape it shut.

>>3139713
>>3139470
This always blows me away. People that take photos and DONT want people to see them. Are you just taking photos to take photos purely as a hobby with no point? Shit at least with most people that have a hobby, there's a dream of making it turn into something.

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>>3139725
>>3140938
>>3140940
I never said anything about not sharing your photos, I earnestly hadn't a clue what instagram was.
Everyday I feel like there is 'new greatest social media app thing that you MUST use!', I just cannot keep up with them.
I thought it was a new facebook when I heard about as it was called "social media".
I still cannot wrap my head around twitter

>>3141478
LOL, sorry man, I thought you were baiting. Instagram isn't new, it's a social media based purely around images and some video. Every post must have an image. People find your content by hashtags, which you select that have relevance to what ever your image is. And it is similar to facebook in some respects, and it's actually even owned by facebook

If you're doing fine without social media, just keep it like that. Social media is honestly a nightmare to deal with. Sorry, I really thought you were joking

>>3138953
post good photos and use hashtags
it works so well

it's like magic