Social influencers online have the capability of attracting followers while pushing products and services. In fact, businesses are now looking to market through social influencers, giving you the ability to make money by having a popular social media account. Instagram is one such social media platform you need to consider. The social media platform has continued to expand in popularity, and now more individuals are coming to Instagram over other options (like Facebook). With Instagram, it's possible to both grow your account organically and buy followers. However, it is a good idea to not purchase your followers, as this can hinder your account potential later on down the road. Thankfully, there are other options to get free Instagram followers if you know where to look and how to go about doing it.
WHAT IS INSTAGRAM AND HOW DID IT GET STARTED?
Instagram started as a photo sharing social media platform. It went live in October 2010 when designers Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger came together to create the application while living in San Francisco. Originally, the two were working on a location check-in service called Burbn. However, as the two worked, they found the application shared too many similarities with another popular social platform at the time, Foursquare. Due to this, they decided to instead backtrack on the check-in feature and instead have it focus on picture taking (with the ability to tag a location and have it check-in at a set location).
The two eventually posted the first picture on Instagram in July of 2010, showing off a dog and a woman's foot. They also use one of the filters the two created. Eventually, the photo sharing application went to live for the Apple iOS App Store later in the year. The application proved almost immediately popular, especially in the early days of the App Store. The Apple iPhone came out in 2007, however developer app support did not come out for another year. At the same time, Facebook was proving popular, taking over for MySpace as the dominate social media platform of the time. However, Facebook didn't have the mobile application development yet, so Instagram found a niche market.
Eventually, Instagram made it to Android in 2012. Android users had been waiting for the application release as the app was downloaded more than a million times the first day it hit markets. With the surge of popularity the application had been valued at $500 million with the ability to continually grow.
Facebook saw the possibility of integrating the photo sharing feature into its platform, and it also saw the threat a growing Instagram could pose to Facebook. In order to obtain the company and prevent it from becoming more of a threat, the company bought out Instagram for $1 billion worth of stock and cash.
The acquisition kept the Instagram CEOs on its board of directors as Instagram became its own department within Facebook. However, the heads of Instagram recently announced (in September 2018) they would leave Facebook and Instagram to create new creative applications.
WHAT IS INSTAGRAM?
Instagram is a social media platform that allows you to take pictures and share them with your followers. The image is taken in a square format, so it fits easily onto the screen of mobile users. Before uploading it, you can use a filter offered through Instagram which allows you to change the look of your picture before you upload it. You can also tag a location based on your GPS setting. You can also include text with the post as well as including hashtags. With hashtags, other Instagram users can follow your posts related to the hashtag (it works as a digital bookmark, with anyone else typing in the same hashtag bookmark given the ability to see the pictures you shared with the tag).
HOW TO GET FREE INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS
Instagram has grown into a way to not only connect with others sharing your pictures, but it gives you the power to make money off of your growing social media platform. Social influencers are paid, often handsomely, by companies to showcase products and to talk about services offered by the companies. These are excellent ways to make money and to share information with followers. With that said, in order to become a social influencer, you need to find ways to get free Instagram followers to grow your numbers. While some can become influencers with a few thousand followers, you'll have a better chance attracting advertisers and those willing to pay for your services when you have tens of thousands of followers.
NEVER PAY FOR FOLLOWERS
It is of critical importance that you never pay for followers. Paying for Instagram followers may be more detrimental toward the success of your channel long term. Yes, you'll have some nice numbers next to your name. Instead of seeing a few hundred followers you might see a "K" next to it (meaning thousand). That's a great feeling. But advertisers can find out how you obtained your followers.
Now, a potential advertiser will not see if you bought your followers. However, they can see how subscriber numbers jumped. If you were at 500 and then all of a sudden after a few days you're at 10,500, it's obvious that you bought the subscribers. Companies do not want to work with someone that bought their followers because their advertised content will go to fake accounts (it's like printing an advertisement on a street billboard that people do not drive past). So while you may have larger numbers, this will not do you any good it.
POST ON A REGULAR BASIS
The best way to get free Instagram followers is to stay active. You need to post at least one new picture a day, if not two. You also want to use popular hashtags and hashtags that have something to do with your post. This way, others who are interested in your posts are more likely to like and follow you. The combination of remaining active and using hashtags is an excellent way to grow your account organically.
COMMENT
The entire purpose of using social media accounts is to remain social. When someone comments on your post, make sure to comment back. Also, search similar accounts and comment on their posts. This will expose these individuals to your account. It also increases the chance of someone seeing your account and following you.
DOUBLE-THINK THE "FOLLW4FOLLOW" HASHTAG
Using a hashtag is something you need to consider. Basically, you'll include it as a hashtag and it will connect you with others who use the same hashtag. People will then follow your account and expect you to follow them back. This process has some pros and cons. Yes, people will follow your account. However, they are just as likely to stop following your account after a short period of time. For the most part, these are temporary tags that don't work long term. Plus, if people see you are using this follow4follow tag, it comes off as unprofessional. If your plan isn't to become a social influencer for a long time (a year or more), then you can test this strategy out, but it may not do all that much to help you get free Instagram followers.
BEST FREE APPS TO INCREASE FOLLOWERS
There are a number of applications out there that can help you get free Instagram followers. These free ways are simple to take advantage of and often only requires you to download the app to your mobile device.
PIQORA
LATER
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CONCLUSION
Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms out there. It is easy and free to use. If you just want to share images, you can do this without much of a problem at all. However, if you want to grow your social following or potentially become a social influencer, you'll want to bring in more followers. There are a number of ways to get free Instagram followers. As long as you remain active, comment, like, and post, you'll be good to go, and you'll see improvements in your following numbers. You can also take advantage of these free applications. Whatever you do, avoid buying Instagram followers. It's always best to work Instagram organically, especially if you want it to pay off in the end.
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