You can still grow your Instagram audience organically, but it takes more than posting and hoping. New feed options like IG Favorites, Close Friends, and Meta Verified can help, but they only work when used with purpose.
If your reach feels stuck, you’re not alone. Instagram is crowded now, so you need smart ways to stay visible and give people a reason to keep coming back.
Up next on Inspire To Thrive, you’ll see how these features can help you build steady growth without relying on shortcuts.
Estimated reading time: 12 minutes
Table of Contents
Key Takeaways
- Growing your Instagram audience starts with knowing your target audience, so your content matches their interests and needs.
- Consistent posting, better timing, and strong engagement in the first hour can help improve reach and visibility.
- Reels, Stories, Highlights, link stickers, hashtags, geotags, and the Favorites feed can help more people discover your content.
- Direct messages, contests, and useful captions can increase engagement and build stronger relationships with followers.
- Instagram growth usually takes time, so tracking results and adjusting your strategy matters more than chasing quick wins.
Grow Instagram Organically
If you are thinking of using this social media platform as the primary channel to attract new customers, you could opt to employ a digital marketing agency.
However, here are 14 fabulous tips for increasing your Instagram audience that are available to anyone, regardless of budget or specific goals.
Of course, it takes consistency, time, patience, and trial and error to succeed on the Insta app and make money at it.
1. Instagram Target Audience
When you focus on a specific audience, you can tailor your content to their preferences and needs, ensuring that it resonates with them.
Understanding and targeting the right audience on Instagram is crucial for organic account growth. By identifying and connecting with individuals who are genuinely interested in your content, you can increase engagement and reach, ultimately attracting more followers.
This targeted approach allows you to build meaningful connections, foster loyalty, and generate more organic engagement, ultimately leading to the growth of your Instagram account.
2. The Instagram Favorites Feed To Help
Have you seen the favorites feed on Instagram yet? It is another great way to grow Instagram organically.
Here is a screenshot of how you can view it. Click on the favorites button to start adding pages to this Instagram favorites feed.
You can also choose from a close friend’s feed. In your mobile app, they appear at the bottom of your 3 lines on the right-hand side, where you can find your settings and much more.
Not only that, but the “favorites” feed is a curated section that shows only posts from up to 50 accounts the user has identified as favorites. Those selected “favorites” accounts get priority in the home feed, too.
Imagine being in an Instagram feed with up to 49 other accounts instead of 1.1 million. That surely can cut down on the competition for your posts.
However, do note the alternative feeds also won’t show Instagram Stories, which only appear on the home screen. Instagram is also testing a nearby feed for stories. Stay tuned!
Did you know you can search for private Instagram users, too?
3. Add Value To Expand Your Instagram Audience
This tip might seem obvious, but anybody can look at their feed and find ways to improve it, even established influencers. Trends change rapidly, and it can be hard to keep up with multiple algorithm changes and fads.
While different kinds of content may be valuable to other audiences, it is essential to understand what inspires your particular audience. To do so, you should be aware of who your customer persona is and what the ideal follower looks like.
This strategy is excellent for finding out what excites them and what they feel an affinity with. In turn, you will be able to craft content that not only has value but can also leave such readers an impression.
Lisa, Inspire To Thrive
4. Don’t Forget the Power of Direct Messaging
Instagram DMs are a powerful tool for connecting with your audience quickly and directly. Through DMs, you can engage with followers on a personal level, build relationships, and even drive conversions.
By sending targeted messages, you can tailor your communication to individual interests and needs, increasing the likelihood of a positive response.
Leveraging Instagram DMs effectively can lead to increased brand loyalty, customer engagement, and ultimately, business growth.
Did you know about the Instagram DM encryption change in May 2026? Read more here about DM encryption.
5. Writing Captions To Get Attention
To write the best captions for Instagram posts, follow these steps.
- Firstly, keep it concise and engaging. Captions should be short and grab your followers’ attention. Use catchy words and phrases to make your captions stand out and grow Instagram organically.
- Secondly, add relevant hashtags to increase visibility. Research popular hashtags in your niche and include them in your captions. This will help your posts reach a wider audience.
- Thirdly, be authentic and show your personality. Let your captions reflect who you are and what you stand for.
- Lastly, end with a call to action. Encourage your followers to like, comment, or share your post. This will boost engagement and increase the visibility of your content.
You can use an AI caption generator for Instagram from Inspire To Thrive to help you write the best captions to grow Instagram organically.
6. Select the Right Hashtags
If you have ever scrolled through any social media feed, you know what a hashtag looks like. However, not all hashtags will work the same way, and some may not be relevant to your account’s needs.
- Hashtags can be a potent tool that allows your account to be discovered by an increasing number of users – with the right strategy. Instagram allows only 5 hashtags per post, so you should make the most of them.
- These hashtags should be specific and highly relevant to your post and caption. Do not use the same hashtags repeatedly on your IG account.
- Opting for long-tail hashtags can be a winning strategy if an enormous number of people use the short ones relevant to your business.
7. Leverage Geotags to Increase Your Instagram Audience
Geotags are those tags that appear just above each post – if you select one. They work similarly to hashtags, just for locations.
Adding a geotag to your post or story allows other users to discover your picture when looking for that specific location.
If you are using Instagram to increase the visibility of a physical store or company, geotags can help you attract customers.
Indeed, users are likely to check out posts related to a specific geotag when in that location, and studies have shown that a simple geotag can increase engagement by up to 79%.
In turn, users will be able to see the choices available to them – make sure that your business is on the list to grow your Instagram organically.
8. Understand Your Instagram Audience To Know When To Post
The foundations of engagement on social media are posting, liking, commenting, and building relationships with other users and influencers.
But when is the best time to do so? This varies, and you will need to allow for some trial and error.
However, if you are using a business profile on Instagram, you can learn more about your audience’s demographics by checking the “Insights” tab. Aside from gender and location, this dataset shows when your fans are most active.
This detail, along with where they are from, helps you estimate the best time to post.
9. Invest in Sponsored Content
Sponsored content might not be an accessible choice for all businesses launching today. Indeed, this strategy requires that you dedicate a portion of the budget to this kind of marketing.
However, sponsored content is perfect for reaching out to a much wider audience. It can also grow your organic reach.
Pair sponsored content with influencer marketing to improve your brand reputation and increase engagement.
10. Don’t Ignore Latest Instagram Trends
While you might have a precise idea of what your feed should look like, don’t underestimate the power of trends and fads. One of the latest ones is Instagram Reels, which are short 5-60-second videos you share on Instagram.
Another new feature is GoLive with greater visibility. Profiles will get a badge with the information on the schedule live.
Plus, their followers will be able to opt in to get a notification the moment the Live is available.
Like other social media platforms, Instagram is influenced by fast trends. These trends tend to change quickly from one month to another. (And sometimes, they change day by day!)
11. Link Stickers For Instagram Stories
One of the latest updates from Instagram is being able to link your Instagram stories. Instagram is changing how external links are shared within Stories frames.
When you post a story, add a sticker and choose the link one, then paste it into your external link. That’s it! People can see and click on your links from your Instagram stories.
Instagrammers no longer need to have 10,000 or more Instagram followers. This is a fabulous newer feature.
12. Consistency To Grow Instagram Organically
Due to increasingly intense competition and a growing number of users, your Instagram growth is likely to be slow. However, giving up after the first few months means you might never see the results you expected to increase your Instagram audience.
Being consistent doesn’t mean you need to post daily; just post on the same days each week, even if it’s only Monday and Thursday. Of course, adding stories daily may help to grow your Instagram viewers.
At the same time, this strategy allows you to build long-lasting relationships with other users and influencers in the industry.
Beyond social media, these networks might be essential to your company’s development.
13. Run Contests To Expand Your Instagram Audience
If you have already started to see an increase in the audience you can generally reach through posts. In addition to other engagement strategies, begin communicating with them. The easiest way to engage your users and viewers in your efforts is to run contests and giveaways.
These don’t necessarily have to include a cash prize.
- You can run a successful competition by selecting the best photo from those tagged with a specific hashtag.
- Create an online product and promotion to sponsor your creation and brand, helping expand your Instagram audience.
14. Use Instagram Highlights
Creating stories is essential to maintaining a connection with your audience during the day. Saving them on the highlights at the top of your profile allows fans to keep up with your current story.
They can even scroll through and find older ones. Don’t forget to delete older ones that are no longer relevant in your highlights.
Additionally, highlights will enable you to save promotions, information, tutorials, and products for later reference in your contemporary stories.
Highlights also help to increase your Instagram audience further.
15. Don’t Forget To Check Your Competition
Your competitors, especially the successful ones, can work as the perfect benchmark for the first few months. Check out their strategy and learn from it, in particular, if you believe they have invested in a digital marketer’s services.
If they have paid for this strategy and it is working, it is worth considering expanding your Instagram audience! While your brand might differ from theirs on some levels, you can learn from their backlink strategy, hashtags, and keywords.
Bonus Tip: A Reels Boost To Grow Your Instagram Audience
Instagram Reels can give your account a quick lift by grabbing attention and pulling in new viewers. Short, vertical videos show up on the Explore page, reaching people who don’t even follow you yet.
When you share Reels with trending music or jump on popular challenges, your chance of being seen grows a lot. Reels often get higher reach and engagement than regular posts or Stories.
This boost isn’t just about views—it can turn into new followers and more interaction with your brand. If you want to grow fast, try posting Reels at least two or three times a week.
Track which topics or styles get the most likes, shares, and follows. Simple tips:
- Keep your videos short, clear, and fun.
- Show your face.
- Use captions.
- Don’t be afraid to test new ideas.
- Reels may appear on IG TV.
Reels are a solid way to get your name out there on Instagram without spending money on ads. Want results? Don’t just watch—post and see the difference for yourself.
Bottom Line: Increasing Your Instagram Audience
Unfortunately, there is no exact formula for any business to succeed on Instagram. Still, some strategies can help you grow your audience and reach more potential customers.
Start from the ones above and include the tactics that better resonate with your brand – then, enjoy the results!
Frequently Asked Questions About Growing Your Instagram Audience
Start by defining your target audience and posting content that matches what they care about. Then post on a steady schedule, use relevant hashtags and geotags, and test formats like Reels, Stories, and Highlights to increase reach.
Reels, Stories, link stickers, Highlights, geotags, and the Favorites feed can all help more users find your content. Reels are especially helpful because they can appear on the Explore page, reaching people who do not follow you yet.
The best posting time depends on when your audience is most active. If you use a business profile, check Instagram Insights and post when your followers are online, because early engagement can help a post perform better.
Hashtags still help when they match the post and audience. The article recommends using relevant hashtags, mixing in long-tail hashtags, and avoiding the same set on every post.
Consistency matters more than posting every day. A simple schedule, such as posting on the same days each week and adding Stories more often, can help build momentum without making content hard to maintain.
Disclosure: This Inspire To Thrive blog post contains affiliate links. I may earn a commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Some sections were drafted with AI tools and carefully reviewed/edited by me.
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Hi Lisa, The last time I read your blog was in 2018 and 2022 and you are one of the experienced bloggers I started blogging to meet those days when I got to know Ryan Biddulph. Thanks for sharing these tips on growing your Instagram audience. Recently I have been able to grow a page organically to 1,500 followers and I was so excited for my business as I’ve actually not been an Instagram core user but a Facebook addict. With these tips of yours, I believe I can upscale further and perhaps become an Instagram sensation. Keep the good work going.
Hi Matthew, Thanks for being a reader of Inspire To Thrive. I guess you have missed a bit. That’s great on getting your page to 1500, it’s not an easy thing to do these days. What is your niche? Appreciate your coming by and have a great day.
Lisa: Thanks for sharing these tips. I have come to the insight after reading Brian Solis’s book, LifeScale, and other books on digital minimalism, that I will reduce my social media activities in a certain way. I will create at least one piece of content every day, and then pick which platform I will use. I will concentrate on the places I can control, e.g., my newsletter, my podcasts, and my blogs. It is easy to get caught up with scrolling your Instagram feeds, consuming an endless stream of photos, videos, and stories.
I am interested to create a team with content creators for some of my social media accounts. I will invite individuals who are on the same wavelength, that get my personal style. I don’t want to get burned out…
Best Premises,
Martin
Hi Martin, I like your thinking on digital minimalism. It can be an endless feed on the various social networks. It is easy to get burned out. I try to stay off for most of the weekend though it doesn’t always work. I also shut my phone off around 8 pm but I do start around 4 am. Social media can be hard and timely work. Thanks for your input on this one and have a great rest of the week Martin.
Hi Lisa,
I saw on Instagram you posted growth strategies. I came right over!
1. I like how the background was dropped behind the cupcake. Cute! Do you know the tool that was used?
2. Speaking of Instagram tools, I’m still having trouble posting an Instagram Story from desktop and I’m thinking of deleting the Chrome Extension. Any thoughts? Is there a video that might demo this? A different extension?
Thanks!
Janice
Hi Janice,
1. Yes, that is Canva pro. Click on the image / link to try it.
2. I’ve used it and it worked. I’m not sure if there are other tools, I use Agorapulse to do stories too on Instagram now as I tend to schedule out. What type of scheduling tool are you using ? I believe the Buffer offered it too. Thanks for coming by Janice and have a great rest of the week.
Hi,
Thanks for answering my questions. Does Agorapulse have a free version? Buffer doesn’t post Stories for free in their prescheduler.
Janice
Hi Janice, they only have a 28 day trial that is FREE. Not many are offering a true free service anymore. I imagine it does a lot of money to provide the services.