Instagram has more than half a billion active users. The statistics on Instagram could be described as very impressive and encouraging. A small breakdown will surprise you and at the same time will excite you. Instagram has over 500 million active users with over 300 million daily active users, 80% of those users are outside the US, 4.2 billion likes every day, and over 95 million photos and videos uploaded every day. This is just wonderful and a gold mine for online merchants and businesses.

Those stats should send a signal to your nerves and allow you to understand just how important Instagram could be to your business. The problem is, how do you get on Instagram and acquire followers that will become your loyal customers? I will show you how to do it in the following steps and guidelines.

1. Sign up with Facebook – This is the easiest and fastest way to set up your Instagram account. It will automatically allow you to follow your friends who are already on Instagram and they will also follow you back. Your friends and family will be the first followers on Instagram, which will help boost your profile and prepare you for the main offer.

2. Quality photos: The most important thing on Instagram is the quality of your photos, make sure your photos are of high quality before posting them on Instagram. Having quality photos on Instagram will help you get more likes, comments, and more followers, which will help you move up the ladder and outperform all your competitors within the same niche. If you’re taking the photos with a camera, make sure the lighting and focus are just right to get the right photos you need to go viral on Instagram.

3. Like other photos: I call this trick noticing me. It’s like your first day at school, no one knows you and the only way people will start interacting with you is by taking the first step to say hello or introduce yourself. When you like other people’s photos, those people visit your profile and decide to follow and also like your photos. This is how you start to grow your network on Instagram

4. Follow Others – This is the fastest way to increase your followers on Instagram. When you follow others, they decide to follow you and create a connection between the two of you. This helps to increase your followers and likes on the photos you have on your profile. Follow others to get more followers.

5. Comment on other photos: This method requires more time and work, but it is surely worth it. When you comment on other people’s photos, you increase the chances that they will follow you and like your photos as well. Just take time out of your social media marketing schedule and comment on other people’s photos to increase your following.

6. Use relevant hashtags – Hashtags have come a long way on social media and Instagram is no exception. Making use of relevant hashtags helps you get more visibility and popularity on Instagram. The more hashtags you use, the more popular your photos will be. This means more likes, more followers, and more comments that help improve your profile.

7. Exchange Shoutouts – This is simply a method of promoting others while promoting yourself as well. It is simply a win-win situation for both members. This method helps to promote your profile. You simply need to find people within your niche and reach out to them and ask them to say hello. You can simply do this by sending them a simple email or a request on Instagram.