Instagram is all about followers and engagement. You want to build a following, but how do you know where your account stands versus the average user?
With 2.3 billion active users, you may not realize how many followers around the world that people have on their accounts.
We’re not talking about the top Instagram accounts like Cristiano Ronaldo, with 600+ million followers or Selena Gomez, with 429 million followers. We’ll be covering “what is the average amount of followers on Instagram?” These are the followers you can expect from your friends and family.
What Is the Average Amount of Followers on Instagram?
Mention’s report, spanning 57 pages, gives us a fairly accurate picture of the amount of followers people have:
- 26.43% of users have less than 1,000 followers
- 49.94% of users have 1,000 – 10,000 followers
So, there you have it! 75% of people have less than 10,000 followers, but these figures are also a small representation of all users.
You’ll notice that many people are not going to have 1,000 followers or more because it’s not their intent. Average users post about their friends and family, dinner, kids and school. Many accounts have 300 – 800 followers, but add in a few people with 10,000 followers, and the average rises.
Without Instagram reporting the actual stats, our best assumption is that most accounts have around 1,000 followers or less and a few accounts have 10,000.
What’s the Average Instagram Follower Count in the US? 🇺🇸
The US, or more accurately, all of North America, has between 1,000 and 10,000 followers: 54.58%.
What’s the Average Instagram Follower Count in the UK? 🇬🇧
United Kingdom users also have between 1k and 10k followers as the highest follower count averages, accounting for 53.62%.
What’s the Average Instagram Follower Count in the Canada? 🇨🇦
Canada, not included in the above study, was found to have an average of 200 followers, but it is noted that this figure includes private accounts.
If you have a private account and no one can see your posts, you’ll have fewer followers than someone with an account that:
- Is public
- Comments on posts often
- Engages with others
But follower counts don’t matter unless you want to build a brand or following online. If you do want to become a personal brand and really have people engage with you, it’s up to you to be engaging and posting often.
We know how influencers are able to garner large followings online, and we’re going to share the simple techniques that work well if you apply them.
3 Tips to Increase Your Followers on Instagram
Growing your Instagram account requires a mix of doing all of the right things together, for long enough, for people to begin noticing. You can do small, strategic things today to start increasing your followers:
1. Make Your Profile Public
If you want to get more followers, make your profile public. You’ll see some accounts with a lot of followers that are private, but these people did have a public account at some point. You can easily make your profile public by following these steps:
- Open your Instagram app
- Tap on your profile picture
- Tap the hamburger icon > Settings and privacy
- Tap Account privacy > Private account
Make sure that the slider is not turned on to make your account private. Now, anyone will be able to view your account and your posts. People rarely follow private accounts if they don’t know what type of content they post, and now you just opened the account to the billions of people who use the app.
2. Post Consistently
Posting often is an art and it takes a lot of work. People quickly abandon Instagram because they don’t have followers, but they’re also not posting enough. We have a great guide on how often you should post on Instagram, and what we’ve found is:
- 2 – 3 posts per week on your main feed is great
- 2 Instagram Stories per day is ideal
Once you start getting a following, you’ll want to post 2 – 4 Reels each week and maybe a carousel.
If you post consistently, it means that you have more content for people to find your account. Be sure to add hashtags and descriptions to your posts to help them become more searchable.
3. Fill Out Your Bio
It may seem like a simple and obvious thing, but if you want to increase your follower count, you need to make sure that you fill out your bio.
Your Instagram bio introduces you and your content to other users. It’s an opportunity to tell people what you’re all about.
Typically, people view the profiles of users before they start following them. If your bio is incomplete or not optimized properly, people may decide not to follow you.
7 Things to Do If You Have Followers BUT No Engagement
Having followers doesn’t automatically translate to engagement on Instagram. You can have a million followers, but if you only get a few likes and comments on your content, does that matter? The goal is to boost engagement.
Boosting your engagement will also help you increase your audience even more and surpass the average number of followers people have on Instagram.
Here are seven things you can do to kickstart your engagement.
1. Recreate Your Top-Performing Posts
One of the best ways to revive your engagement is to analyze your past content and see what resonated with your audience. Take a look at your top-performing posts and see how you can recreate them in new, fresh ways.
What was it about that post that got so much attention? Was it the topic? The way you delivered the content? Compare and analyze your top posts to see if they have anything in common. Leverage those strengths to recreate new and even better variations of that content.
2. Be Authentic in Your Content
People crave authentic, real connections. Why? Because everyone has a unique personality. There’s no one like you. Showing your authentic self in your content will naturally set you apart from others.
And when you’re being authentic, you’re more likely to get a response from your followers in the form of likes, comments and shares.
So, don’t be afraid to be goofy, serious or a little bit “extra” if that’s your genuine self. Don’t copy other influencers just to try and get more followers and engagement.
How can you be more authentic in your content? Tell stories! Share your experiences, struggles and victories from your perspective.
3. Post Stories with Stickers
Instagram gives you a lot of tools to boost engagement and create great content. Use it to your advantage. One great tool is stickers.
Posting to your Stories regularly is a really great way to keep your followers engaged and interested in your content.
Use stickers in your Stories to get people to interact with your posts.
You can use stickers to:
- Conduct polls
- Ask questions
- Post quizzes
- Get people to ask you questions
The question sticker is especially useful because you can repost their questions and answer them in Stories or future videos.
4. Go Live
Livestreams are a really effective way to get your current followers more engaged with your content and to grow your following, too. Nearly 30% of people on the Internet watch at least one livestream every week.
The great thing about going LIVE is that the entire interaction is engaging from start to finish. Everyone is at the same place online, at the same time having a conversation and sharing an experience.
During your livestreams, you can answer questions, talk to people by name and interact with your audience in a more intimate way.
5. Post More Carousels
Carousels are experiencing a revival right now. More people are posting them because the Instagram algorithm now favors them. And they naturally get people to interact and engage with your content.
According to Hootsuite, carousels get 3.1 times more engagement on average than a regular, single-image post.
Tell a story with your carousels or choose a theme and post a series of photos that relate to that theme. There are so many ways to leverage this type of Instagram post.
6. Respond to Comments and DMs
Genuine interaction with your audience will naturally lend itself to more engagement with your content. Start responding to comments you get and the DMs you receive from genuine followers.
You may not be able to respond to all comments or messages, but do make an effort to at least respond to a few.
7. Ask Questions
One of the best ways to get people to engage with your content is to ask questions, or to ask them to interact.
You can also ask your audience genuine questions, and their answers will help you discover what your followers want to see. When you know what they want to see, you can easily start creating better content that they’re more likely to interact with.
Summary
The average Instagram user only has a few hundred to just over a thousand followers. If you have 1500 or 2,000 followers or more, congratulations – you’re above-average and on your way to influencer status.
If you want to boost your followers and engagement, use our guide above. With patience and persistence, you’ll watch your followers grow.
