As laid out above, gaining new followers does not really require some difficult to understand formula or algorithm; common sense would dictate that doing these things will lead to more new followers to your Instagram account. But properly networking with the right people is also going to lead to more followers, meaning more people will be seeing the images you post, and the product lines that you offer for sale.
See who follows you. If they are an established follower and if they always like photos you post and comment on photos, then follow them back. This is not only going to show your customers you care, it is also going to allow their friends and other followers to see who is following them back. In turn their followers will also follow you, meaning that by following one dedicated and established customer, you are going to gain several additional followers.
This simple networking trick will work wonders if an established follower is another business, or an individual who has thousands of followers themselves. More people will see your Instagram handle, will visit your page and more people will eventually follow you back as well.
Like and leave comments in return. When you are following others on Instagram, whether it is an established customer or another company, like their photos and leave comments on their photos. Just like you check to see who is liking and leaving comments on your photos and following them back, if people who you are following see you are doing this for them, they are generally going to follow you back.
You are gaining at least one new follower for your business simply by doing a little bit of networking, and engaging in a little conversation with other followers. In most instances, the person who you are following, will also have a list of dedicated followers. If they see you continually post comments on photos, they may ask for you to follow them and in turn will follow your account page as well. So you can gain several new followers simply by hitting the thumbs up, and by posting a few comments every once in a while to another Instagram account that your business is following.
Don't forget about the other social medias. Facebook has already been discussed, but Twitter and Google+ are also extremely important for your business as well. If you are using certain hashtags on these social media pages to describe new products or other important information about your business, make sure to include them on the new photos which you post to Instagram as well.
What this will do is it will automatically let your Twitter and Google+ followers view the hashtags; in turn, they will visit your Instagram page, and it may also lead to them following you on this social media platform as well. And if they share this link, or share the hashtag on their social media accounts, it is also going to lead other friends and followers of theirs to follow your business page as well.