What has and hasn’t worked for my Instagram Growth.

Recently I’ve received so many messages on Instagram asking for growth tips. I wanted to create a post to direct those who have asked or who are interested in growing, but have no idea where to start. I am not a ‘big blogging expert’ as I’m still growing and learning everyday! I will say it takes work, time, and money. What works for me, may not work for you as we all have a different journey and goal. However, I’m spilling the tea on what has worked and what has not worked for growing my Instagram account.

Growth Course

I know plenty of bloggers who have taken growth courses, as there are many options available. The course I took my first few months of blogging was Mastery By Mal I personally know 4 other bloggers who have taken this course. This is a paid course, however it did drastically help in the beginning and eventually I made this money back via collaborations. As Instagram has an ever changing algorithm, I’m not sure if their tools will benefit you the same as they did me as I took this course one year ago. The course itself is only about 1-2 hours, but to initiate what they teach can be very time consuming. I can’t say this course aligns with how I believe someone should grow, but I can say it did work.

Giveaways

As I mentioned the algorithm changing, I participated in my first giveaway at about 5k followers (prior to this I was only using the techniques provided by the course above). A giveaway is an easy way to grow your following and give back to your current audience. You normally pay X amount with a group of bloggers and giveaway some sort of prize. I would suggest working with bloggers similar in your niche and follower count. I have also received feedback that my audience prefers to only follow 2-10 bloggers for a gifting, not 50 accounts plus liking and saving all the photos. I’ve participated in my fair share of giveaways, and recently this has been a major way to grow although it is never guaranteed. The only issue is some people will only follow you for the giveaway, so there is a chance they may unfollow you after it is over. I have also gained ‘more followers’, but my engagement did not grow. For this reason, I only try to participate in one giveaway per month. I also try to produce high quality content during my giveaways so I can ensure they will stick around after the giveaway is over!

Engagement

To help your engagement rate the easiest tip is to ENGAGE with other bloggers in your niche, or anyone who is your ideal audience. Like, comment, save, DM, whatever it may be to start a genuine conversation. Leaving one emoji in a comment isn’t going to cut it if you want to create genuine relationships. As a rule of thumb, once I post a photo on my feed I engage for a minimum of 30 minutes. Each person who comments on my photo, I do my best to respond back, and visit their profile to like/comment on their last 2-3 post. Even if the person isn’t a blogger, I always like to visit their profile if it is set to public so I know who I am replying to, making it more personal.

Engaging can be done by just scrolling through you feed and commenting on photos in your feed. Engagement tells Instagram your post is ‘important’ and pushes the post to reach more people. When you work with brands, your engagement rate is just as important as your following count. As I would rather have a highly engaging audience of 5k rather than an audience of 50k who never engages. With a high engagement rate , your post is more likely to end up on the ‘explore page’ on Instagram so people can find you profile, in turn increasing your following number.

I’m also frequently asked if I am in any engagement pods, the answer is no. I’m sure they are great for some people, but with working a full time job where I don’t have my phone out often, I was unable to commit to an engagement pod. For blogging newbies, an engagement pod is a group of bloggers who like/comment on each others post consistently to help boost each others engagement. I will say I am in a group chat with some of my favorite bloggers, and we let each other know when a new post is up. However, there is no ‘requirement’ to engage.

Aesthetics

Let’s say someone found your profile from the ‘explore page’, you literally have a few seconds to turn them into a follower or not. How does your aesthetics look? Is your feed cohesive? Do you have a profile photo and bio? All of these things matter when trying to captivate an audience on Instagram. This is something I have struggled with as I have tried different pre sets over the past year trying to find which one will work best for my hair/skintone. I would suggest purchasing a pre set from a blogger with similar features as you so you won’t have to adjust/edit as much. As for a bio, let your future audience know what you primarily share, plus a little about you! It is also important to have your story highlights updated. If a potential follower views your highlights, this gives them an idea of the content you produce and can be a deciding factor for that ‘follow’ button.

Use Other Platforms

I produce content for Instagram, but I also use other platforms such as Pinterest, Facebook, and now Tik Tok. If someone on one of those platforms links back to your Instagram, you then have the potential for growing your Instagram audience.

Use Hashtags

Instagram allows you to use 30 hashtags and with having a ‘business’ view profile, I am able to see the accounts I reached through hashtags and it is mind blowing! I have a set of hashtags I always use based on my location and niche. I then add hashtags based on the content of the photo I am sharing. This allows your post to reach more people and potentially turn them into a follower.

Show Your Face on Your Stories

It is unlikely you will reach all of your followers with a static post, so try using the story feature on Instagram. I try to get on my stories at least once a day- even if I am just chatting with no make up on, it is that real authentic connection people crave. I personally enjoy seeing the ‘real life’ side to bloggers. On stories you’re able to share your personality and not worry about aesthetics. Also, your story viewers are more than likely your LTKit shoppers!

Be Authentic and Serve the Audience You Have

Maybe none of these tips work for you, but always remember to serve the audience you have! How many times have you loved an outfit or recipe and you shared it with your best friend? If your audience loves what you’re sharing, I guarantee they will share your account with a friend! Being authentic and real is more important than trying to be a typical blogger with a high following count. Be yourself and be confident. Your’e not going to be everyone’s cup of tea and that is OK. You will have people unfollow you, you will have friends in real life who don’t engage with your content, you will have people who may not support you and that is OK. Because guess what, you’re going to create loyal followers who can’t wait for you to post, friends who like/comment on every photo to show you support, and a community you never knew you needed!

I seriously appreciate each person in my audience so much. I am so thankful for you to even read this post right now! I hope my tips help with your Instagram growth, as I mentioned I’m not an expert, but over the past year this is what I have come to realize! Feel free to DM or email me with any questions as I’m always happy to be a resource and helpful in any way!

Stay Fearless,

Michelle Foster