Ways You Can Grow On Instagram

 “How did you grow your following?“ is probably MOST ASKED question to date. I want to create a post just for this topic! I was able to grow to 10K followers on Instagram in just one year, and want to share all the tips I have on how I was able to do so.

I just recently bought a fancy camera and I hadn’t even purchased presets until eight months into trying to grow.  I told myself that if I hit 10K followers, that would be when I invested in presets. Up until that point I just used Facetune to brighten the whites, and the Lightroom app to make photos brighter! This post is really all about what to do to get your name out there and how you represent yourself online!

Now this isn’t going to be that semi-truth about how “if you have good content then the followers will come” because how will they see your content unless you show up where they are (even if you DO have amazing content)? That is 100% the key to Growing Your Following on Instagram. That’s what I did and that’s what will work for you too!

1. Decide if you want to seriously pursue growing a following

Creating and monetizing your blog, or trying to become an influencer, is honestly a very time consuming task. If you have a full-time job, it’s even more of a serious time commitment ! I have to take all my photos for content over the weekend and if it rains I have to make do.

I have gotten super burnt out many times because I just felt like my face was in my phone the entire day. It takes a lot of work and effort! I probably spend at least 30 hours a week on top of working 40 hours at my full-time job doing blog related tasks. It’s hard work, but if you want to put in the effort it’s so worth it and very rewarding!

2. Join Blogging Groups on Facebook

One of the best things I did when trying to grow my following was joining Facebook groups! A lot of these groups have bloggers of all sizes with various followings. It’s literally an awesome way to meet bloggers from all over the country and globe to support each other! It’s also a great idea to join them because you can get valuable tips and tricks too.

I have loved it because any questions I have had being a newer blogger have been answered! A lot of times the owners of the groups do “Follow Fridays” where you follow 3-10 bloggers and they follow you back! I have met a lot of other bloggers this way and been able to gain followers this way too. This isn’t the most organic way to gain followers, but if you only follow accounts you love, it’s definitely not a problem!

There are also specific groups for each blogging platform so make sure to search for those too! I have some that are specifically for the affiliate platforms I use  and then others that are just general blogging groups. These are great regardless of the following you have because people consistently post questions and tips that can help with a variety of problems.

3. Work with Influencer Marketing Platforms

When it came to Influencer Marketing Platforms, I figured I would start small. When I was around 3,000-5,000 followers I started to applying to a platform called Heartbeat! They’re great for bloggers who are just starting out because even thought it might not be companies with a huge following, you’re still able to start a portfolio.

That being said, if you take great photos, you’re more likely to get re-posted! My first campaign with them was with Better Skin Co. and I got re-posted to their page. They actually have a massive following so this was really helpful. .

If you’re a little bit larger of a blogger (I would say about 7K plus followers), I would suggest branching out to larger brands on multiple platforms!  I’ve been able to work with brands including: Steve Madden, eBay, DryBar, and so many more!

4. USE HASHTAGS

Hashtags are actually super important y’all. I know a fellow blogger who got over 6,000 impressions the other day JUST from their hashtag use! Impressions are awesome because it means more people are viewing your content and it’s more likely you’ll end up on the explore page. I used to think that the explore page only showed recent content; however that’s not true!

It’s starting to be more like Pinterest’s smart feed (they show you more content based on what you interact with and search) and they show you posts similar to your interests. This is super important because that means more people can find your content. An easy way to get onto the explore page is by using hashtags! 

5. Join Group Pinterest Boards & Share Your Content

Pinterest group boards are something that I’ve become more well versed in! They are an easy way to share your content and get more eyes on what you’ve written. I utilize Tailwind a lot to schedule my pins and it’s a really great platform to use! You can schedule out as many pins as you want a day (I pin around 50 pins a day) and this will GREATLY increase your blog views too.

Pinterest has seriously changed the game for me. It’s even helped me to make money through RewardStyle ! It did take me a while to figure out how to utilize it best; however, when I did it became a life saver. 

My Pinterest strategy is that I share equal parts content from my blog, content from my Instagram, and content from my LIKEtoKNOW.it page to them! This is a great way to gain exposure for all of your profiles. This has helped me to gain LIKEtoKNOW.it followers as well as new Instagram followers too! It’s a good idea because it’ll also help to grow your Pinterest account at the same time. 

6. Join Comment/Like Pods

A lot of bloggers do this on Instagram, but I’ve heard that Instagram can track this and they might flag your account for bots (which to me is literally so dumb which they actually do now and will snatch your profile from you quick). The way to avoid this is by using Telegram pods!

Often times in blogger Facebook pages, they have people comment about how they’re starting a “group Telegram pod” and they’ll ask others from similar niches to be in them too. I’ve heard negative stigma about groups, but seriously this is such a great way to support other bloggers! I know personally I get distracted and might not have a lot of time, this is a great way for me to see my favorite people’s posts!

Personally, I do not recommend using comment/like pods any longer! I was only in a few small ones to begin with, but they are just not authentic. If you do decide to join any groups like this, I suggest only being in very small, niche groups with people you like/bloggers you already interact with! I was in one with about eight people on Instagram and thought it was going well; however, one day I opened the chat and a few of the girls were talking about me “behind my back” like I wasn’t even there.

7. Do Group Giveaways

Another thing people ask me is how I end up in group giveaways. The truth is, people always come to me! I suck pretty bad at things like this because I feel awkward asking people for money like that. Bloggers will likely reach out to you once you establish a good following, but definitely don’t be afraid to start one yourself! 

8. Engage. Engage. Engage!

This is the most important tip in this post! Engaging with your audience is SUPER crucial. I have spent up to four hours before just ENGAGING with people who like posts and tag similar niches. This is what seriously burned me out but it got me serious results.