How I gained my first thousand followers on Instagram,
When I started this blog, I figured my mom and a few close friends would get a kick out of some of my content. I wondered if my following would grow, but I never imagined I would get to 1,000 Instagram followers in five short months! I am over the moon with joy and gratitude to everyone I’ve made a connection with during this journey, and if you’ve stumbled across my page wondering how to grow your following - I urge your to click the video link below and read on as I answer real questions about how I gained my 1K followers.
If you already follow me on Instagram (if you don’t… WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR), you will have seen that I requested any and all questions regarding follower growth, blogging, and Youtube. I think as a someone with a small following, it’s important for me to document the process I use to achieve each of my mile stones so others can learn from my success and mistakes!
The first question asked was: “How do you grow a following? Tips and suggestions”.
Answer: Consistency! Okay I might be a little bit of a hypocrite on this one as this Pandemic has put a wrench into my usual routine. That being said - it is important to pick a day of the week to consistently drop your content, whether that’s a blog post or youtube video. Once you have your content worked out the next step is to INTERACT with other accounts. My method has proven successful for me, and I’m sure it would work for just about any kind of Instagram page.
Step 1: Find a similar account to your own
Stet 2: Search through their followers (I like to click on accounts that have a story wheel - this indicates they have a “public” profile and makes it easier to interact).
Step 3: Ask yourself “does this account have more followers than they are following?” if the answer is yes - MOVE ON. These accounts are generally more interested in gaining followers than they are of building connections with other accounts.
Step 4. Ask yourself “does this person have over 1,000 followers?” if the answer is yes - MOVE ON. I find to build your first 1k followers, it’s easier to connect with smaller accounts who equally want to make a connection and support the accounts they follow.
Step 5: Once you’ve narrowed down an account that:
Already follows content similar to yours
Is public
Has followers =/< following
Has less than 1,000 followers
You’ve found an account that MORE THAN LIKELY will want to engage with your content. The next step is to interact with their profile, like a few posts, comment on their content, or shoot them a DM. In my experience they will return the favour and usually will go ahead and follow you!
Step 6: REPEAT! I interacted with accounts in this manor about 50 times a day to get my first thousand followers.
Question two: “How do you determine what to blog about?”
Answer: I try and keep a list in my day planner! I will map out my content two weeks to even a month ahead of time, as an idea comes to me I jot it down so I don’t forget. Another helpful person in my life is my husband, anytime I do something a little… “ODD” he laughs and says “you should make a video for that” - and most of the time IT MAKES MY LIST!
Question three: “How do you dedicate time to growing a following & keeping up online engagement?”
Answer: Above I mentioned my step by step growth method, I do this process with about 50 profiles a day! I usually split it up about a half hour in the morning and a half hour before bed. Some days it’s one big hour chunck of my day or fifteen mins here and there. Whatever works for you - but I would recommend at least an hour a day dedicated to growth!
Question six: “Hashtags?”
Answer: Ugh - there is no answer… I am still just as in the dark on this subject as most beginners. I don’t notice a difference with or without them.. If you do please share in the comments below!
Question five “How often to post?”
Answer: For a lot of big accounts I find they post once a day (even multiple times a day) AT THIS STAGE OF GROWTH, I do not feel my followers are interested in me cluttering their feeds with my content. I try to focus on meaningful post’s every other day, while sprinkling in stories almost everyday.
If you’ve made it this far thanks for sticking with me! Of course this isn’t “tips and tricks from a blogger with 100K”, but I definitely think we all start from the bottom, and sometimes it’s easier to get advice from someone who understands the struggle of achieving these first milestones. As my page grows, I am sure some of these methods will evolve, but to this point all the above information has lead to my 1K success. If you have any advice or more questions please comment below or shoot me an email - I love to hear from you guys!
xoxo - Alex