I have been getting asked more and more frequently how I grew followers on Instagram.  I’m always super flattered because 99% of the time I’m the one looking for tips and asking others for help with social media!  With that being said, with all of the work I’ve done in trying to grow my Instagram account I have learned a lot of helpful and useful growth tips along the way.  I don’t have a gazillion followers but I am very happy with my 14.5k Instagram followers.  You don’t have to have a large following to do well on social media and having a smaller following gives you more opportunity to talk to and get to know the people who follow your account!  I have made so many internet friends on Instagram by having a smaller account that I can keep up with comments and likes! (Some people might think that’s bad and that bigger is better but I love being able to keep up with who I recognize commenting and liking)!  I’m pretty good about recognizing the names and faces and everyone who likes and comments on my pictures and send me dMs! I also get many opportunities to work with brands and make money with only 14.5k Instagram followers.

 One of my main answers when it comes to growing on Instagram is that it is a learning process!  I have tried and continue to try various social media growth strategies and continue to learn by reading blog posts and watching Youtube videos about social media.

Let’s start out with what everyone has probably told you;

It is complete and absolute bullshit when people say, “just post good content consistently and it will work out.”  No!  While good content is one of the main pillars to social media success, it will get you nowhere without a growth strategy in place.  Very few people, (and I mean VERY few), have become successful with their blog, Youtube channel, or social media platforms without trying; despite them telling you they “just posted good content.”  I honestly don’t know why some bloggers and public figures are afraid to tell other people how they built a following and became successful.  I can imagine they are concerned that people will see them as a sellout or conceited if they admit that they actively worked to build a follower base.  This can’t be further from the truth.  Whether you are trying to be a blogger, celebrity, public figure, or just want to get a promotion at work; every single one of us already has a personal brand.  Our personal brands are our reputations and what people think of us.  There is nothing conceited about wanting to have a positive reputation (personal brand), it’s what we all want.  Some people just want to be more public with it and that is okay!  We should all strive to improve our personal brand wether or not we want it to be on the internet or at work, school, or just daily life.

If you are looking to grow your personal brand or business on Instagram here are some ways that I have grown my Instagram account!

1. Be Social– Like, comment, DM- Get yourself in front of people!  If your account is small then it is not likely your account will be seen by a lot of people since Instagram clearly favors larger accounts.  Interacting with people’s posts will get your cute ass self into their notifications, and if they like your account they just might give you a follow!  This is how I have gained a lot of my followers but it is also the most time-consuming.

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT follow and unfollow!  First of all, it’s rude and people will block you because it is annoying! Secondly, it can get your account labeled as spam and get you shadow banned or suspended.  Again, it makes you look like an asshole.

 2. Hashtags– Some people say that hashtags don’t make a difference,  I strongly disagree.  There is literally no chance of anyone finding you without hashtags unless you get lucky and end up on the explore page but that is very unlikely to happen if you have a small Instagram account.

Don’t go ham with the hashtags though, only use 5-15 RELEVANT hashtags.  I used to use all of the popular hashtags but didn’t have much luck because I wasn’t putting my post in front of people who were interested in the kind of content I posted.

3. Post Daily– I notice that my Instagram does better when I post at least once a day.  When I skip days my Instagram growth stagnates.

4. Giveaways– I am conflicted on this one.  I have done multiple loop giveaways and yes, it does get you followers but many of them leave over time and it might feel like your following isn’t growing because so many from giveaways are leaving. This can also be damaging to your engagement.  If you gain a ton of followers but none of them engage, then what is the point?  Some of them do stick around if you do relevant giveaways to your niche but I personally have come to the realization that I am done with doing loop giveaways and I am focused on building an authentic community where people who actually connect with me and each other rather than try to gain as many followers as I can.

5. Be active on other social media platforms– I started posting on Musical.ly and connected my Instagram to my bio. Somehow my first video got featured and ended up getting over 95,000 views I gained about 150 Musical.ly followers over night and I noticed an increase by about 100-200 followers on Instagram within that time. So definitely cross promote across all of your social medias!

It basically all comes down to exposure.  The more people that see your content, the more likely you are to attract people who are interested in your brand or business!

These are just the basics of growing on Instagram and I have many more tips so just comment or email me (jessica@linnstyle.com) if you want any more tips or have any questions!  You can also DM me on Instagram! I hope that you all enjoyed this post! I know that it’s waaaay different than what I typically post but I want to provide some value for you guys outside of just outfit inspiration.  Let me know if you want to see more posts like this!