There are all kinds of social media channels out there, but I love Instagram the most. Beautiful pictures? Pretty outfits? Inspiring quotes? Delicious food? Instagram is the one place you can get it all. (Visually, at least.) It inspires me to stop and take note of the beauty already around me, and it gives me a reason to get creative in the everyday.
Lots of people are looking for more out of Instagram, and I’m one of them. I started with just a personal Instagram with posts that were anything amusing or fun. Now as I’m trying to build a community and brand, my new account that is more focused and curated. My goal is putting together the best pictures I can, while still being real. I’ve taken courses and webinars, and read posts to try to build a better ‘gram. Together, I’ve compiled for you the best tips for Instagram growth that I’ve tried, and showcasing the actual results I’ve seen from putting them to use.
Note: This post is entitled “tips for Instagram growth” and not “tips for Instagram followers.” You could get a whole bunch of accounts to follow fast in a bunch of different ways, including buying them. But to grow you Instagram into a community of real followers – that takes work that is worth the reward: a group of individuals (not just faceless likes!) that actually interacts with you.
1. Optimize your bio. Give your bio slot tons of personality! It’s the one of the first things someone sees when they look at your page. I know, similarly, I’m more inclined to follow people with clear info about themselves. Mine includes who I am, what I post about, a hashtag I started, and my email. Results: I saw more followers soon after I prettied up my bio. And it’s a lot of people who are interested in the same things I am, since they know what I post.
2. Post consistently at the same time/s every day. Most people recommend only posting once or twice a day, and I agree. Don’t overwhelm your follower’s home feed with your posts! Save posting for your best pics, only a couple times a day. You can use different apps to figure out the best time for you, and then post at those times.
Results: After starting to post once a day, at the best time for me, in the evening, and my “likes” went up to over a hundred for each post. I started seeing the same people like my photos, and am now interacting with them even more, which has been so fun.
3. Use the same editing app and filter each time. Since most people recommend editing your photos, I started to do just that – and ended up editing them all differently, which left me with a hodgepodge of different-looking pictures, even if they were pretty. The best advice I found to solve this was through Think Creative Collective, which recommended the app “PicTapGo”. It costs $1.99, but you can save your own filter to use again and again, so you use the same one each time.
Results: Now all my pictures are much more cohesive, and look like they belong together. You can see it instantly from my profile page.
4. Use hashtags that best fit your genre. The best way to reach out to other people who appreciate the same things? Hashtags. Now, which ones are the best? Check out Venus Trapped in Mars’s collection of hashtags that triple your likes.
Results: She’s right. They really do at least triple your likes. One night I posted a picture and forgot to add my hashtags. I got about 25 likes. I re-posted with hashtags. Over 100 likes.
Resources:
- I’ve taken Helene in Between‘s Instagram for Success e-course. This girl has the stats to back up her great tips. She goes into editing and working with brands in detail. Plus she constantly updates the course, which you have forever access to, and also shares great tips through the course’s private Facebook page. It’s an investment, but I really learned a lot from the course.
- I also went through Small Talk Social‘s free email course, Wham.Bam.Instagram. It was hands-down the best free course I’ve taken on the topic! She helps you dive a little deeper into your posts and account and figure out what your goals are. She also has great posts on her blog about Instagram. Totally recommend.
- Skimbaco’s 10 Instagram Success Secrets I Wasn’t Gonna Tell
- Helene in Between’s 14 Photo Ideas for Instagram
- The Nectar Collective’s 11 Surefire Ways to Grow Your Instagram Followers
- The Shabby Creek Cottage’s Instagram Tips for How to Get More Followers
Like what you see? I’m putting together a 30-day challenge called #rockyourinstagram to help you grow your account. You can only get it by subscribing for my newsletter, which comes out monthly and always has a freebie. Sign up now, so you don’t miss out! (Challenge will go out February 1.)
So how am I doing? Come follow me on Instagram and see for yourself! Be sure to introduce yourself so I can check out your page, and feel free to share your favorite Instagram feeds in the comments below.
Still have so much to learn, thank you. The hashtag were awesome.
That post changed my life! My Instagram life at least, ha ha 😉
I love your elephant mug, BTW! Hashtags and the time of posting make all the difference in the world to my post’s popularity!
Thank you! It’s one of my faves (and I really like mugs) 😉 I totally agree!
Great tips! Instagram is my favorite social media platform. I’d really love to grow more there. Thanks for the advice!
Lots of luck! I feel like it’s tough to crack the code, but it helps to have a few tips to get you going 🙂
I’ve been trying to tackle instagram lately and these are awesome tips. I never thought of the bio being a selling point!
I hadn’t either, until I started hearing lots of people say the same thing. It’s an important piece of real estate! I was surprised at the difference it made once I made it more clear 🙂
Thank you for sharing these tips to grow our Instagram accounts!
You are so welcome! 🙂
Fantastic tips! Definitely going to implement them in my Instagram game. Thanks for sharing!
So glad to hear! Good luck!
I use Instagram for fun, but these tips are great!
Thanks! Instagram should just be fun, ha ha, but I enjoy using it to promote my blog too! 🙂
This is such a great and VERY useful post, thank you for sharing! What apps would you recommend for monitoring your ‘gram? xx
Great question! I honestly just use Instagram, as well as a notes app to copy and paste my hashtag list from. Some use Latergram to schedule your posts, but I’ve found that if I need to schedule it, I can just set a reminder on my phone. Latergram doesn’t actually post for you, and you end up copying and pasting your text anyway. Maybe I don’t get how it works, but it seems kind of pointless to me. For editing apps, I use PicTapGo, like I mentioned in the post – it’s awesome that you can make and save the same filter and use it every time!
Great tips! Just signed up for the newsletter as well.
So glad! I hope you enjoy the challenge. It’ll be out February 1!
I love your IG feed! These are really wonderful tips. Consistency is definitely important. I need to do a better job of posting at the same time every day. Most days I post when I remember to. :/
As a new blogger, I’ve chosen Instagram as one of my prime marketing tools. I’m taking any advice I can get. I didn’t realize you could benefit from using popular hashtags. Can you elaborate on how that works? Why does using a popular hashtag grow your following?
It’s a great tool, and always a good idea to focus on one or two tools at a time 🙂 When you use a popular hashtag, your post is linked with all the other posts with that hashtag. You can search for a hashtag or click on it to see all those posts. Many people will scroll through there to see similar pictures, or find people with the same interests. You can also search through hashtags and like and comment on your favorite photos – usually that person will comment back, or even come check out your page! Hope this is helpful 🙂
I love pic tap go! good luck with your new account!
If there was one thing I think should be a PSA, it should be hashtag use. A good majority have caught on by this point, but so many people still don’t know how to utilize a hashtag appropriately. Makes such a huge difference in connection and growth to a brand or product!
These are really helpful tips. I’m still trying to figure out the best time for me to post- What app do you use for thaT?
I agree with all of these!
I feel so inspired each time I get on Instagram.
xoxo, Jenny
These are such great tips! I’m still figuring out my personal style.
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
Thanks 🙂 Good luck! Insta’s a great place to figure your style out 🙂
i am going to check out the wham.bam.instagram course. this is one of my favorite forms of social media so i’m really interested in growing mine
That course was so awesome! It helped me think about Insta with more of a goal-setting, purposeful mindset, and helped so much!
This post was extremely helpful!! And very timely 😉 — I have been trying to work on my blog Instagram growth for a couple of weeks now, and will definitely start applying these tips! Thank you, friend <3
So glad to hear! Lots of luck. It can be slow, but a few intentional changes make a big difference!
Great tips! Hashtags make such a huge difference!
They so do! Thanks for reading 🙂
Great tips..I need to focus more on hashtags.
Hashtags are where it’s at! 🙂
This is so great Jenn, really great tips! I never had an IG strategy until I did a small free e-course last month and holy moly, my following has skyrocketed. Thanks for even more ideas!
Isn’t it crazy how a few intentional changes can make such a big difference? I’m sure there is more I could be doing, but I’m growing a little at a time and really enjoying it! 🙂
I love everything about this post. I took Helene’s course and LOVED it! A lot of the other resources are new, and I can’t wait to check them out!
Wasn’t it great? I love that she is so open. I wish I saw the kind of growth she did! Lots of luck with your Insta journey!
I love Instagram for all the reasons you’ve mentioned. It’s my happy place and it seems to be growing organically. I don’t connect it with my brand much, and perhaps I should, but I want to keep a social media platform that I don’t have to stress about growing. Because I never get traffic back to my blog, and because I LOVE taking pictures, I figured I would keep Instagram all for me.
That totally makes sense! Instagram can stress me out just for that reason, that I’m trying to keep it growing for my brand. It’s nice to have something you can just have fun with 🙂
I’m off to pretty up mu bio and I pinned this so I can come back for reference. Thanks for this post!
So excited you found it useful! I hope you see some great results!
Really fantastic tips! I’m bad at posting at the same time per day, which is a good thing, but sometimes you get different people which is nice. 🙂
That’s definitely true! Love connecting with new people on Insta!
I’m slowly trying to build my Instagram brand, but I know that I have a LONG way to go. These are some awesome tips–I can’t wait to get started! 🙂
Same here – it’s a slow process for most people! I feel like I’m constantly looking into new posts and info trying to learn the key! Good luck with your progress! 🙂
These are fabulous tips! I kind of back burnered my Instagram at the moment but I’m looking forward to getting back into it.