Tips for Growing Your Instagram Account

While I am not an Instagram Pro, far from it, really, I've had my Instagram account for about 3 years and in the past 3 years, I've learned a few tips & tricks that have helped me grow my account. When I started my account it took me 4 months to gain even 100 followers. A year into my account (2015) I had 331 followers. Two years after creating my account (2016) I had 2101 followers, and at the beginning of 2017 I had 3577 followers. I know I just threw a lot of numbers at y'all but over time, my account has slowly been growing, my biggest jump coming between 2015 and 2016, which was when I really started to dedicate lots of time and effort into my account. (I shared some more tips on growing your account in a post that you can read here!)

interact with your followers... This is hands down the biggest piece of advice I have for anyone wanting to grow their Instagram account. When someone leaves a comment on one of your photos, reply back to them! I know that whenever I leave comments and get replies, it makes me feel like the owner of the account is genuinely interested in hearing what I have to say and that since they're taking the time to reply to me that they see me as more than just another digit to their follower count. If I comment on another bloggers photo and don't get a reply, I feel a little bit defeated. Granted people live busy lives but even if you can dedicate 10 minutes at the end of everyday to respond to comments you're bound to see your followers stick around!

Bonus Tip: You can now "like" comments that people leave on your photos! If you don't have time to sit down and reply to all your comments, go through & like the comments so that people know you saw it!

post high quality images... No matter if you take photos using a DSLR or your iPhone, always try to post the highest quality images you have. The clearer the image the more professional your account will seem.

post original content... There's nothing that bugs me more than seeing the same photos that I saw on my Pinterest feed on my Instagram feed. Sure, it's ok to share photos from others (giving credit to the source, of course!) but if you really want to establish your presence on Instagram, you need to be generating your own content. 

post frequently... In order to grow and gain followers, you need to have a consistent presence in people's feeds. Posting once a week probably isn't going to get you the most exposure. I post at least once a day on my account so that my followers will see my name show up at least once, if not more, in their feed during the day. You don't have to post everyday but try to develop a posting schedule and do your best to stick to it!

stick to a loose theme... A year ago I would've told you that the best way to grow your following would have been to create an Instagram theme. I've had my fair share of themes, I had a white theme that lasted for about two months but I ended it before the holidays. During the two months that my account had a theme I saw a significant drop in my follower engagement. People get tired of seeing the same editing over and over again. Once I ended my themes, my follower engagement shot back up and I found myself gaining upwards of 60 followers a week. Full blown themes are a lot of work but if you try to get a general theme to your account (bright & colorful is a personal favorite of mine), your account will still all fit together but it won't appear to be following the strict themes that some do. 

reciprocity is key... If you want people to like your photos, leaves comments, and follow you, you have to do the same! If all you're doing is posting a photo and then logging out, you're not going to grow your account. Scroll through your feed whenever you can, like some photos, leave some comments & follow accounts that you find interesting! You have to be willing to put in the same effort that you want people to make with your account.

What are your tips for growing your Instagram account?

xoxo,