The age old question I’m sure majority of you have probably googled at one point or another in your business journey…’how to grow your Instagram account’ or ‘how do I grow my followers on Instagram?’. While it’s a lot harder these days to get noticed as opposed to when Instagram first started, it IS possible to grow your account in 40 minutes a day.
But first, let me just define the word ‘growth’ before I go any further babe! To most people this would mean growth in followers. But girl, we need to get SPECIFIC! Especially if you own your own business or run your own blog. The growth I’m talking about it a tight knit community of people who ENGAGE with you (genuinely), who SUPPORT you (share your sh*t), and who will BUY from you (fans).
#1 Don’t Post And Ghost
You want people to leave comments on your Instagram post right? (if you said no, that’s the wrong answer btw). And you want GENUINE comments right? (again, if you said no, WRONG answer!). You need to give the love to receive the love back girl.
When you’re ready to post, ensure you have at least a free 15min to spend on Instagram liking and commenting on others’ post. Most often, they will return the favour and pop over to your post. Remember, the more engagement your posts receives up front, the more ‘value’ the Instagram algorithm will place on the post.
If you can, try to post when your audience are online (however, this can be hard if you work a part-time or full-time job).
#2 Have An Engagement Strategy
Do you find yourself mindlessly scrolling majority of the time babe?
…if you answered yes, I urge you to reassess your strategy.
I used to do this. I’d spend half an hour just commenting on posts on my own feed and not really venturing outside of that. And a lot of the time I would be engaging with accounts who would never really buy or pay close attention to me. Simply, they’re just not in my target market. (But ya know, social politics right?)
I now have an engagement strategy (that actually helps me gain leads and book clients) AND helps me reduce my time on the platform. I’m so much more efficient, I still enjoy instagram, I’m still being social and genuine, BUT I’m finally productive with my time AND it helps me to acquire clients. Hell, most of my clients currently come from Instagram now!
If you’re a business or a blog trying to build a community and make money, having a pretty picture and an interesting caption isn’t enough anymore! If you don’t have the time to engage on the platform, it’s not going to help you grow, and all that effort you put into your posts will be for nothing.
You NEED an engagement strategy …. a strong one at that! If you want to know exactly how I do it in 40min a day, click here!
#3 More people are watching stories
400+ million people are watching Instagram stories now! That’s crazy!
If you’re not utilising this amazing feature on Instagram babe, you’re missing out BIG time on more engagement! I’ve had people book me purely because they feel like they know me from watching my Instagram stories. How crazy is that!?
I have more people watching my stories than liking my posts. I get it can be hard to show yourself on camera, but you’re doing yourself and your business a massive disservice if you’re not jumping on and connecting with your audience.
Show people behind the scenes. Show them how you do something. Give them a glimpse into your life! Show up, be consistent and I promise you will see results.
Your Takeaway
A lot of people give up on Instagram because they get frustrated that it doesn’t work for them. That they can’t grow their following, or makes sales. It requires strategy, it’s requires consistency, and it requires you up front and centre! I used to think exactly like that. But now, my business is alive and well purely because of Instagram.
If you would enjoy receiving tips and tricks on everything Instagram every 2 weeks, pop over to my email list girl and I’ll see you in there!
Talk soon babe,
Amanda xx