How To Grow Your Instagram ORGANICALLY

Grow Your Insta Organically FROM DAY ONE

Growing My Instagram Organically

When I decided to grow my Instagram, I had around 800/850 followers, all of these followers were slowly gained over the space of four long years!

Now at this moment I have 1,125 thousand followers. Yes, no where near my 10k goal by the end of the year… HOWEVER. It’s a start, and we all start somewhere.

I am super happy with how my account has been growing.
The past few days I have had an increase of 25 followers per day and its only increasing.

Of course, every now and then my follower count will go down one or two, but by the end of the day, it has always increased again.
Not a huge amount I know BUT it’s still better than nothing, and more than it was before.

Originally I started my Instagram account as a bookstagram. All I shared was pictures of books etc, I slowly gained a following but it wasn’t really growing and I didn’t enjoy sharing that content anymore.
So I decided to turn my insta into a lifestyle account top match with the content I started to post on this blog.

These are the following steps I took when I decided to grow my Instagram.

This is just what I have personally done and what I have learnt in the past week weeks of actually trying to grow my account…

1. I archived a load of my posts that just stuck out like a sore thumb.
2. Re-wrote my Instagram bio to explain the change and made it look nicer.
3. Unfollowed accounts that I wasn’t interacting with anymore and vice versa.
4. Started uploading content that had the same theme.
5. Began following more accounts that I liked and wanted to interact with.
6. Consistently post daily.
7. Use all 30 hashtags (I use the Preview app to see what my grid looks like and it suggests hashtags to use!)
8. Post on stories every couple of hours.
9. Engage constantly!
10. Reply and return comments.
11. Never scroll aimlessly without interacting.
12. Spend five minutes daily finding new accounts
13. Plan my posts in advance.
14. Share my Instagram online in following threads etc.

I still have more to learn, and I know that… But if you’re starting out just like me, then these tips will certainly help kick start your following!

The Breakdown…

Here is a brief breakdown of the things I think you should start doing to grow your Instagram organically.

I already had a small following before I decided to grow it SO here are tips if you want to start from ZERO FOLLOWERS.

Choose Your Niche

Think about your niche. This means the type of photos and content you want to share.
For example; fashion/food/travel.

Once you have decided what kind of photos you want to post, you will be more consistent with it, and build a specific following of people.

You want to have a following that is interested in what you post in order to have a good engagement rate.

Unfollow/Follow

This was a big one for me since I changed the whole theme of my Instagram feed. However, if you are starting out, be sure to follow other accounts that you like and will want to interact with.
Follow accounts like yours and the train will continue.

Unfollow accounts that do not add any value to your Instagram, for example – if they are not similar to yours and not engaging with you at all. (This is why you need to engage, otherwise, people will unfollow you).

Themes and Edits

Using the same theme and edits on all of your photos will give you a prettier feed and make your content look more interesting.

You can post beautiful photos daily, but if they don’t flow with the grid, you won’t gain as many followers. When following someone, your grid is what stands out most, not just single photos! The best way to make your photos all fit the same theme is to edit them all the same!

I use VSCO A4 edit on all of my photos, I then adjust the edits for each post when sharing them to instagram.

There are other ways to edit your photos with different apps, have a play with a few and find what edits and themes you like. Remember, it has to be something you like, otherwise you’re not going to want to keep up with it.

Be Consistent

Being consistent is important on Instagram, I have found anyway… Especially at the start.

Once you have tons of followers it won’t matter so much and you could relax with your posting. However, to start out, I would advise posting at least once a day, around the same sort of time.

To help with this process, bulk take photos and use an app to preview your grid. This helps make sure your photos look nice, and you will always have the next one to post.

Instagram Stories

Use your insta stories! I really thing this has been a deal breaker for me.

Each time you upload to your stories, your icon will appear back at the top with everyone else’s stories, this can prompt people to go on your feed, engage with your content, and more.

Ideas of things to post are;

• Screenshot your new blog post.
• Morning routine.
• Night routine.
• New insta posts plug.
• Questions.
• Polls.
• Share other peoples accounts.
• Give daily updates on what you are doing.

Engaging

Engaging with other people on Instagram is essential. You can’t just start off posting your pictures and leaving them. There are two reasons for this…

a) If you post and do not interact when starting out, no one will know who you are. The process will be slow.
b) By engaging with others you can get your name out there, and you will be likeable!

Simple!

When you are scrolling through Instagram be sure to like photos and comment on them. Interacting with others will draw more people to your account!

Captions

The captions you write underneath your pictures arent too important but can make some difference… If you post photos without captions you arent prompting a response.

Posting a photo with an engaging caption and asking your followers questions will prompt them to like and comment on your photos.

Read what other people put for their captions to get some ideas, but longer captions that are fun and talkative will gain you more likes.

Insert emojis and break up the text so that it all flows and isn’t bundled together.

Hashtags

Instagram allows you to use a max amount of 30 hashtags. I would advise using all of them!

Once you have written your caption, leave some spaces before inserting your hashtags so that they aren’t visible unless you click to read more.

Another way to insert captions is to post them in your comment section. I haven’t tried this out yet.

The best way to choose your hashtags is to research them. There are tons of blog posts that tell you what hashtags are best to use. The app that I used to schedule my posts also suggests hashtags too. (Preview App)

You want to find hashtags that are specific to your content and aren’t too generic. For example; the hashtag #flower would be used so many times and your image would be lost.

Use hashtags that relate to your overall content and the specific picture. I always use the hashtag #ukbloggers and #lifestylebloggers but if my photo is of a cup of coffee, then I will include relevant hashtags too.

Share Your Account

Last but not least (there are so many more ways to grow your Instagram)…

SHARE YOUR ACCOUNT!

Let your friends and family know you have a new insta, ask them to share it to other people and so on.

You can tweet your Instagram account and tag people who will retweet your content. For example, adding @BBlogRT or #bloggerstribe

You can find Instagram follow threads on twitter which I have found helps a lot, and Facebook groups where you can share your content.

Follow threads are a great idea because not only can you share your links there, but you can also find other like-minded people who have similar content to you.
You are supposed to follow people you want to follow and like or comment on their posts too. A great way to increase your own following, and to share your Instagram online.

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I hope you have found this information helpful, I also hope it helps you to grow your Instagram organically, especially if you are just starting out!

GOOD LUCK!

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If you are reading this whilst we are still in the Coronavirus lockdown, I have some useful links for you…

• 22 Things to do during lockdown
• How to stay healthy during lockdown
• Self-Care in lockdown

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⚡️Hello T U E S D A Y ⚡️ What on earth is this weather about? Certainly not queuing for hours to get into the shops today ✌? (I refuse to anyway)… – I have a new blog post up today, about being healthy whilst in lockdown! It will be live in about twenty mins so keep an eye out for my stories ? the link will be in my bio too! ??‍? – Here is a picture of me looking proud of myself for tidying the background of this photo so that it looks nice, what you can’t see is the contents of my bed shoved onto my chair ??‍♀️? – Anyway, I’d like to hear your feedback about my healthy post, I’d also like to know what you’re doing to stay active during lockdown below! Tell me one thing you are doing to keep either your body or your mind healthy at home ? ? – Today, due to this weather, I’ll be writing posts and trying to take photos indoors… Have a good day! ? ? – – – – – – #bloggervibes #bloggersofinstagram #bloggersgetsocial #bloggerlifestyle #bloggerlife #bloggerbabe #bloggergirl #blogsociety #bloggercommunity #blogginggals #girlblogger #lifestyleblogger #pursuepretty #lifestyleinspo #reclaimthehappy #nothingisordinary #mentalhealthblogger #mentalhealthtips #blackclothesforever #mentalhealthisimportant #positiveattitude #positiveaffirmations #personalgrowth #positiveenergy #positiveliving #selfgrowth #mindfulliving #ukbloggers #mirrorselfie #workoutathome

A post shared by Char | Writing / Books ⚡️ (@writtenbycharlotte) on Apr 28, 2020 at 12:55am PDT