How to Organically Grow on Instagram – yes it works!

I wanted to create a post where I could just lay out any tips I had to organically grow your Instagram account! Here is a post filled with all of my Instagram growth tips and secrets.

Disclaimer: I am in no way an expert, I just have over time realized what things have really helped me expand my reach on Instagram.

If you found this helpful please let me know! I’m sure I have so much more to delve into on this topic.

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Before we get into the nitty gritty, let’s lay some ground rules.

My 3 Pillars of Social Media

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1.Be open to your followers.

If you feel comfortable with it, try to be more open & honest to your followers. I know I love seeing others open up about their life and daily routines on their stories. It makes me feel like I know them!!!

2. Create content with value.

Try and create content with VALUE! What I mean by this is give your followers a reason to keep coming back. I love giving my coffee brewing tips or like am I here, my suggestions to grow on Instagram. 

3. Stop comparing your account to others.

I KNOW it’s much easier said than done; I very much still struggle with it myself. When i get into a mood where I’m down about myself or my content that’s my sign to get off the app – OR just post and then get off!

I also try to turn it around by instead of feeding my energy into the negative thoughts of myself, to instead admire the talent of others.

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Part One – set your content up for success

Be consistent:

I know, I know, I’m sure you’ve heard this many times before but it’s SO vital. The current Instagram algorithm favors content from those that are consistent. Now, whether your version of consistent means posting every day, or every couple days, it’s up to YOU! Don’t burn yourself out over it (I know from experience)! 

I usually try and post at least every other day, but if there’s four days that I just don’t have anything I feel like posting or talking about, then simple as that – I won’t post. It’s taken me a while to accept that I’m not a content machine who just can churn out all these photos to post every day – and that’s ok!

Besides posting photos consistently, posting stories is equally – if not MORE important to keep up with (in my opinion). 

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Think about it: Instagram shows you the stories and posts of the accounts you interact with most. So if you keep up with posting stories at least a couple times a day, that means that over time you are MORE likely to be recommended to your followers as one of their first stories.

I know for me, a couple months ago when I really started posting more honest & valuable content on my stories my overall engagement REALLY increased. 

Especially on days when you don’t post, use all of Instagram stories’ engagement features (polls, reactions, questions, etc). Again, the more people interact with your content the more it will be recommended to them in the future.

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Have a hashtag strategy:

I didn’t realize until more recently how important the hashtags I use in each of my posts is. The 30 hashtags you choose can really make or break the amount of people who see it.

Typically, I try to only use hashtags that have under 1 million posts. That way it gives your post a greater chance of being seen. Another tip I’ve seen is to look at the amount of likes & engagement the top posts in a hashtag are getting & compare that to yours. Ultimately, getting one of your posts in the top to a hashtag makes them seen EVEN MORE!

My best tip to choose what hashtags to use is to look to other creators in your niche and play around with the ones they’re using. The easiest way to see how many people are coming across your post in hashtags is to look at the insights. Insights is a feature of Instagram if you switch your account to a creator or business account (super easy to do)!

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Part Two – engage with other content 

Treat your followers the way you want to be treated:

I forget exactly where i heard this first, but it really stuck with me. For example, I love when people respond to my stories, reach out to chat or comment really nice things on my posts. Coinciding with that, I try my best to do those same things to the accounts I really love and enjoy. 

Once you have that foundation set, move on to this next step, and the step where i see the most IMMEDIATE results from.

Discover & find new content:

My favorite way to find new content while organically growing my own account is by going through relevant hashtags in my niche & engaging with that content. I usually will spend a decent amount of time per day (maybe 20-30 minutes if I have the time) to go through some hashtags and like/comment on posts I genuinely like.

PRO TIP: don’t do it too fast or Instagram will think you’re a bot and action block you. I know from experience, as back in April I got blocked from doing anything on my account FOR ONE ENTIRE WEEK! 

So after every 6 posts or so you engage with, on the 7th post instead of liking it directly from the hashtag feed, go to their profile and like/engage with it there. After, you can go back to that hashtag feed and continue on with your day! This helps to ensure that you aren’t seen as a bot!

To explain this tactic in a bit more detail – As I went into it a bit above, hashtags are the PERFECT way for your content to be seen and also for you to discover new content. I genuinely enjoy seeing what other coffee lovers post (even if I don’t follow them)!

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Some final thoughts:

I just wanted to end this by saying that YES I’m sure these tips can really help most of you – but I do not personally have control over the Instagram algorithm (shocker, I know). Some specific things really depend on your niche, when you post, what exactly you post, etc.

The Instagram algorithm can be different for every one of us. There is no guaranteed formula for success.

At the end of the day, it’s YOUR account. So do what makes you happy. I know social media can be a toxic place so don’t feel pressured to have to do anything.

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If this helped you at all or opened your eyes up to new possibilities please let me know! I’d love your feedback.

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Lots of love,

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