How i got my first 10000 Instagram followers? Well, there was a time when I didn’t know anything about Instagram and now I’m been followed by real 10000+ users! 😛 Can you believe it? It all started 18 months back with much contemplation i ventured into #instagram. It was all greek & latin to me… quite intimidating, embarrassing with no followers nor likes. I had to google for tips, tricks & strategy… which when applied did show some progress & slowly picking up. I didn’t aim nor intend for so many followers nor did I boost but was just being myself with my routine posts and followed some strategy which i studied watching fellow instagrammers. I am no pro nor technologist.. just sharing my own experience which can be helpful to similar account holders who are striving to get there. Some may probably know all these but there is always a first time for someone somewhere and this post can guide them through 😀
Start Small – its ok to be embarrassed!
Start with a small circle of friends who you know personally or who share similar interest. Like…in my case its #foodblogging Follow them, like their post and study their trend and strategy.
Casual Posts attract people – perfectly normal to be yourself!
Even though you are there to promote your blog or business… try not to dump all your blog posts to start with… try a casual post like everyday activity of yours… Post one of your everyday routine… a sip of coffee in the morning, your garden, workout, kids, chorus, cooking… what not!
It can be stupid, ridiculous or rubbish- Click it!
Make your pictures speak volumes doesn’t matter what camera you use… be it a nature, your pet, a stupid pose, food, fashion, silly or sensible.. get it clicked! If portraying something…apply color contrast, bright lighting, keep it colorful, get a close up shot at it and finally keep it simple that’s what attract users.
Description – Say it simple!
You may want to add a description to your pictures…. be it a story or an essay… keep it simple, don’t be too formal and take it in a colloquial fashion. This can bring in engagements from people with similar interest.
Hashtag that – do the research!
At first i was just posting pictures from my blog…no link, no #hashtags no description… the dumbest thing to do… which i Did anyways because i was clueless 🙄 Definitely go to instagram home page and do a reserchon top hashtags related to your post. Insta allows 30 hashtags in one post not more than that… so make use of it. Posting too many will not show up under post and can also be annoying for your followers. It doesn’t hurt to create a unique hashtag for your interest… in my case its #engaveetusamayal as i share my everyday cooking stories on Insta.
Use hashtags that brings engagement.. as they allow you to connect with social media users. Use relevant topic related hashtags and don’t spam. Use popular hash tags but also use small relevant hashtags… eg. #city #place #language based which can bring in engagements.
Post everyday
Yes, you got to keep up with the schedule.. missing a day or two is ok but long gaps can bring in more unfollows. Posting too much can be spamming your own feed, so keep it at 1 or 2 a day!
Want engagements ??- Start Commenting!
Everyone like you crave for comments and mentions… a little smiley can go a long way! Go comment on other feeds.. Praise, motivate, appreciate, ask a question and bring in that friendly feel. This is totally mutual… more like a give & take kind of routine. Also this is not easy and won’t happen in a day or week…. it may take months, follow your routine, wait patiently & it will happen!
Replies matter – be humble & don’t forget to say Thank you 🙂
Like commenting your replies matter too… reply to every comment your receive, say thank you even its a silly smiley face. Rule of thumb- be humble, polite and never argue. If its too annoying delete or ignore!
Insta Story – now & then!
This is a nice feature to post things that really wanna to post but can’t do often under your feed. It will be there for 24 hours and goes bye bye. Adding a photo or video with hashtags, stickers is kind of fun… more like a teaser 😉 😀 for all those curious followers!
Here is the interesting part that I came to know recently. Insta offers perks if you cross 10K followers.. it gives you “swipe up” option which is a link to an external site. That’s one bonus feature that you get to divert traffic to your websites. I don’t know what else is there…and will update once i unlock as i go…
Follow, mention & tags – a must!
Once in a while mention a fellow instagrammer, write about their feed or tag them in a post if your benefited from their post. Also follow other popular instagrammers.
& Much more…
There is an option to add 5 dots in separate lines to hide hashtags and to add more hashtags to a post. I really dont know how it works, have tried it by looking at other posts but not sure if it works. Also there is much more like share for share, shoutouts, promotions, reviews…which is still a puzzle to me. I will learn as i go and update in this post. Never look at your competitors number of followers and get alarmed… they are just numbers, engagement is all that matters.. so keep it interesting.
I’m new to insta too and learning as I go…. so if there is anything that you can share will be helpful. Thanks for reading my post and if you like it please do comment and share your inputs!
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