When I announced the Instagram Inspiration Challenge a couple weeks ago, two things happened: I realized how many of you also love Instagram and that many of you are semi-new to the platform.
My partner in crime (and business), Mayi Carles, tried to persuade me to join Instagram when the hype started. My reaction: groan, grumble, groan. I didn’t want to join another social media platform.
But, I should’ve listened to Mayi right away and not waited another eight months before finally biting the banana.
Instagram is my jam.
Spending the day taking and editing photos is up there with an Anthropologie shopping spree for me—that’s how much I enjoy it. Plus, my target market (i.e., creative entrepreneurs…you guys!) is all about that Instagram.
Like anything new, I dove in headfirst. I don’t know how to just dip my toe into anything…it’s not my nature. Thanks for that, Mom!
I’ve learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t. What grows a following and what stifles it.
And, I want to share it with you, because if you’re a creative entrepreneur, you really should be using Instagram to grow your brand. It’s the place to be nowadays so bite the banana and let’s do this.
Over the past thirty days I’ve nearly doubled my following on Instagram and you can easily do the same if you spend some time improving your presence. You with me?
Drum roll….
Here are the ten tips that will help you improve your Instagram account and double your followers in one month:
1. Keep it cohesive.
Out of all of the tips I give you, this one is the most important.
When I started my Instagram account, I was all over the place with the type of pictures that I was sharing: lots of sad selfies, flowers I found on walks, smoothies and doggies gone wild. That might’ve been fine if that represented my brand, but it didn’t.
If you scroll through my profile, you’ll see the exact moment I sharpened my focus. I recognized that if I wanted you to follow me on Instagram, I needed to get very clear on what you’d get from me if you did.
This doesn’t mean that I can’t share all different types of photos but they all need to feel like they belong. For me, that means I needed to combine two things in every photo: my distinct photo styling and editing. When I blend those two things, each photo has a similar “feel.”
The other themes for my Instagram account are: soft, white space with pops of color, and the combination of vintage and modern. Do you get that when you look at the most recent forty photos of my account? I sure hope so.
Those forty photos are how I’ve doubled my following in about thirty days.
There are tons of ways to make your account feel cohesive. You could focus on family and fabric or fashion and florals or patterns and color.
Whatever you decide, give yourself enough room so that you don’t feel creatively suffocated but focused enough that all the photos feel like they should be there.
2. Edit your photos.
After building a cohesive page, editing your photos is the second thing you need to do before adding each photo.
On Instagram it’s obvious what stands out: beautiful photos. You don’t get that by publishing unedited photos.
My favorite apps for iPhone photos are: Facetune for selfies (see the magic that happens when you whiten your teeth, give your lashes a bit more detail and smooth over your crow’s feet) and Afterlight for everything else.
I find beauty in photos that are more natural, but even those photos often need a little tweaking whether that be boosting the light or getting rid of the bluish tint.
3. Edit what you share.
Stop sharing every photo you take. Like my friend Mayi says, “You shouldn’t share the photos that only Granny really wants to see.”
Remember that you want to build a cohesive account.
For every photo you see me share, there are at least twenty that don’t make the cut. Keep those for your family albums.
4. Take lots of photos so that you have lots to choose from.
When I’m sharing a selfie, I take at least twenty different options, trying out lots of different angles and light. You want to share your best self.
When I post a photo of vase of flowers, I can guarantee that I took at least fifteen different options and usually it’s more like thirty or fifty.
If you want people to follow you, you’ve got to work for it. Give them a reason to add your account to their feed by taking this seriously.
And, remember that your Instagram account is a reflection of your brand. You want it to be a positive reflection or what’s the point?
5. Don’t just settle for the photos you take on your phone.
Another thing I did that made a huge difference to the quality of photos I share and helped me gain a lot more followers is posting photos I took with my “real” camera.
You don’t have to have a DSLR or anything fancy, but don’t just use photos you take on your phone. Use your camera to take photos for your Instagram account, edit them on your computer with Photoshop or Pic Monkey, email them to yourself, open the email on your phone, save the photos to your camera roll and then you can pull them up via Instagram. It sounds like a lot of steps but it isn’t really, especially when you do this in batches.
6. Be social. Engage with your followers.
I get so frustrated when someone tells me that a social media platform isn’t working for her and I take a look and she isn’t social on it. Are you kidding me?
Instagram is a social media platform. Social being the operative word so get social. I spend about ten minutes a day clicking on the profiles of people who like and comment on my photos and like and comment on some of their photos. Spread the goodwill and it’ll come back to you tenfold.
7. Write thoughtful captions and use hashtags wisely.
Even though photos on Instagram take top priority, your captions matter. The better the caption, the more likes and comments you’ll get. Take a few minutes to write something that’s filled with your personality instead of rushing to post. I promise you’ll see a difference in engagement.
You also want to take some time to think of the hashtags you use for each photo. That’s how people who aren’t following you will find your photos. When deciding on hashtags, try to think in specifics.
For example, if you use #pancakes for your hashtag, it’s gonna get buried much faster than if you use #blueberrypancakes #blueberrypancakerecipe and #glutenfreepancakerecipe.
Did you know that one of the top reasons people unfollow others on social media is the misuse of hashtags? It’s true. We don’t like spammy people who are just trying to get people to click on their photos. Only use relevant hashtags unless you want to irritate your followers.
8. Join an Instagram challenge.
One of the main reasons I started the Instagram challenge for this month is to help all of us creative Belles find one another on the platform. And, it’s working! Not only have many more of you started following me, but you’ve also started following each other by searching for the hashtag #BelleInstaInspiration.
My husband is participating in the challenge because he’s just that awesome and supports his wife. Swoon. And, on the first day, I remember him saying that he got more likes and comments on his photo than any of his previous photos on Instagram.
It’s a social platform so you’ll be more successful if you join social things and connect with others who have similar interests and values.
9. Plan things out. Start a content calendar. Be consistent.
I recently told a lovely creative entrepreneur that she should plan out the content she’s going to share on Instagram and I could feel the eye roll in her response.
Here’s the thing: when you plan this stuff out, it actually makes it easier.
It might sound like a lot of work at first, but it will actually cut down on the time you spend on social media. I pinky promise.
If you’re serious about growing your Instagram following and using it to promote your business, I suggest posting one to three photos a day. That way, people start to take notice of your photos and pay more attention to them. You build trust with your followers and that’s everything when it comes to marketing your online business.
I’ve set a rule for myself to post one to two pictures a day. But, I don’t take new photos for Instagram every single day. That wouldn’t be a good use of my time. Instead, I’ll spend thirty minutes twice a week taking photos for multiple days.
10. Do something worthy of sharing.
The other big way to grow your following fast is for others to share your handle/profile and photos (regram) with their followers. If you want others to encourage their followers to follow you, you’ve got to do something worthy of sharing.
That could mean that you have a beautiful profile with gorgeous photos that people can’t wait to share. It could mean hosting your own Instagram challenge. It could mean that you give people a reason to use a hashtag and search for that hashtag to find others. It could mean hosting a giveaway—giving away something that everyone wants (like a Life is Messy Kitchen cookbook!).
There you have it, my ten tips to improve your Instagram game and double your followers in one month.
I know this might seem like a lot of work, but if you want people to add you to their feeds and give you their attention, you’ve got to give them a good reason to do so. We’re all busy and everybody is vying for our attention.
Stand out among the clutter instead of adding to it!
I’d love to hear from you. Is there a tip that you’d add that I didn’t cover? What have you done to grow your Instagram following? Have you done any of these things and if so, did it work? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Love all your tips. And my two cents worth on becoming a featured user: http://julianaloh.com/site/2015/02/instagram-got-featured-suggested-user/
I need to figure out what to post to make my photos more cohesive.
And I’d like to create a challenge!
These are GREAT tips! I have already grown my following by close to a 100 just from the start of your instagram challenge because I have been sharing at a consistent time (that is more high traffic), sharing more photos related to crafting, ive been really consistent with my editing, ive been getting more comments and convos because of the captions and askign questions and because of the belleinstainspiration hashtag is bringing lots of new people around! Thanks so much! I cant wait to see how this challenge continues to grow me and I am already beginning working on my wrap up ‘what I learned post’ becuase Ive already learned so much in just a week!
Oh, Instagram!!! I think I’m at the stage you were when you first were told to hop on Instagram…grumbling… hee hee.
I have an account, but sadly don’t updated it often (yes, I’m one of those people!). I have a friend who is on it constantly and always talks about the benefits.
So, I guess I’m getting the hint. I need to figure out what types of photos will work for the content that I’m creating though.
Thanks so much for your tips. I really love the one about taking lots of photos. I remember you gave that tip on your Building a Creative Blog course!! That suck with me. (So, I guess I better get my booty moving.)
(Beautiful watercolors by the way!!!!! 😉
Hey April!
This is all great advice. I also doubled my Instagram following recently (@GutsyGirlLiving) by doing lots of the things you mentioned above. What proved most important for me was interacting with people on Instagram. Liking and commenting on the accounts of my target market almost always resulted in them following me. I also thought about what types of other accounts my target market would follow and studied what seemed to be most popular about their content. I’m definitely still learning, but I’m completely loving Instagram! <3 xo Caylee
I can’t wait to try some of these! I’m very new and had no idea Instagram is a bit like twitter in finding new kindred spirits via hashtags and such. The one thing I’m adjusting to is no “like” thumbs for comments. I keep wanting to like them like Facebook LOL. I’ll get the hang of it though. Thank you so much for the inspiration in this post. Am looking forward to trying some of your tips. Have a great day April!
Great tips! I do a lot of behind the scenes/work in progress photos, which I can’t really “style” since my loom is kinda huge, so that’s sort of become my look, I guess 🙂 I do try to stay consistent in backgrounds & feel for the things that I can style. Hopefully it all holds together okay! I also go back and forth on whether I should give my dog her own IG account — I know I have bunch of followers who are there for Roxy pics. I think I’ve decided that, since rescuing dogs is a big part of my values, my cute pitbull is part of my brand. Or something. I might change my mind again a few more times…
Taking photos with a “real” camera is great, but took me awhile to figure out the best way (for me) to get them on my phone and then up to Instagram. The tool that did the trick for me was Dropbox! Works great!
The idea that I would like to implement is the content calendar – sounds like a great idea to keep things on track.
I am loving this Instagram challenge, hope you have more.
Thanks for all the great advice, as always!
I’m also a Dropboxer! 😀
I surely trust those tips, thank you Belle! Actually, only since I have started the challenge I have had over 20 new followers (which is a lot for my account, trust me!)….and I am only following 2 or 3 of your tips 🙂
Thankyou! I can’t wait to try these points – especially the planning – I definitely need to start planning!
I’m the worst when it comes to adapting to new social media platforms. I’ve been on Instagram for around 6 months now, and I still haven’t got the hang of it. I’ve been thinking about patching my Intsagram pics and really putting some effort into them for a while now, so thanks for the push and motivation to go for it. Also, loving the Insta challenge!
Great tips, April! I resisted Instagram for a long time too. Creating a consistent look to my images has been the most challenging part, but I’m slowly getting there. Pinterest is still my favorite social media platform, but I do love scrolling through the beautiful photos on Instagram.
Thank you for this April; I’ve been having a big of a fight with Instagram lately, unable to decide whether to give up trying to use it for my business {which hasn’t worked well so far} and do it just for fun, or use it a bit more strategically. Since it’s one of my favourite social media platforms, ideally I’d like it to work a bit harder for me than it has been, so your post is very timely and very helpful. It’s great to have your feed to refer to to see the kinds of changes you’re talking about too. {Looks beautiful by the way!}
I’ve been resisting instagram too. I was going to do the challenge with you, but I just don’t know what to take photos of every day! Especially if they should be consistent and cohesive in some way! Is it too late to start the challenge?
I love Instagram, it’s probably my favorite form of social media because I’m such a visual person and it’s fun. That said, I’m so all over the place with it and am really inconsistent with when I post. I’ve been enjoying the challenge because it has encouraged me to post more frequently (granted, I missed yesterday — woops!) as well as connect with other creatives. I’ve been reluctant to use it in a really thought-out way because I want it to stay fun and don’t want to turn it into a chore, but you do make it seem really easy to do! I think I will add that to one of my monthly goals later in the year (when i’m not working on my digital product!). Thanks for the great tips, April!
I have been on Instagram for a while, but being a wallflower hasn’t gotten me very far… I need to work on using photos from my camera, as I have an old smartphone that won’t download many of the editing apps. Thanks for the great tips!
I love this post. I never thought about organizing my page so it made more sense. I combine my personal art, my business and my dogs on my Instagram. I follow people who do a lot of different art forms.
Thanks for these great tips.
Great tips April! I am ready to get started on Instagram, but I wonder if you can add any hints for using Instagram to move eyeballs to my website or Etsy store. Gaining followers is great, but I need to convert some of them too! I’d love to hear some suggestions on how best to do that on Instagram. Thanks!
Tamara – DecorativeDesignWorks.com
Thanks April! I’ve been following you since your Creative Live Creative Blogging course (bought it–thanks again!) and these tips about Instagram are really helpful. I started using it a few months ago. I think batching the photos and paying a little more attention to the quality of my photos is important. Yours are exceptionally lovely. I’ll keep trying! (@rebeccamezofftapestry) I’m trying to reach a specific audience of weavers and these tips should help me focus that some more. Cheers!
Instagram+ Pinterest are definitely my social media platforms of choice. Totally ditched Twitter + Facebook (only use it for my private networking groups). Thank you April for these wonderful tips especially about not taking photos w/ your phone. I need to upgrade to a DSLR b/c my iphone pics aren‘t cutting it anymore. Btw, love your WP glasses!
Love all these wonderful, juicy tips…thanks for sharing.
I am in LOVE with IG. Perfect for me, because i believe a picture is worth 1000 words. In fact, I count on it 😉
I also love the way it works. No sharing of tired content, so (mostly) everything is fresh & original.
xo,
rs
Hi April,
Thanks for all the great tips! I have been working hard to build up my following on IG since the beginning of the year, and it is very challenging.
One thing I have found to make remembering to post on IG easier is Latergram – http://latergram.me. You can schedule your posts and use photos from your computer. It has made being consistent on IG much easier. Worth trying!
I look forward to seeing you posts on Instagram!
Valerie
So glad you posted these tips, April! I’ve been reluctant to do IG because although I have a regular camera, I have a very un-smart phone that won’t take photos. Sure, there are apps out there that upload to IG but it seemed so time consuming and complicated. LOVE the idea of emailing myself (or using dropbox as others suggested!). Def going to try now!
These are great tips, April! I’ve been curious about Instagram, so I jumped in when you announced your challenge. It’s been a great way to learn the ropes and connect with lots of like-minded ladies. So thank you, thank you!! These tips will help me take things up a notch. After the challenge, I think I’ll take a look back through my images and see if any cohesive theme or editing style jumps out at me. Also, I’m liking Instagram so much better than Facebook, which I tend to avoid for weeks at a time.
April, this post is super helpful and perfect timing for me! I’ve been off of Instagram for a while now, but I just started again a few days ago. I am excited to get back to sharing photos, but this time with a lot more focus. I’m glad you mentioned the tip about not just relying on the photos from your phone to add to Instagram. I took some photos with my nice camera, but I didn’t think I should upload them because I thought that was kind of like “cheating.” Like people who use Instagram should only post photos that they took with their phone. I don’t know where I got that silly rule from, but I’m throwing it out the window! Thanks again for the great tips!
Dang it! I have images, but they are not posted!
Hey April! I recommend using Latergram when taking photos using a camera other than your phone. You upload the pictures to the website application and you can schedule their posting time. You download the app on your phone and then get the notification to post and swipe right. Voila! Saves quite a few steps eliminating the emailing back and forth.
Oh my Goodness April!! Excellent article. I think you are spot on with the COHESIVENESS factor. I feel you should only post about 2-3 areas and stick to that. That way people can keep coming back to your profile for those specific things.
Also, to take it very seriously is an awesome point. I haven’t done much scheduling out of my posts and I think that would help A LOT.
Great article all in all. Way better than the “just be yourself” advice everyone gives haha. If you are trying to grow a business, there has to be intent behind everything 🙂
xoxo,
Vanessa
I’m loving the challenge you created!! Making my pics is the hardest thing for me. I have really noticed how branded your pics are. Even the books you just bought are your brand colors! Like, wow! 🙂
I meant to say making my pics cohesive is the hardest. My phone cut out the word cohesive. Lol
April…Have loved the Inspiration Challenge so far. I’ve totally moved to taking photos with my DSLR for Instagram. The easiest way I have found is to upload them straight to my iPad. Just need a little Apple connector to attach to my camera cord, upload to Photos and then I can edit them with any one of the various apps. Find it so fast and easy to do. Thanks for all the great tips. Here’s to more fun being social!!
I love this post! I’ve been thinking about boosting instagram as my next social media focus, so your timing is – as usual – flawless!
I love the idea of a content calendar for instagram too! I tend to have ideas about things I could add to instagram, based on what I’m writing about on my blog…but I don’t get around to actually doing it. I know – I know – typical Kris 😉
I think I’ll add a column to my Blog Chapter Planner for instagram connections and make sure to plan those connections into my weekly life.
Thanks April!
xo
K
PS – thanks for the AWESOME package of adorable stuff! The girls and I stayed up late last night, colouring the cool zentangle-ish pages. Who says that about their teenage daughters? Yup! Blacksburg Belle readers do! 😉
Great tips April! I’m in the process of creating a style guide for my brand this month and was struggling with the Instagram section. This gives me some jumping off points to consider.
Just one note about #regram-ing content. While it’s done more and more on Instagram, it’s technically against both copyright and Instagram’s Terms of Service unless you have explicit permission from the original photographer. 😉
I did the research and explained why in a post last month: https://www.theartistsjd.com/instagram-regram/
And I can totally see the change in your IG feed, it’s amazing as of late!
These are such great tips. Instagram is not my strong point. I’ve connected my personal account to my blog etc which means not always cohesive with a specific style but now that I’ve started building it, not so keen to create a second one just for my blog. My baby bump is by far my most popular insta share lately lol let’s hope the stream of baby pics to come are popular too 😉
I just joined instagram recently, but I have to agree with you. It rocks!!!!
I totally agree with your tipps and find gaining followers alot easier than an fb for example. But what I do still need to work on is how to get people FROM instagram over to my actual site … 🙂
If you have any tipps for that I – and I suppose many other readers – would really appreciate it!
Off to post more pics to your instagram challenge … so FUN! 🙂
I love Instagram, but I admit I was pretty sporadic with using it… I would only share my art & aketches when I had something to share, and I’m in no way strategic about it.
My most successful month marked 40 new followers, that was when I took part in the #aedm challenge during which I drew fairies every day. That’s nowhere near “doubling my followers”, but it’s something…
I’ll try preparing multiple photos to post in advance for days when I don’t have something interesting on my easel…
These were great tips April! I only just joined Instagram a few weeks back and it’s so fun!
Great advice as always April. I am an Instagram newbie and this is helping me focus my content a bit more.
I recently got a bit stuck on my website blog and revisited your course (which I LOVED) and came up with a whole load more topic ideas. Thank you and hope you’re well. X
I know this is not a common problem, it didn’t use to be for me, I would like to know if you have any solutions to keeping up with the platforms. I had that problem on Flickr now Instagram, it would take over 3 hrs to reply back to everyone, Who has time kind of time to spend, and what do you do? I found if I don’t interact people get upset, especially when they comment on everyone of your photos. now I don’t post anymore
I’m pretty excited to implement some of these tips. While I love systems I’ve been really resisting creating a content calendar and my post consistency has suffered for it! I’m thinking that as soon as I press enter I’ll be diving into my notebook to do some flo-writing on the subject. I love the clear, concise tips & examples. This was a great introduction to your blog! <3
I was searching on how to grow my Instagram and came across your post. I love the idea of spending 10 minutes a day on Instagram and also planning what to post. I am going to give these a try. Fingers crossed. Thanks for the info =)
Great tips April!
Very useful for me.
Thanks for sharing.
Nice topics ! AND articles
It is so difficult to actively post for your followers when you have tons of work to do. I used to become so irritated by watching my followers decreasing day by day due to my inconsistency. Then my friend told me about https://wizboost.com explaining as the best Instagram automation tool one can have. So I tried it once for the very first time. This tool can help me in scheduling future posts that I want be posted from my account on my desired time. This tool made it so easy for me as now I can do whatever I need to do without thinking of anything related to instagram because Wizboost has got my back for it.