In 2022, I grew my Instagram account by 85 000 followers.
I have been blogging since 2012 and growing this account since then.
I started in January 2022 with 15 000 followers and here we are in early - January 2023 with 100 000 followers.
It’s been an interesting journey and I am looking forward to sharing my 5 biggest takeaways with you !
& Oh, if you are new here : Hello ! I am Afrofoodie 🙂
1. You can still organically grow on this platform
What I mean by that is you don’t need to spend any money on ads in order to grow your account.
As tempting as it might be, do not buy any followers either. It will do you more harm than good !
Not only might it “flag your account” but these new followers will not necessarily interact with your content and that will inevitably negatively impact your reach and engagement.
2. Photo sharing is not dead on Instagram
Yes, we can all agree that reels are the way to grow at the moment. However, photo sharing in carousel posts is also a great way to increase your visibility.
How ?
Instead of being shown only once to your followers, chances are your carousel post might reappear in their feed showing the 2nd slide. Another opportunity to increase the reach of that post.
What can you use carousels for ?
Regular photos, educational or storytelling posts for example.
3. Consistency is key
I am 1000% sure you have heard that before, especially when it comes to growing your Instagram followers and the all-mighty algorithm. But the reason why so many people talk about it is because it simply works !
After taking Mattie James' consistency challenge several times back in 2020, I started posting pretty regularly on Instagram.
Ever since then, my goal has been to post on my feed every single day of the week. That’s me but you do not have to do it.
Be consistent in a way that works for YOU. It can be every other day, or 3 times a week in stories and feed.
4. Repurpose your content as much as you want
I learned that from Brock Johnson and it has worked for me. I have repurposed a lot of my blog posts into carousel posts and reels…and even repurpose reels over time.
Why ? Simply because you can ! Your followers may not have seen it the first time around or you may have gotten new followers in between. Either way, do it !
5. We are all humans behind our screens
I have learned that kindness goes a long way on this platform and by that I mean : supporting other creators by liking, commenting, saving, sharing etc. All these things that seem mundane but are so important no matter the number of followers one may have.
Why ?
Way before paid collaborations and brand deals, this is the first “income" for content creators.
Also, we put so much love and effort into content creation that being acknowledged by our peers is gratifying but it also creates friendships beyond the gram’.
And guess what ? IT’S FREE !
If that's helpful to you, let me know in the comments section below 🙂
