More than a year ago, I shared how I grew my Instagram account from 1,000 to 10,000 followers in 6 months. That account now has over 30,000 Instagram followers.
However, there’s something to be said for starting a brand-new account to see what Instagram growth strategies work best. For that reason, I’m chronicling the journey of 2 smaller Instagram accounts, plus my main account. How long will it take for each account to reach 5,000 followers?
Every week I’ll post an Instagram-only version of my Monthly Goals blog posts. (My new Monthly Goals post will be up Monday!) Each post will look at what I did over the past week, my Instagram wins (and fails), and my goals for the next week.
Which Instagram accounts am I growing?
I currently manage 3 Instagram accounts, plus a private account where I follow my friends and family. These accounts will all be included in the weekly Instagram review.
My Belle Brita account, @belle_brita, has about 32,000 Instagram followers. Even though I obviously have more than 5,000 Instagram followers, I’ll still include this account’s progress as it gains 5,000 new followers.
My test account, @ihavethisthingwithpinkflowers, has about 1,300 Instagram followers. I started this in May 2016, and I kept it mostly a secret until I reached 1,000 followers in July 2017.
My newest account, @muddlingagain, has about 630 followers. I started it on July 13, 2017–the same day I launched my new website. Out of my 3 Instagram accounts, it’s the only one set up as a Business Account.
Note: This post contains affiliate links for the Social Media Posse. I’ve been a member of this group for 2 years now, and it’s been the absolute best decision I’ve ever made for my Instagram account. I earn a commission each time a reader buys a set of guides from me–guides I’ve purchased myself! I would never promote something I don’t support.
Which Instagram growth strategies will I use to grow my accounts?
Each account will utilize slightly different Instagram growth strategies. However, overall I plan to follow the information presented in Instagram Decoded, the guides I bought over a year ago to grow my Instagram account.
Early in 2016, I started buying the guides almost as soon as they were published. Eventually I ended up buying the whole bundle: Instagram Decoded Course: Guides 1-8 eBooks + Bonus: Schedule + Checklist. Now Guides 1-8 are only sold as a bundle for $199.99. What are the guides?
- Setting up your Instagram Profile
- 10 Steps to the Perfect Instagram Post
- Defining your Instagram Account
- Hashtag Strategy – Research & Implementation
- Instagram Follow / Unfollow Revealed
- Increasing your Instagram Engagement
- Understanding the Instagram Algorithm
- The Goodness Score (new in June 2017)
- BONUS: Schedule
Use Code MAKETHATMONEYONINSTATHXTOBRITA
When you buy the guides, you also get access to the VIP group and to Bubble Nets (a targeted follow/unfollow group strategy).
Guide 01 is free if you want to get a feel for the guides before buying the bundle.
I’ve also purchased Instagram Monetization Guide for Influencers, but I haven’t done as much with it, other than using the strategies to successfully pitch Experience Columbus last year.
It’s available for $249.99. The same code MAKETHATMONEYONINSTATHXTOBRITA1 works to get 10% off this guide!
Now that I have two highly-niche accounts, I look forward to leveraging them for sponsored opportunities, even with less Instagram followers. I should have monetized my Belle Brita account much sooner than I did. Now I know better, and can do more with my niche accounts!
Instagram Growth Strategies: Week One
All starting numbers were accurate for when I finished this post on 09/01/2017. Since this post is going live on a Saturday, new posts noted below are from Saturday to Friday of this past week.
Hypetap is a website that analyzes your influence and your engagement rate.
@muddlingagain has extra data because it’s a business account. Those numbers come from Instagram.
Instagram Followers and Engagement Rates
@belle_brita
I posted 3 times this week: Sunday, Monday, and Thursday.
Followers: 32,468
Hypetap score: 3,126
Hypetap engagement rate: 2.1%
@ihavethisthingwithpinkflowers
I posted 2 times this week: Tuesday and Friday.
Followers: 1,378
Hypetap score: 1,350
Hypetape engagement rate: 35.1%
@muddlingagain
I posted 5 times this week: daily, Monday to Friday.
Followers: 686
Hypetap score: 28
Hypetap engagement rate: 10.9%
Impressions: 2,759 in the last 7 days (+1,919)
Reach: 728 in the last 7 days (+332)
Profile views: 1,004 in the last 7 days (-40)
Website clicks: 30 in the last 7 days (+21)
Email clicks: 1 in the last 7 days (0 change)
Instagram Growth Strategies Used
Normally this section will be pointing out which goals I did (or did not) accomplish to grow my Instagram accounts. For the starting week, this is an overview of what I did. I will not go into great detail here or with my goals if I’ve only learned the growth strategies from Instagram Decoded. If the guides have Instagram growth strategies that I’ve seen elsewhere on the Internet, I’ll share them.
@belle_brita
I tried one new thing this week. Several of the women in the Pink Comment Pod and I teamed up to give each other shoutouts in our Instagram Stories yesterday. However, it’s too soon to tell how much this contributed to new Instagram followers.
Related: Why You Need Instagram Friends to Grow Your Instagram Account
In general, I like 1,000 to 2,000 Instagram posts daily, depending on how much time I have. I target a mix of my followers, people I follow, influencers, and posts using relevant hashtags.
Not counting my 2 Comment Pods, I also comment on 15-30 posts daily. On the days I post a new photo, I comment on 30-50 posts.
In general, I follow 800-1,000 accounts daily and roughly unfollow the same amount, 2 days after I follow an account. I unfollow most accounts, unless I stumble upon a really pretty and relevant account. This happens a few times per week.
Related: Why Bloggers Criticize the Follow/Unfollow Method
@ihavethisthingwithpinkflowers
I recently started my first Comment Pod for this account! It’s small, though, with just 3 members. Still, we’re having great conversations, and I love their accounts. If you have a floral/plants/gardening account, hit me up!
In general, I like 1,000 to 1,300 Instagram posts daily. I also comment on 5-10 posts daily, not counting the 2 other people in my Comment Pod! On the days I post a new photo, I comment on 15-20 posts.
I do not use any form of follow/unfollow on this account, and I never have.
@muddlingagain
I tried 3 new things this week. I posted almost daily, I did a Boomerang video, and I started posting regularly to my Instagram Stories.
In general, I like 450-500 Instagram posts daily. I also comment on 15-25 posts when I post a new photo, which was almost daily this past week.
I follow 100-200 accounts daily. For now I’m trying not to follow more than 1,000 people total, so that limits how much following I do. After roughly 4 days, I unfollow accounts who don’t follow me back.
Instagram Growth Goals
Each week I’ll set 2 types of goals for each account: number growth and strategies to try. Unless otherwise noted, liking, commenting, following, and unfollowing will happen in similar numbers each week.
This section also indicates the limitations of my Instagram growth strategies. There is always more that I could do, but since I’m trying to grow 3 accounts at once, all of them suffer to an extent.
@belle_brita
- Gain 250 new Instagram followers
- Post at least 3 times, including latest sponsored post–try to schedule posts using Later
- Post to my Instagram Stories at least once daily
@ihavethisthingwithpinkflowers
- Gain 100 new Instagram followers
- Update my hashtags (I haven’t updated them in over a year–yikes!)
- Post at least 4 times
- Post to my Instagram Stories at least 4 times
@muddlingagain
- Gain 200 new Instagram followers
- Finish and refine my hashtag research
- Post at least 5 times–try to schedule all posts using Later
- Post to my Instagram Stories at least once daily
I’m pretty excited to start tracking my Instagram growth on all 3 accounts. I hope that you will learn something from me each week as you figure out how to grow your own Instagram account!
If you’re ready to jump-start your Instagram growth, buy Instagram Decoded! If you use my affiliate link, I’ll even give you a profile makeover for FREE! Normally I charge $50 for this service. This includes:
- initial email consultation regarding your Instagram goals
- 3 bio options, complete with relevant emojis
- tailored suggestions to improve your overall Instagram feed
- Bonus for 2017 only: detailed feedback on the image quality and captions in your 3 most recent posts
To get the bonus, just forward me a copy of your receipt when you buy Instagram Decoded! [email protected]
