How I Grew My Instagram Following by 2K in 2 Months (Without Following & Unfollowing)

So, we’ve all been there… a big Instagrammer/blogger follows you, you get really excited and follow them back, only to have them unfollow you the next day.  

Annoying.

These days most of the Instagram accounts with huge followings are getting their followers by playing one game:  they follow a bunch of unsuspecting smaller accounts, they wait a few days to give the people a chance to follow them back, and then they unfollow them.  This grows their following very quickly, but keeps the number of people who they follow very low.

I have no problem with people who do this… I mean, it works so you can’t really blame them, but I personally just can’t bring myself to do it because I feel like I’m duping people.  Plus I know that it drives me nuts when people do this to me, so I would feel like a hypocrite using a method that annoys me. 

Therefore, I set out to try to grow my following organically this year and you know what?  It’s working!  I have had oodles of requests to share what I have been doing, so I’m going to share my method in great detail today.  Before I go any further, a few disclaimers:

First of all, I’m going to go ahead and warn you that you’re going to get completely sick of two words from reading this post – follow and unfollow - they are used a ton, so just brace yourselves and don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Second, if you’re not super familiar with Instagram, you may find this post a bit weird and you might just think I’m crazy for taking so much time to gather all of this information to analyze.  Well, just for your info, Instagram is pretty much all politics these days and it’s nearly impossible to grow your following without having some kind of strategy and playing certain games.  The only way to really blow up quickly is to have some kind of post go viral within a short amount of time – and we’re talking viral like where news and entertainment outlets pick you up – HuffPo, GMA, Ellen – that type of viral.  This has never happened to me, thus I have to work hard to grow my following.

Third, why am I even trying to grow my following?  Because more followers = more blog traffic.  More followers and blog traffic = more opportunities to work with companies.  More opportunities to work with companies = income for me for just doing what I love the most.  And more income for me = the potential to possibly turn this thing into a business so I might eventually be able to work from home doing what I love while getting to spend more quality time with my babies.  Enough said.

Finally, settle in because this is going to be lengthy.  I now consider myself to be somewhat of an Instagram expert, so you are about to get a boatload of information.

With those things in mind, let’s get started!  Here is what I have been doing these last two months that organically increased my following by 2k in just 2 months.

O N E – Spruce Up Your Profile Name

The first and easiest thing I did was to update my profile name.  You want your name to stand out.  That way it catches the attention of others as they are scrolling through lists of followers.  That will make them more inclined to click on your name and check out your profile.  My name was originally “Lindsay@Lindsay’s Sweet World.”  I changed the “Lindsay” in lower case letters to “LINDSAY” in all caps, and instead of using the “@” I removed it and added the green herb emoji.  The emoji is more eye catching, and it is also more pleasing to the eye than the “@.”  The next time you’re scrolling through someone’s list of followers, let me know which ones catch your attention… it’s the names with the emojis in them isn’t it? 

T W O – Revamp Your Bio

The second thing that I did was to revamp my bio.  You only get a split second to impress someone when they look at your profile, so you have to make sure that it looks good.  Therefore, your bio should be pleasing to the eye as well as informative.  Or catchy.  I opted for a few colorful emojis to grab attention, and I briefly described myself in three words as well as described the type of content people will see if they follow me.  I also added my email address to make it easy for people to contact me for collaborations, and then I added a little reminder that my photos are my property.  I’m hard core about that and you can never be too careful these days.  

T H R E E – Update Your Profile Picture

Again, you want something eye catching or pleasing to the eye.  A lot of bloggers these days are using pictures of them up against hot pink mural walls or something similar to that because they are bright and help them stand out to potential followers.  I am currently using a picture of myself that I took for my second blogiversary because I love that top and necklace combo so much.  If I had a hot pink wall in town you bet I’d be using a picture in front of that instead.  ;o)  One of these days, I need to take a head shot in front of the one mural wall that we do have in town!

F O U R – Be Mindful of the Content You Post

Look at all of the big Instagrammers’ feeds.  They’re gorgeous… bright, professional looking photos and beautiful content.  When you click on their profile you want to follow them because everything they post is just so darn pretty.  While I would love for my feed to look like that, I just don’t have the time to devote to it, and I honestly don’t want my feed to be too perfect like that.  I love posting about real life as it’s lived instead of posting on a schedule.  Some bloggers take it to the extreme scheduling all of their posts in advance according to how their feed should look, and they have overall themes or color schemes for their feeds.  For example, some bloggers stick to only neutral colors, some bloggers only stick to black and white, some bloggers stick to food, some bloggers stick to pictures of their kiddos... stuff like that.  

While I’m not taking it to that extreme, I have started being more mindful of the photos that I post.  Before, I would post whatever would come to mind… a grainy picture of my salad at lunch, a not so great blurry picture of the kids.  Now I’m trying to be more careful to choose pictures that are bright and clear and meaningful, and I save everything else for InstaStories.  I just LOVE those things!  I never liked Snapchat, but man, do I love me some InstaStories. 

Since I don’t have a specific niche, I do not have an overall theme.  Since I love viewing things as they are in real life, I do not have a color scheme like neutrals or black and white.  Instead, my feed is full of bright colors.  I like to post pictures of things how they look if you are seeing them in real life – bright and vivid… like they are right in front of you.  I post about my family, about my life, and about things that I come across that I think are beautiful – a pretty flower, a gorgeous sky, a box of donuts.  Hehe.

To assist me with my “vision” for my feed, I downloaded the free app UNUM.  It pulls up your current Instagram feed and allows you to upload pictures from your camera roll and move them around so you can how they will look in your feed before you actually post them.  This helps me keep my feed looking nice while also allowing me to post in real time about real life stuff.  A lot of y’all might think it sounds crazy to do this and it probably sounds like a lot of work, but it’s really not.  And I’ve noticed that since I’ve been mindful of what my feed looks like, a lot more followers stick around instead of eventually unfollowing me.  As a matter of fact, two of my blogging idols started following me in recent weeks and they’re actually engaging so I don’t think they followed me just to unfollow me.  I mean, I was already following them anyway!  Haha.

F I V E – Be More Creative With Captions

I have found that photos get way more engagement when I tell a more in depth story behind the picture.  I used to post captions that were short and sweet – “Happy Monday!” or “Too cool for school.” or something like that, but I noticed that when I started elaborating more, people were more drawn to liking and commenting.  The stronger the story, the more attention the photo gets.  The more attention a photo gets, the more potential it has for attracting new followers.

S I X – Be Authentic

I have always considered myself to be authentic as I post in real time, I do not use schedulers to schedule my posts, and I only post the things that I truly love and that are important to me.  So just be you.  There’s only one you!  You don’t want a bunch of people following you if you’re trying to be someone you’re not.  Right?

S E V E N – Engage With Other Accounts That You Follow

Like and comment as much as you can with all of the people who you follow.  It’s beneficial for both of you – they get the engagement on their photos that they want, and you get exposure.  Win win.

E I G H T – Engage With Those Who Follow You

When someone comments on your photo, respond or like it to let them know that you’re really there.  You’re not just auto running your Instagram account using a scheduling system.  This also shows your followers that you care, which makes them more likely to stick around.  This is something that I could definitely improve on as I don’t respond to every comment that comes my way.  But due to the fact that I have a hubs and two kids to take care of, I work at a full time corporate job, I have a household to run, and I also have a blog to run, that just doesn’t always happen.  Most days I wish I could just clone myself because there is truly not enough time in the day.

N I N E – Join Support Groups

Have you ever heard of a “Like Pod” or a “Comment Pod?”  I hadn’t until just a few weeks ago!  These are basically private message groups of five to ten Instagrammers/bloggers who support each other by liking or commenting on each other’s photos.  I am currently in two “Like Pods” and two “Comment Pods.”  They are all small groups of ladies who I already follow and know, and every time I post a picture to Instagram, I shoot a message to each pod, and the ladies in the pods like and comment on it at their leisure.  This is basically just a way to boost your numbers for each post and get more exposure since most pictures tend to get lost in the Instagram algorithm these days.  Plus we have good times chatting with each other in our group messages, too!

T E N – Utilize Trade for Trade

Have a favorite Instagram buddy?  Why not trade shout-outs to get more exposure?  You mention her in your feed, she mentions you in her feed.  Voila, exposure for both of you!

Some people have even gone so far to come up with “Follow Friday” and “Mom Crush Monday.”  You can team up with a group of ladies, make a collage photo of all of the ladies participating, and then tag them in your photo.  Everyone posts at the same time, and BOOM, exposure from multiple accounts all at once!

E L E V E N – Participate in Chat Loops

I am friends with several ladies who host chat loops each week.  It is basically a way to get to know fellow Instagrammers.  There are typically several ladies in a chat loop.  Each lady posts the same picture for the chat loop at the same time and they ask a question just to get conversation started.  Followers are invited to answer questions in the chat loops, follow all of the ladies in the chat loops, with the possibility to get invited to co-host the next week’s loop.  I have joined a couple of these during the last couple of months and the followers were definitely rolling in during the chat.

T W E L V E – Host or Co-host Giveaways

I have found these to be the most effective for getting new followers because people will do anything to get free stuff!  There are a couple of different ways to host giveaways. 

First of all, you can do “Loop Giveaways” directly on Instagram where you team up with other Instagrammers to give away prizes on Instagram.  Everyone posts a picture of the giveaway at the same time, and then all of the people who want to enter the giveaway have to follow everyone in the loop.  This drums up lots of new followers.

Second, you can host a giveaway on your blog by using Rafflecopter.  The rafflecopter gives you the ability to ask people to follow you on all social media platforms and this counts as their entry.  One of the blog giveaways I did several months ago helped me gain 200+ followers on Bloglovin’, 100+ followers on Facebook, and several hundred followers on Instagram. 

T H I R T E E N – Use Hashtags

Ah, the hashtag.  It can be incredibly annoying to some, but boy, do I love them!  Using effective hashtags can get your photos lots of attention which can also translate to more followers.  Instagram lets you use up to 30 hashtags per picture and I pretty much use 30 on every picture.  The popular hashtags are always changing, so you can Google ideas for hashtags to keep up with the times.  One thing to note – a lot of people do not want to see hashtags cluttering your caption, so you can put them in the comments section of your own picture to hide them.

F O U R T E E N – Always Follow Big Instagrammers Back When They Follow You

When a big Instagrammer/blogger (typically 10k+ followers) follows you ALWAYS FOLLOW BACK.  I repeat, always follow back.  Now, I know you’re probably shaking your head because you know that these people are the ones who are only following you to get your follow and then they are just going to unfollow you a day later.  Well, did you know that you actually benefit from following them back?  When you follow a person on Instagram, your name gets put at the top of the list of their followers.  That means tons of exposure for you because all of the other people who are browsing other people’s followers lists and finding people to follow will see your name at the top of the list.  (This is also why it was important to spruce up your profile name!!!!) 

Plus in the off chance that one of the big bloggers really wants to connect with you… well, you don’t want to miss out on that!  They might really actually like your feed!  There are several who have been following me for several weeks/months now and they have really been engaging so I know they’re in it for the relationship, not just for my follow.  Shocking, I know.  Plus, if a big blogger follows me and then unfollows me, I just unfollow them back and I don’t feel bad about it.  There’s no point in trying to start a relationship with someone if they don’t want one with you.  There are a few (I won’t give names) who have followed/unfollowed me a bazillion times.  And every single time I follow/unfollow them back because I usually get lots of new followers out of it myself. 

Which brings me to… you will probably want to download an app to track your followers.  I use “Followers” and I love it.

F I F T E E N – Don’t Be Afraid to Try to Connect With the Big Instagrammers Yourself

If I see an Instagram account whose feed I admire, I will follow them.  This again gives my account exposure because this puts my name in their list of followers for people to browse, and then I also get inspiration from their feeds.  And maybe, just maybe they’ll follow back if they like your feed, too!

S I X T E E N – Stalk Your Fellow Instagrammers’ Followers

Just kidding, that just sounds creepy.  But seriously, what I’m referring to is this: find several Instagrammers/bloggers in your niche with large followings (I typically look at people with 10K or more).  Start at the top of their followers list and work your way down liking some of their pictures.  I typically try to “like” three pictures on each profile and then move on to the next.  This basically just gets their attention as your “likes” show up in their notifications, and then they will hopefully check out your profile, like what they see, and follow you.  And if you really want to get their attention you can also comment on a couple of their pictures. 

A few things to note about this method:  First, I typically only do this with accounts who have 500 followers or less.  That way they actually see you in their notifications.  There’s no point in liking pictures for people with large followings because chances are they won’t even see your notifications since they get so many each day.  Second, the people who tend to follow me the most as a result from the likes are mommies, people who post about fashion, and clothing boutiques, so it’s good to use this method only with people who you think will enjoy your feed.  Finally, I only use this method for accounts that look “normal.”  I obviously don’t like or comment on pictures for accounts for people who look creepy… you don’t want to attract their attention! 

And that is it!

To Summarize:

1.    Spruce up your profile to make a good first impression – this includes your picture, name, and bio.

2.    Post beautiful, eye-pleasing content.  Nobody wants to see blurry photos of what you had for lunch or the scrape on your child’s knee.

3.    Post engaging captions.

4.    Be yourself!!!!

5.    Engage, engage, engage.  This goes for accounts you follow as well as with accounts who follow you.  Comment on photos and respond to comments.

6.    Team up – join like and comment pods, and utilize Follow Fridays and Mom Crush Mondays.

7.    Participate in chat loops.

8.    Giveaways – enough said!

9.    Hashtags – you may hate them, but boy do they give you lots of exposure!  Do it!

10. ALWAYS FOLLOW BIG INSTAGRAMMERS WHEN THEY FOLLOW YOU.  ALWAYS.  WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT.  And download a Followers app so you can unfollow them if they do end up unfollowing you.

11. Follow big Instagram accounts that inspire you.

12. Stalk fellow Instagrammers’ followers – like and comment on their pictures to get their attention.

Well, that’s about it, y’all!  That’s what I’ve been doing these last couple of months and it’s been working!  One thing to note before I go – I still always ALWAYS block any followers who look creepy or give me a weird feeling.  I have literally blocked hundreds of people just in the last two months.  It’s just not worth it to me to have followers if they could potentially be creeps.

So what are some methods that you use?  Am I forgetting anything?

And now it's time for the Tuesday Talk Link Up!

Hosted by:

Beth at Our Pretty Little Girls | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Crystal at Hall Around Texas | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Jessica at Sweet Little Ones | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram
Stefanie at Lexie Loo, Lily, Liam, & Dylan Too | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Stephanie at Wife Mommy Me | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Becky at BYBMG | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram
Lindsay at Lindsay's Sweet World | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram
Sarah at Sarah E. Frazer | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Justine at Full Hands, Full Heart
Christina at Waltzing In Beauty | Pinterest | Instagram
Meghan at The Adventure Starts Here | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Tina at Go Big or Go Home | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Whitney at Polka-Dotty Place | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Grab a button!

<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.lindsayssweetworld.com/" rel="nofollow" title="Lindsay's Sweet World"><img src="http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d124/lindsaylou24/Tuesday%20Talk%20Button.jpg" alt="Lindsay's Sweet World" style="border: none; height: auto; width: 200px;" /></a></div>

Generate your button code

An InLinkz Link-up