7 Organic Instagram Growth Tips | How I Grew 50K Instagram Followers

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Instagram Growth Tips

Organic Instagram Growth Tips

UPDATED: July 2020 

Does the thought of gaining 1K real Instagram followers in just a week excite you? If so, you are in the right place. I started taking my Instagram account seriously in December 2017. I am sharing my top organic Instagram growth tips!

Fast forward a year, I’m at 117,000 real and engaged followers! While the growth at the beginning was at a snail’s pace, I kept applying these tips to pay off.

I also received tons of DMs asking how I grew on Instagram so fast, which is what inspired me to write this post.

Here my organic Instagram growth tips will help your account flourish if you are interested in learning how to grow your Instagram account with followers who actually engage with your content.

Check out my Feed Here & Leave me a DM- I’d love to hear from you!

Dana Berez Instagram Feed | Secret Instagram Growth Tips That no one tells you | Organic Instagram Growth Tips from nyc travel blogger dana berez | How to Grow your Instagram following in just one year | Instagram Tips

How to Start Growing Your Instagram Account Organically

Whether you are first starting out or just need fresh ideas to kickstart your account, I have you covered. What most people forget to mention is the elephant in the room: the Instagram Algorithm.

While no one can really crack the Instagram Algorithm, there are things you can proactively do to counteract its effects.

I must say at the beginning, growing your instagram seems daunting. Heck, I only had 700 followers, and at that moment I didn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Just the thought of reaching 1,000 was a huge goal for me.

It’s true what they say, there is comfort in numbers. The likelihood that you’ll follow someone with 10K vs 1K is much higher. Only after reaching 5K followers, I started to see my follower count grow more rapidly, even more so after I reached 10K.

I call this the snowball effect. My biggest advice when you’re under 5K followers is: don’t ever give up. It might seem cliche, but keep at it!

There were many times I wanted to give up. But your self-doubt is your biggest obstacle. I looked at the bigger picture and look at where I am today!

Without further ado, let’s get into my organic Instagram growth tips to help kickstart your account today!

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How I Grew 48K Instagram Followers | Organic Instagram Growth Tips Dana Berez Travel BloggerReaching 20K!

Content is King for Growing your Instagram Account

Your content is the most important factor in growing your Instagram account. While there are plenty of other things to consider, people are following and tuning in for your content! I think this simple idea often gets overlooked. Also, depending on the type of content you want to share will determine what you should be posting.

Just ask yourself this simple question: Why did you follow the last person you just followed on Instagram?

Probably because their content inspired you, was different or unique. Something evoked emotion in you.Now go to your Instagram feed, and incorporate someone else’s mentality to help curate and inspire your feed.

Creating your Instagram Feed & Profile

Photography: Instagram is a visual social network so I would suggest investing in a camera to make your content stand out even more.

I have a whole post dedicated to the best cameras for travel bloggers that would help you out with choosing the right camera & equipment.

While you don’t need the most expensive camera on the market, a great DSLR will allow you to have more flexibility with the photos you create.

Find Inspiration: Because the Instagram market is so saturated, you are going to have to find a way to stand out.

Ask yourself why should someone follow you?

I love scrolling through other inspirational travel/fashion accounts like Tezza,  Katie.One, irinahp, or marta_sierra that brings another level to their photos with great poses, props, and locations.

Have a Niche: When you are first starting out, you are going to want to develop a niche so people can know you for something.

If you are a food blogger then I would expect you to post about food and not fashion. Do you get the picture?

I like to plan out my feed using Planoly, an Instagram scheduling service.

With Planoly I can organize my future posts to create a cohesive look, type out the captions, and have them post automatically hassle-free!

Cohesive Editing: Editing is almost like your brand extension. Are you known for dark and moody edits or soft pastel tones? Finding an editing style will stamp your photos with your personality and name on it!

Pink Edits from@Jayde_archives, soft edits from @mynextwanderlust, and moody edits by iindiefoxx.

Show Your Personality: Hey you! I know there is someone behind every account. Be sure to make your presence known. If you normally post photos without you in them, be sure to add yourself in a photo every once and a while.

People want to know that your account is authentic. And better yet, if they connect with your personality they are even more likely to follow you.

This is the very reason why you should utilize your Instagram stories religiously.

Optimize Your Instagram Bio

Once someone lands on your page, you have the opportunity to immediately tell them more about yourself! Are you a travel blogger, are you an entrepreneur, are you selling something? Let us know!

There are times I stumble upon a page and their bio literally is an inspirational quote. That tells me nothing about why you are on Instagram and leaves your audience guessing if your account is just for fun.

Chances are if you want to grow your following, it’s for a business purpose.

You also want to add in your email address to your bio. Brands are going to find you via Instagram, make it super clear on how they can contact you for future business.

Dana Berez Instagram Feed | Secret Instagram Growth Tips That no one tells you | Organic Instagram Growth Tips from nyc travel blogger dana berez | How to Grow your Instagram following in just one year | Instagram Tips

Utilize Instagram Stories

Instagram stories are a great way to extend your personality to your followers! The more authentic and relatable you are, the more likely people will connect and follow you.

Be sure to tag brands, geotag, and use relevant hashtags to gain more story viewers.

One time I did a rant on a book I was reading and explained how awesome it was and I gained an additional 600 viewers from using the #currentlyreading hashtag on my story!

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Dana Berez Instagram Feed Stories | How to Grow Instagram Following

Be Social And Network

Instagram is a Social Network, so don’t be shy! This is probably my biggest tip to creating your presence on Instagram: networking and connecting with others.

First, no one is going to know who you are if you don’t comment on other people’s photos. I have some followers who comment on every single photo of mine and I notice.

I definitely check out their feed and give some love back! When I first started I commented on other people’s photos for a long time, and it slowly helped me get more eyes on my profile, which lead to more followers.

If you love someones’ feed, why not send them a private DM? If you notice another blogger in the same city as you, why not reach out to them to meet up? It’s so refreshing to know that you aren’t alone in this.

Other people are going through the same hurdles as you. It’s great to start creating a community that you can rely on to ask questions with. There is no handbook with being an ‘Instagram Influencer’ so you literally learn on the fly.

Being able to connect with like-minded people going through the same thing will help you!

If you don’t have a photographer, meet up with other bloggers to shoot. Hold yourselves accountable and set up coffee dates to work together.

Don’t view others as your competition, share information, and continuously learn and grow together.

Another key to networking is joining engagement groups where you like and comment on each other’s photos. This is especially important when you first start out.

It’s a great place for accounts in the same niche to meet and stick together. Just a note, you shouldn’t solely depend on your engagement on these groups.

How I Grew 48K Instagram Followers | Organic Instagram Growth Tips Dana Berez Travel Blogger

Shooting Meet Up With @JuliannaVezza & @shaunieandthecity

Consistently Post to your Instagram Feed

Do you post one photo, then ghost the platform for a few days? The Instagram Algorithm does not like that.

If Instagram sees you post consistently with content that people engage with, it will boost that photo & profile more than an inactive user.

I would recommend posting every single day. I’ve also heard great success with people posting twice a day. However, be sure to keep your quality on point.

Use Relevant Hashtags In your Niche

This is a great way to get discovered by people with in the same niche as you, aka your audience! What kind of audience are you looking to have? What hashtags do they use? A little hashtag research goes a long way.

Instagram makes it easy to find related hashtags within a niche. For example, one of my favorite travel hashtags is #darlingescapes.

When I look at #darlingescapes I also see #girlsabroad #dametraveller #wetravelgirls Definitely look into those hashtags as well and use them.

Also, once you use hashtags within a niche, interact with those people. Like and comment on their posts because they are in your target audience as well!

How to Grow your Instagram following organically| Use related Hashtags - Dana Berez

 

 

Don’t look at Numbers

Ever compare your followers to someone else’s? Yeah, I’ve been there!

It’s better to have a smaller engaged & targeted audience than one who doesn’t even know your real name. It’s all about quality over quantity.

If you’re at an Instagram Plateau, I would recommend engaging with the audience that already has followed you and connect even more with them. Add a little love on their page, a little goes a long way.

Just think that those people wanted to follow YOU! stop focusing on the next thousand, appreciate the ones that are already there!

A Recap of my organic Instagram growth tips:

There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to growing your Instagram account organically, but there are many tips that help you beat the Instagram Algorithm and help you grow.

  • Start with your content. Figure out your niche and be unique.
  • Post consistently and show your personality.
  • Be social leave comments and network with other Instagrammers.
  • Use relevant hashtags from your niche and never focus solely on your follower count.
  • Remember it’s about quality, not quantity.
  • And lastly, connect with those who already follow you.

 

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I hope you enjoyed this post and learned more about organic Instagram growth tips. Please save this post to your pinboards.

7 Comments

  1. Thanks so much for the tips! I’m trying to grow my travel instagram (@sejwanders) now and hit a plateau for a while but engaging more with other accounts is definitely helping!

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