5 Tips to be Successful on Instagram

Hey friends!

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted to my blog. I started back up at work and just haven’t felt much desire to write. I’ve been on Instagram a lot and recently started my Youtube Channel! It took me awhile just to grow to 10,500 followers. I love each and every one of them, but it was a hard road. Success can come in many shapes and forms. We all view success differently. Most of us on Instagram want to grow our audience, but if our engagement doesn’t grow, then the whole point of Instagram is missed. We are on Instagram to connect. I worked hard to grow my following, but even harder to build connections. I want to share the tips I have to help you become successful, that I wish I knew when I started Instagram.

If you’d like to follow me on IG, I would love to have you!

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Since starting back up at work (I’m a teacher) it has been a challenge to keep up with my Instagram. Why was my engagement so low? Why weren’t my followers growing like other influencers? I didn’t get it. But with all of the research I did, the one consistent piece of advice I found is to BE AUTHENTIC.

Easier said than done, right? We can all try to be authentic, but that doesn’t necessarily mean people will care to read your captions or look at your pictures. Here are some tips that helped me grow organically:

1. 1. POST GOOD CONTENT: You don’t need to post everyday. You really don’t. I used to and I began stressing about getting posts out there and getting engagement, so much so that my content was suffering. Your content should have a purpose. Is it to motivate or inspire someone? Make them laugh? Teach them something? Share a new product? Think about WHY you are creating your post and then ask your audience a question.
   2. POST GOOD QUALITY PHOTOS: You don’t need an expensive camera, but your photos should be of good quality. Think about when you’re scrolling Insta. What catches your eye? I’m sure it’s not a blurry and dark shot with a lot of clutter. Bright photos to me have done the best. They’re clear, eye catching, and aestetically pleasing. You don’t need crazy filters, but there are natural ones that you can buy for Lightroom. You can also manually go in and brighten your photos.
   3. USE FOLLOW LOOPS AND GIVEAWAYS CONSERVATIVELY: I have done my fair share of giveaways and follow loops because that was what really what got me over a few humps. When I was stuck at 4,500 followers, I knew a giveaway would help me. Use them sparingly, because your engagement will not reflect your follower amount. INSTEAD, engage with accounts you like. Share each other on your stories. Engage. Engage. Engage. I’ve made some great friendships through Instagram, simply by commenting on photos, sending DMs, and responding to stories!
   4. BE ACTIVE ON STORIES: Most of my authentic engagement comes from stories. Stories are where it’s at! You can do so much with stories. I create funny videos with my kids, show speed cleaning and cooking, ask my followers questions, and just talk about what’s going on in life. It’s more relatable than the highlight reel of the IG feed. Use stories consistently. The more consistently you post to stories, the more views you’ll get. You can use your stories to boost traffic to your photos on the feed.
   5. CAPTIONS: Capture your readers attention with a good caption. Remember in school when we had to write topic sentences that hooked the reader? It’s the same as IG! Sometimes I will start a caption with, “GUYS! Guess what?!” or “HURRY!” Sometimes I will begin it with a question. At the end of the day, I want my followers to comment and engage with me. If you like writing long captions, make sure it’s going to sustain a reader’s attention. I like short and sweet captions, personally. Some people like, @thebirdspapaya is known for her long captions that I can’t get enough of. She’s amazing at them!

Most importantly, try to NOT compare yourself to others. Many influencers that have a large following have bought followers. Buying followers is not going to get you real engagement. By gaining a following authentically, it’s not going to happen overnight. It took me two years to go from 0 to 10,000! Don’t be hard on yourself. If you are interested in working with brands, they care more about your engagement rate than your follower amount.

If you are interested in working with brands, let me know if you’d be interested in a blog post or Youtube post about this! What are your tips for being successful on Instagram?

I appreciate you all for supporting me on all platforms. If you would like to checkout my Youtube Channel, CHECK IT OUT HERE!

I would be so grateful to have you subscribe and join me on my Youtube journey!

WAYS TO MAKE MONEY AT HOME

 

THANK YOU ALL

XO Kayla