Growing on Instagram Tips

Want to grow your Instagram and actually see results?

We’ve all been there, posting regularly, adding hashtags, crossing our fingers and wondering why our follower count still looks a bit…meh. I was stuck with the same amount of followers for YEARS… But here’s the truth: growing your audience isn’t about luck or overnight virality. It’s about strategy, consistency and just a little sprinkle of magic (and by magic, I mean knowing what actually works).

After years of trial, error, and far too many low view reels, I’ve figured out what really makes the difference. Whether you’re a content creator, small biz owner, or just want to stop shouting into the Instagram void, these are the tips I swear by. No fluff, no gimmicks, just real strategies and tips that helped me double my audience following in the last 5 months…. and skyrocketed my reach. These tips actually helped me grow a genuine, engaged audience. So lets get down to it:

Tips for growing on Instagram:

1. First and most important…. The quality of your photos and videos really do count. Consider applying a filter to images to make them brighter/pop. I use Lightroom and have filter presets for different subjects, some are better for days out and some better for food etc.
2. Making sure reels are high quality (if the video is dark/dull use the ‘adjust’ setting and raise the exposure and saturation to lighten and add colour.)
3. Make sure your reels suit your brand… you don’t want a snappy, dark, moody feel for a reel that is about a light and airy, pretty coffee shop for example. Make sure your reels all follow your branding. Too many people try using all different types of reel templates that do not match and it just looks crazy when scrolling through their page with so many different styles going on.
4. I think one of my main tips that really helped my growth was – Finding your niche and stick to it 80% off the time. It is fine to have the odd post off topic but don’t be all over the place, all of the time, as the algorithm will not know who your audience should be and who you are trying to target… keep to your key topics/niche.
5. Consistency is key, post every day (I do miss 1 day a week sometimes).
6. They say time of day doesn’t matter but it definitely does for me, I’ve posted at all times of the day and they generally flop unless it’s between 6pm-8pm. For me this is prime time to post and it definitely has made a difference.
7. Create an introduction reel, preferably talking to camera, show your face and let people know what they can gain from your page, why should they follow you. Pin it to the top of your page.
8. Trial reels! Use them, you can even make a trial reel of your introduction reel and keep it in trials so it will always be looking for non followers for you. Try other trial reels, keep them on niche. The trial reels algorithm needs training too, so keep posting your niche subject so it knows who your audience should be. If a trial reel blows up and gets lots of attention early on, then add that to your feed, if not, leave it in trials.
9. SEO Is key… search engine optimisation. Social media platforms are now like search engines, so your captions need to be loaded with all the information, key points that someone might use to search for it. 
10. Hook, make sure you are using a title/hook on screen for the first 3 seconds or so. If you aren’t using a voiceover and captions (for onscreen text) then consider using text information overlays on the reel/photos to give information.
11. The hook needs to be catchy and entice someone to open and watch your reel, so don’t give the answer of exactly what it is, more like a hint of what it’s about… to tempt them to watch more.
12. Hashtags… 5 is enough, don’t use loads. Your seo is how people are finding your post now… NOT hashtags
13. Review what has worked, what gained you followers and what gained you more comments or reach, different posts do different things…. See what works and that can be replicated.
14. Make sure you reels covers have a title, so if someone looks at your grid, they can see exactly what each post is about. Check the view in profile grid before clicking ok on the cover photo, so you can see how it will appear on your grid.
15. If a post doesn’t do well, duplicate it, change it up and try again in a few days with a jazzed up caption, different audio, different hook.
16. Stop making selfish content, make it less about you and your family and more about bringing value to your audience, what they want to see/learn about… The harsh truth is that people aren’t interested in your highlights of your holiday, your cute child or your day out, unless they are gaining some value from watching it… So I hardly feature myself in my content now and make it purely about the food/the day out/venue, etc.
17. Think about how you can bring value to your audience, for me, a good round up post of places to eat or places to visit works well, something that can be saved and referred to again later.
18. Comment, watch, like and share other people’s content, even if it’s similar to yours or feels like your competition… it’s really good to build up a network of people that will do the same for you.
19. Don’t forget to add ‘Follow me for more….’ add the end of your post, remind people to hit follow.
20. Don’t forget to add brands/venues you are posting about as a collaborators and always share your stories and tag them.

I genuinely hope this helps you to grow on social media, make a note of where you are at now and if implementing these changes helps you grow, I would absolutely love to know.

Thanks for reading ‘Growing on Instagram Tips’