Blogging 101: How to grow your social following

I get asked all the time “How do I grow my social following”. More so on Instagram then anything else. And I will say I don’t have all the answers nor do I have a crazy big following. But, because so many have asked I decided to share what I have done in the past and my tips on how to grow your social following. (Mainly IG, I still haven’t figured out Facebook or twitter).

First things first, there is not right or wrong way on how to grow. The thing is to stay consistent and be YOU! Keep that in mind. Also, try not to overwhelm your self on the numbers. You will drive yourself crazy. It’s a processes and this takes time. Just to give you an idea, I have been blogging for 1 ½ years now and just under 30k followers. It’s a journey, enjoy it!

Giveaways. I’ve done a few giveaways in the past that has helped me gain followers, but I have tried to keep my limit on them. When you do too many giveaways your engagement tends to stink (telling it how it is.) Most of the people you gain from giveaways don’t really care who you are. They just want to win whatever it is you are giving away. So choose carefully, make sure the accounts in the giveaway are in the same niche and match your aesthetics. Also, look at the other accounts and their engagement, odds are if they don’t have good engagement you probably wont have it as well. This is a great article on engagement. It is better to have 10k followers and get 250 likes then 50k followers and 180 likes. I do love giveaways with just myself and the brand, Those I feel like is a different kind of giveaway.

Post frequently. Aim to post 3-4 times a day. But make it GOOD content each time you post. Be you, tell a story with your pictures. Be unique and make it personal! Nothing annoys me the most when I see pretty pictures and boring captions #yawn. People will see right through it. Stay Active on social media, comment back, respond to comments. This is especially big for Pinterest, Thanks to Megan’s tips for Pinterest I was able to go from 300ish followers late Fall of 2015 to 4.7k followers as of today. (that’s another post though!)

Pretty pictures. Make them clear, and crisp. It doesn’t have to be all white and black, but make sure your pictures are good quality. I do have an amazing photographer Ailee who is the best at photos. Jordan and I take some pictures here and there (but that’s about it). If enough people ask I can show you how I edit my pictures… although, that is NOT my forte.

Hashtags. No more them 3-4 in your original description. The rest can go in a comment. IG now has a weird algorithm, and your feed no longer shows chronologically. I am not really sure how you can make sure people are seeing your pictures other than by staying engaged and active. Comment back, like other peoples pictures, and keep people engaged! Also, make sure your tags are relevant.

Tag brands. Tag them in pictures and caption. Tagging in the caption increases engagement up to 50%. Make sure your tagging the right brands, don’t tag someone random! You can also tag bigger accounts like OOTDSubmit (if you’re i fashion), or if you’re in beauty find big beauty accounts to tag. Some accounts ask you to use their #’s and my advice IS TO USE THEM! Use it as exposure.

Last but not least:

Network. No one will find you if you only post once a day, or you don’t ever care to interact with others. Comment on other people’s account, like, follow. GET YOUR NAME OUT THERE. But pleaaaaaaaaaaaase don’t go following people just to get them to follow you, and then unfollow. Learn to support and build each other. Build a community!

 I hope I was able to answer some questions or maybe even inspire you! No matter what you do, DON’T GIVE UP. Enjoy the journey, I love looking back and seeing the growth. Thank you so much for stopping by!

xoxo,
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Photog by Ailee Petrovic