The truth about Instagram growth – is there really any? There is no such thing as becoming Instagram famous overnight (unless you are born a Kardashian). Social media has you fooled if you believe otherwise. I’ve spent the last few years trying to decode Instagram and all I can come up with is I missed the boat five years ago that took all my fellow bloggers to the island of 100K.
The first time I was told I couldn’t be successful without Instagram followers was in at a blogging event. “Instagram is where I make $500 just by posting what I tried on in a Target dressing room,” the Influencer said, “If you want to make money, Instagram is where you need to focus on growing your audience. Stop worrying about pageviews, blogs are not relevant anymore.” Her words hit me like a ton of bricks considering every penny I had made up until this point came from Confessions of a Northern Belle, the blog, and not the Instagram account. I love this blog and pour my heart into it, so being told that I had to pour my heart into another platform was pretty devastating.
But… I wanted to monetize Confessions of a Northern Belle, I wanted to be considered successful, so I fell into the Instagram trap.
How to Grow on Instagram
Flashback to May 2016… Growing on the Instagram platform became increasingly difficult sometime around halfway through 2017. Up until then, my followers increased on a steady basis, but I was only at 1K. I googled “How to Grow on Instagram” and the results included: follow/unfollow, enter a giveaway, and links to buy followers here. I was in no position to be spending money, and didn’t quite understand why you would follow and then unfollow someone, so I went with a different idea – follow new people and post better content. I gained 400 followers in one week after adding a bunch of new friends to my list and posting pictures of my family in bathing suits at the beach (nice, right?).
Before I knew it, I had a following of 2K and a brand paid me $25 to post on Instagram. That little bit of money was a lot of money for me, because I was also earning on my blog. Things could only get better from here, right?
Wrong.
My Instagram followers stopped increasing in fall 2017.
My pageviews on my blog also started dropping. And then, that Influencer told me I wouldn’t get anywhere without Instagram, so I decided I had to do something. Back to Google on how to grow my Instagram followers…
Follow/Unfollow: This tedious, time consuming, mindless strategy doesn’t work for engagement, but it does work if you want numbers. Did I make new friends? No. Did my followers increase? Slightly.
Big Giveaways: If you have money to spend, then here big giveaways are a way for your to grow your blog. Giveaways are the EASIEST way to increase followers overnight. Are they good for you in the long run? No… but if all you care about is numbers, then you’re all set. The big giveaways, where you spend $500 for 6K – 10K followers are an absolute rip-off. You will get what you pay for, as well as a bunch of creepers, foreign stalkers, and bots following your account. I paid for ONE $75 International Giveaway where I gained 1K followers and I’m still blocking accounts from it.
I became obsessed with growing on Instagram
What happened next you might wonder? How did I grow from 4K followers to 15K followers in a little over a year? Lots of small giveaways with other bloggers and TONS of engagement with new people. There are Follow Friday loops, engagement pods, and threads on Facebook. And then… the pictures themselves.
Every day it was a fiasco, trying to pick the BEST picture for the day. Keeping up with a color scheme throughout my feed. New clothes, the right props, the best backdrop. I studied other accounts for inspiration and actually watched a YouTube video on “How to Pose.” Looking back on all of this I feel embarrassed of how hard I tried only to end up writing this post.
My Instagram growth has slowed once again, but for once, I DON’T CARE. There is so much stress, so much money spent, and way too much work. All for what? I became OBSESSED with Instagram followers, to the point where I spent more time on my phone than with my family. My self esteem took a huge hit too, as I took it personally when people unfollowed me or didn’t comment on my pictures.
I spent an entire year trying to grow my Instagram following only to be told by one of my favorite brands: “We typically only collaborate with Influencers who have more followers and story views, so we will have to pass this time.” ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I spent 365 days working to pitch this brand and then I’m told… you don’t have enough Instagram followers.
So what’s the moral of this story? What is the truth about Instagram growth? The truth is… growth is relative and stupid. Success shouldn’t be measured by Instagram followers, but by what you do with the following that you have. Of course every brand has a different opinion about Instagram followers, but engagement is just as important. I landed two of my biggest collaborations at the end of 2018 because of my blog… not Instagram.
What is success to you? At the end of the day is it a growing following on Instagram or being proud of the content you put out there? For me – it is a consistent following of people who love what I write, give feedback when asked, and meeting goals I set for myself.
You’ve made SO MANY good points in this post. Instagram used to be an easy and fun way to connect with readers on a more personal level, now it’s just plain hard. I still love some aspects of it, but agree with you that its basically just a big game. Keep up the hard work on your blog. I know in the end it will pay off! xoxo
When I started my job I thought I’d be able to grow a brand’s Instagram with ease! Wrong. I think the recent changes to Instagram’s algorithm this past year have made it even harder to grow. Good for you for being able to look past it! Follower count isn’t worth stressing over.
I don’t care what anyone says, I will NEVER put all of my efforts into IG. It’s not something I own and it’s constant changes aren’t great for the user.
Such a great post! It’s honestly exhausting chasing followers!
Such a great post. I try really hard not to get trapped into Instagram. I just started a blog because I realize I have a lot to say about this motherhood journey and that’s where I’m focusing my energy. The follow/unfollow game is annoying, while I don’t participate, I’ve seen many people do it to my account. You have great content here, keep it up!
Such a great post! I was growing a ton a couple of years ago but this past year, I really didn’t grow that much. I think we’e all (well, most of us anyway) are in the same boat. I do still think blogs are relevant and I’ll continue building my website because it’s the one thing that I do own.
Hallelujah! Your life will be definitely be less stressful by not worrying about the number of followers you have on a daily basis. I am so proud of what you write that I would much rather you put your effort into that. Plus you love it! You deserve success you have more than earned it by your hard work and dedication. Keep being you!
LOVED reading this post. It’s so easy to get obsessed with Instagram growth or lack thereof and it’s so important to let that obsession go. I definitely related to when you said you were spending more time on your phone than with your family.
This post is AMAZING. Instagram is hard but growing your following organically is going to feel so much better than other methods, such as follow/unfollow and loop giveaways (the worst two!).
Rachel
http://www.hello-her.com
You’ve made so many valid points! I’m also at a point where I somehow stopped caring. The continuous algorithm change has made it impossible for us to grow.
I would love to have more followers and engagement across all platforms, but I also I find myself bucking at any of the ‘games’ of following/unfollowing, paying for giveaways, hashtagging like crazy, posting twice a day, posting the same photos over and over and over…. I still want my accounts to feel like me, and not some fake me only doing things for the numbers. Still, growing as much as you did in a year is quite an accomplishment!
Chic on the Cheap
Thanks for your post. Instagram is exhausting. I love creating flat lays for my fashion blog but it is challenging finding time to breathe. I am focusing way too much on social media and just need to start the blog. ?Thanks for all your help.
@graceful_lilystyle
My journey was pretty identical to yours! It is nearly impossible to grow without doing all of the above! But like you said- who cares! Thanks for breaking this down and shedding light on this!!
This sounds so much like me. I remember thinking my world would just change so dramatically when I hit 10k after 3 years on Instagram – surely that’s when people make the big bucks and start growing rapidly. NOPE. It’s been another two years and I’m at 14k haha! Instagram literally stunts bloggers’ growth now, but I’ve stopped caring. I’m putting ALL my efforts into my blog because that’s what I OWN! YES YES YES.
Well said my friend! Couldn’t agree more and this is great advice for newbie bloggers like myself!
Great post! Makes me feel so much better having read it!
I totally agree with this post babe! I think what’s important is what we consider progress, progress and growth within ourselves and our abilities! Instagram can be a number trap, but I think it’s so important to be true to ourselves and our priorities.
Kileen
cute & little
Instagram has us all trying to play the game, and I think we just need to focus on our blog, pinterest, and email subscribers.
Loved this!! So helpful.
What an incredible read! Growing on Instagram has been harder than I expected BUT growing followers, as great as it is, is not my priority. I prefer quality over quantity. Perhaps maybe more consistency will help too. I’m on the same page as you, connecting with people through my writings – that’s success!
Thanks for sharing your insight… I have been so confused on how to reach people and recently started dabbling in IG and it is SO OVERWHELMING!! Thanks for sharing your journey! Xoxo Tay
Love that you’re doing so well via your actually BLOG vs Instagram. I think that’s really encouraging for people (like me) who have been under the delusion that IG is everything. <3
Thanks for sharing your experience with Instagram growth. I find it exhausting! Every time I think I have figured out the trick of keeping and getting followers I seem to lose followers.
Great post! It can be exhausting trying to grow in followers. As much as I want to see some actual growth, I would rather have it happen naturally (and even slowly) by having fun with Instagram instead of playing a numbers game.
Really great post lady! So funny how we were just talking about this. So nice talking to someone on the same page about it. You’re doing great and your content is amazing – I absolutely love following you!
xo Laura Leigh
Louella Reese
Yes yes yes!!! I needed to read this today!
YES GIRL!!!! You hit the nail on the head! I seriously couldn’t have said it better myself
omg I want to come through the screen and hug you. This post is 100% true and amazing. You nailed it
This was such a great post! Thank you for sharing your experience. I only have around 1100 followers and have been trying to grow without stressing it. But it does get to me some days! I love posting and sharing our lives on my blog and Instagram so I just keep on trucking. If it takes off? Fabulous. If not? I am happy where I am!