If you wanna grow on Instagram, but you're sick
of hearing the same old generic advice that only works
for a select few, then this video is for you.
I'm sharing the three most important steps that I
took to grow my Instagram following organically
from 0 to 199,000 in less than three years.
Keep watching.
Hey guys, what's up?
It's Alex coming at you this week
with some real advice and maybe a little bit
of tough love about everyone's favorite obsession Instagram.
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Alright?
Now, here are the 3 most important steps
that I took to grow my following organically
from 0 to 199,000 in less than three years.
And by the way, this strategy works
for all short-form video platforms like TikTok as well
but I'm specifically talking about Instagram
and make sure you stick around
to the end because I'm gonna let you in
on the biggest Instagram growth hack that literally
no one is talking about
and I'm just gonna get real with you.
Alright, so first things first.
Step number one, share new ideas and opinions.
The keyword there is new.
I see so many people show up
on Instagram and just rehash the same old stuff over
and over and over again.
If you want to garner any sort of audience on Instagram
you need to be sharing stuff that no one else is
or at least not in the exact same way.
People are craving fresh perspectives.
So get clear on who you are and what you stand for.
What new ideas, opinions
or experiences can you share that offer value
in the forms of entertainment, inspiration or education?
How can you be helpful, funny, interesting
inspiring, thought-provoking, just be you then show
up consistently over and over and over and over again.
This is by far the hardest
but most important part when you're starting from zero.
Trust me, it's going to take some time, some works
some dedication
and consistency to grow your following period.
I don't care what anyone else says.
Following a magical Reel unicorn
into viral land is not gonna make you an overnight success.
And even if you do get lucky
and have a Reel go viral it likely won't happen right away.
When I started my Instagram
I posted twice a day every single day of the week
and I did that for three years.
I didn't do it myself.
I had a team, I got some help, but I did just recently scale
that back and I'm now only posting once a day.
Now listen, I'm not trying to tell you
that posting twice a day or even once a day
7 days a week, is the magic number to growing fast.
But obviously the more often you post
the higher your chances
of getting more eyeballs on your stuff.
But then again, going back to what I said before
the most important part is consistency.
So it's better to post three days a week consistently
than it is to post seven days a week
and then ghost for two weeks because you couldn't keep up.
So pick a posting schedule that you feel confident
that you can stick with and then stick with it.
Alright, moving on to number two, have conversations.
So one of the best
best ways to grow organically is to be super interactive
with your account and with all of your followers.
So when someone likes comments and messages
you be sure to respond.
Or better yet, start up a full-blown conversation.
Answer their questions
and involve your followers in your content.
This means posting surveys that they can participate
in or maybe hosting a free challenge
or a giveaway when you can connect
with your audience in this way.
And more importantly, get them to actually engage
with you and interact with you.
That then tells the Instagram algorithm
that your page is useful and helpful
that people actually like it enough to return
to it again and again and engage with it on a regular basis.
And that's when they'll show your page
to more people who are similar
to the followers you already have
and the ones who are engaging with you.
But connecting goes even deeper than this.
It also means showing up consistently.
There's that word again on your stories.
So this is honestly the magic sauce
for making followers feel really connected to you.
It's like getting a sneak peek
behind the scenes of your real life.
It makes your followers feel like they know you
because you're treating them like a good friend.
And when they become accustomed
to viewing your stories every single day
guess what happens?
They'll keep coming back day
after day to see whatever it is you're up to.
Now, the key to getting your audience hooked
and committed to viewing your stories is really just to show
up and treat them like your besties.
Take them through your day.
Share funny stories, relatable anecdotes
what you're currently working on.
Just be you.
Be real and be transparent.
Don't overthink it or be too rigid.
Just have fun with it.
Moving on to number three, solve problems.
Okay, so you're consistently showing up
sharing fresh ideas and perspectives
and you're taking the time to actually be human
and connect with other humans engaging with your account.
Now it's time to take it
to the next level and actually help these humans.
Well, how can you do that?
By asking them what exactly they need help with
by listening and responding, and then actually
doing something about it and providing valuable solutions.
So I hear from a lot
of people that they're afraid of giving away too much
on social because they think then no one will buy from them.
But actually the opposite is true.
When the things you're giving away, like tips
and education and insight and your favorite tools
and advice are helpful and solve real problems
it actually makes people more likely, of course
to buy from you, right?
They think, wow, if the stuff that they give
away for free is this good
how much better is the stuff that I have to pay for?
I can't tell you how many times I've heard something
along those lines from one of my followers or subscribers.
And when you're giving out great value
here's the other thing your followers will keep coming back
to your page to learn even more, and they'll be
more inclined to share your stuff with their followers.
And all of this will help you grow faster.
So notice anything about those 3 tips, yeah
none of them are exactly lightning in a bottle a quick hack
or something that you can do to go viral overnight.
Because even though no one really wants to hear it
you won't grow your following overnight.
So just like be okay with that.
It takes time.
And I'll be honest, when my following was 10,000 people
in a lot of ways it was more powerful
because I was connecting more intimately
with my biggest fans.
And that should be what you really care about.
It seems like a new YouTube video, you know
hits the scene every day teaching people how to
go viral on Instagram.
But the number one biggest Instagram growth hack
that no one else is talking
about is that going viral is a fluke
and that's not actually the kind of growth that you want.
I had a a video go viral recently
and a lot of people gave me a quick mindless follow
and that was great
but they didn't really have any intention to find
out who I was or what I'm all about.
And they haven't really engaged with my brand ever since.
They aren't aligned with my message
and they're likely not gonna become paying customers.
And this isn't rocket science
but who actually wants followers?
Don't engage, feel aligned, or eventually buy from you.
I mean, in a lot of cases
that's what you're getting when you go viral.
The more low quality followers you have
the harder it becomes to connect
with your high quality followers aka a your true fans
the ones who have been following you from the beginning
the ones who are actually interested
in what you have to say, the ones who engage
with your content and support your business.
Those are the people we want to attract.
So what is the lesson behind all of this?
If there's anything you take away from this video
it's this: a small but engaged audience is far more powerful
than a large and unaware audience.
So stop worrying so much
about the number of followers you have.
The number really doesn't mean anything anyway
and start worrying about how you can better connect
with the followers you do have
and how can you really help them solve real problems?
I promise if you do that
you will see results that are a million percent better
for your business than having an impressive vanity metric.
So I hope you found this video helpful.
Give me a thumbs up below
if you wanna see more videos like this.
And if you wanna know exactly how I write super
juicy social captions that capture attention
I'm gonna link to that video
in just a couple seconds at the end of this one.
Until next time, I'm Alex. Ciao for now.
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