Well well well welcome to my channel. Thank you so much for stopping by.
You picked a really good day to do it because today I am gonna be teaching you
how to grow on Instagram. And this is probably the number one most requested
video that I ever get, so I finally decided to film it. And the reason I get
asked this question a lot is because a) I'm a full time travel blogger and
Instagrammer so people are naturally very curious how I was able to do that
or become that. And b) I have, I think it's 82 thousand followers on Instagram now,
and I get between 2,000 to 4,000 likes per image so again people are
curious and want to know how I was able to do that . And obviously I'm not the
biggest Instagrammer out there but I do do this full-time.
Do, do, do. But before we get started there is one thing that I need to ask
and that is if - and only if - you enjoy this video then please don't forget to
subscribe to my channel and also comment below letting me know that this was
useful and give this video a thumbs up. Because without that I literally have no
way of knowing that you guys enjoyed it or that you found the video useful and
helpful. So if you want more videos like this one
just let me know by subscribing. Because that way I'll be aware of it and I'll
make more like it. Alright I'm gonna kick this off with a little bit of a pep talk,
because I know all of us on Instagram could probably really use one. And here
goes: if your likes are lower than ever, if your engagement is dropping and
decreasing it's probably not your fault. You're probably not doing anything wrong
at all. And the reason for it is that back in June 2016
Instagram rolled out a new feature - the non chronological feed. And what that did
is it jumbled old and new photos together and their mysterious algorithm
now determines which photos show up first on your feed. And that can be
really bad for us little fish just swimming around, saying "Please please
notice us!" And another reason why people are struggling on Instagram is the
platform's insane popularity. Every day there are new people coming to Instagram,
posting pictures some of which are really stunning. So it's becoming harder
and harder to stand out. And according to recent studies the average user of
Instagram follows 822 other users so you're competing with 821
users for space in that newsfeed that is now non chronological.
So if you're not getting many likes obviously it's very difficult for you to
succeed and to show up there at all. But as you've guessed by now my 25
tricks - are they're not tricks they're genuine you know useful tips - are going
to help you beat the algorithm. Alright tip number one - and this is probably the
most important one - is do not try to cheat the system. I know this makes me
sound like a bit of a downer but I promise you that if you like, sorry, if
you buy followers, if you buy likes, if you play the whole follow unfollow game, it
will bite you in the butt. And Instagram is really cracking down on shady
activity right now, so if you get caught in that web you might have your account
disabled or deleted. And it's just really not worth it. And even if you do
succeed somehow by, you know, buying likes and buying followers you will not feel
good about yourself at the end of the day. And other instagramers know their
stuff and they will know that you did that and nobody in the industry will
respect you. So it's just really not worth that at all. My tip number two is
improve your photography. And I know this is probably not a very popular tip
because it sounds so obvious. But Instagram is such a visual platform that
if your photos aren't beautiful then you're probably never going to succeed.
You really don't need a bulky DSLR to succeed on Instagram, even though that
will help. You just need a smartphone and a bit of understanding of how light
works, how image composition works and then just a little bit of knowledge
about editing. And that's really it. And by the way for a lot of niches it's
really useful to include yourself in the photo. So if you're comfortable doing
that, that will probably help you if you're a travel Instagrammer like me for
example. Number three: develop a consistent editing style. And this goes
back to what we just discussed - you need to learn more about image editing if you
want to succeed on Instagram. And it's very very simple actually, you can do
this in Lightroom if you have that software on your computer but you can
just do it on your smartphone. So you can get these apps like VSCO cam or my
favorite, A Color Story. And in these apps you can save different presets so then
you have this filter that feels very you and you can just apply it to whatever
image you put into that app. So that way you'll get a very
cohesive look that's gonna look like a real gallery. And that's what people on
Instagram really enjoy - it needs to have your mark on it, your style. So you can
decide whether that's black and white images or if that's like soft and dreamy
or if it's very HDR. Which I personally don't like very much but some
people really enjoy. So just decide what your aesthetic is and you'll grow into
this. Don't be you know afraid of experimenting at the beginning.
Number four - be an active Instagrammer and what i mean by that is not just, you know,
post everyday. What I really mean is comment on other people's pictures and
interact with them. And you shouldn't just comment in a spammy fashion, just
saying "lol great image" or whatever, seven hearts or my favourite the poop emoji.
Like what what do you think I'm gonna do with that? Seriously. So yeah, leave well
thought out, meaningful comments on other people's images and it will really
help kick-start your progress on Instagram. And I mean if you don't enjoy
using the platform then why even bother trying to grow on there you know? Número
cinco - interact with the right people and what i mean by that is find people
that are most likely to be interested in the topics you're interested in and that
you're posting about. So for example for me I will target hashtags like
#girlsvsglobe which is actually a hashtag I created or #dametraveler.
These are hashtags that a lot of female travelers are using and they
are the kind of people that will be interested in my content. So figure out
what those hashtags are for you and then interact with people that are posting on
those hashtags. Number six change your profile picture. Now obviously this will
not apply to everyone, some of you I'm sure have amazing profile pictures. But
if your picture doesn't look great in this size - like seriously Instagram why
can't we click on profile pictures? It's very frustrating. But you need to pick an
image that represents who you are what your Instagram is about, that looks very
enticing so people want to click on your profile and, yes, that looks great in this
size. That's it. Number seven: optimise your bio. Your bio is the first thing
that people see when they come to your profile, aside from your images of course.
And you really need it to represent who you are and what you post on Instagram.
So make it fun, make it memorable, make it snappy.
You know think of something creative but just really make sure that it represents
who you are and what you post about. Number eight: use all the hashtags. If
somebody handed you 30 lottery tickets today what would you do? Would you
play three or four or would you use all of them? Exactly. Now I'm not encouraging
you to gamble but when it comes to Instagram why would you shoot yourself
in the foot and not give yourself every opportunity to succeed? So use all thirty.
And by the way there are trips tips tips there are tricks and tips on how you can
use 60 but don't do that because if you do that it will just render all of your
hashtags invalid. Number nine: use the right hashtags. Now this is where a
little bit of research comes into play but trust me the time spent doing that
is really worth it. Because using the right hashtags is one of the best ways
right now to grow an Instagram. So I really highly recommend you do research.
And if you're not sure how to find the best hashtags
then let me know in a comment below and I will make a video on it. Number ten:
geotag your images, because it will really help you grow.
Studies show that images with location included can perform up to 79%
better. So just do it. Number eleven: experiment with captions. Skay so what I
mean by that is don't be afraid to make your captions longer or shorter than
usual. Just don't be afraid to experiment a little bit. There are no stats really
about how caption length impacts your engagement levels but from my personal
experience if I write a really good caption that really connects with people,
if I ask them a great question, then I will get so many more comments. And
people really engage with me on like a personal level - not just "engagement on
the Internet", but real engagement. They really, you know, share their stories and
it's very very rewarding as well. So think about your captions, don't just
like pop three emojis down - especially the poop emoji. We've talked about this!
No more poop emoji! Just kidding, I love the poop emoji. Alright, come closer.
Number twelve: include a call to action. So we just touched on it now, but
basically don't be afraid to ask questions in your captions.
Even if you're a small Instagrammer and you're kind of worried about not getting
a response - just do it. And another way to include a call to action is asking
people to tag a friend or to... what else could they do...
I don't know, you figure it out. Number thirteen: tag other people in your images.
Now you really don't want to overdo this because it will become very very
annoying. But if there's a feature account that your photo is relevant to -
for example you're traveling through, I don't know, Italy and you're in Venice.
So you are gonna tag the Tourism Board of Italy and a Venice. That's totally fine
and they will probably appreciate it and they might repost your image so in that
case it can be very useful. But I for example get a lot of people tagging me
and I don't share other people's images, so that can get a little bit annoying.
So don't tag other Instagramers but do tag feature counts. Number fourteen: stay on
topic. I know this can be difficult for a lot of people because as humans we are
very multifaceted. We have very many different varied interests. But on
Instagram you really want to narrow it down to two to three interests that you're
gonna be covering on your account. And if there's like one that's completely
incompatible with those just make a different account. Honestly I know it can
feel a little bit limiting but it's definitely worth it.
Because if you suddenly start posting photos of like your puppy... well no,
puppies are fine. Puppies are fine but if you suddenly
start sharing photos of sports cars but up until then you've been sharing photos
of your food and your puppy, then people are gonna be really confused. And they
might unfollow you. So it's just not worth doing. Number fifteen: work in big
trending topics, because it can really help other people discover your account.
So for example, March 8th Women's Day can work that into your gallery. Or December
10th, Human Rights Day. Or my personal favorite May 25th,
International Towel Day. I will wait while you google that. Actually, Google it
after this video - pay attention. But it's amazing, it's, it's amazing.
I love it. Number 16 - this getting difficult now - keep a consistent schedule. So you
can post once or twice or three times - three times should probably be the
cutoff - that's totally fine. But post at similar times every day so that your
followers know what to expect and when to expect your photos. So that they can
already look forward to it and maybe go to your account. So personally I only
post once a day and I post around 9 pm UK time which I have found to be my
optimal time. Which actually brings me to number 17 which is: post at the right
times. When it comes to determining the right time to post you can just use
logic. You know when do people use Instagram? They use it in the morning, at
work maybe around lunchtime and before going to bed. That's my personal
experience anyway. But you can also get a little more scientific about it and you
can use data from services like Iconosquare or the Instagram business profile.
Which brings me to number 18: switch to a business account. And I know this is a
little bit controversial - a lot of people think or, you know, assume that their
engagement is gonna drop and some people have experienced that. Personally when I
switched to a business account I'm gonna tell you what happened. You ready?
Nothing. Nothing happened, nothing changed at all when I switched to a business
account. Except that now I have all these stats and analytics at my fingertips. I'm
able to, you know, determine when is the best time for me to post, who my
followers are, where they come from, how old they are, what gender they are.
Bassically it is very very very useful. So I would highly recommend doing it. And
also a new feature is that in your Instagram Stories you can now include a
link so people can swipe up and go directly to that link, which has really
helped me grow traffic to my blog and also to my YouTube.
So yay! Number 19 - 20 minus 1 - is listen to those analytics. I have loads of blogger
friends and Instagrammer friends who have business accounts, they've paid for
Iconosquare and then they just end up doing whatever they want anyway.
You need a little bit of discipline to succeed on Instagram typically.
Especially when you're starting out. Number 20: reply to your comments. At the
beginning this should be fairly easy but as you begin to grow it'll become more
and more difficult. So for example when it comes to my account I get between say
sixty to a hundred comments per image. And that
is starting to feel a little unsustainable. It's becoming very difficult to reply to
every single one of them but I still try to. Eventually I try to reply to everyone.
And I don't really reply to comments like "beautiful", "love" anymore - you know
things like that. Like one-word comments I don't bother with but if somebody took
the time to leave a thoughtful comment on your account then I think it's only
fair that you reply. Because that's what it's about that's, you know, the
engagement and having a conversation. So social media - keep it social. Number 21:
use Instagram stories. So Instagram has rolled out loads of different features
over the years and they really really want you to use them. So by using
Instagram stories you'll benefit in several ways and here are two that I
think are most important. So number one you will get more recognition from your
existing followers. They're gonna see your face as the first thing when they
log into Instagram and the reason for that is when you go to your feed up top
there's a whole row of different people's Stories. And if you keep yours
recent then you might just be one of those first, I think it's five people,
that they're gonna see. So that's really really useful. And number two I think -
I don't have direct proof for this but I think -- the algorithm secretly favors
people who are really active on Instagram and who use all of its
features. So by using Instagram Stories you're sending a signal to the algorithm
that you should be ranking higher in the newsfeed, in the feed whatever it's
called. So that's something that's worked for me. Again I don't know this is all
hearsay because we don't have access to the exact data about the algorithm.
But that's something that's worked for me. And 22 - even better than Instagram
Stories is Instagram live. So the reason it's better a) it's because you know
you're having that direct conversation with your followers. So that really helps
them feel like they know you and that really makes them invested in your
account. But number two - and this is really really cool - if you save your
Instagram live and you show it for 24 hours, kind of in your Story, so you get
two tabs so they can click Stories or Live, you will I can guarantee that
you'll be one of the first people on anyone's
homepage. Because that's how it's arranged - first the lives and then
everybody else. So I really really highly recommend you start doing Instagrams
Live. I know it can be a little bit daunting but it's worth it. Number 23:
post more videos. I don't really do this enough myself but I think it's another
feature that Instagram wants you to be using. So posting videos can be a really
good way to get to the top of that feed and videos for a lot of people get more
views than they would normally get likes. For me that's not really the case. I
don't know why, I think people hate my videos. But yeah definitely give this
whole video thing a try and see how it goes. And let me know if it worked for
you! Number 24 - we're just one away from finishing this video - is promote your
Instagram on other social media networks. It's very self-explanatory, you know, drop
a comment about your Instagram on Facebook or on Twitter or... what else do
people use? Vine? Not! Sorry that was mean. Too soon? But yeah if you already have
followers on another network then let them know that you're also on Instagram
and that should bring a few of them over. Don't expect hundreds you know or
thousands of people to come over. Because I had a really big following on Facebook
and on my blog and it was still a slow trickle. But every little bit helps so I
definitely recommend you do that. And number 25, the final point that I want to
make, is partner with your fellow creators. I know people do this a lot
here on YouTube but on Instagram people aren't really doing that very much and
it's a real shame because that is a really really really great way to grow.
Not just by being featured by feature accounts but by directly one-on-one
working with other Instagrammers that you like and that you know, whose work you're
passionate about. I think this works really well and I wish that more people
did this. You can even do something very simple like giving them a shout out in
your Stories or whatever. It doesn't have to be a lot of work and it can be very
effective. So I definitely recommend you know getting in touch with other
Instagrammers that are about the same size as you or, you know, if you know
someone who has a bigger following and you're already friends.
Obviously don't mooch off someone but if you know someone then, you know, try and
talk to them and make it worth their while somehow. I don't know, do their
laundry. Whatever, you know, whatever it takes because we all want to be
famous on the Internet. Which brings me to the very end of this
video. Please please subscribe to my channel if you enjoyed this one and I
would really appreciate it if you also commented below letting me know if this
was helpful, if you have any other Instagram tips things like that. And also
give this video a thumbs up. And if you subscribe and even if you don't I really
hope to see you next Friday because that's when I bring out new videos. Bye
everyone! Bye bye bye bye bye bye!