3 Steps To Grow Your Instagram Organically

There have been a lot of charged emotions swirling around the topic of the ‘Instagram algorithm’ lately, and understandably so. Frustration, confusion, disenchantment.. but rather than getting caught up in blaming the algorithm for every less-than-fulfilled expectation, let’s be proactive in how we can work with the algorithm to achieve your social media goals. All hope is not lost in growing your page organically, I promise! Here are a few of my go-to tips in using the algorithm to your advantage.


1. Engage with your current audience.

First things first— whether it’s 20 followers or 20,000 followers.. you have an audience already, so interact with them! Respond to their comments on your posts as much as possible, if not always. If they went out of their way to invest time and energy into a thoughtful comment, it’s courteous to do the same. This will build a sense of community and make someone want to return to your page for you, not solely for the content you post.

Pro tip: Sort through your DM message requests and make an effort to respond to as many people as you can, especially the ones that leave heartfelt compliments or mindful questions. The larger the following you have, the tougher this can be. Understandably, we are all human that lead busy lives off-screen and can’t respond to hundreds of people every single day. Do the best you can and keep in mind that this will only strengthen the connection your audience has to you.


2. Reach new accounts & grow your following.

Now that we have your current audience covered, let’s move on to growing your audience organically. Dancers, musicians, lifestyle creators.. no matter the medium, engage with accounts and hashtags within your niche. Dedicate 20 minutes a day to scroll through relevant hashtags and like/comment on as many posts as possible. (For example, if you’re a dancer, search hashtags such as #contemporarydance #ballet #moderdance #dancephotography) This method can feel exhausting at times, but it works! Not only will you capture the attention of the person who runs the account, but you might intrigue other people commenting on the same post to check out your page as well! Full transparency, you won’t necessarily gain 100 followers in one night, but over time you’ll begin to notice your following increase. Remember, you’ll get as much as you put in, which leads to my next point..


3. Be consistent and keep it varied.

Prioritize posting to your feed once per day and if that feels a little too overwhelming, schedule a rest day. It’s important to stay consistent with feed posts for two reasons:
1. So you continue to pop up on your followers’ newsfeeds on a regular basis and..
2. Instagram’s algorithm tends to prioritize newer content as opposed to posts from weeks ago. Content planning apps like Planoly or Tailwind can be great tools for scheduling posts in advance and curating your feed. Another content strategy to experiment with is posting a variety content— and I don’t just mean simply posting both photos and videos. Vary the lengths of your video content between posting longer and shorter clips and see what your audience responds to most. Posting clips shorter than :15 seconds might be more likely to be saved and replayed more than once. Whatever talent or theme your Instagram account is centered around, try posting a short clip demonstrating an element of your skill that your audience can rewatch and learn from, offering valuable and savable content.