Growing Your Instagram
“I want to start an Instagram/Blog…
…where should I start?”
Tarjaymaxx’s Tips & Tricks For Growing a Real, Organic Following in Less than a Year
Originally written on February 2, 2020
Updated on June 17, 2020
Happy Sunday! Over the past few weeks I’ve been getting more and more followers on my @tarjaymaxx page asking a similar question which has inspired me to create this post! I thought it was a funny question considering I only have about 3,700-ish (I now have 15.3k, keep reading) followers, but hey–I guess we all start somewhere! A few followers have been asking me for some advice on how/where to start when creating a new Instagram/blog.
I started my Target/Tj Maxx page on Sept 15, 2019, because I was following a few pages (@talktargettome, @tjmaxxdout, @butfirsttarget) that really inspired me to create one. Before these pages, I had no idea this community existed on Instagram and the more I found the more I wanted to be a part of it because…why not?! Lol. I made this page because I wanted to have a creative outlet to express myself on whether that was through the items I bought, or the stories I posted, things I saw at the store…etc.
I went to school for marketing with a focus on social media marketing, so naturally, when I get asked this question my inner DePaul University nerd came out and I get hype to answer. Since this is a pretty popular topic, I figured, why not make my tips a post?! I have come up with a few tips that can help grow your Instagram no matter what stage you are at!
Be unique and have a purpose. Don’t start an Instagram because you want to be “Instagram Famous.” Have meaning behind your page. Show who you are even if you are just sharing photos of items at Target lol. Create unique captions, share fun stories, create story highlights that are unique to YOU, not anyone else. If your page is like every single other shopping page (or any page for that matter…) out there, you may get lost in the dust. Think of an eye-catching handle, a funny bio, or a super cute logo people will not be able to resist! Most importantly, have fun with it.
Engage, engage, engage. This is HUGE when you are trying to grow your Instagram, honestly at any stage: beginner or seasoned vet. Without other people, you can’t really get far (hence, SOCIAL media lol). Normally what I do when starting a new Instagram, I go after accounts that are similar to mine and follow them. Some will follow you back, some will not. But when starting out it’s important to start interacting with like-accounts because they are going to get your engagement going. Like photos, comment, share, save, etc.
Celebrate your growth. I started getting excited after 100 followers lol, tbh even 50! I didn’t think people would actually follow me. The speed that my page grew honestly blew my mind so after every hundred, thousand, I thanked my followers for being there whether it was in a post, story, or giveaway! I did a giveaway at 500 followers as well as at 1,000 and 2,000. Be grateful for those following you whether its 25 or 250,000!
Plan your photos & have inspiration. I made a separate Instagram account to pre-plan out my photos and make sure everything flows and looks neat together. #Extra. Although it’s not necessary to plan out your posts, people like feeds that are aesthetically pleasing, and nice to look at. Would you want to follow a page that had cluttered photos or no eye-catching content? Probably not. Don’t know how to make your feed POP? No worries, I’ve created a pack of presets created to make your feed look BOMB AF! Check them out here, and be sure to follow @sasypresets for your chance to be featured, collabs, giveaways, and more!
If you don’t want to create another Instagram account, there are apps that you can use, such as Planoly, where you can plan out your posts and have them posted automatically. It’s also important to have inspiration on how you want your feed to look!Use popular/fitting hashtags. Instagram’s algorithm is constantly changing, but one thing that has steady stayed the same are hashtags! You want to make sure that you are hashtagging your posts, especially when you are first starting off. Each post can have UP TO 30 hashtags on it. I’ve created a doc on my phone with a ton of hashtags that are relevant to my page that I have found to be successful. It’s important to switch up your hashtags every time you post so your pictures show up! I’ve noticed before if you continuously use the same ones over and over, your pictures may not show up, same with if you use the same hashtag twice in one post. Another tip is to pay attention to how many posts are in a hashtag. If there are 1.5M posts under ONE hashtag, skip using that one. If so many people are using the same hashtag, your post will get lost in a second. Try to use hashtags that contain less than 100K posts when starting off. You want to use popular ones, but not too popular where your post will vanish in two seconds. Following popular hashtags you use is also a great way to engage with similar pages. I like to pick a hashtag, then look at the “related” hashtags at the top of the screen. Instagram will display related hashtags that you can use to stay on track.
Time out your posts. If you are just starting out, try not to post at weird times like 11PM or 1 AM because that will attract followers who are on at that time and it may throw things off in the long run. Try to focus on prime times such as 8 am, while people are on their morning commute, or 12 pm when most people are on their phone during lunch breaks, or out of class, out of work, etc. I try to stay within 9AM, 12PM, 3PM, 6PM, etc. Everyone’s engagement times are different, and after you start to post more frequently, Instagram will provide analytics on your audience and give you your most popular times to post. There are also apps that will break this down for you. One that I’ve used for a while is WhenToPost that breaks down your 3 most popular times to post every single day!
Know your audience & make sure your audience knows you. You’re going to want your audience to know you for something. For example, my page people can expect to find items from Target & Tj Maxx and things related to the products I buy, etc. You don’t want to start a food blog, then start posting about sales at Nordstrom Rack. Are you targeting foodies or people who love to shop at Nordstrom Rack? Get what I mean? Having a target audience in mind will help you attract the right people and keep your page on track.
Stay consistent. It’s important to keep your followers engaged otherwise they may lose interest and unfollow. Make sure you are always posting, don’t take long breaks and disappear for days then come back. Staying consistent and posting often will keep you in the algorithm and higher up on your follower’s feeds. I like to ask questions in my posts, ask for opinions, etc.
Be active in your stories. Another form of engagement I personally like the best is stories. Stories have evolved since the beginning of Instagram– like now all the amazing filters, so cute. I like to post on my stories everyday, whether I’m just chatting, asking for opinions, sharing sales, posting while I shop, etc. If people are watching your story, they’re more likely to stay following you because you’re constantly interacting and sharing.
Tag brands. Honestly, without this tip I prob wouldn’t have grown as fast as I did. Within the first month of having my page, WhoWhatWear shared one of my photos and tagged in the caption. I got about 300+ followers from one shoutout. Tj Maxx also shared a couple of my posts which I also gained followers from. I’ve received likes from Ben and Jerry’s, Olly Nutrition, Dr. Brandt, First Aid Beauty, Tarte, etc. and have also DM’d back and forth with some brands after tagging them in stories. It’s good to be seen by some of your favorite brands, it could potentially lead up to something big in the future!
So, yeah, that’s about it! Those are the tips that I can give that I have found work for me personally! Everyone starts somewhere, so don’t be discouraged or embarrassed to start from scratch– you never know what will come out of taking the initial step!
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out! START THAT PAGE GIRL.
Have a great night, xo.
