Instagram is all about people organically UNfollowing you
new post equals losing 1000 followers
I lose around 1000 followers with every new post on Instagram (it’s the way life works - some of my followers become less interested in my content, and here I am, reminding them that they haven’t unsubscribed yet).
before I talked to Jon (Instagram’s ex-employee), the only way for me to grow was asking my Youtube followers to follow me on Instagram as well.
This way I was able to drive around 1000 subs per day (my Youtube channels have 5M+ followers), so my Instagram subscriber count was pretty much stable for the past few months (despite me posting regularly).
I sat down with Jon to talk about ways to grow organically on Instagram in 2021 and everything changed in less than a week after I started applying his tips.
In my recent stats you still see hundreds of people unfollowing me every day, but I finally started growing faster than I used to before, gaining around 1400 new followers daily:
This graphs might give you an insight on where these new followers are coming from:
Yes, reels are giving me great exposure to ‘cold’ audience! I post 5 times a week, mostly by using videos my team has created for my TikTok.
Here are key takeaways from our interview with Jon:
Reels are a #1 instrument for organic growth on Instagram
People are using strategies that they did in 2017-2016 and trying to get away with it in 2021 (hashtags, for example)
The oldest formats are the most saturated (it’s really hard to get new followers from stories and posts)
Instagram is looking at who is consuming the content and what other content they consumed in the past and trying to serve a relevant piece of content
With Reels you get exposure to new audience (oh yes!)
Timing really matters on Instagram (I’ve seen that firsthand - if I post when my audience is asleep, I get 20K likes. Compare this to 50K when my audience is awake)
One of the most underrated strategies is using polls on stories (this way you get insights on what your audience is most interested in)
Use four-way live to grow (haven’t tried that yet, but Jon says it’s one of the most underrated tools to grow)
Don't post a reel with a watermark from another app
Thanks, Marina
I'd Like to say thank u so much for all your effort, and i love the video also the tips are great.