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7 Easy Tips to an Engaged Instagram Account

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So you have the follower count but your engagement doesn’t seem to correlate with any of the audience growth you’ve been seeing. You can count your engagement rate with your fingers in one hand. My article walks you through the latest tips to become a more engaged Instagram account.

Last updated: January 23, 2020

7 Tips for Engaged Instagram Account Featured Image

Here’s what popular opinion never tells you: You have to engage!! It’s easy to post multiple images a day and leave it alone. Unless you’re a celebrity, you’ll soon realize this method will get you nowhere. If you want a following you’re going to have to give people a reason to give their attention to you. Attention is a commodity nowadays so why should anyone give you 3 seconds of their time? Well, to start, a good reason is that you’re giving them yours. So with that said, let’s move on to the very first tip.

1.) You Scratch my back and I’ll Scratch Yours

The idea of reciprocity is an age-old one from the early days of human civilization and trade to the present days of social media. It’s very simple, when you like a post there’s a good chance that account will like yours right back. It’s an even exchange. Always keep that in mind.

But, “Rich, I’ve haven’t seen any reciprocity. When I try to comment and like another account, they never respond back to me. You’re completely wrong!”

Then my next advice is to check the accounts you’ve been interacting with. If these accounts are 3 times or more your audience size, chances are they’re not going to reciprocate. It’s nothing personal, it’s science. Aim for the accounts that are similar in size to you (or smaller) and you’ll notice more interactions.

Found Tip #1 useful? Check out my Unwritten Rules of Instagram article that goes into the mindset to have for a successful Instagram Foodie Account.

2. The Art of Following Up

This tip ties in with Tip #1 about reciprocity. Whenever someone interacts with you, interact with them back. It only takes a few interactions for that person to begin to remember you. For example:

Ghosts in different colors and sizes
Hey! No ghosting!
Photo Credit: OpenClipart-Vectors
  • If someone likes your photo, go back to theirs and like them.
  • When someone makes a comment on your photo, reply back.
  • If someone tags you, like and leave a comment.

After a few likes/comments they are going to remember you and as a reminder, no ghosting allowed if you want an engaged instagram account! If you’ve ever been ghosted, you’ll know it’s just not a cool thing to do.

3. Peacock Theory in Action: Use Bulk Likes

Peacock wooing peahen
“Look at me Dammit, I’m beautiful!”
Photo Credit: Kenneth Lu

Like a male peacock, the most colorful and flashiest get their mate. It’s not different for humans. After all, we are social animals and will reciprocate good deeds (are you seeing a pattern here? Human reciprocity is alive and well!). So as mentioned earlier, when someone shows you love, you gotta show it right back. As you’ll find out sooner or later, time is very limited. You have to make every effort count and in order to do that, you will follow my commandment: thou shall like in bulk. What I mean is you want to take up their whole notification screen. I actually took the time to count and it comes out to about 10-11 rows like this:

Instagram Notification Screenshot of peacocking
What Peacocking Looks like

This is how you keep your ancestry, I mean, your account fresh and memorable with others. Usually, accounts will be thankful and give you a shoutout on their story. This is great because it gives you more exposure and it’s likely other accounts will want to follow you because you share these important values of being a decent human being.

4. Leave Thoughtful Comments

My valentine dog to world
Photo Credit: Joe Haupt

A word on commenting. The most useless comments I’ve seen are generic ones that can be copied and pasted over and over again. If you really want to leave an impression, you have to stray away from those type of comments like “Amazing!” “Yummy” or inserting a bunch of emoji’s. You gotta ask yourself what’s the difference between yourself and a bot at that point? Show them your value by giving them a few extra seconds of thought and over time it will pay off. Respond to their caption. If its a question, it‘s even better because it just makes commenting easier!

5. Use Engagement Pods

For those who are not familiar, a common technique most accounts use is what’s called an Engagement Pod or sometimes referred to as Instagram Pods. Essentially these are chat groups often found in the Direct Message who all are dedicated to liking and maybe commenting on every member’s post. We, humans, tend to have a herd mentality, where we are influenced by our peers. For example, when you drive by a restaurant with a huge crowd outside. Chances are you’d want to stop by to check out the commotion. For the case of Instagram, when we see many liking and commenting on a post, we want to join in. Engagement Pods can help boost your engaged Instagram account and I would not pass it up.

Overtime, as both your account and engagement grows others will want to be a part of it. In other words, you will start seeing others outside your engagement pod leaving comments on your post. The reason why this is the case, is because these accounts are also trying to grow. They know that if they leave a comment, they will be seen thus increasing their chances of getting followed.

6. Take advantage of Insta Stories for Engaged Instagram

I call it the Best Friends Forever (BFF) maker. It really is. Many are not taking advantage of this awesome feature. It gives you a way to connect with others and show your human side. Sometimes, especially with themed accounts like food ones, you don’t get to show another side of yourself. With polls, quizzes, questions, etc. it would be difficult not to create any rapport with other users. Instagram makes it easy so take advantage. Regular posts at times, do not give you the chance to show your personality and Stories does allow the possibility.

Do: Check out other users’ stories. Respond to them. This is a great way to stick out because, as I said, many are not taking advantage of Insta Stories. Think about it, when you use Instagram do you remember those who DM you or the account activity in your Notifications? When you react or respond to an Insta Story, a DM is sent.

7. Tag your posts

"Tag You're it" with indexing finger pointing at reader
Photo Credit: Prose0606

Haven’t interacted with someone in a while? Well, here’s your chance to tag them. After a while, just as others have noticed you, you will begin noticing certain accounts yourself. You’ll notice what this account likes and dislikes solely based on the subject they post. For example, some may be dominant in posts about icescream. If your next post is about icescream, guess who you can tag?? 🙂

BONUS: Leave Great Captions

This one here shouldn’t be a secret. If you leave great captions, it will make it easier for others to comment. This goes with Tip #4. It’s good courtesy to have for both sides as engager and engagee. If you caption with a boring description of your post, it’s not going to translate well. Energy is contagious and it can transfer to the captions. Be exciting, ask a question, tell a short story, and answer the question why we should care.

There you have it! My 7 tips for an engaged Instagram account. Use these tips and you should see your Instagram game multiply twofold. If you found my article helpful, you should definitely check out How I Got 2000 followers fast because there are more components involved. And if you want to support my page, do subscribe and follow me on my social media handles: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook.

Instagram Etiquette: The Unwritten Rules 2019

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If your Instagram account is in a rut, chances are you’re not following great Instagram Etiquette. Since the beginning of time, as long there’s human interaction there have been unwritten rules society abides by. This article covers great etiquette that will transform you into a star bringing you more followers in the long run.

Last updated: February 2, 2021

Instagram Etiquette Featured Image

How to have great Instagram Etiquette

Let’s face it, Instagram is like a game of BlackJack. There is a matter of skills, luck, and play your cards right there’s a good chance of winning it big. In this world, instead of winning cash you get likes and follows. To enter, you buy with time. The more time you spend on Instagram, the higher the reward. If you’ve ever played BlackJack at a table, you will find there’s a right way to play. The players at the table are much like a community rooting for everyone to win as long as you don’t mess up the flow. Don’t believe? Ask the dealer to hit you at 19 and there’s a good chance you’ll find what was once a full table is now just yourself and the dealer. With all that said, keeping those things in mind, what are the rules and how can we win?

Let’s get a quick overview before we begin:

  1. Keep your account niche.
  2. Display your Personality.
  3. Follow the 90/10 Rule for Theme to Personal Photos
  4. Use Engagement Pods.
  5. Divide up your time.
  6. Content, content, engagement?
  7. Be Genuine.
  8. Time is a resource. Be grateful to visitors.
  9. Just do it.

1.) Keep your account niche.

You can stray away later when you have hundreds of thousands of followers but you need to make it very clear to people in the beginning what your account is about. I’ll use my example since I have a foodie account. It’s simple, Foodies will want to follow other foodies. If you post stuff about cosmetics, fashion, or cars how do you know if your followers have an interest in these fields?

There will be times when you just want to go off the deep end and share some off-themed posts but remember that your audience is following you because of your theme. They see value there. I’m not against it completely but try to keep it 90-10 which I’ll go into more details in Rule #3. You want your audience to relate with you, not isolate them.

2.) Display your Personality.

Your personality is your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). There are millions of travel, food, cars, fashion accounts. What makes your account different is you. I hate to break the news but you have to reveal who you are and what you’re about. If people see your value they will feel obliged to follow you. The only other possibility is making theme accounts where you post other people’s images/videos but I don’t think you’re here to do that. You’re here because you want to build something, perhaps, to quit your day job one day to live freely!

Be true to yourself. Be helpful. Follow the Golden Rule: Treat others the way you want to be treated or better yet, the Platinum Rule if you’re really good with social skills, treat others the way they want to be treated.

Platinum Rule Treat others the way they want to be treated.

Don’t caption your pictures with just boring descriptions or worst, with nothing. You’re losing out on your followers. Are you funny, serious, relatable? They would never know and you’d never get the chance to make that human connection.

So how to caption? Share a personal story. Tell your followers the why’s of the picture. Tell your followers a joke. If it’s a restaurant: tell them what occasion you’re there. For more details check out how to optimize your feed and profile.

3.) 90/10: Theme Posts to Personal Images

This rule doesn’t apply if you’re in the entrepreneurial, fitness, or travel niches but it’s ever so true for niches like food. Remember what I was saying about personality and not hiding behind a logo? Well, Rule #3 goes along with #2 BUT post too many and you’re in danger of losing followers. As a general rule, I like to keep it 90% about your theme and 10% about you. Show people who you are. Make it interesting.

Don’t simply just post just to post. Have a reason behind it.

Don’t make it 100% about yourself. Remember, you need to provide value whether that’s in the form of information and/or entertainment, you can decide what works best for you. If you take too many pictures of yourself, you run the danger of confusing others what your account is about. The only exceptions are in fashion or fitness. Even then you still don’t want to have too many pictures of yourself.

The worst accounts, imo, are the ones that scream for attention displaying high levels of narcissism. An account with more selfies will surely get drop your follower rate. For me, I like to do 10% images of myself and 90% on my theme.

And this is not me saying you can’t do selfies at all. After you get your first 2000 followers and you’ve built a good rapport with your audience, then you should reveal more about yourself slowly by thin layers.

4.) Participate in Engagement Pods (aka Instagram Pods)

If you don’t know what an engagement pod is, well you’ve come to the right place. It’s what a lot of Instagram accounts are using to up their engagement rate (the percentage of your followers that like/comment on your posts). Shocking!?!? I know right! You should have seen my innocent social media ears when I first heard about this strategy as I always thought everything was organic before. The engagement rate is another Key Performance Indicator (KPI) sponsors look for. Usually the more followers the account, the less engagement there is. 10% is considered good for large accounts and anything greater than 20% for small accounts are golden.

Anyways, I digress. You’re probably wondering how you can find these engagement pods. The best way honestly is to start your own. When you start your own, you can hand pick the people you want to engage with. Theres this advice that’s always stuck with me from a realtive of mine. He told me that on my first day of college I want to make friends with as many people as possible. The ones that stay around are going to be your friends for life. With the engagement pod, look at it that way. You’re going to find like minded individuals who are aspiring to do the same things you are. As weeks and months pass you will see how much everyone grown together. It’s fun and you can develop some meaningful relatioships.

These are your support group. Through thick and thin, through bad pictures, through awesome ones they will like your posts. Treat them well.

5.) Divvy up your time.

Image quote "Never a failure, always a lesson."
Photo by Dana Tentis from Pexels

Don’t try to get it done all at once. With all this engagement, you may find yourself addicted and spending longer hours than anticipated. Afterall, we all have a life to attend. A good rule of thumb I like to follow is 30-35 follows a day. After a month, you’re going to be near 1000 and when you get close to the finish line, you’ll naturally want to push a little harder. Once you reach your quota of 30-35 followers/day, shut it off. Run far away from your phone. Leave it with your dog. It will be tempting to check your notifications.

Check out my schedule to gain followers fast with minimum effort and efficiency.

NOTE: Another reason you want to follow accounts in small chunks is that you run the risk of getting banned or blocked. The last I checked was 1000 per day (these are are just speculative numbers based on other user’s experience because Instagram does not disclose this info) but it constantly changes and you may want to stay clear under that number.

6.) “Content is King, but Engagement is Queen and she rules the house.”

It’s a popular belief that if you keep posting, an image is bound to go viral. That’s semi-true. The problem is getting seen and heard via Instagram. If no one can find you or your posts, how can it go viral? By posting more? Let me tell you something, there’s a common saying that can be applied here: the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again expecting different results.

So as mentioned earlier, it’s semi-true. What you want to do is post as much as you can and engage. I wouldn’t worry too much about how often. I post on average 3 times a week and still made 2000 followers in 4 months and that was when I was just starting out.

7.) Don’t force it. Be genuine.

This one seems like a no brainer but you’ll be amazed how easy it is to fall off the cliff. Know who you are. Be congruent. Follow those who you resonate with. Don’t just follow just anybody. Most likely those accounts won’t stay around long. Don’t force things that aren’t there. Don’t go around asking people to shout you out because you followed them. I also think it’s spammy if you have to ask others to like your post via Direct Message. I don’t know about you but the more I’m told to do something the more I disengaged I become.

8.) Time is a resource. Always be grateful.

Remember, you’re the new kid on the block. You have to pay your respects and dues to those before you and just anyone, in general. It’s always a good mindset to have. It will pay off in the long run. With that said, whoever interacts with you, always make it a habit to return the favor. In the beginning, it will definitely feel like your efforts aren’t being noticed and there will be those scumbags who don’t carry the same values but that’s the beauty of the world and Instagram, diversity. If someone likes your posts, like their’s back. Think about it, someone took the time to give you their 1-2 seconds, and maybe more. There are over 1 billion people on Instagram and these are the users giving you their time. Time is a resource and attention is currency.

9.) The most important thing: Do IT! Action cures fear.

Shia LeBeouf wants you to just do it!
still from Shia LaBeouf “Just Do It” Motivational Speech → ktxc.to/yt-shia-labeouf-just-do-it

You can spend the whole day analyzing what you should and should not do but you know what, you won’t really know it until you try it out yourself. At the end of the day, these are all the things that’s worked for me. You will use my guide as a stepping stone and I’m sure along the way you’ll tweak things around to make it truly yours. There will be embarrassing, cringe-worthy times and even sad moments but that’s what it all about. Learning, sticking with it, and accomplishing. Good luck and keep it fun.

Enjoyed this article and want more details? Find out how I gained 2000 Followers Fast and don’t forget to share! This tells me what I’m doing is worthwhile and to write more posts like this that brings you value. In addition, please follow me on Instagram @chowyoulater and facebook.

How to get to 2000 Real Instagram Followers Fast

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Instagram is frustrating. You post your best pictures ever and get a measly 20 likes while other accounts with candid snapshots of their toenail get likes in the 1000s. If you just started your account or need to break 2000, you’re in the right place. I’m going to show you exactly how to get 2000 Instagram followers fast and more without being spammy, the use of automation, or me selling you a service.

Last updated: May 22, 2020

Quick Links

Why should you take my advice?

Who is this doofus??

1.) I’m the most average person there is. I’m not some sexy beast, a billionaire tycoon, nor an outgoing person. My photos are not even that great (although getting better) and moving to a new city I have no connections. My network is ground zero. I had to learn everything from the bottom. If I can do it, I’m 100% sure you can too.

2.) A lot of advice you’ll find on the web are either outdated, click baity, or from those with so many followers they’re out of touch with the smaller guys/gals out there. And then you’ll get advice that assumes you already have an account with an established audience advising you to post as much as possible, pay for ads, go live, make your stories pop, etc. I hate those with a passion. In today’s Instagram climate, their algorithm is always changing because people find ways to exploit it. Thankfully, you won’t have to worry anymore because Rich got you! This year, I’ve been a mad man obsessed with figuring out the hows and whats of Instagram.

3.) I just reached 2000 Followers! It’s fresh on my mind. I started to take my account seriously on March 1, 2019 and reached my first 1000 on May 27, 2019 and 2000 followers on June 26, 2019. Most will wait until they’re cemented in their influencer status but I’m the opposite. These are the freshest strategies. Use it, and surpass me. I believe we’re all striving for the same things so we should all help each other instead of competing against one another. There’s a lot of opportunities for everyone.

4.) My approach have been tried and tested a thousand times. It took me 4 months to break 2000 followers, but for you it will happen in half that time if not earlier. For me, within those 4 months I’ve messed up, failed, learned everything on the go. I did all the stupid embarrassing things gurus have told me to do, like replying back to DM’s with a video. Oh, it hurts me whenever I think about the countless ghostings. Basically, you don’t have to be an idiot. My 6 Step Process is the most efficient way to get followers.

5.) My account is live and active. I feel like Deadpool breaking the 4th wall here. Follow me to see me grow in real time and on the other side, I’d like to watch you grow too. It’s mutual. Send me a DM if you’ve got specific questions. Heck after going through my post, you’re likely going to surpass me which would make me a very happy camper.

Milestones to Achieve

First, let’s go over the three hurdles you will need to cross. Many think becoming an influencer is easy but believe it or not, there’s a high barrier of entry. Your greatest assets will be persistence and a learning mindset. This section is divided into 3 phases since there are different strategies for each one. The fourth phase is anything beyond 2000 followers. That’s for another article as this one will focus exclusively on getting your first 2000 followers.

  1. Newbie: 0-200 Followers
  2. Rookie: 201-1000 Followers
  3. Starter: 1001-2000 Followers
  4. Beyond 2001 Followers…

Newbie: 0 to 200 Instagram Followers

“All by Myself, Don’t wanna be” – Celine Dion
Photo credit: Donnie Ray Jones

I believe the road to your first 200 is the hardest. It’s like being the new kid in school. All the groups have already been formed and you’re left twiddling your thumbs trying to figure out if you belong or not. You hate lunch period because it means sitting by yourself watching the other kids have the time of their life. I get it, everything is new and you’re just not sure what to do. I’ve been down that road aplenty. When I was a kid, I moved 6 times in my pre-adult years.

With that said, your strategy here is to:

  • Optimize your profile. This here is ever so important for newbies.
  • Post only niched photos. You want to set a great first impression. Make it clear from the very start what your account is about.
  • Follow everyone and anyone. The goal is solely to get to 200. You will be turned down a lot! You will have to get used to it. Expect a low number of follow-backs.
  • A note on follow-backs: At this phase, you should follow all the accounts back. You run the risk of losing your followers and may find yourself back to square one. It won’t matter much in the future.

Rookie: 201-1000 Instagram Followers

If you’ve exceeded 200, now you’re just known as the kid. The hardest work has been done. Your audience is going to be mostly business accounts and those looking for a follow. Don’t worry about it. It won’t matter soon. You just keep posting good content to your feed regularly. At this point, you may want to start being strategic with your follows as you don’t want an account full of spam followers. Here I suggest pivoting to following real personal accounts in your niche.

  • I recommend following those in your area, using either the hashtag or location search to see what they are up to and there’s always the possibility of meeting them in person one day.
  • This is a good time to start or find an engagement pod. If you’ve been extremely active and your comments are well thought of, others may have noticed and will invite you.
  • If you haven’t already, use this phase to develop your photography skills. You don’t need an SLR camera, an iPhone will do. Just learn the basics of composition, lighting, and themes.
  • At the 500 followers mark, if you haven’t already, consider switching your account to a business one so you can get access to your posts insights.
  • As mentioned in the previous phase, follow back the majority of accounts that follows you. The Follow for Follow Method is real, if you don’t follow them back you run the risk of losing your followers. Follow them and get to know them. In the later phases, you won’t need to worry about following back but for now, you need to build credibility.

Starter: 1001-2000 Instagram Followers

This is where accounts are starting to notice you because most are also within this range of 1001-2000 followers. We, as humans, tend to like others similar to us. This can’t be any truer as more accounts similar in follower size will begin flocking to you. Your followback rate will be higher and at this point, you should know your customer avatar(s). If not, now is the time to brainstorm.

If you’ve been practicing your content, engagement, and the Follow For Follow at around the 1800 mark is when you’ll notice all your hard work paying off. You’re going to see an influx of notifications and suddenly others within your niche will start following you. The real fun begins.

Beyond 2001 Instagram Followers

Hallelujah!! You made it!
Photo credit: Christina Rutz

There are more milestones after 2000. We won’t be covering them here but if you’re curious, check out my Cheat Sheet.

If you’ve surpassed 2000 followers, congrats!! You are now officially a nano influencer, the most powerful influencer group. Yes even above someone like Kim Kardashian. You’ve built yourself an audience. Your time is now more limited than ever. It will become more difficult to engage as your notifications will blow up and it’s a lot easier to get followers. Things will come more organically. The game has changed and you’ll need to have a new strategy.

In addition, you’ll meet others within your niche and finally make some cash! If sponsors haven’t gone out to you yet, you can go to them. I recommend going with products and services you actually use because it’s just unethical to recommend stuff without any basis. Here’s a table I’ve made that displays the types of agencies out there for you to parnter with:

The Concept: How to get Instagram Followers Fast

This section is divided into 2 parts:

I don’t care what anybody has to say. The most effective way to get followers fast is the Follow For Follow Method which I will cover below. Before that, let’s go over what makes an account successful and understand the theory.

The 3 Chows for Getting Instagram Followers Fast

You need to follow the rules to understand the mindset. Mindset is very important because it’s the difference between quitting and continuing. From the top level, there are 3 main concepts you want to execute on Instagram and that is to Grow the Account, Create Content, and Engage. We have to continuously partake in these activities no matter what. The allocation of resources and strategies may change but the components are going to remain static.

The next question to ask is “how?”. These 3 work together, without one it will be difficult to achieve:

Keep in mind, you need to have a solid profile and feed first. DO NOT put your profile on private. That’s a sure fire way to grow your account slowly.

How? Use these Techniques.

1. The Follow for Follow (F4F) Method

Image by ijmaki from Pixabay

This method has a bad reputation like a Ponzi scheme or a sketchy car dealership. I think what gave it a bad rep are the sleazy people behind it following and unfollowing once a follow-back has been established. It’s a waste of time for everyone so please, please don’t be sleazy.

There’s a ethical way to go about Follow for Follow: If an account follows you, keep following them. On the other hand, if the account does not follow you then, by all means, unfollow them. It sounds mean, but trust me this is like common law in the Instagram world. Give them a few days, not everyone checks their Instagram daily. Don’t confuse this with accounts that have followed you. You have the freedom to follow or not. You do not have to follow everyone that follows you.

The times you’re allowed to unfollow a followed account is if that person disappeared or they have no interactions with you. They’re basically following you to have a follower. It’s what’s called a ghost account. This action is optional and I’ll leave it to your own personal values and upbringing on how to go about this one.

With that out of the way, let me explain the Conventional way of Follow For Follow:

  1. Follow large accounts within your niche.
  2. When a large account publishes a post, you go to their likes and follow every single account that’s liked that post.
What Playing Hide and Seek in the dark looks like

I’m going to tell you doing that is a waste of time. It’s like playing hide and seek in the dark. Sure, you’ll eventually find your target but s/he might not be alive anymore after hiding under the bed for 60 years. Luckily, I discovered and created a much more efficient and smarter way.

Note: Instagram has been cracking down on automation and bot-like behavior so do not abuse the Follow action. If you follow too many during a given time it could signal to Instagram you’re a bot. Instagram will “follow block” you for a couple of days. When in doubt, be a human user. Ask yourself, What Would Jesus Do?

The Smart Way of using Follow for Follow

There are 2 main ways to find your followers:

  1. Hashtag Search
  2. Your Follower’s Followers

Let’s outline the steps for Finding Followers in Hashtag Search.

1.) The very first thing is to compile a list of hashtags over 1 million posts within your niche. 5 is a good number to start with. Once you have that done go to the next step.

2.) Go to the Hashtag Search tab.

3.) Type in the hashtag you found in Step 1. Go to the Recent Tab.

4.) These are the posts that are most recent. Aim for posts within 30 minutes. I consider those fresh.

5.) Go to each profile and check out their Follow Rate. If > 0.5 Follow. If < 0.5 move on to the next profile.

6.) Keep going through each profile until you reach a stale post (anything over 30 minutes). You can repeat steps 2-5.

Let’s Outline the steps for Finding Followers within Followers.

1.) This method can also be used in conjunction with the Hashtag Search. Say a follower just posted and you find them on your newsfeed. You check the time posted, and if it’s under 30 minutes then click on either their likes or comments.

I want to thank Jenna for letting me use her account for this example. Make sure to follow her @thepizzakween

2.) In this instance, I chose comments. I tend to go for those who are most active on IG so I prefer comments but you can also go to the Likes List.

3.) If the time checks, then go to that person’s profile.

I want to thank Jennifer for letting me use her profile. Make sure to follow her @chewfoodnow

4.) Check their Follow Rate. If it’s > 0.5 Follow. If < 0.5 move to a different profile and repeat process.

2. Optimize Your Instagram Feed & Profile

Before you even consider following anyone you need to make sure you look like a fully functioning human account. Who wants to follow a spammy one? Here are three factors into looking like a decent human being.

  1. Optimize your profile
  2. Have at least 20 posts in your feed.
  3. Take advantage of Captions and Tags

Optimize your profile

When you set up your profile, I stress on establishing a human connection. In other words, include where you’re from and where you’re currently living. If you’re part of a school or group, whether you’re a mom or dad, put it in there! You have no idea what words will trigger the right connection and that’s why your online persona is equally important. Overtime, as you understand your customer avatar, you will have a better understanding of what to put in your profile therefore experiment, play around, and update every so often.

Use a good photo of yourself for your profile pic. Something shot candidly or by an amateur. Using a professional image or logo can look spammy. Remember to choose wisely as you want to change your profile pic as little as possible. Over time, that’s how others will recognize you. Changing your profile pic too often can change your online persona as well as losing immediate recognition. Think of it as your own personal logo much like Nike or McDonalds. There’s no mistake as to what these companies are.

There are two (2) ways to get found in an account search. The first is your handle. The second is the first line in your profile. I’ve circled in red below.

You want to take advantage of that first line of your profile. You never know who is searching for what. I wouldn’t waste that line on my name and instead place it in the line below. I recommend using some keywords or search words you think your customer avatar is searching.

Publish at least 20 niched posts before F4F

You need to look like a real account. I’m pretty sure in your iPhone you have at least 20 pictures in there you can use. Don’t worry if the images aren’t great. Good is good enough. If you don’t believe me check out my Instagram. As you gain more followers and post more, naturally your photography skills will develop in correlation with your follower count.

Optimize your Captions and Tags

The most important tip about captions is to not be boring. Always answer the whys of the post. Focusing on the whats (such as a description of the pic). Tell a story, tell people why they should care.

  • Keep Captions brief @ 150 words max
  • Open the caption with an action word. Makes for an enthusiastic post.
  • Write a short story, answer the why’s of the post.
  • Use emojis. It’s hard for people to know what kind of personality (serious, humorous, etc) you have without emojis.
  • Ask a SIMPLE open ended question.

For hashtags, be careful. If you use (1) too many, (2) repeatedly use the same tags, or (3) use unrelated hashtags to the post you run the risk of getting shadowbanned which just means your posts won’t show up in the hashtag search. I recommend staying under 25 hashtags (the max is 30).

Secondly, tag other accounts to your post whether that’s in the form of a shoutout or a mention. When tagging you’re giving free exposure to other accounts for more followers. It’s a win-win 🙂

Lastly, make your post easy to be found. Geo tag your location, tag other accounts in the post. I think these are pretty basic and I don’t need to go into details.

3.) Optimize Your Comments and Likes

I learned this quote at #SMMW19. Smartest thing I did was going there.

One thing about me is I’m quite introverted so it’s always easy for me to make engaging comments. What I mean by “engaging comments” or “power comments” are those that trigger an emotional response. In my case, it’s always humor. For you, I recommend staying away from generic comments and going with a more engaging approach.

  • Avoid generic responses. Be human. If something is interesting answer the why!
    • The reason I’m commenting is because…. (the more descriptive and visual the better)
    • I like your _____ because…
    • Your image reminds me of…
  • Use Emojis, but don’t only use emojis.
  • If there’s an opportunity, tag the post’s subject such as company, IG user, etc.
  • Comment on something in the image sticks out.
  • Comment on something in the caption invoked an emotion.
  • Supplement Info: some additional tips, helpful info, advice.
  • Ask a question about the image
  • Bonus Points if you’re able to add in something you remember about them
  • Bonus Points if you can start a comments party by adding more peeps to convo

This is very do-able under 2000 followers. The advantage of having a small account is the relationships that can be developed into meaningful ones.

Get noticed! Bulk Like = Takes up the whole screen.
Follow @the.moodie.foodie

Another tip I’d like to introduce is the concept of bulk liking. If you were to like a post, you might as well like it at least 10 times as it will show up on that account’s whole screen. That is the best way to make an impression, especially to larger accounts who may not see you, this is the way to do it. Both accounts get something in return. You get seen, and they get more likes on their posts so it’s not an annoyance.

Note: Instagram has been cracking down on automation and bot-like behaviour so do not abuse the Like action. If you like too many during a given time it could signal to Instagram you’re a bot. Instagram will “Like block” you for a couple of days. When in doubt, be a human user. Ask yourself, What Would Jesus Do?

The Chowyoulater System

If you’re new to Instagram, chances are you’re going to be lost (like I was) OR you’re a IG veteran but found too many tasks to do. I’m all for working smarter, not harder. That’s why I’ve recommended a minimum of 90 minutes per day. Keep in mind, it’s a marathon and not a sprint.

My 6 Step Process

My guide was created for those who do not want to spend much time and effort (afterall, the title is How to get Instagram followers fast!) but reap the benefits of learning how to get Instagram followers fast. You will spend at most 90 minutes per session. But if you have the time, you can still use my process and go through multiple sessions in a day rather than one.

1.) Follow for Follow

  • See my Smart Follow for Follow Method.
  • For me, I mostly use Bulk Like as an appreciation tool. In otherwords, when a person has followed me back is when I’ll Bulk Like but if I’m courting them, I’ll give them one like and a follow. Think of it like going out on a blind date, and within the first 30 seconds you tell them you want to marry them, it doesn’t work like that.

2.) Post to your Feed.

At this stage of the game, you don’t need jaw-dropping images. Using a smartphone is fine. Your audience is so small it won’t really matter too much. That is not to say, not to use high-quality images. If you have the photography skills, display them. If you do not, take the time to learn and develop your craft. Having great content can only help you.

3.) Post to Your Insta Stories.

If you’re just starting out, I wouldn’t dwell too much using Stories just yet. In my opinion, if you do not have an audience, there’s no point in putting in the effort unless you want to learn and familiarize yourself. Try to get at least 1000 followers first and then engage in Stories. It’s not always the case but, expect an audience between 5-10% of your follower count.

With that said, after 1000 followers Instagram Stories are your friend, the friend that keeps on giving. If used correctly, it can be a powerful tool at your disposal especially when not many are taking advantage. It’s the best way to get noticed by bigger accounts and to develop relationships. It’s raw, uncut, and informal. It makes it a lot easier to engage with accounts you haven’t seen in a while or gets lost in the shuffle.

When you’ve reached 1000 followers, do the following:

  • Showcase your personality. Be raw. Be yourself.
    • Use music you actually listen to.
    • Caption your posts using words you use in real life (IRL)
    • Use GIFs to display emotion. These can really take your stories to the next level. I akin it to emoji’s on steroids!
  • Geotag, hashtag, shoutouts!
  • Use interactive stickers like questions, polls, etc.
  • Add value by showing some Behind The Scenes (BTS)
  • Promote your next post.

The most important thing is to keep it fresh and multidimensional! For example, don’t make every post be a question or a shoutout. Switch it up. User Fatigue is real. Don’t be a victim.

4.) Catch up with your Engagement Pod.

Engagement pods. The members in your pod are going to be your ride or dies, your day ones, your besties. When you accidentally post a picture of yourself riding a horse backwards with no clothes on, guess who’s going to be the first to support your image? Your Engagement Pod! My point is through thick and thin, they will support you. Return the favor with engaging comments and showered likes.

5.) Power Comments and Bulk Likes

6.) Followup with Notifications and DMs

You don’t want to be rude and not respond back to people. I don’t think anyone likes getting the cold shoulders. Acknowledgment and appreciation will take your account far. You can simply respond back with a comment or like their comment.

Typical Schedule

Worried that the process may take too much time? Not necessarily. If you only want to do the minimum then see the Time Allocated Table below:

If you want to spend the absolute minimum amount of time then the schedule above is what your time could look like. You’re more than welcome to move things around to cater more towards your schedule. The main takeaway here is you only need, at most, an hour and a half a day. It’s very doable. If the schedule doesn’t work for you, you can download and edit as you please.

Cheat Sheet Summary

You want a “Too long, Didn’t Read” version. I get it, I done wrote too much! Here’s a cheat sheet summarizing everything I’ve written but if you have time, I highly recommend going through my whole post to capture the mindset and rationale behind my madness.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Remember to subscribe to my blog so you don’t miss out any new articles. There will be more posts like this as well as advanced techniques you can learn. By sharing my article and liking my other social media platform tells me where I should focus on next. So if this article takes off, I’ll do a part 2 on how on 5000 followers. And if you have anything you want to share with me, feel free to send me a message or drop me a DM. I’ll happily publish it on this post and credit you. And if you already knew all of this. Great!! 👏🏻 What are you waiting for?! Get it done!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

I’m sure there will be more questions about my system and how things work. I’ll leave them here. If you have one of your own, contact me and I can publish in this section.

What is the Follow Rate?

Once you’ve surpassed 200 Followers, you should consider targeting your Followers. In the long run, your followers will matter. Whether you’re looking to become an influencer of some sort or you’re a business account and need clients you’re going to need real accounts. Here’s an example of how to choose your followers. Let’s say you come across my account.

3819/2008 = 1.9 Now Accepting Followings!

As you can see, based on the math, if you were to approach my profile you’ll see that my Follow Rate is pretty high at 1.9. A 1.9 is basically screaming, “Hey you, I’m obviously trying to grow my account dude, follow me and I’ll do the same!”

I already have 2000 followers, will this method still work?

Absolutely. But the question is how much time do you have? Assuming you’re active, at 2000+ followers it’s going to be a lot more difficult to keep up the interactions. That’s why if you’re a new and small account (< 2000 followers), there are advantages to developing real connections with people who are going to be your core audience. These are your Day 1’s! Theoretically, you can keep practicing the Follow For Follow method up to 7500 follows. That’s the max Instagram set it at. But eventually, you want to get to a point when you no longer need to do that. I titled my post at 2000 followers because at every milestone there’s a different strategy to implement.

Remember: “The definition of insanity is doing the same things expecting different results!”

What type of accounts should I follow?

Great question. There are levels to this question. Follow these steps. If you just want the answer go to Step #3.

  1. For your first 200 or so followers are going to suck a lot. You will need to get any followers you can get. For the first 200, follow everyone. You should aim for those in the same theme as you but honestly, take anyone you can get. Again, be grateful of anyone investing this early into you.
  2. Once you get around 200-300, hey you’re looking kind of good. Your posts are great (hopefully at 20 or more) and your profile (with your mug and optimized) is congruent to your feed. You look like a normal, decent account now. People won’t think your some bot or spammer.
  3. Now you’re ready! As a general rule of thumb, follow other accounts like yourself. Aim for accounts as high as 3x your followers. In other words, if you have 300 followers, the highest you should aim to follow is 900. Remember, humans like to be around other humans similiar to themselves.

How do you know who to engage with?

Instead of engaging with anyone and everyone we will be smart and identify those who are likely to engage back. If you engaged with everyone, it’s like shooting at a target in the dark. You want to shed some light a little bit so you don’t waste any of your resources. What you want to do is use the Follow For Follow Method to gauge the interest level of the user.

The accounts you want to engage with are those who are already engaged with you. That is the #1 rule; in other words, those who:

  • Like your posts.
  • Left a comment.
  • Sent you DM’s.
  • Go to your stories. Those who watched your stories, interacted and/or reacted.

Those are the accounts you want to engage with. Keep it simple. Correspondingly, that’s when to like and comment and will give you the most return on effort. 

This is where your content, personality, profile all will come together. If your profile is enticing enough, accounts will naturally want to follow you. 

Why 2000 followers and not 2000 likes per post or something else?

Blame this guy
Photo credit: President of Mexico via Flickr

Yeah, I agree it’s extremely superficial but it’s no different from FICO scores, GPA’s, SAT’s, etc. As a matter of fact, it’s the society we live in 😅. It’s not a number that defines you but rather more of a requirement and if you don’t have a certain amount of followers, as it becomes more of a concern than a compliment. Trust me, I’ve never been rejected so many times in my life 😭 by these agencies.

Although the number of followers you have is not the “end all, be all” it is an indicator of some sort and it’s what many sponsors will measure you by. In short, having sponsors is how to get paid for your time.

In addition, at around 2000 followers is when you will begin to see all the benefits of having an Instagram account. It’s a lot of work however at 2000 followers, almost all the strategies you’ve learned will become obsolete because there simply will be a new game to be played. Think of it like facing the different bosses and levels in Mario. It’s very much the same way.

If you really enjoyed this post, please subscribe to my blog and share it with others who need the help. I worked pretty hard on showing you how to get 2000 Instagram followers fast and with your help, I’ll know what topic to expand on. We’re a community and should help each other out. This tells me what I’m doing is worthwhile and to write more posts like this that brings you value. In addition, please follow me on Instagram @chowyoulater and facebook.