How to Grow Your Instagram in 30 Days
Do you feel like your Instagram growth has hit a plateau?
Maybe you’re creating the same content you always have to find it’s not performing like it used to?
Are you totally frustrated with social media and want to give up most days?
First of all, I hear you. As a social media manager, it’s literally my life’s work to constantly learn and grow and adapt to all of the social media strategies that are out there. Before I teach you how you can grow your Instagram account in 30 days, here’s a little backstory:
Maybe you’ve heard, and maybe you haven’t, but Instagram has been in the news lately, and it doesn’t feel like it’s going well for them. Ever since the creation of Instagram, it seems they’ve been competing with video streaming platforms. Remember Vine? It seems like only yesterday I was sharing Vines to my Facebook until Instagram released their video feature. As soon as videos were added to the “photo-sharing platform,” Vine went almost entirely extinct. Since TikTok came to the United States in 2018, Instagram has been trying to find ways to compete with the Chinese-owned app. The creation of Instagram Reels was their response to the short-form video content in 2022, but TikTok still seems to be the platform where users spend most of their time.
Instagram used to be a place where you could see cute photos of your friends in chronological order - hence “insta.” Now, every time I sign on, I see more content from people I don’t know being pushed into my feed, and sometimes, it’s days old. Since the release of Instagram Reels, it is clear that the company is trying to compete with TikTok but the constant changes to the app - making it almost identical to TikTok - have faithful Instagram users displeased. For example, Instagram recently began rolling out a full-screen TikTok style update that was really unfavorable to photo sharing and carousel-style posts. Many Instagram users expressed how unhappy they were with the changes, but it wasn’t until celebrities and large influencers started a petition and spoke out about the changes publicly that the company responded. Instagram acknowledged that while some of their changes are “not good yet,” they will basically continue to replacte competing apps. “We recognize that changes to the app can be an adjustment, and while we believe that Instagram needs to evolve as the world changes, we want to take the time to make sure we get this right,” Meta said in a statement.
So, where does this leave us, business owners and social media managers? We know that social media is important to grow our businesses, but how can we be expected to fine-tune and finesse our social media marketing strategies every time Meta decides to release a new update? While Meta made it clear that they are taking all of our complaints and suggestions about basically copying TikTok - there is one thing that cannot be denied, and that is the success of short-form video content. Whether you like it or not, 5-12 second videos are capturing more and more of our audience members’ attention every single day. If you want to expand your audience, grow your business, and make money on social media, it’s time to play ball.
Now, I know that trying new things can be scary. I was REELLY afraid to make a reel for the longest time - not only because I didn’t want to dance on camera and feel stupid but because:
I didn’t know how to make these trending audios work for my business
I didn’t have any video or editing skills
I didn’t like how I looked or sounded on camera
I didn’t have time to film hundreds of videos or learn something new
I didn’t want to fail and look stupid when I KNEW carousel posts were my jam
The list went on and on, but I think you get the picture. To sum it up - I was afraid. I was afraid to:
Look stupid
It wouldn’t work for me
I would be wasting time
When I took a step back, I realized these fears are a common thread in my life.
So what if I look stupid?
Is it really a waste of time to learn something new?
What if it DID work for me?
Here’s a little anecdote from my life I find relevant to this situation. I recently started taking tennis lessons again. I played a little bit in high school, and I liked it, but it wasn’t really my thing. In an attempt to try new things, make new friends, and have more active hobbies, I signed up for this clinic on a whim. I was super nervous for weeks, and when I finally got there, I had nothing to worry about. All of the women there with me are there for the exact same reasons I am!
Something my instructor said to us the other day was, “Don’t worry if the ball goes out - try to keep it in play. The more balls you hit, the better you’ll get.” And I feel that way about making Reels. The more Reels you make, the better you’ll get. The easier they will get. The less scary it will seem to hit “POST!” I’ve seen a lot of accounts in my industry use Reels to grow their accounts, so I took the leap and made a commitment to myself to post one reel a day for 90 days. It started with just one Reel and then another. One imperfect action and then another. My videos aren’t perfect. Some have fallen totally flat. Some yielded dozens of new followers looking to learn what I have to share.
And I want to share that with you. I am personally inviting you to take the leap and join me for the 30 Day Reels Challenge [#reelschallenge22] For the next 30 days; I will be posting a reel that I have created with trending audio [i.e., good-for-growth] for you to re-create! These posts will include instructions and prompts for making it applicable for your business [with or without your face] and ideas for the text on the screen and captions. These are all beginner-friendly, so I hope you’ll join my community and me for this challenge. You are welcome to play along on Instagram, but if you sign up at the link here, you will receive email reminders and access to our Facebook community, where we will provide additional support. Those who participate will also be eligible to win early access to my upcoming online course called “Not Your Average Reels For Business Owners!” This is something that has been in the works for a while, and I am so excited to get it out into the world.
This course is for you if you:
Don’t know how to make a reel
Want to make reels but don’t know how to do it without dancing or showing your face
Have dabbled in reels but aren’t sure how to include them in your content strategy
Your Instagram account has been stagnant for a while and you’re not growing
You REELLY want to grow your audience and take your account to the next level
If you can relate to any of the above, this course is for you, and the waitlist is now open! Sign up here to be the first to know when it launches and to receive early bird pricing.
