Outfit Details: Black Top (obsessed) // Sweater // White Jeans// Wedges // Black Hat // Earrings (on sale) // Tory Burch Bag
When deciding to write this post, a few “titles” came to mind. How To Gain A Large Social Media Following, How To Have A Successful Social Media Account, & How To Grow Your Social Media Following Fast…..just to name a few.
None of those seemed to fit though. This is a post I have been asked to write more than a few times recently but I think the reason I haven’t written the post, is because I try not to focus to hard on numbers. I’m kind of at a place where I am more excited about the one girl who emailed me, telling me how much she likes my blog and how much she relates to me, as compared to the random people who followed me on Instagram over night. It’s the connections that I make that mean the most to me.
Although I am not going to sit here and say that numbers do no not matter, because they do. When working with brands and companies, numbers do matter & that’s just this industry. When it comes to growing social media account, everyone’s approach is different, as well as their results. Remember though, that I am not an expert. I am still learning every single day and I am no where near what I count as successful. Am I proud of how far I have come? Absolutely! But I still feel like a total beginner. In the end though, you guys asked for this, so your wish is my command!
Understand that it takes time: The following tips are everything that I do, but you have to understand that it doesn’t happen over night. It has taken me about a year to gain a larger following. Some people grow much quicker, but that wasn’t the case for me! I feel like I have been crawling, but I’m also focusing on growing my accounts organically, so with that, I am proud of where I am in a year.
Bright & High Quality Pictures: For the longest time, my pictures were taken by an iphone. My numbers were crawling & I knew I needed to invest in a nicer camera or photographer, but I just wasn’t ready. After a few months though, when I decided this was something I wanted to do, like legit, I gave in and it made all the difference. The first camera I bought was an Olympus, which was a great first start. Now we use a Cannon Rebel T6i with a 1.4 fixed lens.
Tell A Story: When people look at your Instagram, in about 15 seconds, they will make the decision if you are someone they want to follow. Your top nine pictures should accurately describe you, as well as all have a common theme. The way I think of it is, if I were a stranger, would I want to follow my own page?
Consistency is Key: I post about the same time every single day. Usually, I aim to post about twice a day, when I know my followers are engaging. At the same time though, I believe in Quality over Quantity. Meaning, it is very important to choose high quality meaningful photos, as compared to a mediocre picture you’re posting just to post.
Interact: Whether is be on Snapchat, Instagram, or Comments on the blog, I try my hardest to respond and interact with everyone who follows me. I am not always the best at replying to every single comment, but if there is a direct question or comment, I will 100% answer. Also, commenting & liking on bloggers pages, with similar demographics will help to bring people to your page and make them aware of you.
Tagging Your Location: This is something I always try to do. Whenever I post, I always make sure it says either where I am, or where I took the photo. That way, your photo will hopefully catch the attention of someone looking at that location.
Tagging Products: In each picture, I always tag every product. This is a great way to get reposted by brands, which always brings in a lot of new readers. Plus it shows these brands how you style their pieces, which is great for future business opportunities.
Hash Tagging Pictures: On my actual pictures, I never put more than three hashtags in my caption. Instead, I save my hashtags for the comments section. The easiest way to do it, is to keep your hashtags written in the notes sections of your phone, so that you can copy and past them into your comments. Also, make sure that all of your hashtags relate to your photo. I usually like to use hashtags that I know are common for people to search.
Choose Engagement Over Ghost Followers: I firmly believe that engagement is more important than how many followers it says you have next to your name. There are so many bloggers out there who have 13,000-30,000 followers, yet only get 80-150 likes on their photos. That right there, makes zero sense & brands notice this too. My advice is to focus more on content and engagement as opposed to just a growing followers number.
No Loop Giveaways For Me: I decided early on that I would not participate in loop giveaways. I really considered it at one point, but I am really glad I decided against it. I kind of look at them as a Get Rich Quick scheme and that’s not how I want to gain a following. I want you to follow me because you genuinely read my blog. Not because you want to win a Louis Vuitton purse. Plus, most bloggers who do these give aways are the ones with over 13,000 followers and have little to no engagement (like I said above) I will do giveaways with one specific brand or company if I am featuring them on the blog, but that is about it.
Have any more questions?
Shoot me an email (lifetolauren@gmail.com) or leave a comment 🙂
xo,
Lauren
