Tips from expert bloggers – how to grow over 10k followers on Instagram

Hi everyone!

Welcome to today’s blog.

I know when I write ‘Instagram related’ blogs, they are mainly focused on my growth and tactics to gain followers. I thought that the perfect way to find out how to create good content would be to connect with bloggers who have over 10,000 followers to understand how they have grown their Instagram accounts.

Seven influential bloggers give tips on how to grow your account to over 10k followers:

I am delighted to announce that I have asked seven great bloggers to help me in curating a blog, and I hope you will find their advice extremely useful!
I will write two separate blogs, in order to organise the tips they have sent me in the best possible way. You may have already heard of the bloggers included in this article. They include (from their Instagram usernames): ‘Kelseyinlondon,’ ‘browneyedflowerchild,’ ‘lauren.grace.harding,’ and ‘wheremartawent.’

1) Kelsey – 195k – @kelseyinlondon (Instagram)

Kelsey is an experienced blogger, who has been using Instagram since the app was created. She has amassed over 195,000 followers on Instagram, and her account continues to grow rapidly every day! Kelsey is predominantly based in London and her account focuses on travel, fashion and lifestyle. With so much influence and insight in blogging, she has also started up an account on the progress of her home in London, including tidying her home and house makeovers. She also started a page on her presets, which you can buy, and a page for bloggers called the ‘creative gal gang.’ She is one of my favourite influential bloggers, as she supports smaller bloggers in the industry with free resources and shoutouts! She is also such a lovely person and I was delighted by her response to my Instagram DM. If there was a mentor for instagram, Kelsey would be the one! She is so encouraging to younger bloggers, has a fantastic account and shares her tips to instagram success on her page! I love her account and aspire to be like her one day!

Follow her Instagram here and check out her blog here!

Kelsey’s tips:

– The first tip is to have a beautiful feed! When someone new views your profile for the first time, you have less than a second to grab their attention and so that is why you need an aesthetically pleasing profile. You don’t need to be a photographer to do this, if you are starting out then Kelsey recommends using your mobile phone to take photos and using a preset to give your feed a consistent look.

– The second tip Kelsey refers to is “all killer, no filler” which means that she recommends only posting killer content to your Instagram and not just sharing photos for the sake of sharing photos, as that is more about what Facebook is for. Instagram is about quality over quantity. An easy way to find out what your “killer” content is, is by looking in insights and comparing your highest performing content to lowest performing content. It is obvious to spot a trend between what your audience likes and doesn’t. Essentially, if you give people what they want, then you will retain followers as well as attract new ones.

– Though Kelsey also thinks that it is important to add, that you should create what makes you happy! So finding a balance with your content should ensure steady growth!

2) Taylor – 30k – @brown.eyed.flower.child – (Instagram)

I have been following Taylor for a while now, and I could never grow bored of her travel posts! She has been all over the world – to over 33 countries! I love following her travels through her posts. Taylor always shares such lovely captions, often with thought-provoking quotes. She has been so supportive to me and has allowed me to grow into the blogging community through supporting me on other social media platforms. I was especially happy to see her London content recently, as someone from the UK, but I am also just as happy to see her other content including that of New York (where she is from) as I am *hopefully* returning to New York at the end of this year, and always look to her account to find inspiration of what to go and see while there!

Follow Taylor’s Instagram here and check out her blog here!

Taylor’s tips:

– Taylor recommends posting every day and taking good quality photos, as well as editing them well using Adobe Lightroom presets.

– Do some hashtag research and make sure that your account fits a certain niche, as then you can engage with others in the same niche as you!- Write captivating captions which will capture your followers attention, enabling you to both retain your followers and gain new ones. This could mean including a quote In your post, having a relatable caption or writing about an important issue that you hope to raise awareness about.

– Do not be afraid to check out accounts which inspire you! You can use their account for inspiration for yours and connect with other like-minded individuals.

3) Lauren – 20.5k – @lauren.grace.harding(Instagram)

Lauren is so lovely and I am lucky to have connected with her online. Her style is impeccable and her photos are amazing! I love that her account is so original and unique – Lauren works hard on producing great blogs too! I love all her photos – from places across the globe and her phenomenal efforts into creating such a colourful and vibrant feed! Lauren is from Sydney, as I would love to go to Sydney one day, it is great to connect with her online and view her Australian content, but I also love her beautiful shots outside of Parisian cafes! Lauren is one of my favourite bloggers – her account and her blog are always fantastic and she has the cutest dog called Thumper! You should follow her – the link is above!

Follow Lauren’s Instagram here and also check out her blog here!

Lauren’s tips:

– Have a niche! Lauren thinks that it is vital to stick to one niche on your account to gain followers who want to see that content.- Also make sure to engage with other accounts! Engagement is important as it relates to the growth of your account and the interaction that you have with your followers. It is important to take time to read comments on your posts and respond, so that you can connect with others and create relationships with those who follow you. It is important that you engage with others and preferably like and comment back on every post, although this may become difficult once you grow, so you may need to be selective with who you engage with. But this is essential once you start an account.

– Use hashtags! Lauren gets MORE views from hashtags on her posts, than people who actually follow her, so use a good amount of hashtags – under 30.

– Lauren also does not recommend engagement pods – it is important to grow supportive followers yourself and giveaways could be useful but can lead to a reduction in followers over time.

4) Marta – 73.9k – @wheremartawent – (Instagram)

I connected with Marta once we met in a group chat, and it is safe to say that her account is amazing! She is lovely and responded to my messages even when we did not communicate with each other before. I love her page and recommend it!

Follow Marta’s Instagram here and her blog here!

Marta’s tips:

– Organic growth has become much more difficult since the new algorithm updates. Marta has tried several strategies to grow: hashtags research, engaging with users with similar content, IG stories and using live, however that was not that effective. Using IG ads can help, but it is costly If you do it regularly.

– She recommends collaborating with other creators with similar content or paying bigger influencers for a shoutout. This way the new audience will be genuinely interested in your content.

– Expanding your network through attending influencer events, introducing yourself to a good agent will work as well.

Thank you so much for reading!

I hope you liked today’s blog and you found it helpful.

If you did, please comment or share it – I would be so grateful. Thank you also to the lovely bloggers mentioned in today’s post. They didn’t need to share their tips for growth, but kindly did! I wouldn’t have been able to write this blog without them!

Thank you for reading – there will be a part 2 going up soon!

You can read all my other Instagram related content here.

Beth Lucy