If you think about it, growing a business on Instagram is a lot like high school: popularity is absolutely everything.
With an estimated 71% of US business being on Instagram, having a massive following goes a really long way when it comes to being noticed.
Simply said, the more people you have following your account, the more people you will have seeing the photos you post – without necessarily having to spend on ads. And the more people you have seeing your posts, well, the more likely you are to have your content organically shared with others who don’t follow you.
All this, of course, leads to a potential growth in sales and revenue for your brand.
That’s why when it comes to improving your follower count on Instagram, many sites and articles boast of surefire ways to achieve this goal. But have you heard of them straight from the very people who have successfully grown their following to a million and counting? Read on and learn from the masters themselves.
@theknot, 1.4 million followers
The Knot is a wedding-planning resource site that grew its Instagram following over the years by both posting professional wedding photos and sharing user-generated content.
Although they joined the social media platform in 2012, it was only really in the past couple of years that their account really took off. Not only did they hit the million-follower mark, they even won “best brand on Instagram” in the Digiday Content Marketing Awards. A big feat for a brand founded by real-life married couple, Carley Roney and David Liu.
But what led to the spike in follower count? It was this stunning winter wedding photo, taken during the Northeast’s “Snowzilla” blizzard in the USA. To date, this image remains to be the brand’s most popular Instagram post with 43,000 likes and 1,600 comments. Six months after this was posted, The Knot surpassed the million-follower count—and they did so without even spending for sponsored or paid ads.
“We decided not to use paid advertising because we were already seeing such a success organically,” shares Jessica Molinari, The Knot’s social media editor. According to them, partnering with the right influencers does most of the job.
How does this work? Well, in this case, The Knot serves as a resource hub for grooms-and-brides-to-be. Meaning people visit their page not just to get pegs or ideas, but to get contacts for various wedding suppliers. That’s why when going through the page, you’ll find that all of the posts link back to their sponsors or partners.
In turn, when you have all these sponsors, partners, and influencers posting about weddings and tagging The Knot in their content, their audiences will be led back to the wedding hub.
The Key Takeaway: Partnering with the right influencers makes the relationship mutually beneficial. You drive traffic to their accounts, they drive traffic back to yours. Because you get cross-promotion, you’ll inevitably see a growth in following on both their Instagram account and yours. When done properly, everybody wins.
@thisisamans.world, 2 million followers
This is A Man’s World is an Instagram account that shows off beautifully curated snapshots of the bucket list-worthy lives of the rich and famous. Each post is meant to inspire its followers to dream big and to never stop working towards what they aspire to achieve. The account has gained such a massive following, that it’s hard to believe all this came from one man’s passion project.
But what’s really interesting is this: Puia Shamsossadati, founder of This is A Man’s World, was then able to use his current following to launch a new business. With his background in Industrial Design and all the connections he made with his Instagram account, he created The Golden Concept: a brand dedicated to creating customized luxury smartphone cases that are specially crafted with high-end textiles and materials such as leather, marble, diamonds, and 24k gold. His exclusive clientele range from celebrities to Russian businessmen down to royalty from Saudi Arabia.
When asked how he was able to amass such a great Instagram following and later launch a lucrative business without spending on advertising or marketing, his answer was simple.
All this was about channeling his love of photography and design by sharing photos that inspire people. Photos that make his audience wanna look and keep his followers hooked. And one look at either account, and it’s clear why: he’s built an amazingly curated feed that doesn’t sell a brand, but a lifestyle.
The Key Takeaway: People don’t go on social media to check out ads or listen to sales talk. They’re there to actually be social. So in order to keep your audience interested, it’s not enough to learn how to market the products your audience may want to own – you have to know how to sell the lifestyle that they aspire to have.
@thiswildidea, 1.2 million followers
Theron Humphrey is a former commercial photographer who has gained more fame in recent years by taking pictures of his Coonhound, Maddie, and sharing them on Instagram. All of his travel and slice-of-life posts on his account, This Wild Idea, have likes in the tens-of-thousands, and for good reason. His pictures of the city, the country, and everywhere in between, are beautiful, light, and heartwarming.
After being featured in National Geographic and being named Traveler of the Year, his account saw a spike in following until it hit the million mark.
The road to success wasn’t exactly an easy one. It entailed him quitting his job, constantly traveling, and always making sure that his photos said something new. In today’s age where everyone who has a smartphone has a camera, Instagram has become highly saturated with images.
When asked about this, Humphrey says that it’s about having something unique to say. “It helps when it’s a passion and the goal isn’t to get noticed and gain followers,” he adds. “Make sure you’re getting uncomfortable and doing things that aren’t easy.”
The Key Takeaway: These days, it’s not enough to make sure the photos you post on Instagram are beautiful. They have to tell your brand’s story while rising above the noise and clutter of Instagram.
When it comes to playing around with the aesthetic of your visuals, push yourself and try something new. Take pictures from unique angles. Experiment with filters to make your images pop. Don’t know where to start? Download photo-editing apps like Instasize and choose from over 50 artisanal filters to make your images stand out. (Learn more about curating your content on Instagram here.)
Another thing to keep in mind is that reaching a million followers isn’t something that just happens. Sure, in the case of The Knot and This Wild Idea, one particular event led to a spike in their following count, but none of this would’ve happened if they hadn’t built a solid foundation for Instagram presence.
These three million-follower-influencers had a clear vision for their brand, and they stayed true to it with each and every post they shared on their account. They created a unique space for themselves—all their followers had to do was come, and later, stay.
About the Author: Natasha Ponomaroff is the Senior Marketing Director of Instasize – a content creating toolkit for anyone editing photos and online content on mobile. A weekly contributor on the site’s blog, Natasha tracks social media trends and updates the millions of “creatives” who are currently using Instasize to curate awesome online content.