My take on the Instagram Problem

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Hey lovelies,

Happy Wednesday! Hope you’re day is off to a great start. Today I want to chat a bit about the Instagram problem and I know you know what I’m talking about.

This past weekend, a few ladies started chatting about it in their Insta stories. These ladies are all amazing and well established bloggers that hustle hard. The topic was how the new algorithm is effecting growth and engagement. People are seeing a plunge in their follower growth and likes & comments are not coming in as they used too. As a result, buying followers and/or likes apparently has become even more popular over the last year.

You guys, I know exactly how it feels to work SO hard for something only to see little return. To put out the most amazing content and to not have the appreciation it deserves. But buying fake followers is not the answer. It is going to hurt you and all that you worked so hard for. I used to be in comment and like pods but I got out of them because after I watched Annie’s (from Style Collective) live video on it, it made me delete them instantly. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with them! But the truth is, you end up liking and commenting on people’s pages that don’t have anything to do with your brand and you probably wouldn’t engage other wise. I spend upwards of 6-8 hours a day engaging with accounts I actually like and somehow I think Instagram knows that because I have noticed a slight increase in engagement. Is it a lot of work? Yes. But trust me, it’s wayyyy better to do it this way than faking it. Because not ONE of those fake followers will ever support you or buy anything from you!

Can I be completely honest with you guys? I was dishonest and did the follow/unfollow for a month when I first started. I was so naive and thought that this was the way to start building your account. After chatting with my hubby one night about it, we both agreed that it was wrong and I never did it again. Here’s the thing with this method: People and brands will notice. The last thing you want is to lose your reputation on one of the biggest social media platforms!

My take on loop giveaways: I have done a handful of loop giveaways and do I think they are bad? No. But I have changed my perception of them a bit. If you really think about why these accounts start following you, it’s not because they love your content, it’s because they want to win that prize. Chances are, after it’s over you will lose most of them. Doing one every now and then to get some fresh eyes on your page is fine just don’t go overboard.

So you might say, OK Anca, yes I agree to all of those but how do I grow my Instagram?

Time. Yep I said it. Look at all these big bloggers who have over 500K. Most of them have 2,3, and even 4K posts! That wasn’t achieved in a short time.

Amazing content. People don’t come to Instagram to see what you ate for lunch or what problem you had that day. No, people open their Instagram to run away from their problems and to escape for a few seconds. Lighting and photography is everything!

Engage. Genuinely like and comment on other people and brands that you love. Trust me, this works!

And don’t ever feel like you are the only one going through this! Even the big accounts are suffering from the new algorithm. You keep on being you, be honest and I promise it’ll pay off.

Do you have any tips on growing your account that works or worked for you? xx (Feel free to click on the social links below to share on Facebook or Pinterest!) 

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