Grow your IG following for your new business

Imagine this... you launch your brand and you grow over 300 followers in 2 months. How would that make you feel?

Over the moon?
On cloud 9?
Too blessed to be stressed?

Well, that's how we feel over here at We're All Creative. Almost 330 followers on IG in 2 months and that includes the time before we actually launched.

Today, we are giving you the inside scoop on all of the tactics we have used to do this and what we think were the best ways to connect with our ideal audience.

As a new creative business owner, it can be hard to figure out where to start when you're starting from zero but if there's a will there's a way!

Here are some of our best tips:

1. Don't Post and Ghost
Meaning, don't post to your feed and log off IG right away. Spend a good 20 minutes engaging on IG after you've posted before you swipe away the app. Engage with the hashtags you used on your post, post some IG stories, comment on posts from people you already follow. IG wants to know that you are actively using their app...and if they feel you aren't they won't show your content!

2. Under 100k hashtags
Use hashtags that have under 100k posts. The last thing you want to do is have your post get lost in hashtags that are 9mil/20mil posts deep. This won't do anything for your content. Sure, use some more used hashtags but be sure that most of the ones you are using aren't overloaded. This way, people can see your content before it gets pushed down by others content immediately upon publishing it.

3. Announce your new page on your personal page
This isn't 100% necessary but it changed the game for our growth immediately. You should be proud of what you are starting and you'll need to get over the fear that people will see what you're doing if you want people to follow along! This is hard to do but once you do it, a weight will be lifted off your shoulders. If people don't follow along, then they don't but chances are someone will. You don't need to spam your personal account with it but a nice little announcement goes a long way.

4. React to people's stories
This can be a scary one to do. The thing to remember is that if people are posting on their stories, they are most likely okay with interaction from others! This is a good way to get your brand in the eyes of people that may not be seeing your content every time you post. We suggest doing this after you have a few posts already so that they have something to look at/like once they look at your page. Hopefully they like what you're all about and will connect with you back!

5. Post inspo IG stories and tag the original author
You know that little paper airplane under the IG post where you can send it to your story? If you like something someone else posted and think it pertains to your brand/mission, send it to your story and tag them. They won't see that you put it on your story unless you tag them. They may love that you spotlighted their post and this could lead to connection or a follow! Community over competition.

6. Show yourself
Okay, okay, we get it. You don't want your page to be just about you...and it doesn't have to be. BUT people will be more inclined to follow and support an account when they know/like the people on the other side of it. This means a short IG story about who you are and what this brand it - post this to a highlight section on your profile so it's always there. Pop in to your stories once or twice a week if you don't want to be the main face of it. If you do, make sure you are showing up more often. Get yourself on your post feed. This can be an introduction to who you are and what you do. A little later in the game it can be a "thank you for following along." post. This is an easy way for people to connect with the brain behind the account!