Mini-Case Study: 90,000 Instagram Followers In 365 Days

by Chris Whiting · December 16, 2022

TikTok might be the latest, greatest social media channel, but don’t think for a second that Instagram is to be ignored.

You can build a huge, active and engaged audience on Instagram in just months or even weeks using this strategy.

Instagram has over 2 billion monthly active users, it was the most downloaded app in Q4 of 2021 and 59% of Instagram users log in daily.

The most expensive influencer charges $1.015 million per post, and yet the most liked photo on Instagram is a photo of an egg with 55 million likes.

In other words, while people are making big money on Instagram, if you can post something more interesting than an egg then there is room for you, too.

Here’s how “SocialMediaQueen” built her following from zero to over 90,000 followers in 365 days:

First, you need content. A LOT of content. But that’s true on any platform. When you’re trying for organic growth, you’ve got to put your message out there several times a day.

And the content must be valuable your audience.

Generally, content has value if it’s entertaining, encouraging or educational.

If you can manage to hit all three, then that’s even better.

Second, you don’t need new ideas to make this work. If you can find a hundred different ways to say ten different things (that’s 1,000 posts right there) then you’ve got what it takes.

Remember, not everyone will see all of your posts. And no one will remember all of your posts, either. Repetition of message works great if you can just find news ways of conveying your message.

For example, “Don’t give up, you can do it.” How many different ways do you think you could convey this message? There’s no doubt you could find a thousand different quotes, anecdotes and stories with this theme, or perhaps even ten thousand.

Third, you’ll need a content schedule to keep you on track. Here’s Katelyn’s weekly schedule:

3 photos or carousels
4-7 Reels
9-15 Stories
1-2 Videos

This is as much as 27 pieces of content every week, or approximately 100 per month. That sounds like a lot for one person to create, but keep in mind this plan will grow your following fast.

If you check out Canva you’ll find templates for creating quality content quickly. Sit down once per week and create all of your content for the week, or even spend an entire day making content for the month.

Notice, too, that on Instagram you can monitor not just your number of followers but also the number of accounts you reach. Even if you fall short of 100 posts per month, you can still reach a large number of people on Instagram. Even starting from scratch, you can reach 25,000 people every week.

Note that the vast majority of your reach will likely come from Reels, since the algorithm is currently pushing those.