I started another Instagram account two years ago that reached over 100k followers in 2024… again. A lot has changed since I reached 100k with a different account in 2018, but some keys to growth are exactly the same.

The last time I did this, it was 2018, and Instagram was very different. There were no Reels, TikTok didn’t exist and story reach was still high.

Content needs to be high quality no matter what format of post you’re using on Instagram

Instagram content usually serves either one of these purposes: to entertain or to educate. Some content does both, but usually one dominates.

Quality content on Instagram is:

• easy to digest
• gives the viewer something to think about and/or invokes an emotional response
• visually appealing
• shareable

The above applies to any short-form or medium-form social media content.

Whether you’re focusing on reels, posts, stories, lives or any of Instagram’s features, your content needs to be high-quality if you want to grow.

I chose a format for my new account that I knew would be easy to digest, visually appealing and shareable.

Consistency is the key to building trust and a loyal following on Instagram

One great post once a month isn’t going to cut it if you’re looking to grow a large following on Instagram. Not every post will be a winner, but ideally, your content is consistently speaking to your audience’s dreams, pain, fears and hopes

When I talk about consistency, I don’t just mean the quality and the messaging behind your content. I also mean the timing and cadence of your posts.

If you only post once a week sometimes, then other weeks you post 1-2 times per day, that’s not going to lead to steady growth.

What I’ve found in my eight years of experience growing social media accounts is that posting at the same time every day, once a day, is an excellent cadence for growth. If that sounds like too much, then posting at the same time, on the same days 3-4 times per week can work too.

When you accomplish this, you start to show up in your followers’ feeds at the same time every day, or at least when you post, and it starts to become a regular part of their experience on social media.

The best content on Instagram is shareable

One of the best ways to grow your account on Instagram is to make your content shareable. When I say shareable, I mean easy for someone to repost on their Instagram stories, and sometimes their feed. Or, they’re sharing your posts in the DMs with friends or via text message.

What compels people to share something? It’s simple. Whatever they’re sharing makes them look smarter, funnier, more “in-touch” or savvier to their own followers (their friends, family, classmates, community etc).

Sharing content on Instagram is the new “word of mouth” marketing. Instagram users learn of new brands, products, services and other accounts based on what their friends or whoever they follow share on their stories.

This is one of my recent posts that was shared over 3,000 times.

Engage with your community on Instagram

I’m sure comment pods still exist, but you don’t need to join one to grow.

One of the ways I grew my account from 1k-10k in 2022 was by writing high-quality insightful comments on the posts of bigger accounts in my niche (dating). So that involved being an early commenter on new posts from big accounts in my niche and adding something to the conversation that would resonate with my ideal audience.

Now, comments are organized by the number of likes they have (top comments) so if a comment gets a lot of “likes” then some people will even tap through to your profile to see what else you have to say.

This strategy works best if your Instagram handle has something to do with your business, what you offer, who your audience is, or the problem you solve. My account “@dating.intentionally” is pretty straightforward and when people tap though, they can see I offer dating advice.

They key though is to share a legitimately insightful comment. Not something like “100%!” or “this is great!”

Leverage your analytics to figure out what Instagram content will help you grow to 100k

If you want to grow your Instagram account to 100k followers and beyond, you need to check your analytics every week.

Look at which posts got the most impressions, reach, shares and saves. Look at which posts got the most likes and comments. What do these posts have in common? Can you share more content that is similar? What time did you post them?

Your analytics will tell you exactly what’s working (and what to keep doing) and what to stop doing.

Here’s a screenshot of the last 7 posts I shared ordered by how many times they were saved.

Use whatever post format is easiest for you

You don’t need to post Reels to grow on Instagram. I’ve posted 20 reels total in my 2 years of using this new account and still made it 100k without any issues. As a writer and photographer, I’ve found that focusing on these two strengths is what helps me grow the most because they’re the eaiest for me to. This is super important to stay consistent. Growing an Instagram account is a daily grind so whatever content you’re creating, it needs to be easy for you to replicate over and over.

Here are your options:

• Still images/photography
• Short videos (Reels)
• Text posts
• Carousels (posts with multiple slides)
• Live video
• Stories

Live video and stories are not the best formats to use for growth. They’re best for engaging with your existing audience.

Anything that lives on your feed (images, Reels, carousels) is going to help you with growth the most.

For my Dating Intentionally account, I chose to use text posts because they were the best for getting my message across and very easy for me to create.

For the first 18 months, I created my text carousel posts within the app using Instagram stories. They didn’t look great, but they were good enough to be shared and get seen by lots of new people.

There’s a big myth that you need to use IG reels to grow, but that’s not the case in 2024. Maybe that was true in 2020, when the feature was new and Instagram had to figure out how to stay relevant with TikTok in the game. But the algorithm has since balanced out a bit and regular posts can do just as well (if not better, in my case) than reels.

Despite Instagram’s constant evolution, content that resonates with your audience will lead to growth

It doesn’t matter what features get taken away or added, or how the algorithm changes year to year. What affects growth the most is consistently serving your audience content that helps them, inspires them, entertains them or all the above.

If you need help growing your Instagram account, you can learn more about my services here.