Tips on how to grow your Instagram brand
42 Comments
I get a lot of emails asking about tips on how to I grew my Instagram following, so here it is! These are my tips and little stories about what I have learnt in the past year. I am just a normal girl with a passion for fashion, I’m not some social media guru or anything so I don’t want to sound as though I’m telling anyone how this should be done, it’s just the way I’ve done it and there are no rules – just do whatever makes you happy!
ABOVE: Shot with my iPhone 6+
It’s been a year since I started my Instagram account for @miss_gunner. When I started this account, I didn’t tell anyone about it. I was scared that my friends might think it’s stupid and that I might be judged. I’m not a fashion expert, I have no formal fashion experience or credentials, but I do know that I love fashion and it’s something I am passionate about – and that was my motivation to kick off.
Miss Gunner is my creative outlet and a bit of an escape from my real job as a dental hygienist. I hope I can continue to build my brand and find an organic way to grow it into a career; but if nothing comes out of this, I have no regrets because I feel so blessed to have connected with so many amazing new friends from around the world that I wouldn’t have met otherwise.
My husband gave me the push and said just do it! Sometimes you just need one person to believe in you to start and that’s exactly what happened.
So as I said there are no rules and there is no right way or wrong way, but here are some of my tips on growing a brand on Instagram:
1) Put your best photos up
People are seeing hundreds of photos everyday. You really have to ask yourself, are you proud of this picture? If you are then post it and even if it doesn’t get a big response, you can be proud that it is the right projection of your individuality.
2) Invest in a good camera or at least a good camera phone
I started off with a small Nikon that my hubby bought as my christmas gift. That worked well for a while and I felt like I had to upgrade, and now i use a Nikon D750 with 50mm 1.4f lens. But believe me – there is almost no correlation between a well-composed photo and the response it gets in terms of likes and comments. I probably use my iPhone 6+ on over half of my pics. All my shoes, food, flat lay shots are from my beloved iphone 6+. Unless you’re a photography blogger, your fashion-forward followers are generally going to responding to your fashion creativity and nothing more. So it’s nice having a good camera, but don’t go blowing your hard-earned cash on one if you’re expecting it to make a big difference to your Instagram account.
3) Interaction/Engagement
When I started with 0 followers, I Googled so many ways of how to gain followers and the the most important tip I found was to interact with other people. No one will care about your account unless you show that you care about others first. Consider them your friends and peers. Be nice and be genuine. When I first started I used to go through accounts with similar hashtags like #ootd #blogger and like and comment on the pictures that I like. This allows other people to discover your account through your likes and comments. Reply to people’s comments if you can. It’s always nice to interact with your followers.
4) Never buy likes and followers
Trust me when I first started, I thought about it but it really contradicted my values and beliefs. I’m doing this because I love what I do and I want to have fun with it. It’s not my aim to be popular or famous. I just wanted to share my love with everyone. People will eventually find out that you are buying likes and followers and it will leave you feeling embarrassed. Eventually it will catch up with you. This doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. Im sure it does and that’s why people are doing it but it all depends on the reason why you are doing this in the first place.
That money spent on buying likes and followers, I could be buying shoes! So I pick shoes.
Sometimes for no obvious reason my account will just go dead flat and stop growing. At first this felt like a real blow. But then I kept reminding myself that the goal is to create something I’m proud of, not to be the most popular girl on Instagram. This is a hard one, we all have a bit of ego, and you’ll just have to work it into your daily mantra that you’re not here to win a popularity contest, you’re here to showcase your individuality.
5) Who to follow
My rule is that you can follow and unfollow who ever you want. It is a free world. As much as I would love to follow everyone, I can’t and therefore I have to follow people that inspire me at any given time, otherwise I will be flooded with photos and it will just get confusing. If that person you follow can inspire you, then follow them. Don’t get disheartened when someone unfollows you. It’s just life.
6) Spend as much time focused on building your brand, not your bank account
You hear of big bloggers making big bucks from blogging, but this shouldn’t be your main motivation to do this as you will be disappointed if you don’t. I’m still working as dental hygienist now and my job funds my hobby so there’s no pressure for me to compromise or promote something I don’t believe in. That buys me a lot of freedom and means that I get to answer only to myself.
Your brand IS an asset. It has a value. That value might not appear in your bank account straight away, but it will buy you a lot of options when you start getting approached by the brands you love. Don’t focus on how you’re going to make a business out of this until you really feel a logical path or idea come along. The job is to define and grow your own brand’s value as much as possible, and after that you’ll have loads of opportunities and you’ll be able to think about a business model then.
7) Most important of all: Be yourself
It’s ok to be influenced by others, but use many influences to complement your own individual style rather than feel compelled to copy what others are doing and going places where they are going – it’s being different and being yourself that will make you stand out. Think about your favourite fashion brands – most of them you can tell who designed it just by looking at it. You want people to be able to tell that it’s your photo just by looking at it, and you can’t achieve that by following someone else’s style too closely.
8) Have fun!!!
My husband constantly reminds me that if nothing huge comes of this, then I should be able to look back on my time spent creating Miss Gunner and be able to say that I enjoyed 99% of the experience. If it becomes a grind or a chore at some point, then something is wrong. You don’t want to regret the experience, it should be an enjoyable journey and not ever a disheartening one. So try and not have too many expectations, just do the best you can and be yourself.
So now that I’ve listed eight rules, let me remind you again that there are no rules!!! So don’t take my or anyone else’s advice too seriously! We all have different views on what we want from this. Your aim should be to have fun building a brand, and it’s nobody’s job to judge how you do that, and if they do just ignore them. If you want to get paid by companies to post, then do it. If you want to just get your audience as big as possible, then that’s ok too. Whatever works for you!
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42 Comments
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on January 7, 2016 at 8:44 am
Great post darling! Love the way you write! And your style is amazing! You are a true inspiration! And the tipps are great ? I’m so happy that we are insta-friends! Hope that we will meet one day! Sending you love from Switzerland ?
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on January 7, 2016 at 9:25 am
Aww Ana! Love your kindness and style girl! Yes hope one day I get to meet you in person babe!! Lots of love! Xxx
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on January 7, 2016 at 9:58 am
Sis you are such an inspiration! Love How you created your account! And I remember just How nice you were when we connected and I thought: it is amazing that you are so kind and Loving from the beginning! Big hugs XOXO
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on January 7, 2016 at 9:53 pm
Britta! Thank you so much lovely! You know i absolutely adore you to bits. Thank you again for always be so inspiring to me always!! From day one i knew we will become life long friends!! lots of love. xxx
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on January 7, 2016 at 11:07 am
You hit the nail on the head with this one. Couldn’t have said it better myself. This is truely an inspiring post.
Love it.
XxBee-
on January 7, 2016 at 9:54 pm
Aww Bee!! Thank you so much babe! all this was inspired from our conversation on Saturday night!! hehehe we need more brainstorming sessions!! lots of love babe. xxx
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on January 7, 2016 at 1:20 pm
I loved this post! I am a new follower who also has a fashion blog and I think your comments are on point. My husband also inspired me to start and everyday I wake up excited for what’s in store next. The community of bloggers has been the most significant gain in my experience. Meeting other women who have become such wonderful friends. Cheers to your success! I hope to reach you in numbers on instagram soon! Keep being an inspiration for all of us! 🙂 Oh and love your style!!
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on January 7, 2016 at 10:07 pm
Hey lovely! Thank you so much Kristie babe! I just checked out your amazing blog and insta page. Girl you are killing it and well done!! I have so much admiration for amazing moms like you!You manage to run a house hold and still look soo stylish. I hope that one day when i become a momma, i can look half as good as you. We are very lucky to have our super supportive hubby! What would we do without them? hehe. All the best and I know you will do amazinly well. xxx Ash
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on January 7, 2016 at 2:05 pm
Hey my cutest Ashely!!!!
I still remember the day I found you on Insta!!!!!! Your tanned legs with a camel hat! lol Thank you for sharing this and I love all your 8 tips!!!! As I , of course, want to be bigger cuz that’s why I am here in America, I can’t help but second for what you said : “you’re not here to win a popularity contest, you’re here to showcase your individuality.” You are totally right girl! I always comes to the point…. Why aren’t my followers and likes growing? Ok… I wanna buy them…I am so glad you have been in the same shoes! Now I am totally convinced that I will never buy! haha 🙂
You work from 9 to 5 job? I wonder how you mange interacting with people? I bet you do more than I do! Also, which editing app ( filter ) you normally use?Thanks a lot for being so awesome and being my Insta-friends! I really hope to meet you one day <3
Love from Seattle!
xoxo,
AikA ( http://www.aikaslovecloset.com )-
on January 7, 2016 at 10:13 pm
Aika!! lol Love you doll! You have such a unique style and you are not scared to be your self you know. Sometimes all the girls on insta starts to look the same but NOT YOU!! you are so special and I love your style and hair. Of course I absolutely love your snaps. Yup babe, we all go through that thoughts you know. Its so easy to buy likes and followers but I dont think that helps anyone apart from the person’s ego. I still work of course but i normally post before work and then after work. I try to respond and go back and check on people’s account between patients and my lunch break!! lol You are doing amazingly well so i dont think u need to worry, the quality of your picts are amazing. I use VSCO cam to edit all my picts and i love A6 and S2 filters the best. I dont use instagram filters. very rarely. I try to use the same filter so the feed looks uniform. Im so up for a meet in Seattle babe! hehe. lots of love. xxx Ash
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on January 7, 2016 at 3:34 pm
i love it all girl:) nice job over the year and its bloggers such as yourself that remind me why i love what i do. xoxo msnikola
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on January 7, 2016 at 10:18 pm
Thank you so much beautiful girl!! Love your post about 2016 goals girl!! I sux at making goals!! lol but after reading yours, i will for sure take some tips and make it happen. lots of love babe. xxx Ash
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on January 7, 2016 at 8:08 pm
Awesome post Ashley! Same here I received emails everyday asking me what do i do to gain followers or likes. And I agree with you on why to buy likes or followers, i don’t even like to do giveaways just to gain followers.
I think that the right people will appreciate the work you are doing and the right people will follow your journey.
And of course never forget how we started.
I’m the kind of gal that shows people love regardless how many followers they have or if they follow me. Being generous and kind to others is a big plus.
You are doing an amazing job doll! Keep it up.
Love, Raysq-
on January 7, 2016 at 10:22 pm
Raysa!!! I still remember when Erica introduced us. I truly adore you and you are so kind and just beautiful in and out. YOU get AMAZING amounts of likes and engagement and i know that everyone else feels the same about you as i do. You have an amazing style and you are just a lovely person!! You are just AWESOME and i dont have too much more to say! hehe yup always remember how we all started and we all have to work hard. But again when its something you love, its not really a job is it. Wishing you the most amazing year in 2016 my beautiful Raysa. xxx Ash
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on January 7, 2016 at 9:33 pm
YAY!! good read babe!! love the tips and im so glad your back at blogging !!! lots of love…. M xxxx
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on January 7, 2016 at 10:25 pm
Michaela!!! Thank you so much babe! i love reading yours hahaha oh and yes to saving…… saving for that LV…lol ok maybe a house is a better option!!! but you just gotta have fun along the way. I loves seeing your family picts! Your sis is so gorgeous too. your family picts always put smiles on my face 🙂 they are all so cute. ps, why cant i still comment on your blog!!!! we’ve already had this conversation!! lol lots of love babe. xxx Ash
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on January 7, 2016 at 10:58 pm
Great tips for anyone and exactly why I love your Instagram feed! You have created a unique, creative feed that is full of positivity, community and joy ? Have loved watching it grow! X Jess- Stayingintheemeraldcity
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on January 8, 2016 at 9:31 am
Ahhh babe! I enjoyed reading it! You are such an inspiration! I love everything you wrote in this one. Lots of love and a big round of applause to you my babe! ???? (and to your very supportive hubby!)
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on January 9, 2016 at 1:20 pm
Thanks for the great tips hun – I’ve only recently started following you and love your style! I’m not a blogger myself but couldn’t agree more with everything you said. As a start up business, I must admit buying followers has popped into my head before just to see that number rise lol but disagree so much with it – if your providing great content you’ll get people following you for the right reasons which is much more rewarding in the end 🙂
Keep doing what your doing and look forward to reading more blogs.
xo -
on January 10, 2016 at 6:02 am
Oh babe you express yourself so nicely and I agree on every point here. There are so many out there that think that it’s anout a number and it’s not a popularity contest and that’s sad. Engagement is so important to gain your following and keep them. So everything you just blogged is so on point and I really enjoyed reading this. Thanks Ash! Love ya! ?
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on January 10, 2016 at 6:26 am
Love every single word in this post. Well said babe!! You’re doing an amazing job and inspiration for myself too.
Love Katherine,
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on January 10, 2016 at 11:14 am
What a great read and every point you’ve written is genuine and real.
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on January 11, 2016 at 3:51 am
Babe!!! I love this post so so much, and you are so bang on! Instagram has been the best tool for me to interact with other like minded fashionistas 😉 and meeting you has defiantly been one of the most amazing things to come from it! You are such a warm and genuine woman! Love you to bits xo
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on January 12, 2016 at 5:07 am
Thank you so much for sharing your story/experience! You know what, I can totally feel you. I did not tell any of my friend when I started my instagram account as they might think I am silly or get in gossip. It’s still hard for me to grow in Instagram but I just want to post anything I like to share with the world! Keep it up babe! I really love your feed and so glad and honor that we met and became friends through this social media! You are so amazing and inspiring! Love you!
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on January 13, 2016 at 11:50 pm
I love this and you, Ashley!! So glad we met each other on here and you should be proud of what you’ve built your brand to be! You’re killing it and continuously inspiring people! Adore you. xoxo, Erin
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on January 14, 2016 at 8:21 pm
Ashley! For so long I have been meaning to visit your blog from my computer where I can effectively comment, and I must first and foremost say – you are amazing. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I am so very glad we connected on Instagram! You are always so inspiring and genuine. These tips you have given are wonderful and the best part is you clearly live them out! Not only are you beautiful and your style amazing – you shine such a light in the way you interact with people. Your success is truly very deserved!
XO,
Heather
http://www.alittlecasual.com -
on January 16, 2016 at 10:26 am
Hi Ashley! This is the first time we visit your blog and the first time we leave a comment 🙂 Thank you for your tips. Now you have 2 new followers 😉 we read most of your posts and we like the way you write… Your style… Your blog!!
XO
Agnese&Elisa -
on January 18, 2016 at 3:13 am
My sis!!!
FIRST OFF! WOW. You wow me.
You have grown so much since I ever started following you. Your style, your pictures, your content has grown to be so amazing. And then your writing here as well! I LOVED reading this blogpost: It says a lot of things that are too many times being ignored, it is raw and honest and I have to say I am proud of you for everything you have achieved in one year. Most of all of the person you are: And I love the fact that you still are the same Ash sister than I have met when I started my instagram! Love you sis and hope you keep growing like you did becaue you deserve it so much… <3 <3
PS: WTF YOU ARE A DENTIST??? Truly, you will never stop surprising me sweetie…
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on January 24, 2016 at 7:22 am
Thanks for all the great tips. This is truly the best, most down-to-earth article I have ever read on the subject. Thanks for being a constant source of inspiration xxx
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on February 1, 2016 at 11:30 pm
My gorgeous babe.. This was such a great and informative read! I love how real and genuine you are and it’s so refreshing and exciting to see someone grow as much as you have. You continue to inspire us all every day with your amazing sense of style and creativity. As you know, I too only started just over a year ago with the same fears but decided to go for it. There has been many moments where I stress myself out and expect so much but the good that has come along the way outweighs all of that for sure! Connecting with babes like yourself has made it all worth it. Keep on killin’ it gorgeous!
XOXO
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on February 7, 2016 at 3:09 pm
Love this post! I’ve been following your account for awhile now & just love your eye for composition. Totally agree on not buying followers {If I would receive a dollar for every time I get an email to buy “real” followers I would be a millionaire by now}, being yourself and not taking it too hard when you don’t see progress. Looking forward to see what the future holds for you & your blog!
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on February 7, 2016 at 7:48 pm
Such a great post and excellent tips that I couldn’t agree more with! Ashley, you are truly an inspiration! I thought you had been blogging for so much longer than just a year! Thank you for being you… being genuine… and having such killer style and being an incredible inspiration to me! Keep up with your stellar content!
xo, Jennifer
http://www.publicistinpearls.com -
on February 25, 2016 at 5:01 pm
Amazing post! I’m new to your blog but I love it already you have great style.
You’re really inspiring and seeing posts like these gives me confidence and motivation to start a blog too which is something I’ve also been wanting to do for a while now. Everyday life and jobs get in the way and are used as an excuse to not start a blog because I’ve never done anything like it before, but I’m going to take your advice on board and not worry about what others think and just follow my passion 🙂 xxxp.s. love your instagram too
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on March 13, 2016 at 11:01 am
Thank you so much for those honest and inspiring words. I am so with you, that the most important thing about blogging and instagram is having fun and loving what you do. I hate the “competition” of following and unfollowing on instagram and yes, sometimes I do get frustrated, but then I think, well, at least I can be sure, that this is 100% me and all followers are here because they like what I am doing, even though it is a small group.
I love your style and Insta a lot! You absolute deserve every of your followers!
xxJessika
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on March 15, 2016 at 11:56 am
Love this post Ashley. When you said “I didn’t tell anyone about it”, that’s so like me. Sound like you have a really supportive hubby. Me too, always encouraging me. Can’t wait to meet soon. Abbey xoxo
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on April 5, 2016 at 10:41 am
Love this post Ash and exactly what I needed reminder of! I’m so glad I found you, you are such an inspiration!
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on April 11, 2016 at 2:54 am
We love following your instagram account your pictures are always inspiring, you make some really great points. Always need to remember to be true to yourself and your brand/vision. It’s nice to be apart of a positive community with like minded people.
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on July 19, 2016 at 10:39 pm
I haven’t seen this post in your blog until today, it was really useful, I’ve been following since you started your IG account and I’m amazed and mostly happy how much your account and blog grew. It’s really motivating to hear this advices, a lot of times I feel like I should quit beacuse of fear haha but then I remember that I do this because it’s what I love and I feel better to hear that you felt the same and now you’re someone I really look up to.. I wish you the very best in what’s coming up for you and I hope someday I can meet you cause you seem such an amazing girl, hugs for Mr.Gunner, Grizzly and you! <3
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on March 6, 2017 at 10:52 pm
I really like all this. You’re experiencing success but staying grounded and that tends to be a rare thing I think. Congratulations on yourself, even more than your beautiful Instagram account and blog. Well done.
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on June 9, 2017 at 12:55 pm