Back in December I talked about how my Instagram numbers were going down after a busy November in my personal and professional life. I debated if doing Instagram was worth it - some people told me not to worry about growing my account and to just have fun, but for me the challenge and discipline of it is really motivating and fun.
I decided to give it my all in January and see if I could turn this sinking ship around. Or stop it from sinking. Whatever the analogy is, you get the point.
So in January I did a bunch of things (which I'll tell you about because we're besties) and yes, things are starting to improve.
A few days ago I got back up to the follower count I had on November 10. Yes it took me almost 3 months to get back to where I was. No I don't know why my account was leaking followers when I was doing pretty much the same thing. But anyway! I'm happy to see that things are moving in the right direction, even though my growth is MUCH slower than it used to be. But I can accept that.
Here's what I did:
1. I changed my nail shape from oval to square
I swear square does better. I ended up changing it back because with such curved nails I was stabbing myself and my swing dance partners and I couldn't handle it. But I did have square nails for most of January.2. I changed my posting schedule
I noticed that @nails_bychels (whose account has been growing like crazy) usually posts two photos on day 1, a video on day 2 and nothing on day 3, then repeat. I'd been posting every day. The amount of manis are the same: 3 manis over 3 days, but I experimented with this schedule and I think it helps. Giving the video one extra day to get traction perhaps is good, I don't know.3. More videos
I posted more videos. Once I'm in the groove, it's not that much extra work. We all know videos help with Instagram engagement.4. I shared my videos in IG stories
This helps in case people miss it in the feed.5. I paid to promote a few videos
I barely got new followers from this but I did get more likes on my videos which I think helped. I paid 2$ a day for 2-3 days, nothing major.6. I switched up who I tag on my videos
Every time I post a video, I tag a bunch of accounts who repost nail art videos. I've been using the same ones for a long time, I realized that some of them hadn't posted in months!So I went to the explore page and looked at nail art videos and saw which repost accounts were reaching the top. I haven't gotten reposted by them, but I think other people may look in their tagged photos, so it doesn't hurt.
7. I refreshed my hashtags
I looked through my saved list of hashtags and re-worked them. I've hinted at how I do hashtags and I will do a whole post on this at some point. I looked on the explore page, I looked at what other successful accounts were using, I clicked the ones I'm using and made sure my nail art style fits in with what is being highlighted at the top of the page.8. I did a mani swap
Towards the end of the month I did a mani swap and I plan to do more. This is a great way to get exposure to a different audience who might not know you (and it's fun).Most importantly I feel back on track and inspired again. I realized I'm way too much of a nail art addict to quit this anytime soon! Even if my growth is incremental, as long as I'm generally going in the right direction, that's fine with me.
That's it darling! Do any of these surprise you? Do you have any other tips? I'm all ears. Feel free to comment below or on my latest post on Instagram.
Love and lacquer,
xoxo
Michele