How did you get so many followers on Instagram?

How did you get so many followers on Instagram?

I always enjoy answering frequently asked questions from you guys. One of them is: “How did you get so many followers on Instagram?”

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Honestly I ask this questions myself sometimes 😀 First I wanna emphasize that the number of one’s followers does not say anything about that person!! Most of my friends don’t have Instagram, my boyfriend has been together with me a long time before I signed up on Instagram, my parents and brother are not even on Instagram. Hence, to the most important people in my life the number of my followers does not have any meaning 🙂

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Of course to me it has a meaning: the number tells me that my message, for instance that you don’t need to starve yourself in order to have a nice figure, reaches people. This certainly motivates me. Besides that I still do the same like I did when I only had less than 500 followers. I still try to answer questions, really think about comments, try to realize to your ideas etc. 🙂

“How did you start with Instagram?”

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A bit more than 2 years ago I signed up on Instagram as “pilotmadeleine”. I went for this name because I just finished with flight school back then and was looking for a platform where I could connect to other pilots. Here you can read about my current Aviation situation.

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Because Aviation is quite a small world and not everyone is interested in a full pilot account I didn’t have many followers back then. After a short time I started sharing more of my private life: Fitness pictures, healthy recipes and travel pictures. Especially the fitness pictures and healthy recipes became so popular that I started to gain followers quite quickly.

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Therefore, I wanna give you some tips today how you can highlight your account a bit more 🙂

1) Upload nice pictures

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Often “professional” pictures are more popular than normal pictures. Hence, it might be worth investing into a new camera. Here you can find a review about my camera. Although I realized that accounts with “too professional” pictures (for instance those of model accounts with only extremely edited pictures) are not that popular. Hence, dare to occasionally upload some “unperfect” pictures which makes you only human and thus more likeable 🙂

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2) Answer comments & questions

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Of course that becomes more difficult the more follower you have. But I find that the worst are those “ghost accounts” where if you’re a follower never have the feeling being close to someone or being to able to contact that person. Hence, it is important paying attention to questions and comments of your followers. This also helps you to realize what your followers like and what not.

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3) Ask every once in a while what your followers wanna see more of

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Of course you can already tell which photos are popular by simply looking at the likes. But it also makes senses to sometimes simply ask what your followers wanna see more of. This always helps me to come up with (recipe and picture) ideas that I might not have gotten without asking.

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4) Connect with larger accounts

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This is often easier said that done. But only via commenting larger accounts sometimes might already recognize you. Especially such inspo accounts that don’t post their own pictures live of those by other accounts. Hence, it makes senses to maybe tag them sometimes, try out their recipes etc. Maybe you are lucky enough to be featured by them.

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5) Be true to yourself

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Unfortunately I’ve recognized that more and more (fitness) accounts that I enjoyed following only post half naked pictures anymore only to attract male followers. This is really unfortunate 🙁 I also immediately unfollow such accounts. Hence, it is important to NOT only upload pictures who attract new followers but rather to stay true to yourself 🙂 I for instance don’t wanna receive comments such as “take your shirt of” etc… haha. I wanna read smart, constructive and sweet comments which I get to read everyday on my account 🙂 Besides that my parents also have a look at my profile sometimes. Hence, it is important to me to upload “reasonable” pictures 😛 Because it is more important to me that my parents are proud of what I’m doing rather than reaching a certain number of followers.

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6) Have fun with Instagram

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My last and most important tip is to simply have fun with Instagram. If you are only interested in the number of your followers you will most likely not enjoy Instagram in the long run. And of course your mood also transfers on to your followers.

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I have been lucky that many larger accounts (Kayla Itsines, Detoxpage, luxuryworldtraveler, bestvacations etc.) recognized my account and sometimes share my pictures on their accounts. Of course this way your followers also grow. Besides that tagging me in recipes also helps in gaining more followers.

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But like mentioned before: the number does not say anything about a person!! Therefore, I can recommend you to have fun with Instagram and stay true to yourself. Because let’s be honest: In the end the number of followers is only important for your own ego. If you have a good private life, a nice family, great friends, and a happy life a number should not matter that much 🙂

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If you have more questions or suggestions write them in the comments 🙂 I’m always super excited to read them!

Xoxo
Maddi

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