Welcome back to another episode of the Stephanie Kase Podcast! We’re starting a new mini-series here on the podcast about Instagram. They’re been our most popular episodes so far, so we wanted to really dive into a few topics for you over the next few weeks. In this episode, we’re talking about 6 things that are working RIGHT NOW to grow on Instagram in 2023. The things we’re talking about are relevant to growing your account and seeing more audience engagement, improved content performance, and better audience connection. We’re using these tips on our Stephanie Kase Education account (and so are our students!), so I’m definitely sharing what I know!

#1: Post Consistently

I think the first thing that works well to grow on Instagram right now is posting consistently. This does NOT mean every day. In fact, I’ve never been someone who posted on Instagram every day for a long period of time. It feels crazy because I’m someone who loves Instagram and teaches about it. But, the reality is that consistency matters more than posting every day. Showing up over a long period of time is the most important thing. If you want to see growth, you have to post and show up. That’s the bottom line. You want to show up regularly for your community and build their trust, their attention, and engagement over time. That’s what will make an impact for your brand. Remember too, that posting high quality content is going to help you more in the long run than just random posts every day.

#2: Stock Footage

Okay, so I’ve been talking for years about how “stock footage” or behind the scenes footage is a great and easy way to show up on social media. This type of content is becoming increasingly popular on the app now, especially when it comes to Reels. This can translate to Stories, though, too! Stock footage is really just video of you doing something – business related or a daily task. You’re basically documenting what you’re doing and how you’re serving your clients or create your products. Whatever that looks like, film yourself doing it! I’ve always been a big fan of this because people can see what you’re doing behind the scenes. The best part is that this doesn’t really take long to record or turn into something useful for your account!

#3: Photo Posts

Photo posts are making a comeback on Instagram! In fact, Adam, the head of Instagram, has stated that they will be pushing photo posts a bit more again. This probably makes most of you excited to hear. I’ve started seeing photo posts in my home feed from users I don’t follow, so that’s huge! Our photo posts will reach a majority of our warm audience, but they’re also beginning to potentially reach our cold audience too. Again, I still think that you should be doing Reels if you’re trying to build an audience, but photo posts are good to nurture your current audience.

#4: Have a Personal Brand

This might not surprise you because I’ve mentioned this SO often. But, I really do think now more than ever, people want to know the person behind the brand. People connect with people – not things. You don’t have to share everything about yourself to have a personal brand. The other thing I hear a lot is that people thing they’re “too boring” to have a personal brand, but you’ll be surprised how quickly people will relate to you. I promise, you’re not boring. Sharing things like walking your dog, folding your laundry, or hanging out with your kids is something other people get. We connect over the mundane parts of life, trust me.

When it comes to connecting with people on the app, I think Instagram Stories are one of the best ways to do that. There’s not a lot of places that you can share content and someone can personally messages you – connecting on a deeper level. Stories are often low effort content, too. PS. We have some free Instagram Story templates if you want those to help you promote content, so grab them here! You can customize them on Canva!

#5: Engaging with your Audience.

The fifth thing that helps to grow on Instagram is engaging back with your audience. This might not surprise you to hear, either, because I’m a huge advocate of simply engaging with your people! If you’re not responding back to your audience, why would you expect them to engage with you? Find a rhythm to respond to messages, comments, and DMs as often as you can. Additionally, make engaging with you easy. Provide polls or question boxes. There’s so many ways to encourage them to engage with your account.

#6: Give True Value

What do I mean by this point? On Instagram, everyone’s attention span is short. You need to make sure your content is truly valuable so you can keep people’s attention. Ensure that they want to engage with you because they know what you’re doing is going to provide them something valuable. This also helps to build trust with your audience over time. They’ll keep coming back to you for more content. Another way to think of it is how can you make your content bingeable for your audience? What will make them want to come back and view more? Keep your content related to your niche, and that will help a lot, too!

Now you have 6 ways to grow your Instagram account in 2023. I hope these tips help you!

Other Instagram Resources 

I also offer a free one-hour Instagram Reels class if you want more help with how to grow your reach, followers, and customers with Reels in 2 hours a month! You can sign up for that HERE. And, if you have questions or want some extra support, I’ve got a FREE Reels Growth Facebook Community that you can join. I absolutely love getting to chat with everyone and help them work through their questions about Reels!

Wondering what to make for your next Reel? Free quiz to find out what type of reel idea you should make next! 

 Need ideas for Instagram? Grab our free sample Instagram posting schedule here!

If you’re listening and you have ideas about what to talk about next, please send in your requests! I really do want to know what you want to hear about in future episodes. Email me at [email protected] with your questions!! I can’t wait to hear from you! Don’t forget to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, too. We appreciate all of the support and love!