Alright folks, let’s get real about trying to grow on Instagram. I used to post random stuff whenever I felt like it and barely scratched the surface with followers. It was frustrating, man. So, I decided to actually get my act together last February and try some real strategies consistently for a solid three months. Here’s exactly what went down.
The Starting Point (& What Wasn’t Working)
First off, I took a hard look at my account – my grid looked like a chaotic thrift store display. Food pics next to blurry landscapes next to boring selfies. Zero consistency. Engagement? Basically crickets, just a few likes from my mom and my best mate. My old “strategy”? Posting whenever I remembered and hoping people would magically find me with big hashtags like #love or #photography. Spoiler: It was garbage.
The Actual Game Plan I Stuck To
Step 1: Niche Down & Visual Overhaul: This was tough. I love hiking and good coffee. Couldn’t decide. Finally just picked hiking and local trails. Deleted a bunch of off-topic old posts ruthlessly. Then I focused, hard, on making my photos look decent – better lighting, actually editing them in that free app everyone uses, trying to keep colours kinda similar in my grid. It didn’t happen overnight, let me tell you.
Step 2: Content Pillars (Sounds Fancy, Isn’t): Instead of just snapping the summit view, I broke it down:
- Trail Tips & Gear Stuff: Showing my beat-up boots, packing my backpack efficiently (or not so efficiently!), quick fixes on the trail.
- Bite-Sized Trail Beauty: Those killer sunrise shots, cool plants, the muddy slog parts. Raw bits, not just polished perfection.
- My Actual Hiking Stories: Getting briefly lost, seeing wildlife, meeting weirdos on the trail. The kinda stuff you’d tell a friend.
I aimed for 4-5 posts a week, mixing these up.
Step 3: Hashtags I Actually Researched: Ditched the huge generic ones. Every morning while eating breakfast, I spent maybe 15 minutes searching relevant, smaller hashtags like #LocalHikesPNW (my area!), #HikingBeginnerTips, #WaterfallChaser etc. Used a mix of them (aiming for around 15-20), and honestly, sometimes forgot to change them up perfectly. But it was better than nothing.
Step 4: Posting Consistently (Seriously, This is Key): This was the hardest part. I set a simple schedule: Post Reels Monday & Wednesday mornings before work, Photos Thursday & Saturday afternoon. Used the scheduler in the Instagram app itself because complicated tools stressed me out. Some days I prepped stuff on Sunday, other weeks I was cramming it in at 6 AM. But I mostly stuck to it.
Step 5: Engagement – Actually Talking, Not Just Broadcasting: This changed the game. Stopped just dumping my post and ghosting. Every single day, for 30 minutes minimum (sometimes on my lunch break, sometimes on the toilet!), I did this:
- Searched key terms like #PacificNorthwestHiking or #FindYourTrail.
- Liked recent posts (genuinely!)
- Left specific comments: Not just “Nice!”, but “Wow, that moss looks amazing! What trail is this?” or “Oof, that mud section looks brutal! How did your boots hold up?”
- Actually replied thoughtfully to EVERY comment on my posts within a few hours, not days later.
It felt awkward and slow at first, like shouting into a void. But people did start noticing.
Step 6: Leaning Into Reels (& Making Them Effortless): Early on, I avoided Reels like the plague – thought they were too hard. My first ones were embarrassingly bad! Finally, I embraced the quick hack:
- Just turning my phone sideways filming cool trail snippets.
- Grabbing trending audio snippets directly from the audio search when making the Reel – just searched stuff like “epic nature” or “adventure vibe”.
- Adding big, clear text on screen using built-in fonts: “Steep Climb!” or “Best View Point Ahead!”.
- Posting them raw, sometimes shaky. Turns out people liked the realness more than my attempts at being Spielberg.
Slapped together some Reels using just my phone. No fancy effects. And guess what? Those got WAY more views.
The Grind & The Slow Burn Results
Here’s the honest truth: Nothing exploded overnight. The first month felt like pushing a boulder uphill. Maybe 10 new followers. But I kept showing up. Focused on the plan, tweaked things slightly based on what got more saves or comments (saves became my new obsession, way better metric than just likes!).
By the end of month two? I was gaining maybe 5-10 real followers a day, not bots. People actually chatting in my DMs about gear questions or trail recommendations. My Reels started popping off randomly – one super shaky one about a creek crossing got like 15k views? Madness!
Three Months Later – The Verdict: Started at around 700 quiet followers. Ended up just over 2000. Engagement shot WAY up – comments became conversations. Got invited to my first local gear testing thing! It wasn’t rocket science, just showing up consistently, talking to people like humans, and posting stuff that actually fit a theme. No magic tricks, just persistent effort.
Biggest Takeaways? Niche down hard, engage every day, Reels are stupidly powerful (and don’t need to be perfect), and quantity won’t save you if your stuff is all over the place. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Now? Still grinding, but seeing steady growth feels damn good.
