This month, I’ve decided to do an experiment to see if I can increase my Instagram followers by increasing my engagement. Will you join me?!

Here’s the deal: even though you shouldn’t worry about your follower count, the truth is that the number of followers you have is actually important and impacts the reach of your content. So, while the goal is not to go viral or get 10,000 new followers, we do want our account to experience organic, consistent growth.

BUT HOW??!!!

The truth is, nobody really knows how. The same strategies could work great for one account and poorly for someone else’s. There’s no way to predict what the algorithm is going to do with your content…so the only option is to ignore good ole AL as much as possible.

Instead, we are going to focus on people and engagement.

In the online universe, conversations and interactions happen with comments, likes, story replies, and direct messages. These activities are called “engagement.”

When you post something and others comment, like, or participate with it in some way, AL (the algorithm) shows the post and your account to more people. In fact, it might show it to the people who follow the person who left the comment. It’s a tangled, complex formula that basically boils down to: engagement is good.

We all love it when someone leaves us a comment…but honestly, when’s the last time you left a comment or sent a reply to someone else’s post? You can’t expect people to comment on your posts if you don’t comment on their’s.

So that’s what this experiment is all about: Targeted Engagement.

I want to see if actively engaging with other accounts will increase engagement on my account, and if this, in turn, will lead to more Instagram followers.

One caveat before we get started…

You should also be posting on your profile and showing up on stories. Aim for 3-5 posts and stories per week if you can!

Targeted Engagement Experiment

This experiment is designed it to be completed in about 15 minutes a day, 5x a week. Here’s what you need to do.

1. First, record your numbers. Look back at last month’s posts and record your follower count and your average likes, comments, reach, views. You can find this information in your insights section, or you can do it manually. This will give you a baseline to measure your success.
2. Next, make a list of 20 new accounts that you want to engage with over the next month. Think about your customers, local business, or friends. It can be a mix of people you already follow and those that might not follow you. These are people that you want to stay top-of-mind with–you want them to see your content or you want to make a professional connection with them.
3. Follow the accounts on your list (if you don’t already) and make a note for if they follow you or not.
4. Set a timer for 10-20 minutes every day to engage with the profiles on your list. Like their posts, watch their reels, and leave comments over 3 words long. Watch their stories and reply every now and then, especially if they are using engagement stickers like polls and question boxes. Note: if you don’t get to all of them in your 10-20 minute period, that’s ok! Just start where you left off on your list tomorrow.
5. Don’t forget to REPLY to anyone who leaves a comment on your post or replies to your stories!

Continue this process with this same list for one month. At the end of the month, look at your numbers again and record them. How many of those previously non-followers became followers? Did your reach or average number of comments increase?

If you like your results – keep going! Repeat this process, but rotate in new accounts. Again, don’t spend more than 10-20 minutes a day! We all have other things on our plate!

To make this experiment even easier for you, I’ve created a Google spreadsheet so you can track your progress. Just click the link, “make a copy”, and it’s yours to use as you see fit!

If you do this, could you share your results with me? I truly want to know if it makes a difference!