How I Got My First 1000 followers as an Artist on Instagram (30 DAYS)

In March 2023 I decided to upload my first Instagram post to my shiny new art account.

 

Within 24 hours the account had amassed a grand total of 0 likes and 0 followers.

 

But that’s to be expected, right?

 

Undeterred, I continued to post a new design every single day, praying that the algorithm overlords would notice my consistency and dedication.

 

10 days later, my following count still stood firmly at 0, and the only engagement on my posts was a suspicious spam comment about NFT’s (which merely added insult to injury).

I thought: how on earth did people grow an audience on Instagram?

This question quickly took me down a perpetual rabbit hole of social media tactics and strategy research. As it turns out, hitting that initial 1000 follower mark is a continual source of frustration for the majority of artists and creators on Instagram.

 

As a side note, the amount of immensely talented artists I have discovered on Instagram with under 1000 followers is mind-blowing. Unfortunately, it seems artistic talent is only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to growing an audience online.

 

So, after my trip down the rabbit hole of social media growth tactics, I decided to put my new-found knowledge into action.

 

Approximately 30 days later I hit 1000 followers and counting.

 

 

 

To many of you reading this, 1000 followers may not seem like an impressive number. However, if you’ve ever tried to grow an art account on Instagram before, you’ll know that hitting 1000 followers within a month is atypical to say the least.

 

My account now had a larger following than many artists I’ve discovered on the platform that are considerably more talented than me. 

 

So how exactly did I do it?

Gaining your first 1000 followers: the 3 pillars of initial growth

 

The journey to your first 1000 followers on Instagram can be reduced to 3 main strategic concepts.

 

However, before we dive into these concepts I want to touch on a somewhat thorny subject.

 

Before you even begin to implement any social media growth strategies, you need to ask yourself this uncomfortable question:

 

As it stands, does your art deserve an audience?

 

The reason this question is paramount to your development as an artist is because there is no point pouring your time and energy into growing an audience when you’re still in the early phases of your art journey.

 

Time is your most valuable resource, and if you’re a beginner, you should be spending your time developing your skillset and honing your craft, NOT growing an Instagram following.

 

I understand this topic can be problematic due to the undeniable relationship between artistic pursuit and self-doubt. However, just make sure you’re out of the beginning stages of your art journey before allocating a large portion of your time to social media growth.

Pillar 1: Audience, not algorithm

 

In our modern, social media-obsessed world, algorithms are a widespread talking point.

 

Whenever social media growth is discussed, you’ll often hear advice that involves “appeasing the algorithm” or “algorithm hacking”.

 

I’m about to give you the exact opposite advice.

 

While these social media algorithms are immensely powerful, there’s one factor that is way more important to consider:

 

Your audience.

 

When you post to Instagram, you shouldn’t be thinking about how to beat the algorithm, your main concern should be the value that you provide to your audience.

 

If a post doesn’t perform well, it’s not because the mystical algorithm overlords didn’t approve. It’s because it didn’t resonate with your followers.

 

Let me give you an example. My highest-viewed story is a simple photo with some overlaid text. The text contains advice on how to grow faster on Instagram by using reels. It’s nothing flashy, but it performed way better than any algorithm-focused story I’ve uploaded. 

 

 

That’s because it provided genuine value to my audience.

 

When you upload to Instagram, you should always consider ways to provide value to your audience while simultaneously showcasing your art.

 

Here are some examples:

 

• Show/explain the creative process behind your work. Discovering how a piece of art is made can inspire a lot of creativity in a viewer. This can be done using time-lapse footage of you creating a specific piece of art (which can be turned into a reel or story), or even a brief explanation of your creative process in the post’s caption.

 

• Give advice to other artists in your niche. For example, if you’re a painter, use captions, stories and reels to give advice on specific painting techniques, equipment, etc.

 

Providing genuine value through your content will allow you to build an authentic following much, much faster. If people feel they are learning, growing or gaining some sort of value from your content, they are much more likely to become a fan of your work.

Pillar 2: Outreach

 

At this point you might be thinking: but how do I build an initial audience to provide value to?

 

The best way to do this is to focus on outreach strategies.

 

Every day, reach out to artists in your niche. Like a couple of their pictures, and maybe even send them a DM complimenting one of their posts. You should be aiming to build authentic relationships, not just spam their inbox. Give them highly specific compliments about their artwork, then ask them about their creative process. If you engage heavily with their content, they will often return the favour.

 

However, if used incorrectly, outreach can completely destroy your account.

 

Let me explain.

 

I often come across art accounts that follow 7000 people (the max following limit on Instagram). This is almost always a result of follow-spamming random lists of accounts in the hopes that a portion of those accounts will follow you back. It’s a technique as old as Instagram itself.

 

Interestingly, you’ll notice that accounts that use this technique usually have dreadful engagement. This is because the accounts that do happen to follow back are not genuine fans of your work.

 

Therefore, and I cannot stress this enough, do not use disingenuous follow/unfollow tactics on Instagram. It will completely destroy your engagement.

 

You should instead be looking to build genuine relationships with your audience, favouring authenticity over automation.

Pillar 3: Reels

 

Funnily enough, I didn’t post a single reel until I had over 1000 followers.

 

However looking back, I believe if I was posting reels consistently from the start, I potentially could have grown even faster.

 

When I finally got round to posting my first reel, it received around 5x more engagement than my average posts, and gave me an extra 150 followers in a single day. 

 

I was absolutely over the moon.

 

So over the next year, I plan to post reels much more regularly, as they seem to be a much more efficient strategy for growth on Instagram than standard posts.

 

It’s important to note that Instagram is doing everything in its power to compete with TikTok. This means they are much more likely to promote reels from small accounts to incentivize people to post more frequently.

Mindset Shifts

 

I want to share one final principle I discovered during this period of initial growth on social media.

 

In order to effectively build an audience, you need to expand the scope of your creativity into running and growing your business.

 

Your creativity shouldn’t just be limited to your art: inject your creative flare into your outreach, marketing, networking, etc. True creativity is not limited to a single output.

 

(I plan to write another newsletter about this subject, so stay tuned!)

 

Anyway, that’s all for today. Thank you so much for reading my first newsletter, it is beyond appreciated. If you found some value here, don’t hesitate to reach out to me on Instagram! I’m always open to connect with other artists, designers, content creators, etc.

 

Thanks again, and I hope you have a beautiful day.

 

George

Instagram:@waveindex

Twitter:@waveindex_