Your first 1000 followers. For many small businesses, it’s one of the first milestones they set for their Instagram accounts. And yet, it can feel like the hardest one to crack!
We often see online people sharing about how they hit their first 1000 followers, And, while it may be inspiring, it can feel a little irrelevant if it’s in a different industry.
That’s why we’ve rounded up 3 amazing small businesses owners from different industries to share how they hit their first 1000 and beyond. Whether you’re an eCommerce business, service provider, or not-for-profit owner, you can snag their secrets below.
The eCommerce business: Nadia Cross of Teal n Bronze
Nadia is the superwoman behind the plant-based bodycare range, Teal n Bronze. Their entire product line is created from premium plant-based oils, which are USD certified to ensure that there are no unwanted toxins or chemicals in your product. As well as running and marketing the business, Nadia handcrafts all their products from scratch to ensure they remain cruelty-free. So naturally, this busy businesswoman has got to have her efficient social media workflow down pat!
Top tip: A streamlined content creation process
“Plann saves me a lot of time. As a one-woman show, this is really important to me. I can upload photos, create captions, edit them, create hashtag lists and auto-posting is an absolute dream. The strategy and content prompts are game-changers. You can see the difference in my grid when I started using it earlier this year. The great thing is there are so many different themes to select from, to give you ideas to create some effective content.”
The service-based business: Photographer and social media marketer Airam Dato-on
Airam is a talented photographer and social media marketer and educator based in Orlando, Florida. Alongside his great visual eye, his hilarious memes and great tips have earned him over 25,000 followers. Here, Airam shares his tips for managing, strategizing, and automating social media posts for his food and beverage clients.
Top tip: A rotational content strategy, and memes
“First things first is a rotational content strategy. This helps keep your content fresh and tells the story of your brand. Especially with restaurants, you don’t want to just post food photos. You want to add some lifestyle photos, what’s happening in the kitchen, what the customers are saying, and maybe throw in some memes.
One of my favorite things about is the integration with Canva, as you can use it to make memes. If you’re not using memes as part of your strategy, you’re missing out because it gets a lot of engagement, whether it’s shares, saves, comments, or likes. And make sure that it’s relatable to your niche so that it makes the most impact. I always make sure the meme relates to a new offer or a special that we have.”
The Not-For-Profit: Milly Rose Bannister of GRLKND
Growing her own personal account to over 170,000 followers, Milly Rose has used to influence to good. She founded her own not-for-profit, GRLKIND, at a young age, where she shares mental health literacy and empowerment with young women. She’s also in the process of rolling out a mental health first aid course for young people.
Top tip: A strong concept and content pillars
“I really believe you need content pillars. So for us, for example, with GRLKND, our pillars are a resource of the week, shared from one of our team members, a meme or quotes and a post from me as the founder, they’re outdated pillars. We don’t always stick to them and it depends on what’s going on on the calendar. But when you have your pillars, you can figure out how you can create great content around them dilly-dallying into empty space. I also think if you define what you don’t do, it’s so much easier to move forward.
“When it comes to starting a new account, I would first come up with a concept. So, for example, mental health first aid can be really dry and boring and scary sometimes. So we wanted to create something that was experiential and welcoming and a bit retro and fun. So we decided an in-flight experience would be fun to do with retro flight. And, we called it Brain Pilot. From there, we came up with a color palette and font and brand guidelines that reflected that.
So I think before you even get on Instagram, those two things should be well-defined. The third would be figuring out how you can get your brand values, your brand messaging and your product, and your service across the line visually. So it’s a bit of a journey, but I think once you really get to know your brand inside out, and you can answer any questions about it. I think that’s when you can start building that really intentional brand online.”
Reach your first 1000 followers with Plann
Ready to hit this major milestone? We’ll be there every step of the way — and beyond! Our scheduling, creation, and strategy analytics tools give you everything you need to make a splash on socials, in one convenient place.
