Tips for Writers to grow their readership on Instagram:
Since the inception of Instagram, a lot of artists have found it to be a great platform to showcase their work on. Painters, graphic designers, writers, photographers and more. I have been posting my write ups, poems, quotes on Instagram since October of 2016. This has caused me to realise that this platform is a very fast growing community and at times a lot of good content gets filtered out because they are simply not popular enough.
The main thing to remember here is that, you need to know what your true purpose of being here is and what is the role you play. I have been writing since the age of 15, that’s 11 years of writing but I now see people who started writing as a means of getting “famous” on Instagram. True writers do not do that. True artist will always get recognition but do not do it for fame.
Steps to increase your audience:
1. “Know your audience” – you need to know which particular section of the community would be interested in your art. If you are focusing on poetry, make sure that it’s poems that you post and not quotes and pass them off as poems. If your work appeals to a younger crowd, you need to present your work that seems appealing to them.
2. “Use your hashtags well” – a lot of accounts, when young, need to make sure they use the appropriate hashtags to get noticed in the writing/poetry community on Instagram. You can use up to 30 hashtags on each of your posts so make use of them. Do not hesitate checking the bigger accounts to see what hashtags they use.
3. “Be unique” – do not ask your audience what they wish to read. A true artist is an inspired artist. They seek natural inspiration and not request for inspiration from their audience.
4. “Post at the right time” – young accounts need to make sure they post when the region they are targeting for readers to come from would be active on Instagram, because the success of your post is determined within the first hour but thats not always the case.
5. “Follow other writers and artists only” – do not follow your friends/relatives from your writing account. Make sure your focus is only on writing and writing alone.
6. “Try to maintain a profile theme” – a lot of accounts do not get enough attention because their profile is not aesthetically pleasing. Remember, Instagram is a visual medium and a good looking profile will always work better against a disorganised one.
7. “Aesthetic posts” – make sure that your presentation of each post is good. It doesn’t have to be too loud but your words need to be clear. It should appeal to people to want to read more.
8. “Make sure you are not plagiarising” – at times we do not mean to but may use phrases that have already been written before. If you are accused of having copied something, stay calm and double check on google or other sources. You can graciously apologise and take the post down. If you are a victim of it, you will get full support from the writing community.
9. “Post regularly” – writers make this mistake a lot of times that they do not post for a long period of time and lose their engagement on Instagram. Try to post regularly and you will have your regular followers appreciation.
10. “Engage with your audience regularly” – Sometimes it’s hard to remember, but engaging your audience in your stories or captions is important. Make them feel involved a little.
11. “Engage with other’s posts” – If you constantly comment and show appreciation for others work, they’ll notice you and eventually, check you out. Be kind and genuine. Only do it if you really love their work.
12. “Always be grateful for the love” – always be grateful to all those who support you and also for the platform. Instagram doesn’t charge you to use its platform so if your posts don’t do well, maybe you’re not doing something right.
Note: You can also do paid ads directly with Facebook and/or Instagram to get higher reach. Switching to “Business Account” may help you see if your posts hit “Explore” or not. This is where the followers come from.
Remember to write for yourself first.
Dont’s:
1. “Do not beg for attention” – Do not go messaging writers to check your work or commenting on their posts to checkout your profile. That is where you start losing respect that you haven’t even earned yet. You’re an artist and artists exhibit their work, they don’t force people to check it out.
2. “Do not tag other writers” – Do not go around tagging other writers unless its a collaboration with one or you are acknowledging their part in your piece. I have tons of writers tagging me daily in their posts and it gets annoying.
3. “Remember, everyone started small” – Don’t go around telling larger accounts that they do not help out the newer or smaller account because no one has the right to tell anyone what they should and shouldn’t be doing. You get larger accounts attention by showing up on their “Explore” and they will definitely appreciate your work if they like it. Its a personal choice to follow someone or not.
4. “Do not plagiarise” – Even if the work of a writer or artist on Instagram has no copyright, they are the owners of their words. There is an issue of ethics if you start copying from other writers.
5. “Do not judge” – all artists, at least the real artists have their own way to write and express. We all have opinions but you have no right to tell anyone they their thinking is wrong. If you do not like someone’s words, you do not need to read their work, as simple as that. No need to go to their posts and leave negative comments there. Art can not be judged.
Parth and Soshinie
Only right wins 
I agree. All very good and concise points to remember.
This is so genuinely helpful
Such an amazing read for a starter! Thank you!
This is really helpful. I have faced some problems. But now these points are going to help me do my work . Thank you Soshinie and Parth .