6 things I should have done to get my first 1K Instagram followers

As a new creator on Instagram, my dream was to start earning from my content by working with brands I loved, like CeraVe, La Roche-Posay, or Anua. To make that dream a reality, I set a goal to reach 1,000 followers within a year.

Why that number? Well, hitting it was supposed to signal that I wasn’t posting for fun, but I was serious about building my online presence. And also because there’s just something oddly satisfying about having a thousand followers.

But getting to that milestone was harder than I expected… and I gave up at 700 followers.

Two years and a lot of reflecting later, I finally understand why I didn’t reach my goal. In this article, I’ll share six things I could have done better so you can learn from my mistakes.

One, I wish I:

made my content less predictable 

The first, and probably biggest, mistake I made was posting predictable content. For context, the type of content I posted repeatedly was skincare tips for different skin types and concerns.

Most of those tips could be found with a quick Google search. Because I wasn’t adding anything new or exploring a different angle, my content felt repetitive. My followers could probably guess what I was going to post the next day.

I wish I had incorporated more personality into my content. It would have made me relatable and given my followers something to look forward to in my next posts.

Two, I really wish I:

stayed consistent

Instagram gurus talk about the importance of staying consistent, especially when you’re trying to build a following as a creator.

As overused as that advice is, it’s solid.

I wasn’t consistent… at all. I convinced myself I had “valid reasons” for not showing up.

One of those reasons was that I was filming on a Samsung A22 and hated how low-quality my videos looked. I remember cleaning my back camera with a microfiber cloth multiple times, hoping it would magically improve the quality. It didn’t, so I never posted the videos I filmed.

I also didn’t have basic equipment: no ring light, no tripod, no LED light. Because my room barely got natural sunlight during the day, I had to wake up quite early to film content. I’d be half asleep, with baggy eyes, trying to remember my script.

On top of that, I constantly compared myself to other creators in my niche who started around the same time as I did but grew faster. This only made things worse. The more I compared myself, the less I wanted to post.

Making all these excuses felt safe and comfortable at that time. What I didn’t realise back then was that waiting until everything is perfect meant missing opportunities.

Next, I wish I:

tested different text and visual hooks

Every single one of my videos looked and started the same way.

Text above my head with something like “8 Skincare Tips for Oily Skin,” and sometimes text at the bottom of the screen with “Read Caption.”

That was it.

See what I mean?

I wasn’t doing anything interesting to grab attention or create suspense. My audience knew exactly what they were going to get at first glance, which made it easy to scroll right past it. 

At some point, my reel views started to decline, and I found myself stuck in 400-700 views jail.

Back then, I didn’t know anything about writing better hooks or using emotion and curiosity to keep people watching my videos longer.

I really wish I:

had a content strategy instead of relying on vibes

I never researched who my target audience was. I didn’t understand their pain points. I didn’t have content pillars, which made it hard for me to come up with content ideas I could film.

To get fresh ideas, I’d scroll through Instagram, see what other creators in my niche were posting, and copy them. Or I’d do a quick Google Search. My content wasn’t original.

If I had taken the time to understand my audience, I could have reached 1K followers in no time.

I also wish I:

leveraged storytelling

In 2022, when I started creating content, storytelling wasn’t as popular as it is today.

You couldn’t find a video of me sharing skincare tips I learned through trial and error, which meant my audience couldn’t connect with me on a deeper level.

Storytelling makes even basic information memorable. It helps you build trust and community, not just views.

I’m still improving my storytelling skills, and I hope to be as good as Salem King one day, but I can see how much more engaging my content would have been if I had told stories from the start.

And finally, I wish I:

experimented in the first three months

I work as a social media manager in my day job. One thing I do now that I didn’t do back in 2022, both for myself and for my clients, is leave room for experimentation.

I create fixed monthly content calendars for my clients, but I stay flexible. If I see something trending in a client’s niche, I’ll jump on it, even if I already posted content that day. I also test different formats: reels, carousels, and single-image posts, instead of only posting reels because “Instagram experts” say that’s the fastest way to grow.

Experimenting early helps you understand what your audience resonates with. It lets you test different content styles and use the data to inform your content strategy.

moving forward

If I could restart my creator journey on Instagram, or any social media platform, I would make sure I never repeat these mistakes. Reflecting on them has taught me that growth is possible for creators who know their audience, have a clear content strategy, experiment, and show up even when things aren’t perfect.

So, if you’re a creator like me whose growth has stalled, I hope this post-mortem has given you some clarity and a few things to fix with your content strategy.