avatarDeya Bhattacharya

Summary

The author shares their experience building a successful Instagram blog focusing on hiking, including tips and strategies for growing their account and engaging with followers.

Abstract

The author shares their journey of building a growing Instagram blog focused on hiking, despite having no expertise in social media tactics. They started posting every day, primarily featuring photos with themselves, using a free feed-planning app, avoiding Instagram filters, and including useful information in every post. The author also boosted at least one post per week, studied other hikers and outdoor bloggers, engaged with their content, and followed and interacted with small brands. The author's goal is to share helpful content for hikers and enjoy the hiking experience, rather than just seeking paid content creation opportunities.

Bullet points

  • The author started an Instagram blog focusing on hiking in June 2022
  • The author posts every day and primarily shares photos featuring themselves
  • The author uses a free feed-planning app and avoids Instagram filters
  • Each post includes some form of useful information, such as a mini trail guide, hiking tips, or a personal story
  • The author boosts at least one post per week, spending around 6-10 on each post
  • The author studies other hikers and outdoor bloggers and engages with their content
  • The author follows and interacts with small outdoor brands
  • The author's goal is to share helpful content and enjoy the hiking experience, rather than just seeking paid content creation opportunities

How I’m Building An Instagram Blog That’s Actually Growing

I have zero expertise, but I seem to be doing okay

Photo by Nathana Rebouças on Unsplash

It’s the dream, right? Getting Insta-famous, getting big brands to pay you to use their stuff, never having to work a boring desk job again. And while it’s a mega-saturated space in 2022, you can still make it as an Instagram influencer — if you’re unique and market-savvy enough.

I’ve been mildly keen on becoming an influencer since 2019. I started out with a fashion page until I realised (a) that I couldn’t be bothered to wear high heels and a full face of makeup every time I stepped out, and (b) that there were way, way, way, way, WAY too many fashion pages already. I then tried to start a book blog, but owing to massive mental health dips, I basically stopped reading (sigh). My third attempt involved sharing life and career advice, but given that my own career was fluctuating so much, it felt disingenuous to hand out advice like I had everything under control.

Eventually, I decided to stop chasing pipe dreams, focus on my actual source of income (freelance writing) and keep Instagram’s role in my life to a minimum. And after December 2021, I even stopped posting to my personal account. I just didn’t feel like it.

But turned out, fate (and Instagram) had other plans for me.

When I moved to the Bay Area in May 2022, I was incredibly homesick and depressed. I turned to hiking to soothe myself and also to explore my outdoorsy side, something I hadn’t ever given much space to. And I started my Instagram page, @thebougiehiker, to share my hiking adventures.

I started on June 22 with 1 follower — my husband. On October 19, I have 380 followers. You might say this isn’t much. And yes, some of those followers are my friends who used to follow my old personal account.

But here’s why I still count it as a success:

  • It’s the fastest I’ve ever grown an Instagram page.
  • Many of the friends from my old personal account actually discovered me and chose to follow me, without me reaching out to them.
  • I’ve already gotten an ambassadorship with a women-in-outdoors brand as well as multiple guest-posting opportunities.

I have absolutely no expertise in social media tactics, and there are many things I could be doing better. But based on my past experience with Instagram, there are some things I’ve been focusing on that seem to be working well so far. And I thought I’d share them for the benefit of anyone else who wants to start an Instagram blog in 2022 and make a sustainable project out of it.

I’m posting every day

Hate to sound like a broken record here, but consistency really does matter in the social media world. You want to be seen, you gotta keep putting content out there. Since I obviously don’t go on new hikes every day (much as I’d love to), I take at least 6–7 good pictures on every hike so it lasts me a while — which is enough, because I usually end up hiking at least once a week anyway.

I’m primarily sharing photos that feature me

The truth is that posts with my face do better than posts featuring just the scenery (even if the scenery is drop-dead gorgeous). Can’t say whether it’s because I’m a woman or whether that’s just how the algorithm works, but luckily I like posing for the ‘gram anyway.

I’m using a free feed-planning app

It’s not feasible to have a super-coordinated feed when you’re just starting out, but there are certain aesthetic combinations that work better than others. A feed-planning app helps me make the most of those combinations, which usually involve grouping similar colours and photo structures (eg wide landscapes) together. But to be fair, I’m not overtly particular about feed planning. If I want to share a specific picture on a specific day, I do so.

I’m avoiding Instagram filters

It’s a rookie mistake — filtering the life out of your Instagram uploads. I had a love affair with Ludwig myself before good sense finally prevailed. And don’t worry, you don’t have to spend a bomb on presets and editing apps. Your Google Photos or your iPhone Photos edit features are extremely classy and totally free. My favourites are the Vivid edit on the iPhone and the Enhance tweak on Google Photos.

I’m including some form of useful information in every post

I like to take the time and effort to craft captions that feature a mini trail guide, hiking tips or a personal story of some kind. Something that’ll help whoever comes across my photo, rather than generic stuff like “feeling pretty today”. This, in fact, is one of the things that helped me land guest posting opportunities with the women-in-outdoors brand — because they’d seen my page and knew I was providing useful content consistently.

I’m boosting at least one post a week

This is a hit or miss, because I don’t have the budget to spend too much, and from what I’ve read online, boosted posts work best if you run them for several days at a go. But even one 24-hour boosted post every week brings in several new followers — many of whom continue to be my followers even after the promotion has stopped (so not bot followers!). I spend around $6-$10 on each post.

I’m studying other bloggers

There are several big hiking influencers who make a living out of creating hiking content, and there are smaller influencers who focus more on just sharing their adventures through amazing pictures and written content. I’m studying them all! There’s a lot to learn from both kinds about photography, lighting, captions, feed planning and hiking tips — and in fact, the smaller influencers often have more unique trail recommendations to offer simply because they aren’t sponsored to go to just the popular places.

I’m liking and interacting with other hiking posts

This was a big mistake I was making on my old accounts — not engaging enough! Now, whenever I post, I also make sure to like and comment on what other hiking bloggers are uploading. Engagement is hugely reciprocal — many of the bloggers I followed and whose content I appreciated have been doing the same for me. I’m also engaging with outdoor brand pages — which brings me to my next point.

I’m following and engaging with small brands

Small brands are the ones likeliest to want to engage with new bloggers like myself. I’m seeking them out, following them, liking their posts and occasionally cold-DMing them. A good way to identify small brands on Instagram is by typing your keyword (such as “camping gear” or “hiking boots”) and filtering by Accounts. Also, once you follow a page, you’ll get a pop-up with a list of recommendations for pages similar to the ones you’ve liked. Check them out and follow them! If you’re lucky, they’ll follow you back or at least like a few of your posts, and then after a while you can reach out to them and request a collab. I haven’t explored the collab requesting part much yet, but I will.

The hope, of course, is that I can eventually grow my Instagram blog to a point where I attract paid content creation opportunities for outdoor and travel brands. But honestly, that’s not a key driver for me right now. I’m truly enjoying just sharing content — content that can help other women hikers, solo hikers, Bay Area hikers and first-time hikers. Most of all, I’m passionately in love with the hiking experience itself. Even if Instagram shuts down tomorrow, I’ll still be hiking. And I’ll be sharing my hiking adventures and tips with anyone who’ll care to listen.

Which is really what matters.

Blogging
Solopreneur
Entrepreneurship
Instagram
Social Media
Recommended from ReadMedium