A Balanced Guide to Instagram Game
02-08-2019, 04:55 PM
After over a year since the thread has started, I think it is time for a strategic update on Instagram game. My thoughts on this topic have changed significantly over the past year in response to my experiences, and I wanted to consolidate my thoughts into one post. This is based both on my personal experiences, as well as ideas that other posters have brought up on this thread.
*** Updated thoughts on IG game as of early 2019 ***
Broadly, I think that the standard for what constitutes a "good Instagram profile" has changed. This is due to several factors.
1) The bar for quality content on IG has increased.
-- Per TechCrunch, there are now >1 billion active users on IG compared to 600 million at end of 2016. That is over 400 million extra people with a profile posting content.
-- In general, quality of content has improved significantly especially among men. Even in 2015-2016, there weren't a lot of guys who had a good sense of photos and creating a story through their profile. This is no longer the case.
-- Due to this, it has become harder to gain followers, whether organically or through automation. Even in places like Thailand or the Philippines, areas where many of the automation apps follow people since the follow-back rate is high, it is harder to gain followers. A white American guy on IG with a cool lifestyle was once a novelty in these places. Not anymore. Good luck getting to 50k followers with automation, it'll take years.
-- Finally, in combo with changes in the IG algorithm that decides when your posts are displayed to followers, engagement has gone down across the board. It is much harder to get organic engagement now. I've seen this mentioned on this thread from multiple reputable members, and it has happened to me as well. So I know its a real thing.
2) The way that women judge IG value has also changed
-- As I and others have said before, engagement is important to balance out a high follower count. This has always been needed but I would say it is more important now than ever. Women will look through a guy's photos, and if he has 4,000 followers but 60 likes/pic, they'll immediately know something is off.
-- There are MANY more people using automation now than even 6 months ago. I get followed by random profiles multiples times per day that later unfollow me. Far more women are aware that automation exists as a way to grow a following.
-- Even if a girl can't exactly pinpoint whether your profile is fully real or artificial, she is going to be more suspicious of it in general due to the prevalence of automation.
-- Its hard to describe this fully, but in casual conversations with younger girls that I know, I've specifically noticed that follower count doesn't have the same cachet. It is just no longer rare for a guy to have several thousand followers and decent pictures.
The result? Follower count is harder to accumulate, and even if accompanied with good quality "lifestyle" content, it no longer has the same value that it used to. There are a handful exceptions to this rule (described below), but for somebody who is starting out on IG or is looking to improve their profile, going the traditional FollowLiker route is not necessarily the best path anymore.
Here are my thoughts on how you can remain successful with IG:
1) If you truly have a niche that you really nail, your profile can still have significant value/DHV. Thing is that it cannot be half-assed. You need to really focus the profile exclusively on that and it needs to be something unique, where you're competing against 1% of men or less. I have a profile that I've been slowly building on the side with a very specific niche; when I get to ~800 followers I will start sharing with women instead of my regular profile and see if I notice a difference in reactions.
2) If you actually become "insta-famous" (think 50k+ followers with thousands of likes/pic), you will likely get a ton of pussy. This is the major exception where follower count does matter. However, this is only slightly easier than actually becoming famous. Everybody is trying to create their own entertaining angle on IG so competition is ultra-high. I don't think its the best use of time, but if you figure a way out, feel free to post some tips. I know a guy who has some local insta-fame associated with the nightlife scene, and he gets cold DMs from hot girls every day.
3) If you have a profile that you have already built to 2-10k followers mainly through automation, but you're seeing poor engagement (5% or less/pic), you can improve the look in a combination of two things. I've done this myself.
-- First, you can increase likes through engagement groups. I'm happy to join any engagement groups with repped members, but there are also several public groups that anybody can join (can PM me for link, otherwise I think its someplace in this thread). The idea is that you like other people's pics and they like yours, thus boosting your likes. Problem is that there's a limit to how much you can use it unless you're willing to put in a ton of effort (ie: if you need to get your pic from 50 likes to 200, you'll need to like 150 people's pictures to get 150 likes).
-- Second, you can cut down your follower count. As I said earlier, there really isn't a difference nowadays between having 8k and 2k followers. If you cut down to 2k, that is far less engagement group work that you need to do to have a reasonable engagement rate on your profile.
4) If you are completely new to IG, didn't have the advantage of using social media in hs/college, and can't find a really unique niche, here is how I would go about now.
-- Get your profile to ~500-1,200 followers, while following slightly less people than follow you. While I know I just said that follower count isn't as important nowadays, having 40 followers makes you look like you have no friends. Basically anybody who goes to college in the US and uses IG will accumulate that many followers naturally, so that should be the goal. Do this through a combo of following people you know, and automation if you need to fill the balance. After that point, let your profile grow naturally.
-- If your engagement is <10% (best to aim higher than 5% when you have less followers), you can use engagement groups to fill the gap. This should be pretty easy since you'll only need a few dozen likes at most. You may not even need to use them when you know most the people who follow you! I back-calculate that I get a 20%+ engagement from people who I actually know and less than 2% from those who I don't.
-- Post content that shows off the best aspects of the life you actually life. A good rule of thumb is embellish, don't fake. Everybody shows off a bit on IG, and there's nothing wrong with doing it if you can back it up. ~2/3 of your pics should include you in them (combination of you alone, with friends, or with women) while the balance can be landscape shots, nightlife, food, or anything else. Try to avoid repeating the same type of photo too many times. Posting 1-2x/wk + 5-10 stories/wk is fine.
5) Once you have a profile that fits one of the guidelines above, you can give your IG to girls strategically.
-- The best time to get an IG is when you know you won't see her for a long period of time (ie: you're going on vaca, or she lives in another city). That way, you remain in front of her in a passive way which just isn't possible with a phone number.
-- On the other hand, if you're trying to meet this girl within the next week, it is better to get a number. There's no need to over complicate shit with IG.
If anybody has any thoughts or disagreements, feel free to share. I think having a good IG profile is really important, and I continue to adjust as the times change.
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