Getting your first 1,000 followers always feels like the biggest hurdle on any social media site.
Since you’re starting from scratch, you have to begin to understand your audience, learn the algorithm and, perhaps most importantly, build up some consistency.
Here’s the ultimate guide on how you can gain your first 1,000 followers on the most popular social media platforms.
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Before you post: 5 prerequisites for any social platform
As I share advice for each individual platform to gain more followers, I’m assuming you’ve already checked off these five things:
1. You have a great social media bio
Your profile is all set up with an excellent picture of you or your business’ logo and clearly explains what you do and how you can help your audience. This is a universal requirement across all social media platforms.
Why is a social media bio so crucial? Imagine someone watched your social media posts and liked your content. Their next step will likely be checking out your social media profile. It should leave no questions unanswered about what you do and what kind of content you produce.
2. You have a niche
If you’re still finding your content pillars or social media niche, it’s not worthwhile to focus on how to get followers. The tips here are only valid when you’ve chosen a topic and have decided to stick to it.
3. You can stick to a consistent posting schedule
All social media networks require consistent posting. You need a system already in place to post consistently — especially when you want to attract new followers.
4. You aren’t resorting to buying followers
All social media sites penalize buying fake followers. It doesn’t matter whether it’s bots or real people paid to follow you, buying fake followers is the worst way to gain new followers.
With these prerequisites sorted, here are personalized tips for each platform.
How to get your first 1,000 followers on Facebook
How often should you post: 1–2 posts per dayWhat type of posts get the most engagement: Video
Facebook Pages are making a comeback. Many people still use the platform to follow brands, engage with their content, and discover new products.
The easiest way to increase your followers on Facebook is to lead with a community-driven approach. The Facebook algorithm loves authentic content that drives engagement. Think user generated content (UGC), memes, and polls.
Skincare company Hibiscus Monkey is a good example of an A+ Facebook marketing. They often create content around social proof, details about their product formulation, and time-sensitive content that’d spark a conversation.
In essence, Facebook wants you to start meaningful conversations. Think: What would entice engagement from my audience and get them talking? This will attract followers like moths to a flame.
How to get your first 1,000 followers on Instagram
How often should you post: 2 Instagram Stories per day and 1–2 in-feed posts/dayWhat type of posts get the most engagement: Instagram Reels
Your Instagram marketing strategy should focus on hitting all content types. Out of all social media networks, Instagram probably has the most kinds of content: There’s Instagram Stories, Instagram Carousels, Instagram Notes, Instagram Reels, Instagram ads, and Instagram Live.
(Still, Instagram Reels rule engagement.)
In terms of content, Instagram thrives on original and shareable content. To get more Instagram followers and appear on the Explore page, you need to create content that your potential followers would share with their friends in direct messages (DMs). This can mean trending content that’s related to time-sensitive news or memes and educational content like how-to videos.
Instagram Stories are also an excellent way to promote your existing content, engage your existing followers, and use Instagram’s many features like answering questions, running polls, timers, etc.
An example: I love Mokobara’s Instagram feed. Their Instagram content includes collaborating with niche influencers on their Instagram account. This puts a face to their brand, helps them lean into trends, and stay original.
Focus on becoming an Instagram account that’s the go-to place for getting information about your niche.
How to get your first 1,000 followers on TikTok
How often should you post: 1–4 posts/dayWhat type of posts get the most engagement: Video
The TikTok algorithm works like a search engine at this point. People go to it to search for specific queries. To nail TikTok SEO, it’s beneficial to have a hyper-specific niche — you can create content series around it and become a thought leader on the topic.
If your niche is more casual, you can create entertaining content that uses trending sounds and participate in popular theme formats to gain new followers. TikTok content’s shelf life is short, so you need to post more and post what’s trending.
A TikTok account I keep coming back to is tl;dv. They create top-notch roleplay videos that speak to their target audience. It’s entertaining and relatable for the viewers watching.
What I also love is their content strategy isn’t marketing to relevant users directly. Few videos mention their products. They focus on becoming a funny account their community talks about first.
@tldv.io I imagine a pack of QAs would be ferral #qa #developer #techstartup #productmanagement ♬ original sound – tldv.io – AI Meeting Recorder
How to get your first 1,000 followers on X
How often should you post: 3–4 posts/dayWhat type of posts get the most engagement: Video
X (formerly Twitter) is doubling down on vertical video content. If you’re starting to grow your X following from scratch, the recommendation is you stick to a niche and create a mix of video-based and text-based posts.
The X algorithm clearly shares that the premium users get extra reach. It might be worth buying if you’re looking to grow your following on the platform quickly. In terms of content topics, X users love seeing informative content, followed by relevant, funny, trending, and engaging posts.
An inspirational example: Freelancer Kat Boogard. She posts a host of things related to freelancing — things that are educational and informative, but also funny & relatable. She’s the perfect example of keeping your X strategy useful and light-hearted at the same time.
You can have a successful freelance career without:
• Launching a course
• Starting a podcast
• Sending a newsletter
• Posting to social media regularly
Friendly reminder that there are plenty of freelancers doin’ the dang thing quietly—you just don’t hear about it. 😊
— Kat Boogaard (@kat_boogaard) August 6, 2024
How to get your first 1,000 followers on LinkedIn
How often should you post: 1 post/dayWhat type of posts get the most engagement: Video
LinkedIn is the place to build a personal brand in a professional setting. Think of it as a place to grow your network and get known for one core thing. And part of building a network is engaging with other people. LinkedIn values commenting, engaging, and responding to other people’s posts more than any other platform.
The good thing about LinkedIn is there’s not a ton of difference in the engagement you get using various post types. So if text-based or carousels are more of your jam than video, post them instead of focusing on videos.
A top-notch LinkedIn page is Pretty Little Marketer. They often post about trending marketing memes, valuable hard-earned knowledge, and other news people might’ve missed.
Bottom line: Focus on creating LinkedIn content that educates your target audience. It can be something you’re working on, a struggle you’ve recently resolved in your workplace, etc. And don’t forget to interact with others in your niche.
How to get your first 1,000 followers on Pinterest
How often should you post: 15–25 pins/dayWhat type of posts get the most engagement: Video and images
Pinterest thrives on quantity. To get your first 1,000 followers, you need to put out fresh pins consistently in large numbers. This doesn’t need to be all fresh info — it can be recycled to be the same info, different graphics.
Pinterest is also the ultimate social media platform for inspirational content. So your strategy should focus on creating content your audience can aspire to. Share ideas that encourage your audience to try something new.
Pinterest is also partly a search engine, so I’d recommend focusing on using keywords and basic SEO techniques to get some followers quickly.
Beauty creator Melisza Mcfierce is an inspirational Pinterest creator. She primarily creates video content that’s clear, crisp, and under her content pillars.
[Gray box] 💡 Continue reading: 20 Ways to Get Followers on Pinterest
How to get your first 1,000 followers on Threads
How often should you post: Unclear, but more posts do have a correlation with more reach & engagement
What type of posts get the most engagement: Pictures might slightly get you more engagement
Threads is still kind of the new kid on the block when it comes to social channels. That’s a good thing! Gaining your first 1,000 followers here might be easier because people are incoming fast, exploring, and looking for good accounts to follow.
Like Facebook, Threads’ algorithm focuses on fostering a community vibe and creating meaningful conversations. It has “tags” similar to hashtags for people to discover content on a topic easily. Pick a topic and post about it using tags. There’s no minimum frequency number yet, so experiment with that, too!
Google’s Threads account is a good example to follow. They post many casual posts about their features, memes, and relatable content.
How to get your first 1,000 subscribers on YouTube
How often should you post: 1 video/week and 1–3 YouTube Shorts/weekWhat type of posts get the most engagement: Video
YouTube is a search engine like Google, but for video. The best way to grow your YouTube channel is to find a niche, create long-form videos around it with amazing editing, and repurpose them into short-form videos for YouTube Shorts.
YouTube doesn’t have any content topic preference, but it’s advisable to use SEO best practices so people can find your content topics when they search for something similar. Use video editing software to create sleek videos with smooth and engaging edits.
Someone whose videos I’ve been loving recently is Cara Nicole. She has a clear value statement and creates videos consistently on similar topics.
There’s more to social media than follower count
Getting your first 1,000 followers is a good goal when you’re starting from scratch. But remember: Follower count shouldn’t be the be-all-end-all of your social media strategy.
Engagement, direct messages, comment quality, etc. are also legible ways to measure your social media success.
Because, ultimately, follower count doesn’t exist in a silo. You don’t just have to gain more followers, you have to gain loyal followers. Measure your social media impact by taking a 360-degree view of your analytics.
360-degree
And let these personalized performance numbers rule over everything else: For instance, even if the guideline is to post more Instagram Reels, but you see your Instagram insights say that carousels are hitting off, schedule Instagram posts that are carousels.
Experiment, get your hands dirty, and let the numbers speak for themselves.
