In this blog, I outline how to grow your business on Instagram in 2025 with ten simple actionable steps you can apply to your brand.
Is it possible to grow your business on Instagram in 2025? Yes, absolutely. In less than a year, I've built Business Secrets Club from 0-80K followers. And I've also built a much older Instagram account, a product business, from 89K-150K followers. I passionately believe it is a magic platform for building a business on, and it's my mission to help you love it too!
I swear by my approach, which you can use to get growth on any Instagram account and not just grow but build a genuine community that will buy from you. In this blog, I break down how to grow a business on Instagram from scratch into ten straightforward steps that you can follow for any account or business. Let's get stuck in...
1. Pick a niche and target audience
Not many people know this, but when you start on Instagram, and even as you keep using it, the Instagram algorithm categorises your account. There are over two billion active users on the platform, but it needs to know who to serve your content to, and it does this through a process it calls 'audience matching'.
So, if you want the algorithm to push your content out to the right people, first you need to know who they are! Think about who they are, where they are, and what they might be interested in. Focus your early content on talking to your dream follower and explaining what you do to train the algorithm and get traction as quickly as possible.
This is how you help your content get pushed out wider, even as a smaller or brand new account. Here's the process explained by Instagram:
2. Optimise your account for followability
When people land on your profile, they make an instant decision on whether to follow you or not. So, set up your Instagram bio clearly and explain why people should follow you.
A good structure for your bio is four lines:
- Who you are
- What you do
- Why people should follow you
- Your CTA to click on your link.
I'd also get a post or reel up that explains who you are and why you do what you do and pin it to the top of your page.
3. Create a list of potential 'valuable' growth content
To grow on Instagram, you need content that is pushed out widely to non-followers. Put simply, the more your content is pushed out, the more people you reach, the more likely you are to grow quickly.
This content that makes this happen is called 'growth content'. It's the valuable posts and Reels that people engage with. The more engagement you get, the more people the algorithm will serve it to. So you must mix in content people will like, comment on, save or share if you want to grow.
How do you do this? Broadly, it's four buckets:
- It's entertaining (satisfying/interesting/funny)
- It's inspiring (motivates or excites)
- It's educational (teaches something)
- It's relatable (makes someone feel seen)
Brainstorm ideas for your people that link to your niche and what you sell.
Once you know WHAT you want to talk about, you need to know HOW to get it out there. Which takes us on to...
4. Prioritise Reels for reach
Every video on Instagram is known as a Reel. They are short, portrait videos that can be up to 90 seconds long, often with music added and short clips put together.
Reels are hands down the best growth tool on Instagram because, unlike other content, they are always pushed out to non-followers. Plus, you can get hundreds of thousands or even millions of views if you structure them right.
Instagram analysed every account on its platform and found that the fastest-growing accounts post ten or more Reels a month. So, this is a FACT.
When thinking about how to grow your business on Instagram in 2025, Reels are the tool to use and I think ten or more Reels is a good number to aim for to get any account moving.
The most important thing with a Reel is catching people's attention when you scroll. Make sure you have a clear text hook that piques curiosity in the first three seconds to stop the scroll. Visual hooks are also important. You do this by putting the most eye-catching part of your video first. Here's the Instagram CEO explaining why the hook is so important with some tips:
View this post on Instagram
And an explainer from me to help you get those Reels pushed out as wide as possible:
View this post on Instagram
5. Mix in carousels for credibility
Instagram carousels are multiple images within one post that users can swipe through to view. They get much more engagement than single posts, and when you add music, they can also get pushed onto the Reels tab, making them the second-best growth tool on the platform.
Plus, they also bring more depth to your account for existing followers. Use them to educate, tell a story, share a detailed case study or show more details about a product or collection.
Like Reels, you need to stop the scroll, so always have a hook on the first slide or at the start of the caption to make people want to stop and swipe through your slides.
Swipe through here for some useful carousel tips for anyone new to them:
View this post on Instagram
Want to know how to do all of these things in this blog in more detail with easy-to-follow bite-sized videos, downloadable checklists and actionable resources? Discover my course for businesses, The Secrets to Instagram Growth.
6. Show up on stories for connection
Instagram Stories are photos and videos that disappear from your profile after 24 hours. They are visible by clicking on your profile picture or at the top of your followers' home feeds.
They are the best place to form a deeper connection with your audience, build trust and make them actually care about you,
Plus, the accounts that post original stories lose fewer followers than those that don't, so they are also a growth tool if you use them well.
Instagram stories have their own algorithm, and you can get more views by encouraging two-way engagement. One way of doing this is through the myriad of stickers Instagram provide for you:
Mix them up with engagement boosters, relatable stories, valuable stories and promotional stories. If you are new to Instagram stories, check out my free guide with 80 Story Ideas for Businesses here.
7. Be visible (part 1) by collaborating
If you want to grow, remember that Instagram is a social media platform. Collaborate with others to increase your visibility and get your name out there. For example, shared Instagram lives, tagging other businesses and collaborative posts.
Spend some time engaging on the app; I recommend ten minutes before and after you post engaging with other accounts that you follow or that follow you. Encourage engagement with your content by engaging yourself!
8. Be visible (part 2) by optimising for search
Instagram is now a giant search platform, and using SEO (search engine optimisation) makes you discoverable.
Ditch the old-school short captions for longer ones with descriptive keywords to help people find you and what you do. This also helps the algorithm learn who to serve your content to. Imagine each piece of content is a website page, and optimise it for one main keyword in the same way you would a website page on Google.
For example, I've optimised this page for the long keyword 'how to grow your business on Instagram'. If I was going to write a similar piece of content on Instagram. I would also optimise for the same phrase.
9. Use your own analytics for insights
Growing on Instagram is all about building on what works for your people - what they love and what they want to see more of! Your analytics contain gold, so regularly check in on what content is getting the most reach and push to non-followers, engagement and, importantly, follows.
Double down on what is working, whether that's the topic, hook, working, length or edit, and apply it to other Reels or posts.
It is rare to get millions of views straight away, but building on what works, you start to increase those views and find that valuable, high-growth content your people will love!
10. Use the unique thing you have: YOU!
Above all else, remember that the main reason people use Instagram is for connection. To feel seen, to have an 'a ha' moment, to join in with what others are loving.
Your content doesn't need to be perfect, but it does need to feel real. Be yourself and try things! If you have fun, that will come across, and people will want to be part of it.
Show up personally, share why you care about what you do, make videos that give a glimpse into your world and make us feel part of your journey.
Are you trying to grow on Instagram for your business? What resonates with you, and what are you stuck on? Let me know in the comments below.
And if you'd like to know more about HOW to do anything in this blog, discover The Secrets to Instagram Growth, my step-by-step guide to building a brand on Instagram in any niche. In this game-changing Instagram course, I teach you exactly how to grow a community with easy-to-follow bite-sized videos and actionable resources.
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