Bookstagram is a huge platform that offers a fantastic place to get to know fellow book nerds. Bookstagram isn’t just a hashtag anymore, it’s a community on Instagram that offers new book recommendations, insights into new reads and some of the friendliest people you’ll meet.
Just started a Bookstagram and looking for some tips on how to improve your engagement or increase your followers? Well, I’ve gone out and asked some who I’d consider some absolute pros at it, some of whom have been doing it for a year or more and some of whom have only been doing it for a few months.
Below are the responses they gave me when I asked them for tips for Bookstagrammers and then how many followers they have at the time of writing this when they started their account and a link to their account so you can go and follow all of these amazing accounts!
“Engagement such as stories, reels, responding to commenting on pictures & posting comments on others grids. My top tip would be to understand that all humans are different, it’s important that your followers know you are not there to judge and they can be as free as they like when within your space I.e insta page. I want people to disagree and to discuss thoughts, it’s how we learn so don’t take things personally, encourage discussion and spread as much kindness as you can ✌️” – @laurenslaughterlibrary – 6k followers – started January 2021.
“I think engagement is the best tip, genuine engagement where you build good relationships with other accounts and support each other! Ask questions and message people if there’s stuff you want to know, it can be scary when people are starting out but everyone in the booksta community is so helpful (and lovely)!” – @allthegenres – 12.2k followers – started December 2020.
“Tips I always give out are just post about things you love (it’ll come through in your content), engage with others you like/admire and be inspired by them, and find a groove that suits you whether that’s certain editing styles or schedules. Whatever works!” – @amysbookshelf – 79k followers – started May 2017.
“I would say that real engagement is key. It shouldn’t all be about numbers. Bookstagram is a community and communities need conversation. You can’t expect lots of people to blindly follow you if you ignore them all. So like and comment ( and not just ‘love this’ or ‘great post’) and you’ll find you make friends not followers.” – @lisa.loves.literature – 4.3k followers – April 2021.
“If I had to give one tip for growth and engagement, it would be to cultivate the connections you build on this platform – reply to comments, be authentically interested in having conversations with other readers, and be supportive of other members of the community by engaging with and sharing content that resonates with you.” – @readingeverybook – 4.9k – February 2021.
“Be true to you. Read books that you think you’ll enjoy. Make your posts based on your style. Show who you are. The more you stay true to yourself and the more fun you’re having the more others will want to join in on your fun.” – @abeautybutafunnygirlthatmel – 5k followers – January 2021.
“There are several engagement groups in the booksta community. There are likes groups where you like the tagged posts, and others will like your posts in return. I found that these really helped my engagement a lot because the more likes you get on a post, the more the IG algorithm will push up your posts for others to find. That will help you get more followers and engagement which in turn will give you more visibility and more engagement. I have also found that finding some bookstagrammers you like and constantly commenting on their posts will make people more likely to return the favour and also comment on yours. But the biggest help for me was definitely the engagement groups.” – @tegsreadsbooks – 10k followers – October 2020.
“it’s all about conversation and connection until you get thousands of avid followers and a USP so comment, comment, comment, share, share, share, like, like, like! Be a people person! People like genuine reviews, candid opinions and to see other people’s faces.” – @victoriakaybooks – 2.8k followers – November 2020.
So there you have it – some great tips from some of the big Bookstagram accounts I follow. There are a lot more accounts I follow who I have a lot of time for and if this post does well, I’ll ask some more for their tips.
Hopefully, this article will give you some ideas on where to take your account now and how best to optimise and utilise your time.
