This Instagram Post Doubled My Following—Here’s the Template and Strategy I Use to Keep Engagement High
“My hand is shaking. How can I draw?”
This simple DM I received from a student late one night resulted in a single Instagram post that earned nine million views and doubled my following in just three months.
This type of virality wasn’t always the norm for me. When I started working as a professional illustrator and artist more than 15 years ago, I ignored social media for a long time. But when I started teaching art on Skillshare, I knew I needed to grow a following of students to help make my classes successful. So, I started casually posting the sketches I was working on and teasers of my classes, and I was surprised to grow to 7,000 followers in about six months.
Seeing that traction, I started getting more intentional with my Instagram posts, experimenting with visuals, captions, and more to help me find the right followers and keep them engaged. Ultimately, it led me to the winning post above—plus a strategy I use to this day.