5 Proven Strategies to Grow Your Audience as an Influencer (Without the Overwhelm)

Apr 22

If you’ve ever stared at your Instagram account and thought, “How in the world am I supposed to grow this thing without losing my mind?” you’re not alone. I’ve been there. We all have, in fact that is usually the number one pain point of our Good Influence(r) members. And let me just say: the whole "grow fast, go viral" mentality? It’s exhausting.

But growing an audience doesn’t have to be overwhelming. You don’t need to be glued to your phone 24/7 or reinvent the wheel every time you post. What you do need is a strategy that’s simple, doable, and something you can actually stick with—without losing yourself in the process.

I’m sharing five strategies that worked for me (and hundreds of other creators inside Good Influence(r)) that will help you grow an audience on purpose.

1. Show Up Every Day (Yes, Every Day)

Listen, I know this one sounds obvious. But it’s the one most people skip because they’re waiting for inspiration to strike or the stars to align or Mercury to get out of retrograde. (Same.)

Here’s the truth: if you want to grow, you have to show up. And I don’t mean show up perfectly. I mean consistently. There’s a big difference.

When we were growing Chris Loves Julia, I didn’t have a fancy content plan or perfect lighting. We showed up because we loved what we were doing and we wanted to bring people along for the ride. Some days it was messy. Some days it was a quick post before we ran out the door. But we were there. And that’s what matters.

The algorithm rewards consistency. Your audience rewards consistency. It builds trust. They know you’re going to show up, and they’ll keep coming back for more.

Pro tip? Schedule time in your day to be present on your platform, whether it’s 15 minutes or an hour. Make it a non-negotiable. You will see results, I promise.

2. Create a Consistent Content Calendar (So You’re Not Just Wingin’ It)

If you’ve ever found yourself sitting there, wondering what to post, scrolling through your camera roll for something, like anything, you’re not alone. And that’s exactly why you need a content calendar.

Planning out your content ahead of time takes away the guesswork and saves you a ton of mental energy. Plus, it keeps you consistent (which we’ve already established is the secret sauce).

Inside Good Influence(r), we talk about this a lot because it’s a game-changer. I’m a big believer in batching your content, scheduling it, and giving yourself breathing room, and repurposing as much as you. If you need a place to start, we’ve already done the work for you—grab our April Content Calendar and run with it. It’s packed with prompts, ideas, and inspo to get you showing up every day without the panic post.

And no, your content doesn’t have to be overly polished or perfect. It just needs to be you. Consistent you.

3. Go Find Your Audience (And Engage Daily in Your Niche)

I know. You’re thinking, “Shouldn’t they just find me?” In a perfect world, sure. But in 2025? You’ve got to go out there and find them. You can’t just have the mentality “If I build it they will come”, that doesn’t apply to social media anymore.

If you’re sitting around waiting for people to stumble across your content, you’re leaving growth up to chance. And we’re not about chance, we’re about strategy.

Every day, spend time engaging in your niche. Comment on posts, reply to stories, join conversations. Not in a spammy “hey follow me” way but in a real, genuine, “I love what you’re doing” kind of way. Be a human. One hot tip: go to accounts in your niche that you love and engage with people in the comments because chances are if they like that style of content, they’ll like yours if you introduce them to it.

When we were growing CLJ, we made it a habit to engage with accounts we admired and accounts that were in our space. Not only did it build relationships, but it brought new people back to us. People who became followers, then fans, and eventually, part of our community.

Set a timer. Give yourself 15-20 minutes a day to intentionally connect with your niche. I promise it’ll move the needle more than obsessing over your caption font.

4. Use Trial Reels (Because Instagram Handed Us a Gift, and We’re Not Wasting It)

Okay, if you haven’t heard me talk about Trial Reels yet—buckle up.

Instagram rolled out Trial Reels. Essentially they handed us a free audience growth tool without messing with our existing feed or engagement.

Here’s the deal:

Trial Reels go to new audiences, not your current followers.
They’re separate from your feed.
If they flop? No one sees them. If they win? New people are finding you.

Seriously, this is the easiest Instagram growth tool I’ve seen in years. Go do it.

5. Join the Race to 10K Challenge (Because Growth Doesn’t Have to Be Hard)

If you’re tired of guessing, overthinking, or feeling stuck at the same follower count month after month, Race to 10K is for you.

Race to 10K is a 4-week guided mentorship inside of our Mastermind Community on Facebook. Inside the challenge, we give you everything we wish we had when we were trying to grow. Daily prompts, strategies that actually work, and a step-by-step plan to help you hit your first or next 10K followers (without losing your mind).

This isn’t about going viral or chasing trends. It’s about building an engaged audience that cares about what you’re sharing. The kind of audience that buys what you recommend, engages with your content, and sticks around.

And yes, it works. Our members are seeing massive growth without burnout because we’ve taken out all the guesswork. We’ve had current members grow exponentially during every race (we do them twice a year) because they take all the tips, tools and resources we provide and apply them.

Final Thoughts (Because You Know I Have Them)

Growing your audience doesn’t have to feel impossible. You don’t need to do all the things or chase every new trend. You just need a plan that works and the discipline to stick with it.