How Authors Can Grow on Instagram Without Reels

Many of the authors I talk to on a daily basis identify themselves as introverted and camera shy. So when Instagram announced Reels and users started seeing incredible growth using this new feature, I received many panicked emails. 

“Do I have to use Reels?” 

“I can’t add one more thing to my to-do list!” 

“I refuse to be on camera - I’m NOT doing Reels!” 

These are just a few of the comments and messages I’ve received about Reels. Don’t get me wrong, there are many authors who have jumped on Reels and have loved it. I’ve actually enjoyed making Reels and they usually end up taking less time than creating a graphic or image. But does that mean everyone needs to do Reels? 

In a nutshell, my answer is no. If you’re an author, you don’t have to create Reels. You don’t have to do anything on Instagram that you’re not comfortable with. 

So what should authors do to grow on Instagram? I have three tips that you can put to work right away. 

Identify Clear Mini Goals 

Having big goals is great. I’m all for it when an author says, “I want to have 10,000 followers.” But when we don’t identify smaller milestones in order to reach our big goal will make the journey feel like it’s taking forever. 

What I would encourage you to do is to identify three or four mini-goals that will help you reach your big goal. For example, a mini-goal might be to gain 100 new followers by the end of the month. Or maybe you want to gain five new followers every day.

That doesn’t feel as daunting or overwhelming as staring down 10,000 new followers, does it? 

This can be done for increasing your engagement, creating an active community, driving traffic to your website, and more. 

When we know what we want to accomplish and what our goals are, we can identify the best way to use Instagram to accomplish those goals. 

Understand What Each Feature Offers 

When we see all of the features Instagram has to offer - Posts, Stories, Reels, Carousel Images, Instagram Live - we might think they all do the same thing, right? Actually, they don’t. 

Each feature that Instagram has in their creative toolbox serves a specific purpose. And since we have identified our goals and know what we want to accomplish, we can put the corresponding Instagram tool to work to help us reach our goals. 

So let’s break down what each feature does: 

Single Image/Video Posts and Carousels help with overall growth and engagement, and are able to be saved by readers. 

Reels help you grow your following quickly by getting your content in front of new people. 

Stories deepen connections and engagement only with the readers who already follow you. 

Instagram Lives are the best way to boost your visibility and build credibility. 

Knowing precisely how each feature works will allow us to create a strategy that will help us actually reach our goals. 

For example, I know many authors who aren’t interested in growing a massive audience. They value deeper connections with their readers and want to build a solid community. So for that, they should focus on Stories, single image/video Posts, Carousels, and doing one Live session each week. 

If you’re an author looking to grow your following quickly, tapping into Reels is your best bet. If you’re looking for growth but aren’t concerned about it happening quickly, I recommend using a variety of single image/video Posts, Carousels, Lives, and even Stories (more on that in the next point). 

Remember that your tool selection is completely dependent on what you want to accomplish. 

Give More Attention To Your Current Followers 

Engaging with the connections that you already have is really the secret sauce to building your community on Instagram - no matter what size your audience is. When Instagram sees that your audience is actively involved with what you’re posting, the algorithm will boost your visibility and show your content to more people.

It’s one thing to gain a new follower - it’s another to actually keep interested and engrossed with your content. 

When we focus too much on only gaining new followers and neglect to interact with our current audience, our visibility goes down, which means that fewer people end up seeing our posts, and then our growth becomes stagnant. 

Investing a little bit of time to engage regularly with our current audience will organically boost our visibility, which then helps to feed that growth we are looking for. Remember: it’s not just about gaining new followers - it’s also about keeping them. 

When we have intention behind what we are doing - no matter if it’s on Instagram or in any area of our marketing - we will see bigger results. What realistic goals have you set for yourself? Have you tried using each tool for its intended purpose? What kind of interactive content will you create to keep your followers engaged and grow your audience?

If you’re looking for more guidance and how to reach your goals with Instagram, I’ve got something for you. Download my FREE Instagram Posting Formula - it’s a game changer!