Growing from zero to tens of thousands of followers

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Tatyana Effa and I am the founder of All Things Savvy. All Things Savvy is a Premium Synthetic hair brand that started in late 2017 to meet the growing demand for affordable protective hairstyling options for black women.

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When did you start your business?

I set up the Instagram page in 2016 but did not start my business fully until July 2017

How long did it take you to get to your 30,000 followers and what was the journey like?

It took 2 years. It was slow when we started in 2017 but it picked up a bit in early 2018. There was a sudden spike in 2018 when we started spending more money on marketing and the growth became steady from then. We have plateaued for now.

You mentioned spending more money on growth, can you tell us what you started doing differently in 2018 and what type of marketing you spent money on?

We started spending money on Instagram ads* which made more people discover us and even converted more sales. We also started investing in influencer marketing*.

Apart from running ads, what else has helped you grow your followers?

We post better quality content: clearer pictures and videos. We also post shareable content. We used to run giveaways but we don’t do that anymore.

Now that you have so many followers, what do you do to keep them engaged?

We post relevant content on our stories and feed.

On our feed, you will find a post advertising our product, one educating on how to use or style our products and random posts that members of our community relate to or something funny.

On our stories: We post quizzes, games, hair posts etc

What are some of the main challenges you have faced trying to grow your business?

I’d say my biggest challenge was growing on a tight budget. It was also difficult getting customers to trust us without a physical store.

What resources helped you with your growing your business?

I followed the teachings of growth experts on Instagram like @naijabrandchick and @triciabiz. I also watched a lot of YouTube and Udemy videos on how to grow on social media.

Has your follower count benefitted your business in any direct way?

Yes, it has. As our followers have grown, so has our sales although I don’t know the exact ratio. Our follower count also made it easier for people to trust and buy from us.

What goals do you have for your business right now?

I’d like to work with a mega influencer and also to go international. We are currently working on that.

Finally, what’s your advice to someone else trying to build a business on Instagram

Be consistent, keep trying to improve whatever you put out. Be patient as well, still learning tho.

You can find All Things Savvy at their website at www.atsavvy.com, or on Instagram @allthings_savvy

*Instagram ads:

Instagram ads are posts that businesses pay to have Instagram serve on user feeds. Instagram ads show up on users’ feeds, stories and explore pages. They look like normal posts but always contain a ‘sponsored’ label to indicate that they are ads. They often feature CTAs like profile links and product catalogues.

*Influencer marketing

Influencer marketing is a form of social media marketing involving endorsements and product placement from influencers, people and organizations who have a purported expert level of knowledge or social influence in their field.

The next episode in our series drops next week.