At the beginning, I believed good branding would be enough. A product I loved, a clean identity, a few strong ideas. I thought that if I posted beautiful content and waited, followers would come. They didn't.
Of course, going viral would have been great. But you can't plan that. Not everyone can do it, and even when it happens it's often just a brief moment. A spike, then silence. Then what?
You're back to the same page, except now you have to figure out how to hold the attention of people who came for one thing and have no reason to stay. Steady is harder to build, but it actually goes somewhere.
Even with design skills and a clear direction, engagement came slowly. It took months to realise that building an audience isn't just about sharp visuals or clever strategy. It's about showing up often enough that people start to recognise your rhythm. We were new, and it simply took time.
Here's what actually helped.
1. Ask everyone you know
When you start from zero, confidence comes later. I asked everyone to follow. Friends, old classmates, people who barely remembered me. Some ignored it. Some clicked out of kindness. That small push helped more than I expected.
Numbers create movement. Even thirty followers make a page look alive. That's social proof rather than pure vanity. People trust what already looks trusted.
2. Run one simple giveaway early on
I used to dislike giveaways. They felt cheap. But when no one knows you exist, a simple one creates a first connection.
I kept mine light: follow, comment, enter. The prize was small but matched the brand. I added a bit of ad spend so more people would see it. The goal wasn't to sell. It was to be seen. People remember interaction, not perfection. One giveaway at the start is fine. Just don't make it your ongoing strategy or you end up with an audience that only shows up when there's something free.
3. Send PR to the right creators
I sent products to a handful of creators who genuinely matched the brand. Some became followers. Some liked posts, left comments, and engaged with the page in ways that told the algorithm something was happening here. That activity pushed the page to more people, which brought more awareness, which led to other accounts reaching out wanting to collaborate.
It also saved me time. Instead of constantly searching for people to work with, some came inbound. And the content they created gave a different perspective on the product, someone else's voice expressing how it felt, which added something my own posts couldn't.
PR doesn't guarantee a post. But chosen well, it brings energy to a page that's still finding its feet.
4. Get out offline
Physical presence matters more than most online brands think. I searched for cafés and small boutiques to collaborate with. Looked for pop-up events to join just to get the brand in front of people in real life. Sent emails to event organisers to see what was possible. Walked into offline studios and boutiques to explore who might want to work together.
Most of these conversations go nowhere. That's fine. The ones that open doors that online posts can't. A collab with another brand, a spot at a small event, a boutique that carries your product for a month. It brings you in front of people who weren't looking for you and might not have found you any other way.
It's slow work. But once you find the right partner or the right space, something shifts. People who find you both offline and online tend to remember you differently. The experience feels more considered on both sides
5. Show up consistently, even when it feels pointless
Consistency isn't glamorous but it's the reason people remember you. Even great ideas need to be repeated before anyone cares. Posting regularly, replying to comments, and refining every visual made the account feel alive. It built trust slowly, one post at a time.
After six months, a journalist from Vogue reached out to us. That changed everything. But it only happened because we were still there, still posting, still showing up when it felt like no one was watching.
You don't need to go viral. You need to keep going until the right people notice. Not a crowd of random followers. The ones who actually understand what you're building.
"We were still posting when it felt like no one was watching. That's when Vogue reached out."
