• Building an audience is one of the first steps toward becoming a professional content creator.

• Gaining followings on different social-media platforms requires different strategies.

• Here's how creators are growing audiences on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or LinkedIn.

Growing an audience is a huge piece of building a business as an influencer.

Whether it's on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, or even LinkedIn, earning the trust and attention of thousands of people is crucial when on the path toward becoming a full-time content creator.

Although cracking an algorithm is sometimes a stroke of luck, many influencers have concrete strategies and tips they've learned along the way when building their followings. Some rely on putting out content consistently, while others may utilize tools offered by creator economy startups. (Read more about 13 startups helping creators grow their audiences and make money.)

For example, Joy Ofodu, a comedy content creator who recently left a full-time job at Instagram, discovered that landing on a specific niche of content helped propel her career as a creator. Her niche? Dating content.

"That's all I posted about for about two years," Ofodu told Insider. "And that exploded my audience."

Ofodu now has 114,000 Instagram followers — when she started posting more regularly, in 2020, she had about 5,000.

Read Ofodu's top pieces of advice for growing an audience on social media

How to grow an audience on social media, according to creators and industry experts

Insider has interviewed a slew of influencers and creator economy experts on how to grow an audience on an array of social platforms. Here's how people are building a following on platforms from Instagram to LinkedIn.

Instagram

Jaden Versluis, a talent manager and travel creator, started posting regularly on Instagram in May. At the time, he had about 4,000 followers.

Three months later, Versluis' audience had grown to 140,000 followers on Instagram.