Akansha's story of going from 400 to 50k followers in 5 days
This is Akansha's story of going from 400 to 50K followers in 5 days as one of her reels went viral and got 14 million views.
When the whole country was contemplating what hit them in the form of COVID in April 2020, Akanksha was doing the right thing at the right time. Perhaps, one of the best examples of overnight success, she went from 400 to 50K followers in just five days when one of her reels received 14 million views.
In a conversation with SocialBoat, Akanksha talks about her journey so far. Read on to know her success story and about the challenges that came along with the success.
How It All Started
Akanksha was leading a comfortable and busy life with her work and family when she started learning how to shuffle dance by watching TikTok videos. When the lockdown was announced, she went about her usual day but started learning the dance form more seriously, but only to keep herself occupied. She became more and more engrossed in the dance form. She would learn and shoot videos with her kids. When TikTok was banned, she didn’t know where to continue learning shuffling from. So she started following the same people she followed in TikTok, on Instagram. Akanksha's Instagram had always been a space where she would inspire herself and others to take care of their physical and mental health.
"I loved Instagram, it was my playground."
Then onwards, she started posting her TikTok videos on Instagram. In July 2020, reels were introduced and Akanksha started putting out the videos as reels. One of her reels got featured in the ‘Explore’ section and went viral. What followed was unprecedented, nonstop Instagram notifications of people following her account, liking and commenting on the reel.
Coming to Terms with the Overnight Popularity
Akanksha was surprised and overwhelmed but continued to put out more videos. She started with tutorial videos because her followers were asking her to take classes.
"But till December I was doing it under a lot of pressure. It was very time-consuming, and required a lot of practice."
She knew that she had to do it properly, with a proper structure in mind. From January onwards, she planned out the shooting and editing more carefully. She learned how to create content more efficiently.
One of the reasons for the pressure was maintaining consistency in posting content. The Instagram algorithm demands consistency to increase your engagement and followers. To break away from the pressure of the Instagram algorithm, she also started uploading her tutorials on YouTube.
Akanksha says that she is still finding her flow but she is trying to get used to being an influencer. Simultaneously, she is also making sure to not tire herself out.
How did Akansha go viral?
"My account might have come across as a breath of fresh air."
As much as the shuffle dance form is enthralling on many levels, it's also ideal as a means of good physical exercise. Furthermore, it is new and completely refreshing and for people of all age groups to learn and enjoy; hence Akanksha's content is very versatile. This aspect is helping her create a distinct identity for herself in the social media space.
"Many women follow me for my content. They reach out and appreciate my work."
Another reason for Akanksha’s success is that she has been an inspiration to many women. She is a 40-year-old woman, who is also a jewelry designer, a fitness enthusiast, and a mother of two. She is an unconventional creator and seeing her create content that is high on energy is perhaps motivating many more to do the same.
The innovation that Akanksha is bringing to the world of social media is certainly refreshing and promising. It is her personality along with her exceptional skills and dedicated hard work that turned things around for Akanksha. Now, she is going from strength to strength and inspiring many others along the way.
Managing the Pressure of Consistency
To be ready with new content daily, shoot it with the same energy and enthusiasm, edit and post it, is not at all easy. Added to that is the pressure of engaging with followers, looking at potential collaborations, and staying updated about the latest trends.
Akanksha told us that when she stopped posting every day due to some family reason, she lost many followers. The engagement on her page decreased drastically and she realized that she had to post every day.
Therefore, to manage such a workload, a few months ago, Akanksha decided to get a team to manage her collaborations and emails. She does the shooting and editing on her own.
She is also trying to build an audience on other platforms like YouTube so that she can keep her creative spirit alive and not succumb to the pressure of the Instagram algorithm.
Conclusion
Akanksha's story is a success story that inspires many to believe in the possibility of miracles. She is an inspiring woman who got her due because of how she took up an opportunity and made the best of it with all the hard work. But with great power comes great responsibility, and Akanksha is trying to live up to the expectations of her audience and also maintain the integrity of her creativity. In the next blog, we will talk about how Akansha and other creators are dealing with creator burnout and keeping up their consistency.
Visit Akanksha's Instagram page to know more about her journey!
For more inspiring and insightful stories from creators, visit SocialBoat.