5 Ways to Boost Bluesky Followers Organically

Looking for ways to boost your Bluesky followers organically? We’ve come up with five proven methods for follower growth on Bluesky, along with guides and resources to help you understand and perfect each strategy. Keep reading to discover the five best ways to boost Bluesky followers organically.

How Does Gaining Followers Work on Bluesky?

Gaining followers depends on how often users are presented with your content. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok utilize an all-encompassing algorithm tailored to each user's specific interest. The algorithm will react to whatever content each user engages with, recommending content similar to it automatically.

So, how does Bluesky factor into this, and what is their algorithm? In our recent article, we explored how Bluesky feeds work and what role the algorithm plays in each of them. In summary, Bluesky utilizes what is called custom feeds, giving users the ability to control what they see when using the app. Does this mean users may never see your content if their feed isn’t customized to show content like yours? Not necessarily.

Ideally, your intended audience will want to see content like yours, and therefore their customized feeds will be built to accommodate it. Bluesky’s custom feed options suggest an even more streamlined experience for content creators, ensuring that only users who want to see your content will do so. Gone are the days of ending up on “the wrong side of TikTok.”

Custom feeds aren’t the only content stream Bluesky offers. There is also the Following Feed and Discover Feed. The Discover Feed allows creators the opportunity to have their content shown elsewhere if users’ custom feeds don’t perfectly align with it.

5 Ways to Boost Bluesky Followers Organically

1. Create Unique Content for Popular Feeds

Naturally, some feeds will be more popular than others. The more traffic a feed has, the more visibility your content will receive. Some examples of Bluesky’s most popular custom feeds include: Art, Blacksky, News, Science, and Booksky, but these are just a few of the thousands available. The important thing is to ensure your content is relevant and unique; it’s easy to disappear in a popular feed if your content doesn’t generate those initial engagements. Avoid catering your content solely to a popular feed for the sake of trends. There’s no shame in creating content centered around niche topics. In fact, if you find yourself struggling to gain traction in popular custom feeds, consider going the hyper-niche route with more unique feeds. As users see you on a feed they enjoy more frequently, they’re more inclined to follow you to continue encountering your content.

How Does My Content End Up on a Bluesky Feed?

To have your content appear on a custom Bluesky feed, your post will need to include certain keywords, hashtags, or even emojis. Most feeds, especially larger ones, will provide instructions on how to opt into the feed, including hashtags to use or opt out of if preferred. For an example, consider the custom feed BookSky.

Explore Bluesky’s custom feeds using goodfeeds, a website that archives all Bluesky feeds and displays the top 50 feeds at any given time.

2. Follow for Follow Strategy

The "follow for follow" strategy has been an effective method for growing followers since the early days of social media. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s quite straightforward. Begin by finding a larger account that produces content similar to your own. Then, look through their followers and follow accounts that fit your intended audience (those who create or enjoy content like yours). Wait for these accounts to follow you back. Many will follow back, but some inevitably won’t, which brings us to the optional final step: unfollowing accounts that don’t follow you back. By consistently using this strategy, you will see gradual growth in your following. While it can be a bit tedious, it is simple and ultimately rewarding.

We can’t discuss "follow for follow" without mentioning buying followers. Many turn to buying followers as an easy and quick solution that avoids the time-consuming follow-for-follow method. However, we always recommend against buying followers. There are many reasons why, but the most important is that it often does more harm than good to your account and its overall engagement.

Easy Follow for Follow with BluePilot

If you're turned off by the tedious process of follow for follow, BluePilot simplifies it for you. We've streamlined the process of finding relevant accounts to follow on Bluesky with our Smart Queue. Start by adding some of your most-liked Bluesky accounts to your favourites list for the most tailored recommendations. Smart Queue automatically delivers accounts to follow based on the accounts you either already follow or have added to your favourites list. Basically, instead of finding target accounts for follow for follow on your own, Smart Queue does it for you with relevant follow recommendations.

When it comes time to unfollow accounts that don't mutually follow you, BluePilot has a feature for that too. Smart Unfollows, opposite to Smart Queue, provides tailored unfollow recommendations. Primarily, it filters the accounts who don't follow you back. You can unfollow every account that doesn't follow back with no more than a click of a button, which means no more searching through your following for people without a "follows you" tag. Have an account you love that doesn't follow you back? That's fine too! Smart Unfollows also has a white list. Anyone on your white list is excluded from your unfollow recommendations.

Maximize your organic follower growth is easier than ever with BluePilot - Get started today!

3. Engage with Pre-Existing Content

When it comes to building an online presence, nothing is more effective than actively engaging in the community. By participating actively, users will begin to recognize you, and this recognition is key to gaining followers. Establish a relationship with users by engaging with their content repeatedly, and they are more likely to follow you. This approach generally works best with smaller accounts who will be able to notice your efforts, rather than larger accounts that receive tons of engagement daily. Start small and grow from there; you’d be surprised by how quickly you’ll expand your following simply by liking and commenting on other users’ content regularly.

Additionally, try to engage with posts early on, before they start trending or gaining traction. Early engagement will boost your visibility as more traffic is driven to the post. It all ties back to the age-old saying, “the early bird gets the worm.”

4. Leverage Bluesky Starter Packs

Have you heard of Bluesky Starter Packs? Similar to lists on Twitter/X, Bluesky Starter Packs are user-generated lists of accounts centered around specific topics, interests, or even geographic areas. These Starter Packs can significantly benefit your follower growth in several ways. First, they serve as a perfect resource for finding accounts that meet specific criteria, making for an easy follow-for-follow process if you choose to use that method. Many users leverage Bluesky Starter Packs for this very purpose.

What’s even better? Getting your account added to a Bluesky Starter Pack! If your account appears on the right Starter Packs, it can lead to effortless follower growth. While it may be harder to achieve than the other methods listed, consider reaching out to a Starter Pack creator and asking if your account can be added to the list. Ideally, you should pursue this option only if your account has enough relevant and unique content to warrant a spot.

5. Host a Giveaway or Raffle

Lastly, what would a "ways to grow your following" post be without mentioning the classic giveaway or raffle? If you’ve ever encountered a giveaway or raffle online that required you to follow the host, this method should sound familiar. It necessitates at least one attractive offer to give away to your audience and is incredibly effective for rapidly boosting followers (as long as your offering is genuinely appealing). Here are a few examples of affordable yet valuable items to give away:

• A subscription to Discord Nitro, YouTube Premium, Uber One, etc.
• A new makeup product.
• A mystery box.
• School supplies.
• Tickets to a concert or event.

The main goal is to ensure whatever you’re offering is valuable to your target audience. For instance, you wouldn’t want to offer school supplies in a giveaway aimed at software developers.

Using these five effective strategies will significantly boost your Bluesky followers organically. By creating unique content tailored to popular feeds, engaging with existing content, leveraging community tools like Bluesky Starter Packs, and utilizing follow-for-follow strategies, you can increase your visibility and attract the right audience. Patience is key in building your following, and focusing on authentic interactions will lead to sustained growth in the long run.