From 100 to 10k Followers: Our Bangalore Story

It all started with a classic Bangalore evening—drizzling rain, the smell of wet earth, and two friends, me and X, sitting in a cozy Koramangala cafe. We were scrolling through our phones, admiring creators from afar, when X looked up and said, "We could do this. We love [Your Niche] more than anyone we know. Why not us?"

That was the spark. We were full of passion and armed with a smartphone, ready to take the digital world by storm. We launched our page, posted our first picture with a carefully crafted caption, and waited for the magic to happen.

And we waited.

For the first few months, our follower count was mostly just our supportive friends, family, and a few bots. We were posting consistently, using the "right" hashtags, but it felt like we were shouting into a void. Bangalore is a city teeming with talent and content. How could we, two people with an idea, ever stand out?

The turning point came when we stopped trying to be generic influencers and started trying to be… well, us. And more importantly, we started focusing on being Bangalore.

Instead of just posting a picture of our food, we started telling the story of the 80-year-old aunty who runs the tiny idli shop in Malleswaram. Instead of just a pretty photo from a weekend trip, we created a guide on how to explore Nandi Hills like a local, including the best spots for chai on the way down.

We made Bangalore our main character.

Our strategy became simple, local, and authentic:

Hyper-Local Content: We dove deep into the city's nooks and crannies. We featured legendary businesses, up-and-coming artists from Indiranagar, and the best street food stalls that only locals knew about. Our content became a love letter to the city.

Building a Community, Not Just an Audience: We replied to every single comment and DM. We asked our followers for their recommendations and featured their suggestions. Our page transformed from a monologue into a conversation—a community of people who loved Bangalore as much as we did. We'd host small meetups in Cubbon Park, turning online friends into real ones.

Collaborating with Fellow Bangaloreans: We didn't see other local creators as competition; we saw them as collaborators. We teamed up with food bloggers, fashion enthusiasts, and photographers. This cross-promotion introduced us to new audiences and embedded us deeper into the city's creative fabric.

Slowly, but surely, things started to change. A reel we made about "5 Things Only People Who Live in Bangalore Will Understand" went viral overnight. Our DMs were flooded with messages saying, "This is so relatable!" We had finally struck a chord.

The journey from 100 to 1,000 followers felt like climbing a mountain. But the jump to 10,000 was a wave we rode, fueled by the community we had built. The best moment wasn't even hitting the 10k milestone. It was when someone stopped us at Church Street and said, "Hey, I love your page! You guys showed me the best place for Gobi Manchurian."

That's when we knew we'd made it.

So, if you're in Bangalore, dreaming of building your own space online, our advice is this: Stop looking at what's trending globally and start looking at what's special right outside your door. Tell the stories of your street, your neighborhood, and your city.

Bangalore has a million stories waiting to be told. All you have to do is start telling them.