Your Next 100 Followers Are Closer Than You Think
A new study shows that the best way to grow isn’t by chasing strangers; it’s by engaging with the people already near your network.
Imagine two creators trying to grow their audiences. One spends hours cold-commenting on viral posts, tagging big accounts, and sending DMs to people with massive followings. The other quietly engages with people who follow their followers—liking their posts, replying to their comments, and occasionally starting a conversation.
Who grows faster?
According to a new study published in the Journal of Marketing, it’s not even close.
The researchers found that creators who engage with "nearby" people—users who are one connection away, like someone who follows your follower—experience dramatically higher growth than those who target high-status strangers.
In fact, targeting these second-degree connections resulted in 2,300% more growth than targeting big, unconnected accounts.
Why? Because of something called triadic closure. It’s a network science principle that basically says: if person A is connected to B, and B is connected to C, then A and C are more likely to connect, too. That simple structure (a triangle) is the foundation of how social networks grow.
And it turns out, it's the foundation of a smarter social media growth strategy, too.
What Most Creators Get Wrong About Growth
It’s tempting to think that audience growth is a numbers game. The bigger the accounts you engage with, the faster you’ll grow, right?
It’s the default approach for many creators:
Tagging huge profiles.
Leaving comments on viral posts,.
Shooting their shot with a cold DM to someone with 100k+ followers.
But the research shows this strategy rarely works.
High-status users are much less likely to respond. They’re:
Overloaded with notifications.
Guarded about who they engage with.
Often uninterested in smaller accounts they don’t know.
The follow-back rate from these users is close to zero: just 0.02%, according to the study.
Even when these interactions do lead to a follow, they often result in a weak connection—one that doesn’t drive meaningful engagement or help your content spread. In other words, you may gain a follower, but not a fan.
The problem isn’t just who you’re targeting, it’s how far away they are in the network.
Cold outreach skips over the most fertile ground: the people who are already close to you.
The Power of Second-Degree Connections
Now that we know what doesn’t work, here’s what does: engaging with people one step away from you.
These “second-degree” connections—users who follow your followers—aren’t random strangers. They’re already loosely connected to you, whether they know it or not. And that subtle connection makes a big difference.
The researchers behind the study found that engaging with these nearby users (through follows, likes, comments, or DMs) was dramatically more effective than engaging with remote, high-status accounts. How effective?
A follow-back rate of 14.37% when a mutual connection was present.
Compared to 6.68% for random low-status users.
And only 0.02% for remote high-status users.
That’s not just a minor lift—it’s a massive acceleration. Why? It comes down to triadic closure: the idea that if two people share a mutual connection, they’re far more likely to connect themselves.
This dynamic builds trust, suggests similarity, and sparks a sense of reciprocity.
In other words, mutual connections create context, and in social networks, context creates conversion.
How to Apply This Strategy on Any Platform
The good news? This isn’t a platform-specific hack. You can use this strategy anywhere people connect publicly—whether you’re building an audience on Twitter/X, Instagram, LinkedIn, or even Substack Notes.
Here’s how to apply it:
1. Find Second-Degree Users
Start by looking at who engages with your followers:
On Instagram, tap into the followers of people who regularly comment on your posts.
On Twitter/X, click into replies on your followers’ tweets.
On LinkedIn, look for people who react to your followers’ posts.
On Substack, explore who your mutuals are following or replying to in Notes.
These are your “nearby” connections—the ones most likely to respond.
2. Engage Naturally and Generously
You’re not pitching. You’re participating.
Like a post.
Leave a thoughtful comment.
Share or repost something with a quick note.
Follow them, without pressure for a follow back.
These light touches create familiarity, and when you do reach out or publish something of your own, people are far more likely to pay attention.
3. Build a Habit (Not a Campaign)
Don’t treat this like a short-term growth hack. Think of it as daily networking. Even 5–10 small engagements a day can compound over time and create a web of connections that accelerates your growth.
The key is consistency. You’re not just reaching out, you’re becoming visible in a space you already have a foot in. That’s what turns one good interaction into a follower, a collaborator, or a fan.
Real Research, Real Results
This isn’t armchair theory. Backed by real-world data and field experiments, this study offers rare insight into what actually drives follower growth.
The researchers analyzed data from over 70,000 users on a major audio platform that supports outbound social interactions (my best guess: SoundCloud). These were mostly unknown creators trying to grow their audience using unpaid outreach: likes, follows, comments, and DMs.
They tested four types of targets:
Remote high-status users (big accounts you don’t know).
Remote low-status users (small accounts you don’t know).
Nearby high-status users (big accounts with a mutual connection).
Nearby low-status users (small accounts with a mutual connection).
The winner, by far? Nearby low-status users: small creators just one degree away. Engaging this group led to:
14.37% follow-back rate when targeting users with a mutual connection (compared to 6.68% without one).
2,300% higher chance of a follow-back compared to reaching out to remote high-status users.
46% more likely to get a follow than targeting remote low-status users without a shared connection.
To confirm it wasn’t just a quirk of the data, the researchers ran:
Propensity-score matching to compare similar users with and without mutual connections—proving that it was the connection itself driving growth, not just shared interests or account size.
A field experiment using real creator accounts to test the strategy in the wild.
1,000 simulations modeling different growth approaches over two years to measure long-term outcomes.
Across every method, the takeaway was the same: second-degree connections grow your audience faster, more reliably, and with stronger downstream effects.
This strategy isn’t just effective, it’s repeatable.
The Shift From Chasing Virality to Seeding Engagement
This strategy isn’t anti-virality, it’s what makes virality more likely.
When creators focus solely on “big moments” like a viral tweet or a lucky share from a large account, they gamble on visibility without building a foundation. And even when those moments hit, the results are often shallow: a spike in views, but not in meaningful follows or long-term engagement.
The network-based approach is slower, but stronger.
By engaging with people who are already near your network (such as mutual followers and second-degree connections), you build a dense web of relationships. These people are more likely to respond, share, and stick around. That kind of engagement tells the algorithm: this content matters. And that’s what fuels future reach.
The takeaway? Don’t just chase attention. Plant the seeds that make attention grow.
Before You Go Bigger, Go Closer
You don’t need to go viral, cold-DM celebrities, or game the algorithm. The most powerful growth engine is already within reach: the people connected to your people.
This isn’t about tactics. It’s about where you show up and who you show up for.
If you’re trying to grow on any platform—Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Substack—start with this: Engage with three people who follow someone you know: Like a post, leave a thoughtful reply, start a small ripple.
Because in the creator economy, strong networks beat lucky breaks. And your next 100 followers? They’re already closer than you think.
To endless possibilities,
Casandra
Premium Bonus: 30-Day Audience Growth Plan
The fastest way to grow isn’t chasing strangers; it’s leveraging the people already near your network.
This 30-day action plan gives you a daily roadmap to build your audience using the Friend-of-a-Friend Framework—a research-backed approach proven to increase your chances of getting followed, noticed, and remembered. No cold DMs. No big-name shoutouts. Just consistent, intentional engagement with the people most likely to connect.