How Teuida Grew to 100K Instagram Followers

Most startup founders approach social media the same way: post about your product, share feature updates, celebrate milestones, repeat. It's logical, straightforward, and according to Ji Woong from Teuida, completely missing the point.

On a recent episode of the Levels Podcast, Ji Woong shared how his Korean and Japanese language learning app built an Instagram following of over 100,000 people—not by talking about language learning, but by diving deep into Korean culture. For product teams struggling to build meaningful social media presence, Teuida's approach offers a refreshing alternative to the tired playbook of product-centric content.

The Instagram Account That Doesn't Talk About Language Learning

When Jason introduced Teuida's Instagram success, he highlighted what makes their strategy so unusual. The platform has over half a million monthly active users, but their Instagram content barely mentions the core product. Instead, they've built what Jason described as a "killer Instagram account" by focusing on something entirely different.

The strategic insight came from asking a better question. Rather than "how do we promote our language learning app?" the Teuida team asked "who are our users and what else are they interested in?" That shift in perspective changed everything.

As Jason explained the strategy:

it's about finding, not necessarily talking about like your app specifically or even what your app is for specifically, in their case language learning, but it's about figuring out who your users are and what their other related interests are that are maybe more like clicky and viral on social media.

This approach recognizes a fundamental truth about social media that most brands ignore: people don't follow accounts to be sold to. They follow accounts that entertain them, educate them, or connect them to communities they care about.

Korean Culture as Content Strategy

For Teuida, the answer to "what do our users care about?" was obvious once they looked beyond the functional job their product performs. People learning Korean aren't just acquiring a language skill—they're expressing interest in Korean culture, entertainment, food, and lifestyle.

Jason summarized their content focus clearly:

So in their case, it's like Korean culture. That's the thing, right? So their content is all about Korean culture and like being a part of that whole Korean culture community.

This creates a natural alignment between the content and the product without forcing promotional messaging. Someone interested in Korean culture is exactly the person who might want to learn Korean. But by leading with culture rather than language instruction, Teuida taps into content that's inherently more shareable, more engaging, and more viral.

The beauty of this approach is that it transforms the Instagram account from a marketing channel into a community hub. Followers aren't just potential customers waiting to be converted—they're community members who share a genuine interest in Korean culture. Some will naturally become users of the language learning app, but the value exchange doesn't depend on that conversion.

The Viral Content Advantage

Jason's mention of content that's "more like clicky and viral" points to another critical advantage of this strategy. Korean culture—from K-pop to Korean dramas to food trends—is inherently viral in a way that "5 tips for learning Korean grammar" never will be.

By aligning their content with topics that already have cultural momentum and social currency, Teuida gets to ride waves they didn't create. A post about a trending K-drama or a Korean food trend has built-in shareability. Users share it not because they're endorsing a language learning app, but because it's content worth sharing on its own merits.

This is the difference between content marketing and community building. Content marketing tries to make your product interesting. Community building finds what your users already find interesting and shows up there authentically.

Beyond Language Learning

While Teuida's specific strategy centers on Korean culture, the framework applies to virtually any consumer product. The question isn't "what does my product do?" but "who uses my product and what else defines their identity and interests?"

A fitness app's users might be deeply interested in wellness trends, meal prep, or outdoor adventure. A productivity tool's users might care about remote work culture, minimalism, or entrepreneurship. A parenting app's audience probably engages with content about child development, family activities, or parenting philosophy.

The key is identifying the intersection between what your users care about and what performs well on the platform you're using. That intersection is where sustainable growth happens—not through paid promotion or growth hacks, but through genuinely valuable content that people want to engage with and share.

From Followers to Users

The obvious question is: does this actually drive product growth? Building a community around related interests is great, but if it doesn't translate to users, it's just vanity metrics.

For Teuida, the connection is clear. An Instagram account about Korean culture serves as a top-of-funnel awareness builder. It identifies people who are already culturally aligned with the product's value proposition. The conversion from "interested in Korean culture" to "wants to learn Korean" isn't a hard sell—it's a natural progression.

More importantly, this approach builds brand affinity before the ask. By the time someone discovers that the account they've been following is connected to a language learning app, they already have a positive relationship with the brand. That's a dramatically different starting point than a cold ad or promotional post.

Key Points

• Teuida grew their Instagram to over 100,000 followers by focusing on Korean culture content rather than promoting their language learning app directly
• The strategy centers on understanding what users care about beyond the product's core function
• Content about related interests (like Korean culture) is inherently more viral and shareable than product-focused content
• This approach transforms social accounts from marketing channels into community hubs, building brand affinity before making any ask
• The framework applies broadly: identify the intersection between user interests and platform-native content that performs well

Listen to the full conversation with Ji Woong on the Levels Podcast to hear more about how Teuida tripled their LTV and built their product strategy.