Crazy click-bait title or truly the missing piece? It could very well be the missing piece for your photography account because ultimately it comes down to making Zuckerberg and the Instagram/Facebook empire happier.We can talk about how evil they are and the spying but they own a platform that could benefit your business. Here's how thinking of Instagram first can change their attitude about showing your work to more people.
Walid Azami photographing Vanessa Curry for Michael Todd Campaign
Reports are that only about 5% of your followers actually see your posts. Another obvious way of saying it: Instagram hides about 95% of your content from the people who chose to follow you. Not only does it not seem encouraging, but it seems Instagram had you collect the audience for them, and now they're willing to show your content to them...for a fee, a small ad you can purchase.
Why? They want to earn revenue but that's not helping you and why you're reading this blog post. You want to know how to gain engagement and hopefully that leads to more business. Let's think of how we can use Instagram's greed to benefit your work.
- Instagram wants to keep users on their platform: Your job is make them look good by posting content that keeps people on their platform. How do you do this? Well engage in story and keep the viewers on. Right about now, some people are looking to write a terrible comment but watch the video which goes into great detail about this being vital.
- Instagram wants to sell more ads to those viewers: When you know that's their ultimate goal, you can leverage that to benefit your account. If they need to sell ads, then you probably want to make sure that people see the posts that bring them back. How can you be one of the accounts they award instead of hiding? Make Instagram look good and they'll make you look good. It's very mafia-like.
- Instagram needs your content to continue selling ads: Remember this... they are nothing without you. They can try to sell you ads, but there are backdoors to getting increased engagement and benefiting your business in many other ways, too. Humanize your photography! Add a story about you, the subject, the day, the why behind that photograph. No one cares about a pretty photograph anymore. We want humanity and this is your opportunity to win.
When you see the video, learn to put yourself in Instagram's rich shoes. See how you can make them look good, and increase their revenue. Then watch them reward you with increased engagement, not because they care about you but because you're making them more money.
“No one cares about a pretty photograph anymore. We want humanity and this is your opportunity to win. “
This is how I lose. I can do the pretty pictures. Suck at the human.
This is why I am retiring as an internet photographer. It will be two weeks this Sunday since I posted to instagram, and the detox has not been that comfortable, but it gets easier every day. I still shoot just as much, even during the shutdown, but now I am looking at print projects instead, zines or books to start, refreshing change.
I'd find this article depressing, if I hadn't already concluded that Facebook and Instagram are just a huge waste of time for those of us interested in creating pretty photographs that no one cares about anymore.