Is your Instagram really working for you? We all know how important a tool such a social media is to help create a brand and attract clients who may want to hire you. If you're finding that your account is struggling to grow then you might be making some of these many mistakes. Â
The guys over at The Futur are back once again with their most in-depth video so far helping creative people master the social media platform Instagram. This week Chris Do, who is an Emmy award-winning designer and founder of brand strategy design consultancy Blind, Inc., reviews and provides in-depth analysis of several Instagram users to highlight what each of them is doing right and wrong with their accounts. Â
Even though the video features mostly graphic designers for the critique, these tips are more than transferable to all imaginable areas of the creative world including photography. Do has some great advice regarding how to pick the right hashtags, how to listen to your audience to grow your account, and the best ways to communicate what you want as a creative so you get hired for the jobs you want. It's fascinating to see how many of us are making the same mistakes on Instagram and how a few adjustments could really help you to grow on the social network. The video is a long one at almost two hours but it's most definitely worth it if you're serious about growing your account.
Any chance we get a more in-depth summary? Perhaps a few bullet points that you felt were the most applicable? I'm not about to watch a nearly 2 hour recording of a live feed to sift through all the information.
Hey Jared, you really need to at least watch some of the video to fully understand what they are talking about in regards to: images that work on Instagram, profile pics/logos, using albums effectively, colour themes examples etc.
I know 2 hours is a long time but I'm sure you spend that much time on Reddit, Netflix, GOT, PlayStation etc. I would class myself as a bit of an Instagram expert and even I found the video valuable to watch. That's why I shared it here.
Anyway, this was pulled off their youtube description:
ShineGFX key Takeaways
1. In your bio - tell people HOW you benefit customers.
2. Post work that ONLY relates to your bio
3. Use the 3x3 stack to an advantage, post in 3's
4. Delete posts with low likes
5. Post more of your most popular posts
6. Have an avi that shows what you do
7. Make it structured
8. Drive the attention into sales, funnel/filter
9. Give away value for free, it will come back in some form or another
--
4:30 @Alvinoei - Instagram Review
6:39 Q: Who is doing the work that you would like to be doing today?
7:48 Simplify your summary in terms of a customer benefit
9:22 Rule of Threes - Group by color, subject, texture, and theme
14:50 @cfowlerdesign - Instagram Review
14:51 Q: Do you delete any of your older Instagram posts?
16:50 Q: Why do you think that you have so many followers?
17:30 Be Consistent in your social feed posts - 30 Day Logo Challenge
20:20 Create content that people what to share with others
21:23 Q: How do you make posts that grab people's attention?
23:25 Use Instagram collections to document your design process
26:15 @jacobsdesign - Instagram Review
28:01 Split your interests to different social media accounts.
30:02 If you want what you don't have, you are going to have to do what you haven't done before.
34:40 You can combine your interests
39:36 @marieryyoung - Instagram Review
44:59 Remove the content that was poorly ranked
45:48 Make sure that your hashtags are relevant to your niche
50:00 @kylasaflor - Instagram Review
55:00 Pick one style of lettering, and work from there.
56:24 @israeltovart - Instagram Review
1:00:37 Q: What do you love to do and what to be paid for?
1:05:23 @by.sleigh - Instagram Review
1:06:35 Did you have a passion for design when you were younger?
1:08:48 How does this work tie into what you do?
1:15:17 Maybe you could change the way that you describe yourself.
1:17:20 @jakubkuik - Instagram Review
1:21:34 @scientistx619 - Instagram Review
1:30:00 Q: Does social media actually do anything for you? / Is it ethical to buy social media followers?
1:33:05 Do not underestimate the value of building a community around your content
1:39:49 Q: What about people copying your work when you post it?
1:43:30 How does following more people than who is following you on Instagram?
Thank you for the summary and timestamps, Paul. I greatly appreciate it and plan to dive into this sometime when I have a moment to do so.
My pleasure Jared, I shared this video because I really think it's worth watching. If you don't learn something I'll give you your money back!
All the best
I'm sure in the time I watch this video I'm gonna get like 20 unfollowers! Any chance there's some useful info on how to deal with those?
Yeah kinda, the video shows examples of where an account will shift gears slightly and start posting something the followers didn't follow the account for. That can be a reason for mass unfollows esp if its after a post.
TBH I'm the same, if I follow a cool photographer and they suddenly stop posting cool work and just post weird selfies and baby pictures I hit unfollow.
I know it's 2 hours but it well worth a watch...
if people are following you and unfollowing just to boost their own accounts they are either bots or not worth having anyway...
That's it! Only those people seem to follow me cause the count stays the same for like over a year now.