Hello Everyone,
This is my first post in this group and I just wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading some of the posts. I am writing this because I am having a hard time gaining traction on Instagram. I just started my photography account 18 weeks ago and the biggest problem I am having is I will have several people with larger following follow me and a day or two later unfollow. I think this is in the hopes that I will follow back.
If any of you would be willing to check out my IG account and leave feedback here on what I can do to make my page more appealing or things I can do to get my images seen by more people that would be very helpful. (my Instagram account is mcp_ig)
Thanks so much!
Further to what Jeff said, I think the biggest difficulty with Social Media is patience. Look at all the top IG accounts that you follow and look at the number of posts they have. Their following wasn't grown over night (or in your case, 18 weeks). It takes time and from what I've read, most people will fail if all they are concerned about is numbers. (I need to take my own advice too because I've been guilty of watching my following number) @MichaelFreestonePhotography
Keep posting quality images, and consistently, but it's equally important to engage. I think the most followings that I get are from liking other images and commenting on things I ACTUALLY like. Not just saying "Cool". I find that if you're sitting there trying to think of something to write about a post, you don't have anything to say about it. Comment about the things you you actually think about when you see the image and it's much more effective.
Good Luck :)
Great advice guys. Much appreciated!
Hey Matt, great topic!
I will admit that I have been a sucker for watching the followers and lack of strong growth so many times so its normal. Like some of the guys in the comments have said it doesnt happen over night, well sometimes it does and I will explain that later but it takes time. I have almost 2,000 posts on my account and have had it since a month after Instagram launched. Also posting great content every single day is the key, whether that i you eating breakfast or you taking a road trip or heading to work. Take the best shot possible in that situation but put a goal to post 1 shot per day for 30 days and see if you can succeed that challenge. Try to out do the previous post with an even better photo the next time. The idea here is to focus on somethign else, you images and content creation speed rather than the followers.
Another quick tip is to grab hashtags and put them in the comments below your pain post each day. 30 max per post is allowed but join photo groups that have tags like mine which is Indianapolis based but a good example #igersindy. A tag I started with some friends and is at almost 80,000 photos. It takes time so try out the challenge and see how it goes. Simply look to engage more too. Looking for tags you like and then liking every photos in that tag you enjoy as well as comment on the really good ones. I find time to do this a handful of times per week for even just 5 minutes it will push a bunch of likes to a few people and grab some followers. Over time this can help you build relationships and people to connect with.
Andrew,
Thanks for the response. I will start implementing everything that you guys have said.
I do have one more question though. Is it better as a photography page to post every day or post your best shots less frequently?
Yea everyone's advice is spot on. IG has been a little "off" lately for some reason. Engagement is way down for a lot of photographers, and new followers tend to be ghosts. One of my friends was just on the Suggested Users list again, and his number of followers grew by 30k but his engagement has stayed exactly the same as it was before. Something is definitely not right there. My post yesterday was the worst performing post I have ever had (and it was a Star Wars post!)
Moral of the story: Don't sweat the numbers. Just post your best work and have fun.
The timing of posts seems to make a big difference. I schedule most for 4PM, and then maybe a less critical image for later in the evening. Morning posts seem to get the least views, although there is a flurry if I hit the lunch hour.
Hashtags are critical. If your image is of a place or a product, make sure you tag it correctly. People that love that location or product will generally like it. And if they see you have consistently good images, they will follow you. On that note, make sure you get your local tags too. A good chunk of my fans follow me because of my #utah and #utahphotographer tags. They support me because I'm local, and because they will see familiar places, or they will see places they want to visit and photograph. When I tag a company, they repost and credit me for the image, which gets up to ten times as many likes as I might normally get, but also results in a few new followers.
Engage with other users. I suspect that deep down in their algorithms, IG considers not just your time posting images, but time you spend looking at other images, and commenting on them. So spend a few minutes each day checking out things that interest you.
Finally, don't worry about the numbers. It's quality over quantity. I have a high engagement rate, which is better than a bunch of followers that never see my images. If someone with 20k followers starts following you, and they only follow 500 users, you know it's a temporary thing. Get the free TrackGram app. Make sure you are following people that are following you, if you like their work. If someone unfollows me, I look at their work to see if it's something I'll miss. If not, I unfollow them.
In the meantime, make sure to create solid images. Unless your last name is Coffey, you'll want to share compelling photos.
Thanks for all the awesome advice guys! I appreciate you all taking the time.