Using Instagram As A Photographer : My Love Hate Relationship
/
I have been working online since 2015. I started as a travel blogger sharing my adventures all around the world. At that time I was still working a 9to5. My goal was to prove to myself that it was possible to travel the world, even while working full-time.
Which I did.
I managed to travel to 40 countries across 5 continents so far in my life. If you’d like to know more about it, you can get a free copy of my ebook below where I explain how I did it step by step.
I'd post photos of my travels on my Instagram account. At that time it was quite easy to build a brand on Instagram and gain visibility.
I joined online communities of digital nomads thanks to Instagram. And have met incredibly talented people also thanks to Instagram.
Instagram has many pros and cons, and as a business owner I love this platform, but as a content creator I hate it!
Why do I love it?
Share a passion - this platform is the most user friendly I have seen so far. Take a photo, write a caption, share it with the world. There is everything for anyone. You can join an online community with only a few taps and you do not even need to leave your home!
Join an online community - this must be the reason I love it so much. It is so easy to find like-minded people on this platform. I have met people with Instagram I never would in real life. And today we keep in touch even though we live in different parts of the world. Without Instagram and joining online communities, I do not believe I would be working online today.
Paid advertising - Without paid advertising I would not have been able to scale my online business. And Instagram has played a big role in it. You see it is hard to catch the attention of your audience online. Not everyone will have the time and the will power to read a full blog article. But they might be interested in one thing that you offer or talked about. All they need is a little bit more information on that specific topic to become a customer. That is where Instagram is so powerful using retargeting ads.
Be visually inspired - Anytime I feel blue or in lack of inspiration I open Instagram and see what the accounts I follow have shared recently. My feed consists of content from photographers and social media marketers. And seeing their work gives me the motivation to do better.
Also, a note, use it to get inspired, do not copy! Better be original and post less as a creator than post often and be like everyone else.
Why do I hate it?
Keep up with the Instagram updates - Let's admit it, aren't you tired of keeping up with all the latest Instagram updates. It is exhausting as a content creator. And sometimes one change means changing your content strategy, which we all know requires a lot of work! Even though it is possible, and I recommend, to create ever green content. It is essential to keep up with the latest updates to feed the “algorithm monster”.
Unless you decide to use paid ads. In that case, updates or not, you are not affected like I mentioned earlier.
Compare yourself to others - Comparing your work with others is the worst thing you can do as a business owner. And yet we ALL do it. The most important thing to remember then, is that people follow you for who you are and the stories you share. Trying to copy others will just put you in the same basket and make you irrelevant. It is one thing to surf on the wave of a trend, it is another to do it full-time!
Too much inspiration kills the inspiration - Do you see yourself scrolling endlessly on your feed? You know you got everything you need to create content, but yet, you just procrastinate and admire other people's work. You admire them so much that you start comparing yourself to them. And if you believe their content is better than yours, then you just stop sharing your work. What's the point, someone else already did it better than you, right?
Well, this is the point!
As content creators, it is our duty to share our work and our journey. We tend to position ourselves as experts to gain authority while in the contrary, keeping an amateur mindset is the best way to keep your audience closer. Share your highs and lows, your failures and successes. This is what makes you who you are. And this is one of the reasons people decide to follow you on the platform.
How did I find my balance?
I see Instagram nowadays as a tool for my business and my journal as a content creator. 2020 made me reflect a lot on the purpose of posting on Instagram. My brand identity shifted from being a travel blogger to being a photographer living the expat life. Also my personal life has changed. I am now married with a family life and do not have as much time as I used to, to be on the platform.
During the second half of 2020, I lacked motivation to post photos as I found them too repetitive and lacking creativity. I was posting just for the sake of feeding the “algorithm monster” and keeping my engagement rate so that I could keep my brand partnerships…
So, I decided to take a break and I stopped posting since the end of December.
And after a bit more than a month not posting, I feel less stressed and anxious. I feel free. Free to do whatever I want because I know that posting on Instagram is not important for my brand to remain alive.
I now have a better vision of the type of content I wanna share. And also do it for me rather than feeding the algorithm monster! Taking time off from social media definitely helps build up that creativity again.
Chris Hau released a video recently that touches the topic of “Instagram killing the content creator’s creativity”. And I could not agree more. It is funny how we believe we are alone thinking that way, although every content creator does.
So today, here is how I found my balance and plan on using Instagram:
I am set to publish up to 3 posts a week. Each post is based on a specific category of content I am comfortable talking about and creating content for. No more need to guess what to write for captions.
I created a caption idea bank in my notepad. Anytime I come up with an idea from these 3 categories, I'd write it down. This way I never come short with content to share.
I only spend up to 30 minutes max on the platform a day. By limiting my time, I force myself to use the app with intent. I'd usually use that time to do some research, comment on photos of people I follow, and answer to my DMs and comments.
My focus will be on videos and Reels. This is long overdue but I believe now the platform allows to create video content more easily than in the past. I have already seen accounts grow exponentially thanks to using Reels the right way. This will be my little experiment for this year and a good way to go through my archives and re-live some past travel memories.
I will schedule my content in advance. There is nothing worse than wasting your time posting content last minute. Been there, done that. Today, tools like Later.com, Planoly, Tailwind or Previewapp can help you do that. So why not leverage them.
Every Sunday, I set an hour to schedule my content for the following week. If I can plan it for the month, even better! I try to align the content I share with digital products I offer or blog articles I wrote that week.
I believe it is important to use Instagram as it is. A medium to promote your content or services so that people can get to know you and get interested in what you do.
If you decide to use it with no business strategy and as the only social media platform to share your content as content creator.
You are running straight into a wall and burnout!
You really need to understand how this platform works to use it from a business perspective.
Once you do understand, you will know that likes and other vanity metrics do not matter. What matters are the business results you are getting. i.e. How many leads did you get from a story promo? How many people clicked your link to visit your website? How many sales did you make from a promotion you did?
This is something I have learned the hard way so you do not have to.
If you'd like to learn the exact strategies I have used to build my online brand, grow a following and make money using Instagram, I encourage you to download my FREE ebook below.
You will learn 16 strategies I have applied throughout the years to grow my Instagram account and my clients accounts, but also how to use it from a business perspective and not feel overwhelmed.
Should you have any questions, do not hesitate to book a free consultation with me and I will be happy to help you on your social media journey.
What about you? What is your relationship with Instagram? Do you love it? Do you hate it? Have you found your balance?
Let us know in the comments below.
If you enjoyed this article, make sure to like it, it actually makes a difference. And if you know anyone that would enjoy reading it, do not hesitate to share it with them.
