How I got 82,000 views on Instagram as an Artist
It happened! Persistence and strategy helped me cross the threshold this week on Instagram. Before my reels were getting between 5,000-10,000 views using the strategy I mention in the IG Reels Bootcamp. If you’d like to learn about my method, click the link below.
Up until this month when I began participating in Inktober, I was starting to give up on Instagram. I decided to do Inktober just to improve my own work. I ordered a fresh set of himi gouache because my old one had dried out. I spent the last $30 in my bank account on it. It made me happy so I justified the purchase.
This past month Instagram reels weren’t performing as well as Youtube Shorts. My focus shifted to Youtube Shorts instead. I was getting thousands of views there and my channel is growing. Today, I decided to give Instagram one more shot and film a commission I’m working through and…..it happened. My reel views shot up way beyond 10,000 to a whopping 82,000. Can you believe that? I couldn’t. I screenshotted it below and stared at it for a minute in disbelief.
800 likes…. If you don’t believe me, see the stats below for yourself or head on over to my Instagram to check it out.
I’ve been working on my art business for 4 years, so this took me a very long time. In fact, I really believed it just was not possible. Even Pinterest had given me thousands of views. Instagram was just changing things constantly. There were moments where I felt like I was about to have a breakthrough but the platform wasn’t consistent. I would get posts with thousands of views and then massive drop offs. It was almost like Instagram didn’t know how to classify my account.
I’ve worked in marketing for 15 years and I know the principles. The marketing mouse would whisper in my ear, “Andalee stay focused, create a strategy, post regularly, and keep grinding until you burn out.” I kept working full time and on my client accounts while pushing towards burnout. Burnout hit me hard 6 months ago. Yet, art is not a dream you can just give up on. It’s part of your identity. You don’t just stop being an illustrator. Maybe you stop working as one, but you still see the world through a unique lens.
The mouse kept whispering. Just keep going and work harder. Corporate marketing taught me a lot; It just didn’t teach me how to find myself. Applying all those principles to your own account is an entirely different story. I’d been an educator for 6 years and helped others learn self promotion, writing, and professionalism, but finding my own voice has always been really difficult. Focusing your account and finding a niche can really be a challenge. The reward is worth it.
Framing the Shot
I once had a professor tell me that a thesis statement was “more a matter of framing your thesis as a good idea, than actually having a good idea.” I didn’t agree with him at the time. Throughout college I was striving to have amazing ideas on all my papers. The thought of regurgitating something unoriginal or not amazing felt like a waste of time. Anyways, I always had ideas swimming around in my head. However, he was right a little bit. Sometimes we get so caught up in the idea itself, that we forget to frame it in a way that it looks amazing. That’s something I can rally behind. I forgot that everything having to do with marketing was a matter of framing. It’s finding a way to connect with your viewer that’s relatable and interesting. I applied this logic to my video creation for Instagram. I discovered sometimes a video would perform better when the footage was taken at a slightly different angle. It was really that simple…..
Finding a Niche to Grow
Once you find a niche it attracts attention from people online. It turns heads and inspires likes and follows. More and more I find myself making the same type of reels in order to get views and narrowing the subject matter. Once you find something people are interested in which could be a great camera angle, an interesting subject, or a topic that you’re passionate about, it all gets easier.
Now that I’ve discovered my niche, I no longer share everything I paint. I save something for Patreon and keep my content focused on social media platforms. Focusing on the reels that perform rewarded me with over 82,000 plays and the day is not even over yet! It’s only been 2 hours since I posted the video.
Leveraging What You Know
My last tip would be to leverage what you know about social media and how these platforms are competing. I’ve been tracking these platforms for several years. When one platform wouldn’t perform, I would pivot to another platform. I successfully grew my watercolor group on another platform to 4,300 people. We have a community with organic growth actively sharing their art. The work is beautiful and inspiring. I’m truly happy I did not give up. I continued to learn and leverage what I knew of the current climate in social media. If you leverage what you know, pick trending topics, music, and styles, you can really grow your account.