So it’s been 3 or 4 months now since I started my Instagram account and things aren’t going to plan. I mean they are in one sense, the account is doing really well and my engagement level is extremely high, but it’s also what’s causing issues with the blog.
I’m now running basically two completely different platforms whose contents aren’t very interchangeable. Originally the plan was whatever I post here, I just republish there, but I quickly realized that wasn’t going to work. A lot of the content that I post over here wouldn’t work for Instagram like the one I just posted about the newsletters from the 1990 Gulf War. There is very specific content that my Instagram followers like and it’s not easy to come by, so I’m constantly thinking about what to post next on Instagram and not thinking about what to post next on the blog. It’s a total mess.
To make matters worse, Instagram is draining mentally because every post is being judged publicly. If a post gets a lot of likes, shares, interactions etc.. that’s a thumbs up. If a post doesn’t get a lot of likes or a few interactions, that’s a thumbs-down. So it feels like I’m performing at a talent show every single day in front of judges. I had one post that went viral and got over 9,000 likes, then it’s like ok how do I top that for my next post? I know how I am, I keep trying to top or match my previous post and eventually I stop posting because nothing is good enough. It’s why I no longer post photos on my personal Instagram accounts and it’s something I went through with this blog as well. So I’m trying to loosen up and not try and have every post be THE POST but it’s hard to do when I treat the number of likes as a rating.
But honestly, it has reinvigorated me. Launching the blog on a new platform and having to deal with those challenges has gotten me excited again because it’s completely changed my routine. I feel like the underdog on Instagram and I really like that. I’m just doing what I’ve been doing for the past 20 years and it’s working.
I’ve also started generating income from my Instagram account in the form of promoted posts. I didn’t have plans for it originally but I started getting DM’s from businesses wanting to advertise so I quickly had to figure out how I could make that work. As always, I’m fully transparent with which posts are paid for and so all my paid Instagram posts are marked with a “Promoted” logo and labeled as a “Paid Partnership” on Instagram.
So that’s pretty much where I am with this whole Instagramming thing right now. I’ll post another update maybe 6 months from now, maybe things will be different then.
27 replies on “@248AM Instagram Update”
If only people treated the amount of money in their bank account as a rating as well. The world would be more competitive and interesting.
Have you considered hiring someone to manage the instagram posts to take some of the burden off of you ?
If there is someone who can do what I do they’d be doing it already. It’s not something anyone can do.
Pump the brakes mate, what you do isn’t rocket science.
Actually it is, just because I make it look easy don’t think it is. I’d like to see you or anyone else publish 20,000 interesting posts on Kuwait and to do it constantly for 20 years.
I think the guy above was talking about it on a post to post basis, not the whole thing and obviously without the research aspect of it.
Nobody can deny you’ve been doing. You have every right to be prideful of it.
I meant to say – if you deconstruct the process are there any parts that can be automated? Write up, mock up of the post etc. – you could outsource those parts that you do not enjoy doing. Might require more time upfront from your side to train them, but after that it could make things easier for you – allowing you to focus more time on stuff you enjoy doing in the process.
The things that you decide to talk about and post is all your brainchild – and I doubt that can be done by anyone.
Ah yeah I understand now. Honestly the hardest part is finding content, once I have the content then everything else just flows. Probably with content is there are busy parts of the year where lots of things are happening and I can easily find stuff to write about, but then you also have a lot of slow days with nothing happening and so then it’s a struggle. I don’t want to post about food which is what every instagrammer does, I don’t want to be invited to events since every instagrammer gets invited. Unless I can add value to a post then I don’t want to post what everyone else is posting. That’s always how it’s been for me.
Sometimes, being good enough consistently is better than being prefect. You got this man!
Atta boy
How’s the Instagram post engagement different? As opposed to blog post analytics?
tip: for posts like the newsletter you can definitely just mock it up
You just have to do that extra work to make it work on a different platform, and you don’t have to Instagram every single blog post
I stopped checking my blog analytics daily years ago, now I might check it once a month, a lot healthier that way. Instagram it’s constantly in your face every minute.
The newsletter post can’t be mocked up for instagram, well obviously it could but for example I wouldn’t be able to share the PDF and makes the whole thing a lot less interesting.
What you need is a scandal. Try to think of something outrages but that won’t get you deported.
Nah, I’m also not interested in any clickbait posts. Trying to keep it all nice and clean.
“I ATE THIS SHAWARMA AND THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED TO ME”
😂😂😂😂😂 I’d so click on that
It should be “I only ate Shawerma for 30 days and this is the result”
Most of us have first hand experience with what would happen
Fix: things aren’t going *according to plan.
Instagram’s analytics mentally drain me which is why I quit it so I feel you on that one.
For longer posts meant for the blog that don’t go well with Instagram, can’t you post a brief summary with one image and a caption (description) that contains a link to the blog? I’m not sure if you already do this but it could potentially attract more visitors to the blog and saves you the trouble of adapting a massive post for Insta.
Ignore my typical fix, you’re sentence is correct
Gosh I’m drowning in my own typos
Have you considered doing what a lot of entertainment news accounts are doing these days? Basically they post a picture and in the caption they give an idea on what the post is about and direct the reader to the link in bio for the complete article. When clicking on the link it opens a page thats looks exactly like your insta feed but when they click on the image it directs them to the full blog post. Just an idea that Ive seen with some accounts. Check enews account for reference.
Yeah I’ve seen those and it’s too much jumping around, I think everything should be self contained on instagram. Do you usually click out? Cuz the process would have to be leaving the post then scrolling up to profile and then clicking link and then it opens it inside instagram which is also annoying.
“So it feels like I’m performing at a talent show every single day in front of judges.”
THIS CRACKED ME UP!!
Been in marketing for years now and this is the first time I hear this and see it from that view lol I feel you brother it gets draining specially when you doing it for clients but at least this is for your own personal growth so hang in there and you got the talent for it anyways for a more weeks until you become the most famous public account on Instagram in Kuwait.
Hi I would follow pages like Ladbible or Bloomberg where they look at this aspect from instagram being the main posting place and the website to read it in more detail. Basically making your website look like instagram and when you click on a photo on the website the description comes up. So the back end is what you have now and front end what instagram looks like and what instagram will see. Hope that helps, all the best
Well, I’m kinda doing that. So sometimes I edit the content on Instagram to be shorter due to the platform limitations, but since I don’t have any limitations here I wouldn’t want to make my blog look more like Instagram.
Social media marketer here. You’re overthinking this.
Simplify your content from the blog into bitesize tidbits for instagram. You’ve got plenty of info in most posts here, that’s plenty of posts for insta.
Remember it’s mostly pictures that matter on Instagram.
You’ve already got your loyal audience, don’t bother with likes and analytics. A post could get zero likes, then get the most likes a year later. Just focus on delivering quality content as you have been doing for over a decade.
Lots of love.