A couple of weeks ago I posted a video to Instagram. Like I do most weeks, featuring a topic I regularly create content about; a new makeup collection from L’Oreal. Normally I am quite strict about when I post to Instagram, studying my analytics for when my followers are most likely to be online. But, this night I just pushed the video live about 10 o’clock at night, and rolled into bed. Before falling asleep, my video had had about 200 views within an hour; nothing unusual for me & my following. When I woke up, I thought something had gone wrong with my Instagram.
In the 8 hours I slept my video had had 4,600 views. I frantically checked re-post accounts; nothing. My notifications were normal. I had barely gained any followers; maybe 20 in the past few hours.
Over the next few hours my video would be viewed by over 10,000 people. My Instagram analytics couldn’t keep up with the views. It wasn’t until about 5 o’clock the following day, after I had posted the video, that my analytics finally showed me that the views had been coming from the Explore Tab. Today I am going to break down a few things I learnt from the experience, how I would do things differently in the future & why I didn’t see the growth I should have done with the extra views.
It Can Happen
Firstly, if you’re wondering why I’m even writing this post then maybe you aren’t a micro influencer like me. My following at the time of writing is around 3,400 and normally my videos receive 600-800 views. So getting my content onto the Explore Tab is kind of seen as the golden ticket to growth for me. When I open my Instagram Explore Tab, I normally find accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers. This is because the Explore Tab is tailor made to each users interests. Based on the accounts you already follow and the photos you already like. No two Explore Tabs are the same, but of course some content will overlap. I didn’t think in a million years my content would ever end up there. Getting featured on the Explore Page on lots of accounts can expose your content and your profile to thousands of users who wouldn’t ever normally see your videos or photos. So if, like me, you’re furiously working away, trying to get your account out there, it can happen.
It Isn’t Always The Golden Ticket
Like I said, getting onto the Explore Tab can be the golden ticket to growth, but this isn’t always the case. Of course it can help, but with Instagram counting anything over 3 seconds as a view, you only have a very short window of time to convince someone to click on your profile. You then have an even shorter window of time (studies have shown 2 seconds) to make a good enough impression to get someone to follow you.
Content is So ‘Singular’ Today
Which leads me on to this important point; content on the Explore Tab is very very separate from your profile. One of the main things I took away from the experience is just how much Instagram can separate your content from your profile. My profile views only slightly increased, by a couple of hundred, during the videos growth. This really made me think about how content might perform away from my profile. If your video or photo is featured on lots of Explore Tabs, or re-posted by a larger account, ask yourself; is this the best content I want people to see from me. Since the video went live, I’ve stopped publishing what I used to call ‘filler’ pictures on my Instagram. I want each photo or video to be able to battle it out on Instagram without my profile theme, my description or my Insta Stories to back it up.
Your First Line of Your Caption Matters
Because of the importance of hashtags on Instagram, I think a lot of us have forgotten our video or photo caption. When a viewer sees your content on the Instagram Explore Tab, they will only see the first few words of your caption (if at all). So I’m making an effort to use this line to make people want to come to my profile.
Production doesn’t Always Matter
When I posted the video, I have to admit, I wasn’t proud of it. The video was slightly blurry in places, it was too dark, and I just slapped a random photo at the start of the video to make it fit with my new Instagram theme. Looking back, I am glad I went against my own advice in this case, and posted something I wasn’t 100% happy with – because it was the right time & subject matter for Instagram then. However, this might be why I didn’t see the growth I wanted to see in the long run.
Have Extra Content Waiting
One of my biggest regrets was that I didn’t have any exciting, relevant content waiting to be published. If I was able to follow my video up with another eye-catching post, this might have been enough to convert that extra traffic in followers.
Take Action
I did start to gain followers and more photo likes when I took action. For most of the day, I felt all these possible followers slipping through my fingers. So, I started visiting the profiles of people who had viewed my video. If they created content I liked, I followed them. If I took an interest in one of their recent photos, I liked and left a comment. I didn’t ‘spam’ people or go into the whole ‘follow to unfollow’ thing, but I used the platform how it’s intended and gained followers in return. I also tweeted about the video, with a screenshot of the views and a link, this brought a few more followers to my page.
It all feels like a bit of a strange dream now, my Instagram following & engagement has gone back to its normal pace. Currently the video stands at nearly 12,000 views, I have had a few more followers and some messages about my video, but all pretty normal. I am glad I have learnt from the experience and hopefully my Instagram will be better for it. If you have enjoyed this post, you can check out my Instagram profile HERE & the video.
Sam
Shop what I’m wearing in this post: