Feeling like an Instagram oldie, I thought I might share some of my experiences with you on what I learned through my time on Instagram. You might find yourself in one or two of the stories below…
Having a common theme is key in order to be successful on Instagram
Instagram for me never was a business platform and never will be. I started because it was fun to edit and upload pictures to share with my friends. What changes when you suddenly have 130K friends. Well, nothing did. At least not for me. I have to admit that there was a time when I published pictures I thought would please my followers. I thought they would love me more when I give them what they wanted. Look it is pretty simple. Either you are a really really good food account, a glamorous fashion account or a nature capture, a traveler or a sports geek. But what about the people in between, who doesn’t fit a niche. Personally, I am deeply interested in these accounts. The raw accounts, that post whatever comes to their minds and whatever concerns their soul. The accounts where you feel that there is no marketing strategy, no manager and no money grabbing prick behind. Although that I knew that I could easily get tons of followers with posting more and more food pics, I got tired with simply being classified as a ‚food account‘ and also I was striving for something more. Maybe more is the wrong word. – „I was striving for something different“. And so I changed things on my Instagram and also announced it on my blog. (there is a very long story on why I did it plus 10 facts about me, that you can read in my „Hello from the other side post„)
And although my account loses followers on a daily basis since I brought in more aspects besides food, I still think it was the right thing todo.
Why losing followers is a good thing
I still want to stay the girl I’ve been when I had 3 followers (Thanks mum, sister and stranger, who accidentally followed me), and therefore I feel that I can never please anyone. I was afraid of losing a lot of followers. And yes I did! But what I recognized when I was posting more personal things, was that I got much more engaged and loyal followers. Not just the „I give your chocolate cake a like, because it looks delicious!“ followers (nothing against you guys, seriously I love you, but interacting with people on topics and having real conversation is just something so gives you back and inspires you on a whole different level).
As frustrating as it may be at the beginning, twenty engaged followers are better than thousands who don’t care!
I guess what I want to say is: Never change the way you are and let people decide on the things you care about. Instagram shouldn’t be a prison or a beauty competition, where we compare ourselves with others. Everyone should feel free to go the way the want to and being able to change route whenever they feel like taking that left or right turn.
Micro influencer are the new macro influencer
Would buying followers help me grow my business? How can I have more likes no matter what? – Questions you should never ask yourself (again)
If you are not familiar with the expressions micro and macro influencer, it’s totally fine. It is quite a fancy Social Media Marketing expressions. But as you can maybe guess, macro influencer are people with thousand or millions of followers (the social media superstars) whereas micro influencers are the smaller fishes in the tank. What’s currently happening is a shift from a macro influencer strategy to a micro influencer strategy. I think this is quite good news! There is no need to buy followers (rather buy a good quality dark chocolate) or acquire thousands of likes. Brands in the future will try to align more with people, who really represent their brand and not only because they have thousands of followers. So it doesn’t really matter whether you have 1K followers or 100K followers. The most important thing is that you enjoy what you do and continue (or start) creating great content. The focus should ALWAYS ALWAYS lie in good quality text, pictures, videos, design, service or whatever your content is.
The grass is always greener…
As with everything in life, you will always find people, who do things better, faster, more beautiful than you. When I started my Instagram I wanted to have a pretty pink colored account and the next day I wanted more quotes. I added the same filters as my favorite accounts without noticing that I missed one simple thing. I was losing me. I think it is great to get inspired by others accounts or platforms such as Pinterest or Weheartit. I am always scrolling through them and I love the content. There is nothing wrong with getting inspiration from somewhere but there is a thin line between inspiration and „copying“. Inspiration is cool, copying not so much.
I hope you enjoyed reading this post and I like to invite you to leave a comment below on what you think about Instagram. How’s your profile like? Have you ever thought about buying followers?
XOXO,
Lara
Debbie meint
Hi Lara! You are fascinating! You have achieved a beautiful unique identity on IG! And I remember that post shortly after you hit 100K, you said ‚hey guys, I just want to be me!‘ And you did it! Your page is a rich fabulous one full of stunning food but also randomness that is so compelling! Including this post! Keep it up, I know you will! Love, Dee xx.
Lara meint
Hi Dee, thanks so much for your wonderful words. All of this is just possible with people like you. You are such a beautiful inspiring soul. Thanks for being on that journey with me!
freistyle1 meint
Super geschrieben und auf den Punkt gebracht liebe Lara! Ich suche meine Bilder nach dem aus wie sie mir gefallen und manchmal ist es natürlich schon frustrierend wenn die Bilder die mir gefallen dann einige likes bekommen – aber man muss sich treu bleiben. Ja das ewige vergleichen, eines meiner Lieblingszitate ist: Das Vergleichen ist das Ende des Glücks und der Anfang der Unzufriedenheit. – Søren Aabye. hab einen tollen Tag mit deiner Schwester!
"Blossom" meint
Thanks for this post ! I found you through greensmoothiegourmet on IG. Totally agree with you on „be you, stick to your own style and passion(s)“ . For me it’s organic gardening, celebrating and promoting a vegan lifestyle, home cooked meals and random posts on animal rights or random places I’ve been to or best vegan cafe meals etc. Not surprised – the pro „vegan“ posts get the least likes. Doesn’t bother me as I am still able to get message out there, not liking can still mean they read it (goal achieved right?) and no never thought of buying ghost followers as they are just dormant accounts really – not real, not worth it. This also applies to buying likes. Glad that greensmoothiegourmet mentioned you in her last post. ~ @Blossombudandfruit (IG)
Annelina meint
So wichtige Punkte. Toller Post liebe Lara. Yeahiiii für Qualität über Quantität!
Lena meint
Ein super inspirierender Artikel, Lara! Von deiner Leichtigkeit und Authentizität können sich viele noch eine Scheibe abschneiden. Und du hast recht, ein paar loyale Follower sind viel mehr Wert als tausende, die es eh nicht wirklich interessiert.
Liebe Grüße
Lena | http://www.healthylena.de
laufvernarrt meint
Du hast so Recht, lieber eine Hand voll interagierender Follower als zigtausende, die nur liken. Ich liebe es, auf persönlicherer Ebene zu kommunizieren. Ich folge gerne Menschen mit Geschichten (und schönen Bildern), aber weniger gern schönen Bilder – wenn ich nur nach hübschen Fotos schauen will, kann ich schließlich auch ein Kochbuch durchblättern 😀
Olivia Budgen meint
Thank you for this post! It is so easy to get caught up in being „better“ and having more followers than everyone else. This shouldn’t define our account or who we are though. It is liberating and freeing when we can let go of who we think we need to be for other people, and just be ourselves <3
superfitbabe meint
It’s almost impossible to avoid comparing yourself to other accounts–I admit it’s something I do all the time! However, I have gradually been making my account more personal rather than based on food!
Aleka meint
A recent comment you posted about “getting sick of Instagram” caught my eye and led me to these eye opening Instagram-hating posts. They are awesome. I love your honesty. I don’t know why we all can’t just be more honest with each other? It makes me sad.