Hi There,

Over the last three weeks, I've been sharing the Instagram marketing techniques that Dina Brodsky recently shared in an AMP webinar. The techniques I'm sharing are the same techniques that she has used to grow her Instagram following to over 400,000.

So far, we've covered the important elements of Instagram's algorithm and how to use your profile to be most effective. This week, I will discuss the key ways you can use your captions to boost your overall engagement on the platform.

By the way, for my latest thoughts on art marketing, posted daily, please follow me on Twitter.

What are your questions about art marketing? Hit reply and send them to us and we'll dip into the mail bag and try to address them in an upcoming issue! If you don't have any questions, just let us know what you think about today's article.

Enjoy,

Clint Watson

Instagram currently boasts 1 billion active users every month. As an artist looking to sell and market your art, it can be an incredibly profitable platform to increase your art sales.

Take a look at Dina's Instagram profile below. She's been able to grow her following to 428,000 using 7 key marketing strategies.

In this current series, we are discussing the 7 key marketing strategies for Instagram that every successful marketer follows.

The 7 Key Strategies include:

Over the last 3 weeks, I've discussed Recency of Impressions, Initial Engagement and Dwell Time (click here to catch up now).

To recap, Recency of Impressions, in a nutshell, refers to how recently you've posted on Instagram.

Instagram's algorithms track this information and tend to favor profiles who have been active within the past three months or so. The more recently you have posted, the better.

Initial Engagement refers to engagement that happens immediately after you post.

When you post to Instagram your post will only be shown to about 10% of your followers. Instagram then decides whether or not to share your post with the rest of your followers based upon how those people engage.

Dwell Time is how long people stop to view or engage with your post. It revolves significantly around the impact that your content has with your audience and whether it is engaging enough for people to stop scrolling to view.

This week, I want to focus on your Captions. The "caption" is what you type into the text box when you make a post to Instagram. It usually appears directly under your image.

Captions are especially important when it comes to improving your dwell time and initial engagement on Instagram.

So many people struggle to master the artistry of writing engaging captions but it doesn't need to be difficult. Simply use your captions to add context to the images or videos that you share.

(To give you an idea, the paragraph above is 144 characters.)

Don't write a long caption because people will disengage when you require them to read something lengthy. Write short captions that provide just enough context to supplement your image.

Short captions are important for another reason: long captions require scrolling, and you specifically want people to STOP SCROLLING when they see your post. Getting people to stop scrolling is a major signal to Instagram that your post is worth showing to more people.

Additionally, don't clutter your Instagram caption with your hashtags (more information on effectively utilizing hashtags in your Instagram marketing strategy next week). Add your hashtags in a comment rather than within the actual caption. As long as you add the comment containing the hashtags immediately after you post, it will not affect the way that Instagram shares your post on your feed or in the Explore page. Only putting hashtags in your comments keeps your captions clean.

Check out a couple examples from Dina Brodsky's Instagram to help get you started:

Writing engaging captions provides you with an opportunity to build a stronger relationship with your followers.

Asking questions within your caption is a great way to encourage your audience to engage and usually increases comments on your post. Having this back and forth interaction also allows your followers a chance to "see" a real person interacting with people and over time, will encourage more people to comment as well.

So to recap:

1. Keep captions short and clean
2. Put hashtags in the first comment, not in the caption
3. Respond to comments and engage with your followers

Next week, I'll be discussing how to use your hashtags to grow your Instagram account.

Until then, remember that Fortune Favors the Bold Brush.

Sincerely,

Clint Watson

BoldBrush/FASO Founder & Art Fanatic

PS - Dina Brodsky has an incredible class available, Instagram for Artists,that will teach you, in more depth, everything we plan to cover in this series and many other things you need to know, as an artist, to maximize the marketing value you get from Instagram, including ideas about how to present and sell your art. Get her course by clicking this link.

PPS - We've temporarily made the video of Dina's webinar free on BoldBrush Studio. You will need to make a free BoldBrush Studio account to watch it. You may create that account by following the instructions on the following page: Click here to setup your free BoldBrush Studio account.

After signing up, you can watch the video at this link. (but you must sign up first).