Instagram Marketing Strategy #6 - Timing (Clint Watson)

FineArtViews - The AMP Newsletter

Hi There,

Over the last several 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 why your captions and hashtags are actually a powerful marketing tool. This week, I will discuss the timing of your posts.

And, don't forget to send us your art marketing questions! We've already answered a few in recent issues and are looking forward to sharing more of them in upcoming newsletters!

By the way, these Instagram recommendations are for artists. If you happen to follow me on my Instagram, this is a case of "do as I say, not as I do" (If you want to see an awesome example of these ideas in practice, checkout our official BoldBrush Instagram). Instagram is the world's best social media service for visual artists to promote, but, since I'm a writer, not an artist, I deal in ideas, marketing and otherwise. And the best place in the world to share ideas is Twitter. Which is why I keep reminding you, for my latest thoughts on art marketing, posted daily, please follow me on Twitter.

I sure hope you're enjoying FineArtViews. If you are and want to support us, we'd sure be appreciative if you'd forward this newsletter to a friend or colleague with an invitation to subscribe at this link: https://boldbrush.com/fav/?campaign=ref-intro

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 5 weeks, I've discussed Recency of Impressions, Initial Engagement, Dwell Time, Captions and Hashtags (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.

Your Caption is what you type into the text box when you make a post to Instagram that appears directly under your image. They can be a powerful tool to increase the number of likes, comments and shares on your post.

Hashtags are a metadata tag is prefaced with the # symbol which allows users on social platforms to cross-reference similar content. When used properly, they can help to grow your following significantly.

This week, I want to discuss Timing.

The timing of your Instagram post can refer to the day of the week (if you're not posting daily) and the time of day you post.

Instagram is more crowded than ever before with over 500 million daily active users. While the timing of your post may seem like a relatively small component, it can have a big influence on the number of people who view and engage with your post.

The day and time you post directly impacts your overall engagement and can increase or decrease your views, likes and shares.

The "right" timing is specific to your following. It will require some trial and error to determine the days and times that your followers are most active on the platform.

Start by thinking about your own social media habits. If you're just starting out, most of your followers are probably people that you know and are more likely to be on the platform at similar times. So start by posting during the times you normally are on Instagram.

As an example, Dina mentioned that she checks her social media accounts in the morning before work and in the evening after work while she's relaxing (much like a lot of people who use the platform).

So with that in mind, it's probably not a good idea to post at 2 AM when your following is likely asleep. Instead, try starting out by posting between 7:00 - 9:00 AM (before work) and 7:00 - 9:00 PM (after work).

This is a good baseline to start testing the timing as you're posting. If you're not seeing a lot of engagement, try to slightly adjust your timeframe to see if your engagement increases or decreases.

Just remember, it will take some time to determine the best time slot for your account.

Next week, I'll be discussing how you can use giveaways as a great Instagram marketing tool.

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).