Every month brings a whirlwind of development and experimentation in the social media landscape, and August was no different. Meta is contemplating a subscription model targeted at EU users, a move that could redefine the user experience and data privacy norms. Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s “everything app,” X (or Twitter), is inching closer to its grand vision of incorporating advanced video-optimization features and even dabbling in the realm of payments and banking. Not to be outdone, Instagram is spicing up user engagement with new comment reply options and even astrological stickers. New features keep rolling out across these platforms, which gives Wonderful Machine more options to promote and engage with our member photographers’ efforts.
Meta’s primary image-sharing platform remains the most important one to photographers, clients, and, by extension, Wonderful Machine. We post to the regular feed four times a week (plus stories) and have member takeovers once or twice a month. Maintaining our posting strategy while elevating our rate of engagement has led to an increase in key performance metrics.
In August, there was a 72% increase in our reach compared to July, with our content being seen by 7,301 accounts. Of those accounts, 2,017 were non-followers, making sure we got in front of new audiences. August also brought 27,654 impressions, which was a 60.6% increase from July.
The best-performing post was Navi, Mumbai-based photographer Parikshit Rao’s IG reel. It provided a behind-the-scenes look at his photo shoot for The Studs All Day Bar & Restaurant, featuring an unlikely hero in the form of a plate that served as a light reflector. So far, the reel has 4,790 plays.
The image post that took top honors was Jared Schlachet and Joe Magnani’s (JSquared) photo shoot of the “Justified: City Primeval” cast, led by Timothy Olyphant. It reached 1,784 accounts and generated 2,102 impressions.
Pinterest is a visual discovery platform where users can collect ideas on various trending topics. We use it as a virtual mood board where we organize our members’ photos by specialty. We also collect examples of all the main types of marketing materials photographers use to promote themselves (including logos, bios, email promotions, print promotions, and PDF portfolios).
We periodically select new content from our photographers’ websites (and also consider the work they send directly to us) to keep the platform fresh for our audience. Though Pinterest is not always top of mind for photographers, we’ve found that our Pinterest page gets a significant amount of views.
There were improvements across all performance metrics in August compared to July. We saw a 14% rise in both impressions and engagements, to 207.65k and 5.45k, respectively. The total audience reach for August was also up by 10%, as we got in front of 129.15k accounts.
The top pin of the month goes to Lakeland, Florida-based photographer Tina Sargeant, who specializes in Food/Drink, Home/Garden, Lifestyle, Portraiture, and Still Life/Product. The pin garnered 122 impressions.
The month’s top parent board was Photographer Specialties, which acquired 68.08k impressions, 1.97k engagements, and 1.63k pin clicks.
Though Facebook is mostly used to connect users with their friends and family (and the algorithm favors that content), we’ve found that it’s also effective at connecting photographers with clients. Our Facebook account mirrors our Instagram feed, and we also share a selection of Photographer Spotlight articles from our Published Blog.
Our Facebook reach in August was similar to that of July, coming in at 2.3k. However, page and profile visits went up by 55% to 238.
The month’s top-performing post belongs to Seattle-based Anton Benedikt, a reel showcasing his work in the interiors and architectural space. It reached 571 followers and got 614 plays.
LinkedIn is the only major social media platform dedicated specifically to professional networking. This makes it a good place to share the stories of our photographers and their creative problem-solving skills. We post once or twice a week, sharing our Photographer Spotlight articles and photos from our Creative in Place email campaigns – where we pick a very specific creative brief and show clients how our extensive network of photographers can deliver on that particular theme.
For the previous month, we held steady at just over 3.8k followers, while we had 353 page views, an increase of 23.9% from July. The most popular post of the month was focused on Tuscaloosa-based photographer Michael Moore’s work for The USA International Ballet Competition, making a return after a pandemic-induced hiatus. The post received 332 impressions.
Twitter, or X, is a microblogging platform that enables users to post short messages – or posts – formerly known as tweets. It is commonly used for sharing information, expressing opinions, and staying updated on current events.
We try to post on this platform about once a week, sharing photographer news, compact galleries, and articles featuring our member photographers.
At the moment, Twitter’s Analytics dashboard is undergoing some changes, which has led to some KPIs being removed temporarily. Of the available metrics, we had 962 tweet impressions, an uptick of 60.9% from July.
The top-performing tweet centered on our latest Creative in Place promotion, looking at our member photographers’ work in the outdoors, specifically in the area of fishing. The tweet had 200 impressions.
🎣 Reel in the Beauty of Nature with this week's #CreativeInPlace: Gone Fishin'. Our network of photographers captures the essence of the great outdoors. 📸 by Ross Woodhall, Michael D. Wilson, Craig Okraska, Alec Brown, and more. #outdoorphotography pic.twitter.com/0m9nsI1sBL
— Wonderful Machine (@wonderflmachine) August 30, 2023
We use our YouTube channel to host a wide range of content including behind-the-scenes, photography compilations, motion reels, print portfolios, Member Open House presentations, and much more. Users can subscribe to our channels, comment on videos, and share with others.
We post once or twice per week and use two types of formats – vertical shorts and horizontal motion reels.
Last month, our YouTube channel gained 2.3k views (278% increase from July) and 15.1 hours of watch time (121% increase from July). The substantial increase is largely down to a YouTube short featuring the work of Croatia-based photographer and director Eduard Hanna. The video, which focused on the firefighters of his country, gained 1,983 views.
Stay tuned for more content on our Social Media platforms. Keep tagging us, and of course, let us know if you have any tips and ideas for us!
Have questions about how we promote our photographers? Check out our Membership page. Want to know how you can get the most out of your Wonderful Machine membership? Check out our Jumpstart page or just reach out!