The most interesting event this June was the Meta outage, where many users (including us) were unable to access Instagram and Facebook messaging services or upload content. This particular instance was resolved rather quickly; however, Instagram has been experiencing frequent outages recently. Most of the time, Instagram sites have technical issues as a cause. As for our other social media platforms, Pinterest decided to combine standard pins and idea pins into one format, and Twitter has added new features for paid users, including increasing the length of videos up to 2 hours.
Since Instagram is the most important social media platform for our photographers and our clients, it’s the one we put the most energy into. We do our best to post a steady flow of interesting content from our photographers and to take advantage of all the different features of Instagram.
I post to the regular feed four times a week (plus stories), and we do member takeovers once or twice a month. We also experiment occasionally with trends (like polls recently) to keep things fresh and fun, and engaging. Our hashtags help with discoverability, and we engage with clients whenever possible.
Our Instagram profile gained a slight but not insignificant increase in our monthly statistics. We reached 4,460 accounts, and we had 1,023 profile visits which account for a +12,9% increase compared to the previous month. Additionally, we had 202 new followers in June, which is a little over +40% greater than May’s outcome.
The best post this month was a carousel featuring photos by Antoine Doyen, from Paris, France. He specializes in Brand Narrative, Social Documentary, Celebrity, Industry, and Portrait photography. This post gained 1,8k impressions, and a reach of almost 1,5k.
This month’s best reel goes to Arran Cross, whose behind-the-scenes video, shot at the lighting company Bert Frank, got a little over 1,4K plays and 4,6K reaches. Arran is a Walkley, United Kindom-based photographer who specializes in Brand Narrative, Fashion, Home/Garden, Portraiture, and Still Life photography.
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, and we collect great 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 (or when they send us content) 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.
In June, we gained a little over 172k impressions and 108.41k of total audience. We are noting a slight decrease in our monthly statistics. There could be a number of reasons for this, mostly being difficult to hit daily trending topics, which vary according to the location and time of the day when users are most active.
June’s best pin goes to Dallas, Texas-based photographer John Davidson. He specializes in Food/Drink, Headshots, Portraiture, Science/Technology, Social Documentary, and Travel photography. His pin gained 116 total impressions. This month’s top parent board is Photographer Specialities. It earned almost 50k impressions, a bit under 1.5k engagements, and 1.2k pin clicks.
Though Facebook is mostly used to connect its users with their friends and family (and their 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.
In June, our Facebook profile experienced 3,1k reach and 104-page visits, which is a +30% increase in reach over the previous month.
In June, the most viewed post featured CJ Benninger, a Bloomfield Hills, Michigan-based photographer. He specializes in Auto/Vehicles, Music/Performing Arts, Still Life, and Portrait photography. This post gained 341 reach.
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 and share 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.
This month our LinkedIn profile had a little over 3,7k followers and 267 page views. Users that follow us on LinkedIn tend to be from Arts and Design, Media and Communication, and Business Development backgrounds.
Our most popular post on LinkedIn in June featured Lee Runion and Jennifer Bostic, from Tampa, Florida. They specialize in Food/Drink and Lifestyle photography. This post gained 1,125 impressions and 43 clicks.
Twitter is a microblogging platform that enables users to post short messages called tweets. It is commonly used for sharing information, expressing opinions, and staying updated on current events.
On this platform, we try to post about once a week and we share photographer news, compact galleries, and articles featuring our member photographers.
June has shown some steady statistics with Twitter. We had 179 profile visits and 867 total tweet impressions. The best tweet in June is actually a Photographer Spotlight featuring Yachin Parham from Brooklyn, NY, for Communication Arts! This tweet gained 249 impressions.
📸 Yachin Parham from Brooklyn, NY. for Communication Arts!
👇 Read more below 👇#photography #art pic.twitter.com/EUkn4GDfIp
— Wonderful Machine (@wonderflmachine) June 1, 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 saw 1.3k views and 11 hours of watch time. Percentage-wise, we are noting a -27% decrease in views and a +11% increase in watch time. Although we got fewer views, we saw a substantial rise in returning viewers, with +109% more than the previous month.
June’s best-performing content belongs to one Natalia Weedy from Durham, North Carolina. She specializes in Lifestyle, Outdoor/Adventure photography, Travel photography, Fitness photography, and more. Her video gained 52 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!