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“New” is nothing new in social media, whether it’s May 2024 or May 2014. On a weekly basis, every platform tinkers with its features to make the user experience more engaging. The tinkering, however, can lead to mixed messages. Previously, Instagram discouraged creators from uploading reels longer than 90 seconds. Later, they adjusted their position by stating that reels longer than 90 seconds would not be distributed via the Explore or Reels tabs. More recently, Instagram waffled a bit on their stance toward CTAs in posts.
In a now-deleted video, Instagram said it would not recommend content where creators explicitly call for engagement in the form of likes, comments, or shares. This includes “asking people to comment with a specific word, number, or emoji.” In a hypothetical scenario, this could extend to a photographer sharing two images and asking followers for their preference, “1 or 2?” However, since the video was deleted, we can’t say the change is official. The only way to find out would be to make a post asking followers, “1 or 2?”
Separately, Instagram’s sweeping changes to the algorithm favoring original content haven’t occurred yet. Over the next few months, though, we’ll have a more thorough update on its implementation.
We reached new heights on Instagram in May, with our monthly reach increasing by 21.8% to 17,198 accounts while impressions rose by 11% to 45,820. We also added 50 new followers.
Our strategy on Instagram has remained consistent: featuring a member photographer daily via an IG post or reel, while utilizing the collaborative post feature where possible. This ensures the post appears in both the photographer’s feed along with ours.
The month’s top post featured portraits of social media influencer Jordan Howlett taken by San Diego-based photographer Matt Furman. It reached 3,225 accounts.
The top reel of the month featured BTS footage from a portrait shoot by Tel Aviv-Yafo-based Ronen Goldman. It received 2,477 plays.
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 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.
Our metrics for May were similar to April’s, as we reached 96.62k accounts and generated 169.66k impressions. We still haven’t reached the seasonal highs of November and December, but our new approach of having more descriptive titles and descriptions has given new pins a modest bump in terms of visibility.
Oddly enough, the best-performing pin created in May featured Ft. Lauderdale-based food photographer Sam Adler’s website bio, housed within our Marketing Materials board. It generated 266 impressions.
As usual, the best-performing board was Photographer Specialties, with 44.51k impressions and 994 engagements.
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.
In May, our page had 233 unique visitors and 5.5k in post impressions.
The top post of the month featured one of our Creative in Place promos: Zest for Life. It received 853 impressions and 155 clicks.
Though Facebook is mostly used to connect 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.
We saw a 12.9% dip in our Facebook reach, hitting 6.5k accounts.
The month’s top post featured an assignment by Hong Kong-based photographer Gareth Brown for The Regent Hotel. It received 156 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 celebrate our daily homepage photo for a second time that day via Twitter, a strategy we’ve implemented since the beginning of 2024.
In May, our tweets accumulated 3.4k impressions.
A large chunk of that is thanks to the tweet featuring Decatur, Georgia-based Gregory Miller’s homepage photo. It brought in 923 impressions.
Remember the days when your biggest worry was winning a clapping game?
.
📸 Gregory Miller
📌 Decatur, Georgia
.#CommercialPhotography #PhotoOfTheDay pic.twitter.com/NTYoBGZb2I— Wonderful Machine (@wonderflmachine) May 29, 2024
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.
In May, we had 447 views and 7.8 hours in watch time.
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!