There were a couple of significant improvements on social media platforms in September 2024, bringing new features and interaction tools to improve content creation and user experience. Instagram is developing GIFs for Notes, allowing for more dynamic status updates, and a carousel mode for Reels, allowing users to upload several photographs in a slideshow format. X, as a part of paid subscriptions, increased the length of its postings to 25,000 characters and tested new features for interaction, such as reply downvotes. In the meantime, LinkedIn continued to improve its business insights platform by adding comprehensive follower demographics and enabling users to control link previews. Furthermore, Meta unveiled Facebook notification advertisements, an interesting new strategy for ad placements.
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.
In September, we reached 11,194 accounts. We also recorded 39,544 impressions and gained 41 new followers.
Our best-performing post of the month featured Atlanta, Georgia-based photographer Audra Melton on assignment for the New York Times capturing images of Vice President Kamala Harris on a campaign trail. The post received 2,889 views.
The best-performing reel in September featured St. Louis, Missouri-based photographer Geoff Cardin’s high-energy BTS reel on a shoot for Propper International. It garnered 2,571 views.
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).
Periodically, we 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.
We reached 75.68k accounts (down 15%) and registered 133.05k impressions (a 17% decrease).
In September the top pin featured Maplewood, New Jersey-based Colin Miller‘s interior design work which received 152 impressions.
Photographer Specialties was the Pinterest board with the most visibility, with 27,950 impressions and 591 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.
We had 2.2k post impressions in September and our top post highlighted a spotlight article from our blog which featured London, United Kingdom-based food photographer Charlie Bard’s images for Pasta Evangelists. It received 717 impressions and 75 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.
We reached 2.1k accounts in September.
The post with the most attention featured Chattanooga, Tennessee-based photography duo Corey and Emily Critser (Corey + Emily)’s fun and colorful shoot for SunButter. It garnered 145 impressions.
X (formerly known as Twitter) is a microblogging platform that enables users to post short posts. It is commonly used for sharing information, expressing opinions, and staying updated on current events.
Since the beginning of 2024, we have featured our daily website homepage photo on X.
September’s posts brought in 2.5k impressions. The top post featured San Marcos, Texas-based Brand Narrative photographer Jordan Vonderhaar’s homepage photo. It had 462 impressions.
Decisions, decisions…
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📸 Jordan Vonderhaar
📌 San Marcos, Texas
.#MondayMood #OOTD pic.twitter.com/J3Cfz1k0Kl— Wonderful Machine (@wonderflmachine) September 30, 2024
We use our YouTube channel to host a wide range of content. This includes 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 September, we had 1,039 views and 6.7 hours of 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!
Further Reading
Social Media: August 2024
Social Media: September 2023
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!