Three Instagram Posts to Be Wary Of Putting Up

One might say that it’s a bit contradictory for me to be writing this week about Instagram posts after I’ve had to take some time away from that platform due to health challenges over the last few weeks.  Admittedly, I’m disappointed myself, having been a daily poster on there for a streak that went back quite a way before having to “put the phone down.”

And while the official “Now Hear This Entertainment” Instagram account won’t be confused with that of an influencer who has that at the center of their business, I have spent significant time being productive on there.

It’s from that background that I come to you, the independent musician, with this week’s blog, which you should strongly consider as a friendly caution flag, assuming (hoping) that you are active on Instagram too.  Let me be clear, by the way, that being active on Instagram should mean posting once every day of the week and not, “Yeah, I just put something up on there recently,” which was a Happy New Year post six weeks ago.

Nonetheless, here are three types of posts to be wary of on Instagram.

1. A video – every single time

I am going to be the first to admit that I am being a huge hypocrite when I write the following, knowing that occasionally I do put up a video as my Instagram post.  However, the key there is that I do it occasionally.  The fact is, another reason that I’ve been disappointed to have been so impacted health-wise lately that it’s affected my Instagram activity is because I’m no longer up to date on the feed.  But I can tell you this – when I would go through the feed every day and see what past guests from my weekly “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast are up to, it would take me a while.  That’s not surprising given that I’m about to release Episode 367 in less than 48 hours.  After seven years of doing the show, that’s a lot of people to keep up with.

But when I see that someone has posted a video?  Nope.  Sorry.  Right on to the next post.  I just don’t have the time to watch everyone’s videos.  Yes, I know, not all of them are IGTV length.  Some keep it under 60 seconds.  But there’s this observation that I’ve made about life in general that applies here.  If I pass every time I see someone’s Instagram post is a video, clearly there are others who take that same approach.  Now, stop and think about what you’ve been posting.  If all you put up are videos and there’s a decent percentage of Instagram users out there who just don’t have the time to be watching everyone’s videos, you’re losing potential audience.

I realize, of course, that as a performer, you need to and should be posting videos of what you do.  However, what I’m also saying is that there are lots of great still photo opportunities out there to put as posts too.  Mix it up.  Variety is the spice of life.

2. Posts longer than this blog

I’m really surprised at how some people have no problem using a short form platform like Instagram for long form posts.  That attitude that I described above for when I see people posting videos?  Yup.  When I see someone’s post have a description with it that goes on and on and on, I don’t even start into reading what they’ve written.  Again, I just don’t have that kind of time.  And with that comes my skipping tapping the Like button.  You see, I can’t Like something that I haven’t read.  What if you’ve written something that I would’ve completely disagreed with and/or been offended by?  And then someone says, “You Liked that?!”  Oops.  I just figured I’d help that person out by clicking in a Like but didn’t realize that they were writing something rather controversial, had I taken the time to read through it all.

But that’s just the thing.  If I’m going to read something lengthy, I’m going to expect to be in a traditional blog post or on a traditional news site.  If you really think about it, Instagram is a photo sharing site where we write a description of the image that we’re posting.  It’s not the other way around, meaning, a blog site where we have to include an image to go with that long post.

So again, it’s a short attention span society we live in.  Don’t turn people off by writing something way too long for Instagram with most of your posts.  It’s just like following a YouTube link and then 40 seconds into it looking at the running time and saying, “Wait, this is nine-and-a-half minutes long?!  I don’t have that kind of time.”  Exactly.  It’s not what people expect.

3. Political rants

Quite frankly I’m shocked to have to be including this one on the list.  But again, you are building a brand as an entertainer.  You’re an aspiring singer, songwriter, recording artist, musician – someone who’s trying to make a full-time living being in the entertainment business.  That’s why you’re posting about your streaming performances, your new releases, your co-writing sessions, your new piece of gear, and your latest recording session.  You want fans and industry people to see what you’re doing that will want them to stay engaged with you and your creator career.

So, when suddenly you decide to deviate from that and put up posts all about your political beliefs and opinions, you run the risk of turning people off, fast.  It’s like signing up to hear a speaker talk all about, say, building successful business relationships, and they instead rant and rave like a lunatic about their ex-spouse and the divorce that they went through.  “Umm, that’s not what I signed up for.”  So, imagine when someone thinks they’re going to see updates on your music career and instead they see you being outspoken about what you don’t like about certain politicians and/or government policies.  And then, like a member of the audience hearing the aforementioned speaker and leaving the room, they go for the Unfollow button and you’ve lost a potential supporter.

Keep these in mind as you use Instagram as one of the key tools in building your brand for your indie music career.

Did I leave one off?  Or, do you disagree?  Tweet to me via @NHT_tweets.  Or, post about this on Facebook or LinkedIn.  Alternatively, write to me via traditional email.  And if I can help you with your entertainment (or even podcasting) efforts, book a private, one-on-one video consultation with me.  I’ve been helping indie artists for more than 15 years and would welcome the chance to help you with your challenges too.