DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

10 things I learned from my first Instagram takeover

Nov 2, 2016 by Alex Stelma 2 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

alex_stelma

At the time of my takeover of the Visit Faroe Islands Instagram account, my own account was around 5k followers. To briefly run and manage a page that has surpassed 100k was a great learning experience. Here’s a few things I learned along the way that might help others

1. At that level, you will naturally have a larger base of people exposed to your work, meaning more opportunity for polarized reactions. You will have those that are head over heels they have found you, you will have those that leave hate filled comments. You have to know your worth, and not be distressed if someone leaves a rude comment.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Visit Faroe Islands (@visitfaroeislands)

2. Building on that, PR is important. Everything reflects on your self brand, each comment, like, follow, etc. As you go up, it matters more, meaning you need to be more conscientious of the things you do on the account. Your responses will monitored by more people and the words you choose do matter.

3. It is hard to determine when your demographic is most active online when dealing with an international audience. When most of your followers are from one place, this is much easier to do. Although you could argue that at 100k+, timing is irrelevant; it’s still important if you want to continue growing.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Visit Faroe Islands (@visitfaroeislands)

4. For takeovers, you need to tread a fine line between what people that follow the account expect to see, and interjecting your own uniqueness. Too unique, and you will throw people off. Too similar, and you won’t be noticed. The content of mine that performed best was that which showed a familiar location in a slightly different way. I had some people complain about a lack of originality as well, but when I posted something more out of the box it would have less than 1/10th of the engagement.

5. Use the previous accounts that have done takeovers to gauge what works and what doesn’t. See whose work has had good reception, analyze why, and think of how to apply this knowledge to yours.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Visit Faroe Islands (@visitfaroeislands)

6. Plan meticulously. Maybe this one is just me, but I like forming a narrative and a cohesive string of content that all ties together. I spent hours planning the order which I would put the shots in, composing engaging captions, debating how to best interject my handle, and ensuring I managed the page with the same efficiency which I try to do with my own.

7. Create your own hashtag. This is a way to see the posts easily after the takeover, and reflects well on you for your creative thinking and strategic social media management. For example, all of my posts from my takeover can be found under the tag #alexroamsfaroes

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Visit Faroe Islands (@visitfaroeislands)

8. Be mature in your approach, and reflect a level of professionalism that you would expect to see in anyone that you or any company may hire. Everyone I’ve ever looked up to in photography has been incredibly humble considering what they have accomplished. If you act overly confident in your posts, replies, email correspondence, etc; you come across as immature and unprofessional, lessening the chance that this will lead to future work with the brand in question, or anyone else seeing the content.

9. Pick the best of the best. I had lots of content from my trip to the Faroe Islands so I was able to do this and still post 3 times a day, but it is better to post once a day with high quality imagery than to spam the followers with mediocre imagery. There were many images I deliberated about keeping in, that had good stories but less enticing imagery and as such they did not make the cut. You should only be showing the pictures that are the best reflection of your work, as they will engage people and show what you are about.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Visit Faroe Islands (@visitfaroeislands)

10. Have fun! All of this aside, don’t stress things and remember that this is (if you have a takeover coming up) an excellent opportunity that you have been given (by someone who believes in your work) to grow and learn.

I hope that some of these tips are useful to those doing a takeover soon, or just for social networking in general. Cheers!

About the Author

Alex Stelma is a travel, portrait and lifestyle photographer based in Toronto, Canada. You can find out more about him on his website, and follow his work on Instagram. Also posted here and shared with permission.

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Step up in privacy takeover: This CCTV camera says it can detect coronavirus carriers 7 life lessons learned from photographing tribal and indigenous people throughout the world What I’ve learned in my first year of photography 10 lessons I learned in motorcycle photography

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: Alex Stelma, Faroe Islands, Instagram, Photography, social media, Takeover, Travel

« Creating stylish cinematic portraits with the Light Blaster
Yongnuo launch budget 100mm f/2 lens with an 85mm on the way »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Watch: How good (or bad) is an $8.50 tripod?
  • How to light and photograph Lego building interiors
  • Lighting Setup: How to light your portraits with £50 LED tubes
  • Review: Insta360 announces its first gimbal – The AI-tracking Insta360 Flow
  • World Press Photo 2023 regional winners show why AI will never kill photography

Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy