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I want to better use Instagram for my lifestyle modeling/acting career and I have no idea where to start
I (30/F/USA) work full time in an unrelated field but re-entered the field of acting/modeling this year as a side hustle. I am represented by agencies but I have no idea how to promote myself or build any kind of following on social media.
I’ve had a personal account on IG for about 8 years but never used it very intensely. As in, I only posted a picture on My Story for the first time *this year*. I created a separate account for my modeling/acting work and am trying to post to it at least once a week. But I genuinely do not have any real understanding of what kind of stuff I should be posting as professional lifestyle and commercial talent other than headshots, selfies, and some photos and short videos that showcase interesting aspects of my life.
I also do not know how to build followers. At this point, when I try to Google these kind of topics the breadth of information I’m hit with is so overwhelming. I think I lack the basic knowledge of IG functions and terms to even understand the suggestions. So far, I am working on following local professionals who are talent or in a directly related profession or someone who may book acting/modeling talent. Most of the people I follow do not follow me back. I have a small handful of random accounts from various individuals who follow me.
I also try to use the hashtags that my agencies use and I see other talent in my market area using. However, whenever I try to read more about effectively using hashtags I get mixed messages about how many you should use, how often, if it looks spammy to use them, etc.
Please help! I will take an suggestions!
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2 Replies
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Bluntly, You have a long hill to climb given your experience, age, your other job and the way you phrase this question.
IMO
On topics you either sell sex, a hobby or activity, a political message or movement, an attractive idea; or really a combination of these staples. Lifestyle being the typical catchall.Followers come with your exposure and marketing base. The information is overwhelming because there just as many overwhelming ways to meet people online as there are in real life.
Hashtags help build your relevance to the algorithm and related topics.
Legit, you don’t sound ready to produce your own content with your end goals in mind. You need to pair with a producer or have your agencies sell you to producers to get content with you featured in it. Much of the idea of Instagram fame and fortune is achieved through lots of hard work and luck and most importantly vertical integration of the pipeline into a single person. —
Technology allows an induvial to be their own agency, producer, copywriter, and more. The way you talk about conventional modeling and agencies leads me to believe you might not have the drive or intuition to take advantage of this trend despite you recognizing that trend.You can project manage your way down that path by paying freelancers and getting consultants but its a shitshow of a market to find the right people. In my experience agencies are filled with inexperienced marketing majors that are part of a large cannibalistic circle jerk that mostly miss the target for many of their clients.
What I need from you to give you better advice is short anecdotes about how you live your life to sell your own lifestyle. Without an attitude or a lifestyle attached to your Instagram handle you are just another vacant visage for a producer to use.
Instagram for models and acting is not necessarily a content platform as it is fanbase management and data. The outside content drives Instagram growth instead of Instagram content driving its own growth.
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I’d start by posting more than once a week – that’s not enough to gain momentum or gain attention, especially since you don’t have an audience already. A content plan would go a long way here – yes, you can post what you’ve already mentioned…but there’s also a lot more. If you want to be doing commercials/print for everyday items, it needs to be easy to picture you using said items. Is there a particular niche of items you’re more interested in, or are you open to all types?
Hashtags are not spammy – I put mine in the first comment, alternate for each post, and use the max comments. They help algorithm, and you may gain new attention from them.
I don’t think you necessarily need a producer – but you do need a solid content plan that works for your goals + how much time you have.
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