This month I did a project to help increase my social media following on my Instagram and YouTube. I gave myself the challenge to post on Instagram every day for the whole month and put out 1 or 2 YouTube videos every week. I wanted to build my following but I also wanted to get my creative juices flowing again and put out videos and pictures I was proud of.
Halfway through the month, I had to change that goal to remove the YouTube videos because I was getting burned out. This is addressed in week 3. I also added an extra Reel in week 4.
I learned a lot of amazing skills like:
- Social media marketing
- Dedication
- How to make Reels on Instagram
- Consistency
- Navigating Social Media Algorithms
You can follow my journey on this page.
Why This Project?
During my senior year of high school, I was insanely busy. I tried to keep up with my content creation but eventually, it was too much and I had to stop. I really missed putting out content and interacting with my followers so I decided why not get back into it?
I wanted to learn new skills like how algorithms worked, what works for social media marketing, and if I was capable of putting out content every day. Challenging myself to keep going and not give up was really important to me. Even when this month is over I want to keep putting out a post on my Instagram every day to help build my presence.
Here’s how it went.
Weekly Updates
Start of project + posting Reels
Condensed down to one YouTube video a week
New system for increasing following
Project wrap up + more Reels
Skills I Learned
How to Use Zapier to Link Instagram and LinkedIn
How to Make the Instagram Algorithm Work for Me
My Accomplishments
What I successfully completed:
- Posting every day
- Making at least one Reel a week
- Learning consistency
- How to navigate the Instagram algorithm
- Social media marketing
I learned a lot about how social media works and how to use it to my advantage.
What This Says About Me
- I can take on a challenge and complete it successfully.
- I can learn a new skill quickly
- I can market on social media
- I can make a Reel
- I can be consistent and stick with something
- I can teach other people how to do things
- I can ask other people for help
What I Would Have Done Differently
This was a very challenging project for me. I was successful in completing it but there were definitely bumps in the road.
If I were to do this project again there are multiple things I would do differently. I would implement the social media skills I learned in week 3 at the beginning so I could increase my following faster.
I would switch my account to a business account at the beginning. I didn’t know it would give me analytics and that would have helped me a lot.
I would have taken photos ahead of time instead of day by day. Scheduling out my posts would have helped so much with planning and I wouldn’t have had to scramble every day to come up with a new photo idea.
Final Takeaways
Even though I hit some bumps in the road this was a really fun project. I really enjoyed learning about Instagram and Reels. Learning about the algorithm was so helpful and I will be using that knowledge in the future for sure.
I also had an amazing group of people that really helped me learn things really quickly because I started learning some of this in the middle of the month. Overall this was a really valuable project and I learned skills that I will use for the rest of my life.
I plan on continuing to post every day on Instagram and making at least one Reel a week. This was a really fun part of my project and I want to continue that. I need to reevaluate my YouTube since it didn’t work out for this project.
I will be switching to a business account so I can get the analytics and make my posting even better. I am going to continue to improve my Instagram page and content in the years to come.