30 days instagram challenge

On September 2023 I decided to do an Instagram art challenge than consisted on posting everyday for 30 days. This is something that I had wanted to do for a very long time, but never found the “right time” to do it. At the end of the day, I decided that enough was enough and I was never going to find that right time, so better now than never. I was not expecting anything in particular, but I wanted to see what would happened and share what I create because I had some drawings that I had never shared before. Call it a “time to catch up” challenge.

Challenge rules:

I decided to create my own rules for this challenge and those where very simple:

• I had to post something, everyday for 30 days. It could be a photo or a reel but stories did not count.

• I could post whatever I wanted as long as I was posting. That meant that I could post work in progress, It didn’t have to be finished artwork, but I could also post information, behind the scenes, etc.

Before the challenge

During the previous month of this challenge I had reached 1,211 accounts and most of them weren’t followers that reached my account through reels. Before the challenge I had 134 followers and it had been stuck in that number for a while.

Time to start the challenge

During the first week my posts consisted on old drawing that I had never shared, meaning that it was easy to simply searched for a photo, edit it and post it.

But the main problem showed itself after week one was done. I started struggling with finding the time to post, not because I didn’t have somthing to post, but mostly because I forgot to do it. It was normal to find myself posting extremely late at night. Part of that, I think came from my inconsistency with posting, I just didn’t have the habit.

Another thing that I did not take into account was the fact that I wouldn’t have much time to sit down and create during September. I forgot to factor the start of the university year into the mix. Trying to adjust to a new scheduele, studying and drawing took more time than I would have wanted to, leaving me with little time to draw that month.

After week one I decided to create a little calendar where I could write down what I was going to post each day. While I had to change certain things at the last minute many times, it did help me organize my posts. It also helped me on those days I was too tired to do anything.

Results

At the end of the challenge I had reached 5,245 accounts, which is 333 % more than what I had reached in the month previous to the challenge. As expected most of that reach came from reels that where seen by non-followers and there was not much difference between the reach of posts and reels for my already existing followers.

By the end of week 4 I had 164 followers, meaning that I gain 28 followers in total.

Followers gained by week

Was it worth it?

I think that, while it was great to see my reached grow during that month, posting daily on social media is just not sustainable for most artists. I found myself struggling to post, even when I didn’t have the presure of creating something new each day, so I know that I wouldn’t have been able to finish it had I needed to do that. Most artists have other responsabilities to tend to on their daily lives and it’s find if we can’t sit and draw every day. It’s important to have more reasons than just growing on social media to complete this challenge as it is time consuming and tiring.

Posting daily is not sustainable

I know instagram has been very disheartining for most artists that are trying to grow from scrath but if you are one of them, like me, don’t give up and keep creating. Little by little we will see some growth.

My Instagram account: