I have been thinking a lot about Instagram and how to use it to blow up Extra Chill. Over the years it seems to have gotten more difficult to generate engagement on Instagram. There is a massive supply of content on the platform and people are overwhelmed and half the time they don’t see your stuff.

This is not for complaining about that. I feel that as a business owner operating in the creative space, it is my responsibility to grow the @extrachill account using the methods that are currently working on the platform.

One thing I have been experimenting with, but have not quite figured out yet, is creating videos of myself in order to promote the Extra Chill brand.

The first one I posted was after I interviewed both Shovels & Rope and Carrtoons, and nobody seemed to care. I had posted the full articles in screenshot format on the Instagram, and the people who did see the posts gave good feedback on the style.

However, the need arises to engage the algorithm to get Instagram to show my posts to more people. So, half in frustration and half knowing that the algorithm wants this kind of content, I filmed this short clip of myself followed by a screenshot of our latest newsletter:

The post above was one of Extra Chill’s most popular all-time Instagram posts. It did not go viral, but it did get shown to many of my followers, and it served its purpose well.

I did a few more of these, similar video styles, and it seems that each one was less successful than the first, but still more successful than my other image-based posts.

Another post that did quite well was the video I took of Post Malone & Darius Rucker covering “Wagon Wheel” in Charleston:

This gave me the thought to film more videos when I go to concerts. Because I really do go to a lot of great shows, and videos of them would be good to share on our Instagram.

Then, I was feeling very encouraged, and the following video idea, involving a stunt with a firecracker, came to me in the shower on a Friday morning:

My mom was really upset about that one, and to be fair it was quite dangerous. Not as dangerous, I think, as some might assume, because it really is a tiny explosive. And I timed it out and prepared myself for it. But aside from that, it doesn’t really align with the independent music brand of Extra Chill.

So while I could film ridiculous stunts on Instagram and perhaps gain a following in the process, the followers would not be interested in the core of the brand, which is all about music.

This leads me into my continued brainstorm of ideas on how to present Extra Chill in a way that can go viral on Instagram, to an audience that is relevant to my brand. I am really creative, but I haven’t quite nailed this aspect of the process quite yet.

I am considering just a long format video of me talking to the camera about Extra Chill and what we do. And giving video updates on the brand and what we’ve been up to. The email newsletter does quite well, so maybe some sort of “video newsletter” would also be a good element to bake in.

We will keep experimenting and figure it out as we go. The process so far has been rewarding, and the following continues to grow. I have 10,000 followers on my sights and I hope to get there before long.

Anyway, those are some notes on Instagram. I have way more things to talk about that I will save for another blog post that isn’t business related, maybe not tonight though. It’s getting late. Peace.