Growing Instagram Followers | Callahan Foose | Episode 519

Callahan Foose | Episode 519

Callahan Foose is a emerging ceramic artist living and working in northern Colorado. Callahan is the owner and full time potter at his company, CALLAHAN Ceramics. Callahan focuses most of his attention on creating detailed, one of a kind pieces with an emphasis on surface illustrations and decoration. While most of Callahan’s work is wheel thrown, his style also somethings includes the use of 3D additions or alterations to his forms. Callahan does not adhere to one style for too long; as Callahan admits, his work is ever-changing to fit what he finds interesting or inspiring in the present time.

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in regard to your Instagram, how do hashtags come into play for you?

So I have always used hashtags. When I post a photo usually I put the hashtags in a comment right after I post it. They help with that extra mile. Sometimes I will check my stats and it kind of tells you how many interactions you have gotten from hashtags. So that helps. I definitely thing it has helped me grow. So I do use them for sure.

What are your standards for using hashtags?

I guess I use hashtags for a lot of different things. A few that are related to ceramics alone and the rest kind of around a life-style or things like that that people check those hashtags often. So I put them in the comments just because I have twenty or twenty-five hashtags and I don’t like to put them in with whatever I am talking about because it kind of makes it super long. So I will add it as a comment afterward.

Does placement matter in the comments? Is placement critical?

I guess I haven’t really tested it but for me, I guess, when I am scrolling through photos and someone has written something that is five paragraphs long and then they have thirty hashtags after that, it just seems kind of like a lot is going on. I guess it helps visually a little bit.

Are hashtags really all that important?

It is hard. I don’t know how I would test that. If I didn’t use hashtags from the the beginning. I definitely feel like they helped me grow. But I think a lot of followers come from other things than hashtags. I mean without them I could still be successful.

You mentioned that you check your analytics. Where do you find these analytics?

I think if you just click on a post on your own page, there is button right under the photo that says view insights, I think it says. And that just brings up a quick breakdown on where things are happening interaction wise. I think there is a separate part of Instagram where you can look at more analytics.

Do you have a business Instagram account?

Yes, I think it is a business Instagram.

I think that the analytics is a function of a business account.

Yes.

You said hashtags are not the only way people find you and that is important to state. What are the other ways that people find you?

I think right now because I do have the following that I have, which is really awesome but right now I think a lot of follows come maybe from the explore page, photos being posted from other accounts, as well as people that already follow me sharing that post with someone else in their stories. Early on I guess, before I had a larger following I would say that hashtags probably helped a lot more but now I think it breaks into a lot of different ways of finding people.

You said earlier that you wanted to stop doing custom made work. Why did you get tired of doing custom made work?

So I think it doesn’t leave a lot of room for your own style. Even now people ask for custom orders all the time. It is not something that I hate doing, it’s just something I can’t take my own inspiration into as much because they kind of want exactly what they want. So it is not my favorite thing but it is not the worst thing.