I just spent $5 to promote a poem for a day on Instagram for the first time, just to see what it looks like. I’m not trying to sell anything and my current focus is on trying to build an audience. It doesn’t bother me that IG is a business and is trying to encourage people to buy placements from them, but I certainly would like to get my work in front of new people.

One of the options you have when you place the promotion is to “select target audience.” The first option is “automatic” which will target people like your followers. “This option targets people similar to your followers. It looks for those who have engaged with your content before and may be interested in seeing more.” This is the option I chose, but since I’m not selling anything — thus have less of an interest in getting something in front of people who already follow me and ensure it gets seen — this might not be the best option for me.

The second option is “create your own” which gives you choices of locations, interests, age & gender. If I continue to purchase promotions, I will play around with different audience profiles to see how that helps with my goal.