“Follow”-ing Expectations

I let go of expectations for my followers

I did an experiment where I switched how I shared my essays on Instagram from a series of stories to only a Medium URL story (see image), a simple A/B test.

I expected to get the same number of views on my Medium page as my stories and the results are in.

My Medium URL had 5 views, while my Instagram story essays had approximately 20. I sat with this finding and tried to come to terms with my observations.

It’s clear that I don’t think most of my followers read my essays, they’re most likely quickly tapping through like any other story on Instagram, but I also recognize that Instagram is a TERRIBLE platform for essays. So, I shouldn’t be surprised.

In my past life as a B2B SaaS growth marketer, I learned that with 100 trial users, one can expect around 10% will convert to a customer. The fact that I even get 5 views matches the expectation of approximately “10% conversions”.

I’m proud of my essays, it gives me more joy than you can imagine, but this isn’t any different than selling SaaS applications. Consequently, I let go of expectations for my followers. As the Buddhists say, desire is the root of all suffering.

I can’t control how people view my content, that’s a fact. I can however for my own amusement take a page out of Tyler Durden’s playbook and slip something naughty into an essay and only a handful people may notice… hehe 😏

Word count: 249
Emoji count: 1

Twitter: @bhavprajapati

Fiftytwo250, a collection of random, recurring, ruminations written with patience for depth and brevity. Each post is written over the course of a week in 250 words or less as a personal exercise of freedom and focus in a time of placid tumult and despair.