Twitter Guide For Authors & Illustrators > Promotion and Marketing > When you post an Instagram link, why are you posting a link AND the image?
Index of topics: Main Twitter Guide For Writers & Illustrators page. To go back to my blog for kidlit/YA writers and illustrators, see Inkygirl. You can find me on Twitter at @inkyelbows (focus: writing and illustrating children's books) and @DebbieOhi (livetweets, chat, photos, personal ramblings). Also see my list of Other Useful Twitter Guides For Authors And Illustrators and Twitter Lists of: agents who represent kidlit/YA, kidlit/YA editors, children's book art/creative directors and K-12/teen librarians on Twitter.
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Q. When you post an Instagram link, why are you posting a link AND the image?
A. Because having an embedded image (image posted directly to my Twitter feed) will usually get more attention that a link. Depending how someone is browsing their Twitter feed, they will see my image pop up as they're scrolling by all the text on their feed. I know I do the same.
I include the Instagram link as well when I can because it also alerts people that I'm on Instagram. My hope is that some of them think, "Oh, I'm on Instagram too! I'm going to check out what Debbie posts over there."
Here's what I do:
Sometimes I lack the time to do this, especially when posting to Twitter from my iPhone and it's more of a pain to select/copy, but I usually try.
Also, always ALWAYS respect your followers' time. If you want them to click a link, take the time to explain why.
Example of a tweet very few people will click through (especially if your feed is full of similar-looking tweets):
See my FAQ post on why you should always explain why followers should click a link rather than use a generic 'Check this out' tweet.
Here's an example with better wording:
and here's an even more effective tweet, with an embedded image:
Last updated on June 1, 2016 by Debbie Ridpath Ohi