Ok so lets talk cosplay growth and TAILWIND. What is tailwind you ask? Well stay tuned and you will learn my friend. Most are looking to grow in the cosplay world and spend lots of time and money achieving that goal. Everything from posting on Facebook and Instagram to creating your own site and sharing your content in groups. I know how tiring and frustrating posting and keeping current with the constant stream of anime and manga can be so im here to offer a bit of help. I recently learned about an awesome scheduling application that can help you automate your posting and increase your exposure to several groups.
Tailwind is an app that can be used for two things specifically. They are posting to Instagram and Pinterest. I previously wrote an article about the importance of posting your cosplays to Pinterest and you can find it HERE. But back to tailwind, this app is really awesome. Let me also add the disclaimer that I am not an ambassador or representative for Tailwind. I just used the app for the trial period and decided to stick with it because it made my life so much easier. I try to post at least twice a day on Instagram and Pinterest and when you mix in two jobs along with everything else this can get rather tiring. So let’s look at 3 reasons why you should be using Tailwind.
We all know how influential and large of a platform Instagram is. It’s a very visually appealing app and grants users instant gratification of their work with likes. Instagram also allows users to view your previous work and current work. Instagram TV and stories are replacing television for some individuals so obviously you want to stay current and up to date on this platform. Tailwind allows you to schedule posts and release them during optimum times.
As a cosplay photographer, I have to remember to download images to my phone before I can post them. By uploading them to tailwind, I can post even when I am not at home and have a revolving list of images I plan to post. Most importantly, I am not restricted to using my phone’s screen to type an image description. I don’t know if this annoys anyone else but it drives me crazy. I can type much faster using a keyboard and arrange the text exactly how I like.
Another benefit is the hashtag function. This is probably the greatest function of the application. Not only can you save your hashtags to certain groups, but you can see which hashtags are more popular and how often they are being used. This is huge for two reasons. You may want your images to be in front of large audiences but you also want to target small audiences because your images will remain in front of them longer.
For example, using a large hashtag with millions of views will get you in front of a large audience but your images will not remain in front of that group for very long since tons of other people are using the hashtag. Using more specialized hashtags assures you place your images in front of groups that are dedicated to whatever anime you are posting for and the images will remain at the top of the search longer. Either way, Tailwind helps so much with hashtag selection and remaining consistent on Instagram.
Pinterest
I already discussed the benefits of Pinterest in another article (HERE), But ill give a brief summary or recap along with how Tailwind can improve your boards. Pinterest is a search engine just like Google and is used by millions of users every day. The same way you search for things on Instagram individuals are searching for anime and cosplay ideas on Pinterest. Also, Pinterest is a very visual platform so placing your best images in front of users is likely to draw some attention to your work. I can’t tell you how many awesome cosplays I found through Pinterest and still find every day.
So what does any of this have to do with Tailwind. Well just as tailwind can auto schedule for Instagram, it can do the same for Pinterest. More importantly, tailwind will post to ALL OF YOUR BOARDS. Anyone who uses Pinterest knows how annoying this task can be. Clicking each individual board and reposting your best cosplay image takes a lot of time. Tailwind saves you all of this hassle by automating the entire process. You can schedule months of pins and safely know that your content is being promoted daily without any need to constantly check on it.
Another huge benefit of combining Tailwind and Pinterest is the ability to grow together. You can create tribes in tailwind dedicated to specific ideas. These tribes allow you to share not only your work but friends and fellow cosplayers work on them. So maybe a viewer isn’t looking for a My Hero Academia cosplay but are instead looking for an attack on Titan cosplay. Well if your friend happens to have an awesome cosplay from the series then you drew attention to their work and I’m sure the same will happen in the future for you. Please utilize this networking feature.
Regularity
Last but not least Tailwind keeps you regular LOL. What I mean is you can not forget to post. I have seen some great cosplayers create amazing work but since they are not posting regularly, they are not getting as much attention as they deserve. Tailwind prevents this issue from happening. Your phone will receive an automatic text telling you its time to post for your Instagram. Note the Pinterest tailwind app is completely silent and will not send you notifications. The Instagram version will require you to manually post but its as simple as copying your text and sharing the image to your feed.
If your like me your thinking, this is not automated if I have to actively post. Well yes and no. The app sends you a note stating its time to post and unlike creating a completely original post, its literally clicking a few buttons. Definitely give the trial a spin to see what I’m talking about. It’s rather hard to describe.
Price
So know that you have learned all about the benefits of Tailwind its time to discuss arguably the most important issue, Price. Tailwind will run you about $120 dollars for the year. Unfortunately, you do have to create two accounts if you want to post to both Instagram and Pinterest consecutively and together the two accounts will cost you around $240 a year. Personally, I do not think this is a ton of money and breaks down to about $10 a month. That is if you go with the annual plan.
If you opt for the monthly plan, you will be paying $15 a month. I would strongly advise going for the annual plan because you will end up saving a ton of money in the long run. Give the trial a shot and make a decision from there. The trial is absolutely free and does not require a credit card. At least it didn’t when I signed up a while back. I have definitely seen more visits to my website and google analytics tells me a decent bit is from Pinterest. So give it a shot and if you don’t like it, you lost nothing.
Well, that’s it for today, I hope you liked this tailwind overview and will consider it moving forward. It’s definitely a great way to spread your name a bit more and increase the number of viewers your name appears before. Thanks so much again for reading my post and until next time, stay BOUNDLESS!!!
