Why Your Best Work Doesn't Get Instagram Engagement

(And Why That's Fine!)

You post a tattoo you spent hours on. Clean lines, perfect shading, something technically solid… and it gets MAYBE 50 likes. Then you post a flash sheet or a quick bts reel, and it blows up. It can be frustrating and mess with your head if you let it.

The algorithm doesn’t care about your skill level. It cares about what keeps people scrolling. Bold colors, simple designs, and fast-to-process content perform better sometimes because that’s what the platform is built to reward. A delicate fine-line piece or a detailed black-and-grey portrait might be your best work, but it doesn’t grab attention in half a second while someone is flying through their feed.

And that’s fine. Really.

Engagement doesn’t equal value

High engagement doesn’t mean the right people are seeing your work. A viral post might bring in a bunch of random people who think tattoos are cool but will never book with you.

Meanwhile, that technically solid piece that got 50 likes might’ve been seen by someone who’s been quietly following you for months, waiting for the right time to reach out.

The question isn’t “how many people liked this?” It’s “did the right people see it?”

What matters

If you’re trying to book better clients, you need to think about your content differently. Posting your best work is important because it shows what you’re capable of. But it’s not always going to be your highest-performing content, and that’s okay. You don’t need every post to go viral. You need the right posts to reach the right people.

That means mixing it up. Post the technical work because it establishes credibility. Post the eye-catching stuff because it performs well and brings people to your page. Post process shots, design breakdowns, or even just your thoughts on a piece, because that’s what makes people feel like they know you, and that’s what makes them want to book with you.

Stop chasing likes

The trap is thinking engagement = success. It doesn’t. I’ve worked with artists who have massive followings and still don’t fill their books with clients they actually want to tattoo. And I’ve worked with artists who have smaller, quieter followers but stay consistently booked because the people following them are their people.

If you’re posting work you’re proud of and it’s not blowing up, that’s not a sign you’re doing something wrong. It might just mean the algorithm isn’t built for what you do. But that’s the platform’s problem, not yours.

Your job is to make sure your best work is visible, that your process is clear, and that the people who do find you can see why they should book with you.