Copper Country Mary
Building a Loyal Audience Through Place-Based Visual Storytelling
Instagram Ā· @coppercountrymary
Organic Social Strategy Ā· Analytics & Testing Ā· Aerial Content Ā· Creator Partnerships
The Challenge
I wanted a channel that shows how I see the Upper Great Lakes: the landscapes, the people, and the work of living here. It had to grow without ad spend and fit alongside a full-time career and a photography business. It also had to be strong enough that brands and destinations would pay to be part of it.
The Approach
Place first, person second. The feed centers on Lake Superior shoreline, fall color, sailing, and northern winters. People are woven in so each place feels lived-in, not just scenic.
Aerial as a signature. As an FAA Part 107-certified drone pilot, I plan and fly aerial shoots that make familiar places look new: rock shorelines, canopy color, ice formations, and harbor lights.
Carousels over single images. Most posts are multi-image sequences that increase time on post and give each place room to breathe.
Stories as the daily layer. Posts carry the polished work, and Stories carry the in-between moments to keep the audience returning.
Seasonal content calendar. Content follows the calendar, from spring thaw through sailing season, fall color, and winter, so it lands when audience interest peaks. Story Highlights (Autumn, Sailing, Summer '26, Spring) organize the archive by season.
Cross-platform distribution. Content is connected across Instagram, Threads, and Facebook to extend reach from a single production workflow.
Paid Partnerships & Creator Work
The audience I built organically now supports paid content. Through creator platforms including Shrpa and Popfly, along with direct brand collaborations, I create sponsored photography and social content for destinations and outdoor and lifestyle brands.
Destination content (Shrpa): I visit and document communities, creating photography and content that destinations use to show visitors what makes them worth the trip.
Brand content (Popfly & direct partnerships): I produce product-in-place photography and social content that fits naturally into the stories I'm already telling.
Every partnership follows the same rule as the rest of the feed: the place comes first, and the brand belongs naturally in the story.
Results
90 days Ā· July 16 ā October 13, 2026 Ā· Source: Instagram Insights
23,500+ views from about 1,750 unique viewers, roughly 13 views per viewer. This signals a small, highly loyal audience with strong repeat consumption.
1,350+ interactions, a 5.7% interaction rate on views, with $0 in paid promotion.
About 1,000 views per post against a following of 2,156. A typical post reaches close to half the audience, well above typical organic reach for accounts this size.
8,000 views in the last 30 days, with momentum building into fall.
441 viewers and 104 likes in two days on a recent fall-color post: a 24% like rate among viewers and the strongest early velocity in the account's recent history.
Paid partnerships with destinations and brands through Shrpa, Popfly, and direct collaborations.
The Analysis
I treat Insights like a campaign dashboard, breaking performance down by format and funnel stage rather than looking only at top-line views.
Attribution by content type
Posts: 13K views and 847 interactions, a 6.5% interaction rate.
Stories: 11K views and 502 interactions, a 4.6% interaction rate.
Reels: 61 views, under 1% of total reach.
Stories drive nearly half of all views, so the everyday layer matters as much as the polished work. Posts convert attention into engagement most efficiently.
Funnel analysis
23,521 views ā 863 profile visits (3.7% view-to-visit rate)
863 profile visits ā 16 bio link taps (1.9% visit-to-click rate)
Net follower growth: +7
The top of the funnel is healthy, and the drop-off happens at the profile. People are interested enough to visit but aren't being given a strong enough reason to click or follow. That's a fixable conversion problem, not a content problem.
Audience composition
82.4% of views come from existing followers and 17.6% from non-followers. Retention is the account's strength, and discovery is the growth opportunity.
Content performance patterns
Seasonal landscape and aerial posts consistently clear 1,000 views. Fall color and Lake Superior shoreline are the most reliable formats and the best candidates for amplification.
Test Plan
Each test has a hypothesis, a primary metric, and a success threshold. Every change is measured against the 90-day baseline above.
Test 1: Reels for discovery
Hypothesis: short-form aerial and Super 8-style film clips will reach non-followers more effectively than static posts.
Primary metric: non-follower share of views.
Success: raise non-follower share from 17.6% to 30%+.
Test 2: Profile conversion
Hypothesis: a clearer bio, a specific call to action, and a focused link destination will turn more profile visits into clicks.
Primary metric: visit-to-click rate.
Success: raise it from 1.9% to 5%+.
Test 3: Paid amplification
Hypothesis: a small boost on a proven organic post, targeted to Great Lakes travel and outdoor audiences, will grow followers more efficiently than organic posting alone.
Primary metrics: cost per follower and cost per profile visit.
Success: establish a benchmark cost per follower to guide future spend.
Production & Technical Toolkit
Capture: Canon camera systems, FAA Part 107 aerial photography and video, studio and on-location lighting.
Post-production: Lightroom, Photoshop, Premiere Pro, and color-managed workflows. Iām developing my own batch video-processing tool that applies Super 8 and 16mm film emulation to digital clips, automating a signature look across high-volume video output.
Analytics & optimization: Instagram Insights and Meta Business Suite, GA4, funnel and attribution analysis, A/B testing, and KPI benchmarking.
Paid media: Meta ads and Google Ads, with campaign setup, audience targeting, and cost-per-result tracking.
Workflow: content calendars, seasonal planning, cross-platform publishing, and partner deliverable management.
Interested in working together?
I partner with destinations, outdoor brands, and organizations telling stories rooted in place.
