Video: Photographer claims Canon dropped her because she didn't have 50k instagram followers

If you've ever wondered just how much difference having only a few followers on Instagram makes to your prospects of attracting clients, spare a thought for photographer Yvette Roman, who says she lost a job shooting an ad campaign for Canon because she didn’t have 50,000 followers on the image-sharing platform.

Speaking in a fascinating and enlightening 45-minute video on online entrepreneur education platform The Futur, the interview is a salient example of what many brands value the most today: social media and reach. Here's Roman's version of events:

"I’ll tell you that I booked a huge job — it would have been the biggest job of my career, commercially. I’ll just say it: with Canon. To shoot an ad campaign for them. I got the job, it was amazing. And then literally 20 minutes later, after I had already started making calls to start booking a crew because it was coming real fast, they called me and said, “Oh my God, we can’t hire you.”

And I said, “Why?”

And they said, “Because you don’t have 50,000 followers on Instagram.”

Romon, who currently has about 1,000 followers on Instagram, says she was surprised, but was told the decision was an HR, and not a creative one. 

The video shares many other useful tips for improving reach and engagement. Chris Do, the founder of Futur, also discusses how important it is to include a personal story on instagram, to help potential followers 'warm to you' and help you standout. 

What do you think, is social media followers the be-all-and-end-all for clients? Or if not, what can you do to make yourself standout without out?