Instagram is the most actively growing social network in the past two years. It is a photo sharing app that took over the social networking world by storm, when it was launched in October 2010 and is still growing. Check out these facts to fully understand the phenomenon that Instagram is.
Whether you should be on Instagram or not is an irrelevant question. The real question here will be how do you make the most of it? I am offering tips on using Instagram for Business and personal brand promotion.
#Tip1 – Be Consistent
The most important thing on all social media activities is consistency. Be consistent, however, don’t post more than 4-5 times a day, otherwise, the followers will end up with brand fatigue. Pick out your best images and consistently pepper them over the day. Aim to post at-least one image per day and maximum 2-3 images in the day. Use automation tools like Buffer and Tailwind to schedule and Instagram without a glitch.
#Tip2 – Upload the Best and follow a Theme
A quick search on Instagram will throw up two sets of people, one with amazing pictures and the other with too many random images. Instagram is a visual medium and the visitor sees and enjoys the image first. Create powerful images to mesmerize him. Identify your niche. Just because you sell everything under the sun, your insta feed need not put all the photos. Study your audience and decide why do you wish to use Instagram. If it attracts people interested in fashion, focus only on that. Tie your latest trends with relevant up selling, So you can showcase clothes, shoes, hats, scarfs and even handbags but avoid gardening equipment without a theme.
#Tip3 – Ask what you seek
With a feed full of images, it is easy for a viewer to miss the double tap. Having great pictures and uploading them on Instagram is not enough. Ask what you want the viewer to do! Build engagement by asking them to like, comment or tag their friends. Do reply and like their comments and follow insta-etiquettes.
Tip4 – Comment Hashtags
As Hashtags are a big part of Instagram and around 30 hashtags on each post are allowed, the image descriptions can get really busy. At times an important message might get lost in the sea of hashtags. It also looks a bit jarring. To avoid this, you can keep your description clean with just writing what the image describes and add the hashtags as a comment on the image.
#Tip5 – It’s all about Hashtag
Every social network has its own uniqueness which helps audience discover the brand. For Instagram it’s hashtags. On an average having around 30 hashtags per photo is considered a good number. Discover good hashtags that are relevant to your brand or image and use them with every image that you post. Add searchable tags and location to your Insta stories too to be listed and be found. Have a good repository of hashtags as copy-pasting the same hashtags for each image is not encouraged by Instagram and you might get penalized if your image is not relevant to the hashtag.
#Tip6 – Right filters
Instagram has inbuilt filters and you can use them with every image. It has been observed that images with filters perform better than images without them. A recent survey found that filters with higher contrasts, warm temperatures, and higher exposures are supposed to get the most likes and engagement.
#Tip7 Cross-Post and Promote
Using cross-posting tools will help you streamline your posting process and communicate a similar message across platforms. Cross-promote your social channels. Add an Instagram feed tab to your Facebook page, Post on various channels asking your audience to follow you on other channels. Collaborate with bloggers and brands in your niche and help promote each other.
I want to take my Alexa Rank to the next level with My Friend Alexa
Nice, didn’t know about posting hashtags in comments. Informative.
Thanks Atulji 😁
Very informative post.
I am not regular when it comes to Instagram. But it is addictive.
Hey Neha this is all what I actually needed at the moment. With Instgram taking over all other social platforms I am also learning every bit of it.
Great to know that you found it useful Geethica 😃
Excellent tips.I have heard a lot about Instagram #.They are the golden snitches.Thanks for sharing.
just the article I was looking for. Thanks 🙂
I have a book blog, and had often tried to consider promoting it through instagram. However wasnt successful. So here are tips that I would incorporate. Hopefully should see success soon 🙂
Glad you found these helpful Ramya
Fantastic tips Neha and I am going to modulate my insta feed on these lines from now on!!
Glad you found it useful Shailini
After reading your post, I realised I really need to make better use of my Instagram account, and the frequency with which I post images needs to go up! Thank you, Neha! <3
Glad you found it useful Shilpa
Those are some really great tips. I will surely try these ideas. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Glad you found it useful Parul
Useful tips
I love Instagram and tips will help me grow there
These are some truly helpful tips you’ve shared, Neha.
While I do agree that some filters are more popular than the others, I had no idea about hashtags in comments.
Going to try that!
Thanks for writing this very helpful post.
A nice informative post, Neha. Didn’t knew about comment hashtags. WIll try them soon.
This is a very useful post indeed! Hashtag is the game changer 🙂
Thanks Zainab
Instagram is one of my favorite platforms. Always exploring and experimenting more. 🙂 Good piece.
Thanks Ashwini
good tips… i can see many pointers here which i need to incorporate into my own insta accounts too. Thanks for sharing.
Very informative post. Though I’m well versed with Facebook and Twitter for personal and professional use, Instagram is a channel I’m yet to leverage. Didn’t know we are allowed up to 30 hashtags. Thanks for sharing the tips here. Good luck to you Neha on your wonderful blogging journey.
Thank you Vaishali
This is interesting. I had no clue that even filters could help your post perform better. This is great series you’re doing Neha.
Thanks Tulika. Glad you found these useful
Super cool ideas! Thanks for sharing the tips, Neha 🙂
Thanks Shalini, glad you found these useful
These are some great tips Neha. I didn’t know about comments hashtags and also didn’t know about the pics with filters. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Deepa
Nice and beautiful insights here. I am sure many will benefit from this post. Thanks for sharing it. Cheer!!
#MyFriendAlexa
#Foodietweeter
#BlogChatter
Thanks UK
Quite informative. I really gained some important information from this.
Thanks Anand
Very useful post Neha. Since I’m very new to Instagram this post is helpful for me to gather some knowledge about using Instagram to build my brand. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thanks, Shamik, glad you found it useful.
I am beginner on Insta and your tips are really helpful
Thanks Hena
Its been only few days that I started using Instagram effectively. BTW thanks for sharing these tips
Glad you found these useful Upasana
Another informative post from you Neha, I had not clue of using hashtags even in the comments section. Will try and add some cross promotional activities in future too. thanks for sharing with us,
Welcome Dipika
Good points. Will try to be more consistent now.
Thanks Pratibha
These tips would surely help me a lot. Thanks so much
Welcome Manisha