Convert your personal account into a business account.
If you wish to see
analytics behind your Instagram posts, you need to have a business account.
It’s free, very easy to do, and it gives you all the required insights into how
your posts perform.
How to Convert Instagram to a Business Profile:
- First of all, be sure your
profile is set to Public and not Private. Private accounts can’t switch to
Business Accounts.
- Log into your account on your
mobile phone and go to your profile.
- Tap on the option to Switch to
Business Profile.
- Select the Facebook Page you’d
like to associate with your Business Profile on Instagram.
- On the Set Up Your Business
Profile page, review your business’s contact information, make any changes
and tap Done.
- If you don’t have a facebook page,
please create one first.
Be
Consistent
When
you start gaining Instagram followers, the majority of them are expecting to
see a flow of similar images. If I post portraits, my followers are going to be
interested in portrait photography.
If
I post some architecture shots, I will get less engagement rate in the form of
likes and comments. This is because most of my followers like portraits, and
not, necessarily, architecture.
You don’t need to restrict yourself, but try and be as consistent as possible.
If you post 50/50, see if they go together. Street Photography is
where you expect to see both worlds.
Think about this too. Most people are going to see your top nine posts
immediately. If they are an inconsistent mess, you may lose follower count.
Follow photography and editing best practices.
On Instagram, post quality matters. A lot. Your Twitter followers might forgive a few bad tweets, but a bad photo on Instagram is a big no-no. By no means do you have to take a photography course to be a good Instagram poster — nor do you have to practice for weeks before you start. But you should get familiar with basic photography tips and photo editing apps.
On Instagram, post quality matters. A lot. Your Twitter followers might forgive a few bad tweets, but a bad photo on Instagram is a big no-no. By no means do you have to take a photography course to be a good Instagram poster — nor do you have to practice for weeks before you start. But you should get familiar with basic photography tips and photo editing apps.
Photography Best Practices
Since Instagram is a mobile app, chances are, most of the photos you post to Instagram will be taken on your mobile device. That's not just okay; it's expected. While some brands use professional photography for their Instagram photos, most use smartphones — and that's the vibe that Instagram is meant for, anyway.
Here are some highlights:
1. Focus on one subject at a
time.
2. Embrace negative space.
3. Find interesting
perspectives.
4. Look for symmetry.
5. Capture small details.
6. Make your followers
laugh.
7. Edit photos before you post.
Instagram has some basic editing
capabilities, but oftentimes, they aren't adequate to make a picture really,
really great. Most of your photos should go through at least one or two other
photo editing apps on your mobile phone before you open them in Instagram for
the first time.
Use popular hashtags.
Hashtags make your content easier to find. In short, hashtags are what make your Instagram content discoverable.
Hashtags make your content easier to find. In short, hashtags are what make your Instagram content discoverable.
Think about the time and energy that
goes into any given Instagram post.
The key to getting
more followers is to give your posts maximum visibility.
Users can click on
a hashtag and see all posts that have the same hashtag attached to them. Thus,
using the right hashtags can expose your images to a larger audience. Without
hashtags, your posts will only be seen by your followers. Note that Instagram
allows a maximum of only 30 hashtags per post
How to
Find Relevant Instagram Hashtags
When
adding hashtags, don’t just choose words and phrases at random. Do some
research to study and utilize the hashtags that have the most images associated
with them. There are two simple ways to do this:
a) Start
entering in a hashtag into a post and notice that Instagram starts to suggest
hashtags, along with a number indicating how many other images are associated
with the hashtag.
b) Use the
hashtags the influential accounts within your exact niche are
already using! Although not perfect, it’s the most simple way to quickly
identify the most relevant and largest reaching tags for your particular
audience.
How to do
it: let’s say you’re starting the Instagram from scratch and you have no
clue which hashtags to use. Here’s how you’d find them:
Search for the most obvious hashtag within your topic: In this case, I’ll start with the word “#blackandwhite”.
Search for the most obvious hashtag within your topic: In this case, I’ll start with the word “#blackandwhite”.
The most generic hashtags within a
topic tend to have the largest reach, but they also tend to be less relevant to
a specific target audience since they are so broad.
Identify the hashtags that the
accounts in the TOP POSTS are using: I’ll look through the top posts and
select the one with a grouping of hashtags that appears to have the highest the density of relevant tags for my topic.
How NOT to use
hashtags…
The one thing you should avoid when
using hashtags is using any of Instagram’s banned hashtags. Not only will they
not help you reach more people, but you’ll also run the risk of getting
shadowbanned. Here’s an article that claims to
have a list of all of the banned hashtags, but just using your
common sense will do.
And that’s
it! That’s how you use hashtags :)
Interact with users through follows, likes,
and comments.
Instagram is very much a community, and one great way to get involved in that community is to find people who post pictures that interest you, and follow their accounts and interact with their content. It's the most natural way to draw attention to your own Instagram account. It may also get your foot in the door in the platform's community.
Instagram is very much a community, and one great way to get involved in that community is to find people who post pictures that interest you, and follow their accounts and interact with their content. It's the most natural way to draw attention to your own Instagram account. It may also get your foot in the door in the platform's community.
That does two things for you: for one, when they get the notification
that you've followed them, they might check out your account and decide whether
or not to follow you. (This is why it's important to have some great content on
there before you start reaching out to others.)
Secondly, it means you'll be seeing their recent posts in your feed, so
you can Like and interact with them if you choose to.
As you build a following, celebrate your followers and show you
appreciate them by responding to their comments, and even following them and
engaging with their posts.
Cross-promote with users who have audiences
similar to your own.
Once you build a solid relationship with some of the folks behind these accounts that have a similar audience to your own, you might ask to do some co-promotion on each others' accounts.
Once you build a solid relationship with some of the folks behind these accounts that have a similar audience to your own, you might ask to do some co-promotion on each others' accounts.
The more natural and less spammy you can make the content of these
cross-promotions — especially the captions — the better. It also helps to
be picky about them, and don't do them very often.
Above all, use Instagram often
Ultimately, the best way to get the most out of Instagram is to use it frequently. This is something that kids get right and adults often don’t. The current algorithm rewards frequent usage. Beyond posting new photos (aim for one a day, or one every other day), it’s important to interact with other Instagrammers. Aim to post a new image daily, and engage with followers as much as possible. Respond to every comment you receive, even if it’s a simple “thank you!” and answer every question asked. Likewise, be sure to comment on any photos that catch your eye and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Most users will respond to you as they understand that engagement is the main secret to building a solid social networking community.
Ultimately, the best way to get the most out of Instagram is to use it frequently. This is something that kids get right and adults often don’t. The current algorithm rewards frequent usage. Beyond posting new photos (aim for one a day, or one every other day), it’s important to interact with other Instagrammers. Aim to post a new image daily, and engage with followers as much as possible. Respond to every comment you receive, even if it’s a simple “thank you!” and answer every question asked. Likewise, be sure to comment on any photos that catch your eye and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Most users will respond to you as they understand that engagement is the main secret to building a solid social networking community.
Quick
tip: It can be a pain to browse and comment on Instagram using your cell
phone, so one of the easiest ways to manage your account on your desktop is to
use Iconosquare. It’s a web-based tool, meaning
it’s not available as an app, but it’s a great platform for quickly engaging
with and managing content en masse, and it provides analytics too so you can
see how your posts are performing.
If
you end up trying out any of these methods on your Instagram, please let me
know how it works for you in the comments. If you have a more effective method,
please share in the comments as well.
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