Humans are visual beings. No wonder then that Instagram – the photo sharing app is booming and thought by many to create the most engagement with audiences. Many smart marketers are cashing in on Insta’s popularity to increase brand awareness.
Here’s a round up of the latest Insta news from the web. Firstly, let’s have a look at some Instagram features and options that you might not have known about – these tips from Hubspot.
Read on to the end for some marketing strategies and info for beginners to Instagram or those wanting to improve their profiles.
Switch between Instagram accounts without logging out
- To add an account: Tap the “Options” button (a gear icon on iPhone/iPad and three dots on Android), scroll down, and choose “Add account.” From here, you’ll be prompted to log in to that account.
- To switch among accounts: Once you have multiple accounts logged in on the app, you can switch between them by tapping your username at the top of the app.
- You can also add new accounts from this dropdown menu once you’ve added more than one.
- Here’s a video for the visual learners!
Get notifications when certain people post
- Instagram lets you sign up for notifications every time specific users post a new photo.
- To turn on notifications for a specific user: Go to that user’s profile and open up one of their posts. Then, click the three dots in the bottom right-hand corner of the post, and choose “Turn on post notifications” from the menu that appears.
- If you followed these instructions and still aren’t receiving notifications, double-check that you’ve allowed notifications from the Instagram app in your phone’s settings.
Approve tagged photos before they show up in your profile
- When someone tags a photo or video of you on Instagram, it’ll automatically be added to your profile by default – unless you adjust your settings. If you’d rather approve tagged photos before they make it to your profile, you can change your settings so you manually select which tagged photos appear in your profile.
- To add tags manually: Go to your own profile and click the “Options” button (a gear icon on iPhone/iPad and three dots on Android). Select “Add Manually.”
- Once you choose to add photos to your profile manually, you’ll still be notified when someone tags you in a photo.
- To manually add a tagged photo to your profile: Tap on the photo you were tagged in, then tap your username and select “Show on My Profile.” (If you’d rather not, simply choose “Hide from My Profile” instead.)
Use Instagram as a photo editor (without having to post anything)
- To use Instagram as a photo editor without posting anything, all you need to do is publish a picture while your phone is on airplane mode.
- First, be sure you have “Save Original Photo” turned on in your settings.
- Then, turn on airplane mode. Here’s how to do that:
- To turn on airplane mode on an iPhone/iPad: Swipe up from the bottom of the screen and click the airplane icon. Or, go to “Settings” and then “Wi-Fi,” and switch “Airplane Mode” on.
- To turn on airplane mode on an Android device: Swipe down from the top of the screen. Then, swipe from right to left until you see “Settings,” and then touch it. Touch “Airplane Mode” to turn it on.
- Next, follow the normal steps to post a photo to Instagram: Upload the photo, edit it, and press “Share.”
- An error message will appear saying the upload failed, but you’ll be able to find the edited image in your phone’s photo gallery.
Drive traffic to an external website.
- On Instagram vlickable URLs aren’t allowed anywhere except the single “website” box in your bio.
- If you put a URL in a photo caption, it’ll appear as plain text, meaning users would have to painstakingly copy the URL, open a web browser, and paste or type it in there.
- One sneaky way to get people to visit your Instagram profile, which is where that one clickable URL is allowed, is to use your photo captions to encourage people to visit your profile for a link. Then, update that URL frequently to point to your latest blog content, YouTube video, product, or offer.
Use Popular and Trending Hashtags
- Images that have hashtags associated with them get more likes than images that don’t, and by experimenting with different keywords and phrases (preceded by a #) you can see which hashtags attract the most interactions.
- Which hashtags that sum up the theme of your photo or video? Other users who are interested in the same things that your business’s products and services represent can then find you.
- Inspirational quotes or uplifting material usually receive a lot of likes, while inviting people to tag other followers can lead to comments, try using phrases such as: ‘Tag 5 friends who will succeed in life’ or ‘Who’s the most inspirational person you know?’
- Linking emotions to your business and brand is important for creating a bond with your customer.
Instagram’s new timeline and other tips
Marketing Strategies for Instagram and some great examples
How to Get Noticed: 3 Instagram Marketing Strategies
15 Instagram Accounts That Are Killing it at B2B Content
New to Instagram?
These posts will point you in the right direction…..
Hootsuite – How To Use Instagram For Business: A Beginner’s Guide
Neil Patel – Beginner’s Guide: How to Build a Killer Instagram Following and Increase Your Sales
Sprout Social – How to Use Instagram for Business: A Complete Guide
APPS for Instagram – 13 Awesome Apps for Marketing Your Business on Instagram
Other Sources for this article
24 Awesome Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram & Pinterest Features You Didn’t Know Existed
15 Hidden Instagram Hacks & Features Everyone Should Know About
Instagram Multiple Account Switching Guide
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