As part of my part-time job, I’ve worked with businesses to improve their Instagram strategy and to make the most of their target audience reach. Through trial and error, here’s what I’ve discovered:
- Better story/profile engagement when the profile picture is aesthetic and cropped properly.
- Bios: Make sure to include your niche in your Instagram “name.” This makes you appear in the search results when people are looking for you.
- Also include your location in the bio.
- The bio should summarize everything the account is about. It’s okay to include hashtags and emojis in the bio since it will make people more keen to read it. (Keep it minimal and professional).
- Always include a location for every post. Previous social media manager said that it boosts engagement and recommends your content to people from the same area.
- Always use hashtags. Even if just a few, some people still follow hashtags so it could help with discoverability.
- When people search for a topic, hashtags will help your content show up.
- Engage with the comments. The more comments there are, the more likely Instagram will show your content to a larger audience.
- Some influencers suggest replying to comments when they appear and then liking/hearting the comments after you post new content. Then, go back and like the comments from the previous post. It will make people go, “Hmm, what did I write again?” That way, they’ll revisit your profile and see that you’ve posted new content.
- You can block hateful/curse words in your Instagram spelling to prevent people from commenting inappropriate things. Also would suggest blocking words like “DM” for spam bots that always comment saying “DM us here for more opportunities.”
- Focus on producing reels. At the moment, that is the best way to gain exposure on Instagram. Instagram said that they will focus less on promoting photo content.
- Competition is growing for reels so it’s best to hop on that train before the market gets too saturated.
- For reels, you can use trending music/audio so that people will see your content when they look at other creators who have used the same audio.
- Reels should be able to grab attention within 3 seconds. Reels have a time limit of 30 seconds so far.
- You can get banned from instagram for following too many people or posting too much. Anything that seems like illegitimate engagement (too many actions within an hour), could get you banned temporarily (anywhere from a few days to weeks).
- Post content during “prime times.” Whenever your audience is most active. You can see that from the insights page on your Instagram account.
- Use stories effectively. Have a clear message and an opportunity for followers to interact. (Use a poll, ask a question, put an emoji slider, etc).
- Clean up your “Tagged Photos” page. Make sure the tagged photos align with your brand.
- Follow your competitors to see how they do it.