How to get started with instagram

How to Use Instagram: A Beginner's Guide

Over the past few years, Instagram has seen exponential growth — from one million users at its inception to over one billion in 2022.

If you're interested in getting an Instagram account, or just created one but aren't sure how to use it, you're in luck. Here, we're going to cover all the basics, so you can learn why Instagram is the top social media platform for engagement today.

What is Instagram?

Instagram is a social media platform that emphasizes photo and video sharing via its mobile app. You can take, edit, and publish visual content for both followers and non-followers, as long as your account is public. Users can interact with your content via likes, comments, shares, and saves.

It's hard to remember a time before Instagram. At one time, "Do it for the 'gram" was a common saying, which meant, essentially, "Do something so we can take a picture and post it to Instagram."

Since then, Instagram has placed a larger and heavier emphasis on video. So you no longer hear the phrase “Do it for the ‘gram.” I bet, though, that a second version of the phrase will soon follow. (Maybe “Do it for reel?”)

If you're not part of the one billion users on Instagram, you might want to reconsider. The app is a great chance to engage with top brands and stay a part of friends' lives. When I want to see how my college friends are doing, I don't check Facebook, I check Instagram. Plus, you can follow your favorite celebrities or political figures to see candid photos of their everyday lives.

Additionally, it's a phenomenal platform for investigating what other brands are doing — for instance, Nike uses the Instagram Stories' feature to promote inspirational athlete stories you won't find anywhere else.

How to Sign Up for Instagram

To sign up for Instagram, all you need to do is download the Instagram app on your phone and click the 'Sign up' button. You can choose to sign up through Facebook or use your email or phone number. After you choose a username and password, you’re ready to build your profile.

If you're ready to sign up for Instagram, follow these steps below:

Go to the Instagram site on your desktop, or download the Instagram app from the App Store (iPhone) or Google Play Store (Android).
If you're on desktop, click "Log in with Facebook", or fill in the form with your mobile number or email, name, username, and password. Then click "Sign up".
On Android, click "Sign Up With Email or Phone Number".
On iPhone, select "Sign Up".
Enter your email address or phone number, then click "Next". Alternatively, you can sign up with your Facebook account.
Once you've filled out your username and password, you will be instructed to fill out your profile info. Then, tap "Done".
If you register with Facebook, you'll need to log into your Facebook account if you're currently logged out.

How Do Instagram Notifications Work?

When your account is created, you'll want to adjust your notifications so you only receive the information you want. For instance, you can choose to receive notifications when you get likes from everyone — but, alternatively, you might decide to only receive notifications when you get a like from someone you follow. Or, you might turn off notifications for likes altogether.

You can adjust notifications to "Off", "From People I Follow", or "From Everyone", for the following categories — Comments, Comment Likes, Likes and Comments on Photos of You, Follower Requests, Accepted Follow Requests, Friends on Instagram, Instagram Direct, Photos of You, Reminders, First Posts and Stories, Product Announcements, View Counts, Support Requests, Live Videos, Mentions in Bio, IGTV Video Updates, and Video Chats.

If you're overwhelmed by that list, I get it — I am, too. If you're unsure what notifications you want to receive, you might start with your notifications on "From Everyone", and if certain notifications begin to annoy you, you can turn them off later.

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To customize which notifications you receive, follow these steps:

1. Open up the Instagram app on your phone.

First up, open up the Instagram app on your mobile device. You can also access Instagram on desktop if you prefer. Then, head to your profile by clicking the image of your profile picture on the bottom right.

2. Access “Settings.”

After you arrive at your profile, click the hamburger menu on the top right-hand corner.

A popup menu will appear. Tap “Settings.”

3. Tap “Notifications.”

On the next screen, click "Notifications."

There, you’ll be able to change the notification settings depending on category. These categories include:

Posts, Stories, and Comments
Following and Followers
Direct Messages and Calls
Live and Video
Fundraisers
From Instagram
Email and SMS
Shopping

You also have the ability to pause all notifications by toggling the Pause All option up top.

4. Check off the notifications you want to receive.

Access each category individually and choose the notifications you want to receive. Here are the options, for example, for “Posts, Stories, and Comments”:

The options will vary depending on category.

And that's it! Next, let's explore how to connect your other social media accounts to your Instagram, so when you post an image to Instagram, you can share it with your other online audiences, as well.

Can you connect to Instagram to other social accounts?

Yes, you can connect Instagram to Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook, but it’s no longer done through Settings, as it used to be.

Now, you do it on a per-post basis.

If you want to share a post to other platforms, you navigate to the actual post you want to cross-publish on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter, and then manually share it that way.

Here’s how:

1. Open up the Instagram app.

2. Navigate to your profile.

3. Tap on the post you’d like to cross-post.

4. Click the three dots on the top right-hand corner of the post.

5. On the pop-up menu, click “Share.”

Note: Don’t click “Share to,” which will give you an option to AirDrop or share the post to your contacts.

6. Toggle the accounts you’d like to share the post to. If you’re not already signed in, you’ll need to do so right within the Instagram app.

Once you’ve connected your accounts for one post, you can then toggle the sharing options for any new posts without needing to sign in again.

If you connect Instagram to Facebook, you can share your Stories across both accounts. We talk more about how to do that below.

How to Connect Instagram to Facebook

Since Instagram and Facebook are owned by the same company, Meta, you can connect the two accounts for a more seamless experience. Connecting your Instagram and Facebook accounts allows you to:

Share Stories across both Instagram and Facebook
Login with Facebook into Instagram
Sync your profile name and picture across both profiles
Use Facebook Pay on both platforms
Access your shopping activity on both accounts

If you’re a frequent Facebook user, then connecting your account to your new Instagram profile is highly recommended. Here’s how:

1. Open up your Instagram app.

2. Click on your profile picture on the bottom right-hand corner.

3. Click the hamburger menu on the top right-hand corner.

4. Tap “Settings.”

5. Under the Meta logo, tap “Accounts Center.”

6. Tap “Set up Accounts Center.”

7. Follow the prompts to log in into Facebook.

Done! Your two accounts are now connected. Here's how it'll look like once you're finished:

In the next section, I'll show you when a linked account comes in handy.

Upload, Edit, and Post an Image

Now, for the most important part of Instagram — how to upload and post an image.

Instagram is an entirely visual platform. Unlike Facebook, which relies on both text and pictures, or Twitter, which relies on text alone, Instagram's sole purpose is to enable users to share images or videos with their audience.

On Facebook, you might choose to post 100 photos on an album. On Instagram, you need to be choosier about which photos you post. There are a few reasons for this — first, you don't want to post more than once a day (typically). And you don't want to post too many similar photos.

For instance, it would be odd for you to post fifty photos from the same beach vacation on your Instagram profile. Instead, you might choose five or six, and place them all within the same post.

(These are called carousel posts, and they allow you to share multiple photos in one post only. Carousel posts are awesome for posting similar pictures in one package while keeping your overall profile aesthetic diverse.)

Curious about creating an aesthetic? To learn more about Instagram account themes and get inspiration, take a look at these Instagram themes. Additionally, if you want to embark on a deep-dive, you can take HubSpot's Instagram Marketing Course.

Now that we've covered that, let's explore how to upload, edit, and post an image.

1. Click the "+" icon at the top-right hand corner.

When you tap the “+” icon, you’ll be prompted to choose the type of post you want to share. Since we want to publish a post directly on our profile feed, tap “Post.”

2. Choose your media file.

Here, you have three options. You can look through your Photos library on your phone, you can take a new picture from right within Instagram, or you can take a new video. For our purposes, I looked through my Photos library and found a picture of Boston I wanted to use. Then, I clicked "Next" in the top right.

3. Add filters if desired.

There are two categories you can use to edit your image — "Filter" and "Edit". Instagram automatically shows you filters first. You can scroll through the carousel and click any of the filters to apply it to your image.

Additionally, if you want to use a filter but you want to tone it down, double tap the filter and move the cursor to the left to lessen the intensity of the filter.

4. Edit your image if desired.

Next, click "Edit". Here, you can adjust contrast, brightness, structure, warmth, and more. When you're happy with your edited image, or if you don't want to edit it at all, click "Next" in the top right.

5. Write a caption and toggle sharing settings.

Now, you can add a caption, tag people (you can only tag someone if they also have an Instagram account), and add a location. Additionally, click the button beside Facebook or another linked social media account to share your image on that platform, as well. When you're ready to publish, click "Share" in the top right.

If you don’t want to use your app to post on Instagram, you can also do so from your computer. Learn how to post to Instagram from a Mac or PC here.

Upload an Image or Video to Your Stories

Instagram Stories is a feature that allows you to post videos or images that disappear after 24-hours. Instagram's Stories feature is similar to Snapchat in terms of content — users often post more casual and candid videos and images, offering glimpses into their every day lives.

For instance, on your normal feed, you might post a heavily-edited picture of yourself and friends at a baseball game. But you might post a more candid video to your Story of the stadium singing "Sweet Caroline".

To learn how to upload an image or video to your Stories, follow these steps:

1.

Tap your profile picture in the upper left-hand corner.

Alternatively, swipe right on your feed or tap the “+” button in the top navigation bar.

2. Capture or add your media.

Once you're within the Stories feature, you can take a picture or video right from within the app. Alternatively, if you have an image saved to your phone that you'd like to use, you can choose it from your media library.

3. Add stickers or filters.

On the left-hand side, you have a few different editing features.

The “Create” button lets you add a location, hashtag, time, date, and other fun images or emojis to your picture.

The “Boomerang” option allows you to create a looping video. And the "Aa" icon is your text button. Once you click "Aa", you have the option to change your font.

If you click the smiley face icon, you'll see the following screen. Simply click on one of the icons to add them to your image. If you don't like it, drag it to the bottom, and a trash can will appear so you can delete it.

For instance, I clicked the smiley face icon to add a poll to my image. You can also swipe to the left or right to add filters to your photo or video.

4. Publish your Story.

Once you're happy with your content, you can either click the white arrow icon in the bottom right, which allows you to share your Story with everyone who follows you, or select “Close Friends” first, so that only your close friends see it.

Then you’re done! Your Story is immediately live.

How to Follow on Instagram

It's incredibly easy to find and follow users. Using Instagram's search feature, you can find celebrities, brands, and friends. Additionally, you can search "Tags" or "Places". "Tags" is particularly useful if you know what type of content you want to find, but you're not sure who posts about it.

For instance, you might search "#familyrecipes" under tags — your results will include any images with that hashtag. As you peruse, you might find someone who posts content you really like, and you can choose to follow them so their content appears on your feed.

To follow someone, follow these three easy steps.

1. Click on the search icon at the bottom of your screen.

It looks like a magnifying glass and will be right next to the “Home” button.

2. Next, type in a person, topic, or brand.

For this example, I searched "architecture.”

Instagram allows you to either search all posts that contain the word “architecture,” or “See all results” and see tags and places.

3. Tap the account you’re interested in following.

Once you're on someone else's account, you'll see a blue "Follow" button at the top. For public profiles, you can click and immediately begin following that account. However, if the profile is private, you may need to wait for them to accept you first.

And that's it! You're on your way to becoming a pro. To take your account to the next level, plan out your next posts using an array of content ideas and templates.

Using Instagram is Key for Growing Your Personal Brand

If you want to grow both professionally and personally, then using Instagram is more important than ever. You can start by observing first, then begin posting as you learn your way around the user interface. With over one billion users, Instagram is an extremely worthwhile social media platform to join — and it’s only set to keep growing as time goes on.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in November 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Instagram 101: How to get started with Instagram

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It’s not hard to join this image-based social network

By Barbara Krasnoff

Feb 27, 2020, 10:22 PM UTC|

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Photo by Brennan King / The Verge

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The Verge Guide to Instagram

If you haven’t added Instagram to your set of social networking apps, then perhaps you should give it a try. Instagram places the emphasis on visuals — photos, GIFs, videos — but the difference between it and, say, TikTok, is that it doesn’t necessarily depend on off-the-cuff, in-the-moment material.

Instead, you can choose the best photos or videos you’ve got and present them to the world as finished products. Or, if you want, you can just take a photo or video and pop it in for an immediate reaction. It’s up to you.

Instagram is a mobile-centric app. You can access your account on the web, but it’s really meant to be used on a mobile device. Here’s how you can start an Instagram account on your phone; in this example, we’re using an Android phone, but the app isn’t much different on the iPhone.

Download the app for your Android or iOS device. You’ll be invited to sign in if you’ve already got an account, or start a new account. In this case, of course, we’re starting a new one.
The first thing you’ll be asked will be if you want to allow Instagram to access your contacts. You can allow it or deny it; if you choose the latter, you can still sign up.

You can then start to create your new account by entering either your phone number or your email address.
Create a password — and notice that you’re being invited to either “Continue and Sync Contacts” (which will be highlighted) or “Continue Without Syncing Contacts.” The small print beneath explains that your contacts will be synced on Instagram’s servers to help you find friends and “help us provide a better service.” Choose whichever you’d like.
You’re then going to be asked to add your birthday. Why? Because it “improves the features and ads you see.” And presumably, verifies whether you’re an adult.

The next screen welcomes you to Instagram. The app will create an automatic username for you from the name that you entered when you registered (the username is what will be used to identify all your content). However, if you want something more imaginative, you can change it at this point to any name you like (assuming nobody else has taken it already). If the name you want is available, you’ll get a checkmark and can go on to the next screen.

The next screen invites you to “Find Facebook Friends to Follow. ” You can connect your account to Facebook at this point or skip the screen. If you choose skip, you’ll be given a second chance — are you sure you don’t want to connect to Facebook? Really truly? Oh, well. Skip if you must.
On the next screen, you can add your profile photo. It’s a good idea to do so; it will help identify you to your followers. The profile photo can be of you, of your favorite pet, or of whomever (or whatever) you want. You can import it from Facebook, choose it from your mobile library of photos, or take a selfie right then and there.

Once you’ve entered your profile photo, Instagram will offer to create your first post using that photo. It’s not a bad idea — it’s a good way to start your feed while you’re getting acquainted with the app.
Instagram then gives you a list of possible people to follow — and, once again, offers to connect you to either your Facebook account or your phone’s contacts. If there are people on the list who interest you, it’s not a bad idea to pick a few to populate your feed, but if you don’t see anyone you particularly care for, don’t worry about it. You can find friends, politicians, favorite series, organizations, and a bunch of other possibilities to follow later on.

And you’re finally past the opening screens and on the main page for your Instagram feed.

Now, when you add photos, GIFs, or videos, you’ll see them in this feed; when the people who you follow add content, you’ll see that there as well, and you’ll be able to like and comment on each entry.

Need more? Here’s a quick rundown of the icons on the bottom of the screen, from left to right:

The home icon takes you to your main feed.
The search icon lets you find accounts that you are already following and accounts that you might want to follow.
The plus icon lets you add your own content.
The activity icon gives you a list of all the recent likes and comments you’ve received on your entries.
The profile icon brings you to your profile page, where you can edit your profile photo and description and see all the content you’ve contributed. You can also see how many posts you’ve put up, how many followers you have, and how many people are following you. (If you tap on either the “Followers” or “Following” figures, you’ll get a list of their names.)

On the top of the homepage, you can also access Stories posted by you or those you are following. (Stories are Snapchat-like entries that disappear within 24 hours.) An icon in the upper right corner lets you send private messages.

It’s now up to you to explore your Instagram account and, if you’re so inclined, to develop it into a real creative outlet.

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How to run Instagram the right way: making your account successful

Instagram has evolved from a social network where people share news and photos of food to a blogging platform. The audience is used to quality content, and the competition is high: you compete with users from all over the world, because photos do not care about language or geographic location, and professional models, photographers, makeup artists and artists also actively use the social network. Of course, many do not know how to manage Instagram so that it develops and generates income.

But everyone has a chance to find their audience. Both schoolgirls from small towns and big brands with interesting content are becoming popular on Instagram. We figure out how to come up with a concept, take photos, write posts and maintain an Instagram account so as not to sink to the bottom of the algorithmic feed, but to find subscribers.

How to Instagram

Instagram is not just your page on a social network. Of course, no one will forbid sharing news with friends, we are talking about blogging on Instagram for a person or business, which will be of interest not only to your loved ones, but also to strangers.

Look at the pages of stars: they rarely combine photos with each other and generally bother with content, but fans are interested in any news from the life of idols. If you do not have a couple of million fans, you will not be forgiven for low-quality and uninteresting photos.

Start with an idea. Even if it’s hard to decide, and “taking pictures of everything that surrounds me” seems like the best way out, focus on a specific topic. Culinary blogs, profiles about proper nutrition, about dancing, about clothes, make-up - yes, Instagram already has it all. But you will do it your way. And people don't collect a list of subscriptions based on the principle "I already subscribed to a food blog, so I don't need another one."

Of course, if your idea is interesting and relatively new, it will be easier to move forward. But if you don't find one, don't give up. Maintaining Instagram is constant experimentation and finding a balance in content and interaction with the audience.

How to be in business? You need a concept too. Remember the character of the brand, decide on the tone of voice. Create value for subscribers: talk about topics related to your product. Consider that SMM from 2010, when beauty salons could post "10 hairstyle ideas" and get thousands of likes, is in the past. People won't subscribe to something they can google. Create authoring content: create a branded character or choose your storytelling style and list of topics you can cover.

Instagram profile design

At first glance, your account should be clear what it is about. Briefly formulate the topic of the blog in the bio and tell us about yourself. Typically, users enter their first name, age, and city.

How to get a business account to start Instagram?

The company account must contain contacts, information about the work of offline points and detailed conditions for ordering or recording. If you are unable to fit all the necessary information in your bio, you can use the multilink service.

Use emoji to highlight different information blocks in your bio. It is not necessary to choose bright and intrusive ones: dots, arrows, squares will look neat, but everyone will visually separate the text (name and topic of the blog) in meaning.

How beautiful it is to have Instagram

There is an unspoken rule: profile photos must match. Open the pages of bloggers again: you will surely notice that the pictures standing next to each other were taken in the same tone or overlapped with each other in vivid detail.

A Facebook study showed that users spend 0.2 seconds per post on the mobile feed. Therefore, your posts should be visually cool and catchy at first sight. Let's figure out how to manage Instagram to be qualitatively different from others.

Photos must be of high quality, interesting and well processed. Instagram has its own trends - just try to bring photos processed in the Retrica app to your audience.

Follow Audience Members to find the visual style for your profile. See what content they post, what profiles they follow.

It is not necessary to use professional equipment, but you will definitely have to learn how to photograph and process images. See the photos you like, save them, don't be afraid to repeat, you're unlikely to be seen through, but you'll get your hands on it.

Layouts - a separate big topic. Think this is a joke? Try to create something similar yourself. You will find that you don't have many items that match. And those that exist cannot be organically placed in the frame.

To make high-quality layouts, bloggers buy accessories (candles, sparkles, postcards, fruits, garlands, frames, flowers) and spend a lot of time on them.

How to blog on Instagram

In 2017, a new trend appeared on the social network: users are interested not only in photos, but also in texts. Thematic blogs have appeared that talk about proper nutrition, makeup, motivation, parenting, or just about your life. And judging by the number of subscribers on such accounts and interactions under publications, users are ready to consume not only visual content in contact, but also read texts, even long ones.

Therefore, the desire to create and maintain an Instagram blog may be a good idea. But first, how to lead it? As with the concept of an account, a blog also needs one. Define a list of topics you write about, designate them in the profile header.

Follow the pages of users whose content you like. Pay attention to how often they publish posts, at what time they do it. How the audience is asked questions in posts, and what topics the audience is discussing more actively.

Instagram post contains up to 2200 characters. If your text does not fit in this size, move the part to the first comment, this is a common practice among bloggers. The problem will arise if there are too many discussions: then users will have to get to the first comment in the topic for a long time. Therefore, it is better to shorten the texts or split the story into several posts, publishing them under one hashtag.

How to broadcast on Instagram

Anyone can broadcast on Instagram. After the end, it will be available, like stories, 24 hours.

To start the broadcast, go to the news feed, click on your profile picture (just like when creating Stories). Select the option "Live" in the horizontal menu below. Now by clicking "Start" you will be able to broadcast live on Instagram.

How to attract an audience to a live broadcast?

Warn your subscribers about the broadcast in advance: make an announcement in a post or story. Pick a time when your audience is online. To do this, analyze the social network account in Popsters. On the chart "Activity / Days of the week" and "Activity / Time of day" you will find the most successful days and times for live broadcasts.

Wait for a larger audience, don't jump straight into the main topic of the broadcast. But at the same time, you can’t lose the audience who have already arrived: figure out in advance what will take the waiting time. Tell stories about the topic of the broadcast or arrange an interactive one: answer subscribers' questions or, conversely, ask them about something.

How to start Instagram?

Keep step-by-step instructions for maintaining an Instagram account:

Decide on a topic if you're blogging.
Find a photo style and processing style that you will follow.
Follow competitor accounts and profiles you want to be like.
Fill out your profile: choose a bright avatar, write in the "Bio" section about yourself and the topic of your blog.
Make several publications in the new concept. In order for new visitors to be able to get an idea about the account, 6-8 posts are enough.

Useful related articles:

10 advanced Instagram tools;
Effective Advertising in Instagram Stories: Actionable Tips;
Guidelines for creating an Instagram profile description;
How to correctly set up and run ads on Instagram.

How to start a business on Instagram from scratch and get real results - Marketing on vc.ru

Writing about the promotion of social networks is a thankless task. And not because there are now more experts than customers - just the speed with which the platforms roll out updates kills all romance.

129 791 views

And everything would be fine, I would work quietly further, but somewhere between the analysis of the next account and communication with a marketer on Facebook (by the way, were you also offered such a unique opportunity?) I realized one important thing. The problem of most entrepreneurs is in a fragmented picture.

They read bloggers, brand articles, watch free webinars, save posts with snippets of information, and test everything they see. Pieces, without understanding the basics, without a system.

And yes, tests are good. But strategies need to be tested - concepts and tools within the framework of these strategies, and not just the next "finds" of information gypsies.

Therefore, here I share a step-by-step launch and promotion system. Everything is as it is.

Developments went through fire, water and a couple of dozens of trials in real businesses. They will come in handy for entrepreneurs who are just entering Instagram, and for those who have already managed to screw up with bots, cheats and masslooking.

In general, I will write briefly and to the point. Get comfortable. And if anyone needs it later, extended information can be taken in PDF.

Strategy

Everything always starts with a strategy, even shopping. What can we say about business?!

But!

Before the strategy, you must have a clear understanding of the audience (oh my bastard, I wrote this) and defined promotion goals. With goals, I'm sure everything is clear, but with people it's harder. Businesses need to find those who will willingly leave their money with them. But is the one who pays always the initiator of the purchase?

Does a big and busy politician himself choose gifts for his ladies? Or is he looking for a place for dinner? And does mommy overwhelmed with duties look out for handmade gliders herself?

No.

Wives, girlfriends or even helpers come to the politician with their requests; to mom - the daughter comes and points her finger at the account in which you need to order something.

Therefore, before defining your audience, ask yourself a couple of questions:

Who pays for your product or service.
Who makes the purchasing decision.
Who influences the choice and to what extent.

And now the strategy

It should grow on the overall marketing strategy and be tightly tied to the sales plan.

There are three basic scenarios that you can promote on Instagram today, adjusting any of them to fit your reality.

Development of a full-fledged blog, a community of people with the same interests

These are always accounts with a useful component. Regular posting and high-quality content are important here - tons of unique photos and engaging texts - to keep the interest of the existing audience and attract new subscribers. Focus on organic reach and all the perks that go with it.

The option, you understand, is not simple and definitely not cheap.

Creating a showcase - posting if necessary

When there is something to say, something to show and something to share. In this version, the focus is not on the community, but on a quick result.

We put ads on each post and control the amount of traffic, coverage, recognition, interactions, responses to invitations, sales, and so on.

The strategy is suitable for businesses that simply have nothing to write blogs about - developers, sales of special equipment, transportation - or those who do not have a budget for a constant flow of content.

Combined version

You keep a blog, gather an interested audience around it and put some publications into advertising to enhance the effect. Here are the results of content boosting we received in a travel blog about Italy:

RK for involvement even for a couple of bucks gives excellent results Marina Velitchenko

OK, we have chosen a strategy, created a business account, let's move on to the settings.

Preparing page

In Instagram, the system is important.

The system is the parts that work together in a large mechanism.

Therefore, everything influences the process and the final result of promotion.

Normal design, competent filling of information, use of all the tools that Instagram offers - pinned stories, TV, marks, branded content, etc.

All page elements should match in style with adjacent objects and send readers a magical vibe, just kidding - should clearly present the business. Be understandable and pleasing to the eye for a specific audience.

We all like to watch beautiful accounts, and even more so to buy from a business that has not stinted on normal brand packaging. Personally, I just love the @petroglyph_water page.

Conciseness, naturalness and "wild" atmosphere permeate every element - from a brief description of the page to the style of processing photos and truly live content.

Two short sentences in a header, but how catchy

When not just pink and blue presets from the network, but normal author's processing of photos in the same style

I will not describe how to correctly fill in the account description or set tags here - everything is in the document. But let's talk about content and its design.

Content

Promotion does not happen without a thoughtful content plan. Even if you or your copywriter are truly brilliant, there will come a time—in a month or three—when the ideas run out, the showcase products run out, and you still need to go on air regularly.

For these purposes, they are developing a strategic content plan. Not just a set of ideas from the Internet, but a sales system through text. Make a plan at least a month in advance. Ideally, three to six months. How to do it correctly, I already wrote on vc.ru.

What to publish

Many things. Who needs ideas - a lot of ideas - for content, write to me, I'll give you huge collections. But the main thing is that all these posts should be positive. As Anketologist reports in one of the latest studies, Russians have already formed their own feed and are accustomed to its appearance and effect. They see and want to see more positive things.

I would venture to suggest that people have enough problems and "pains" that someone is already pressing on in everyday life. In social networks, they want to relax. Give them that opportunity.

How often to post

It is not so important with what frequency, the main thing is with the same frequency. Every day, every three days... if once a week, then strictly once a week, on the same day. It is important. Failures in posting are fixed by algorithms and reduce organic reach.

Y - uniqueness of posts

And their naturalness. Real product photos sell better than polished stock photos. Galleries get less coverage, videos, on the contrary, get more coverage and charge live emotions, which is always good for business.

And unpacking videos from customers show the result even cooler, because they combine both social proof and motion, which our attention clings to more readily.

But all this must be unique, like the content on the sites, in order to be properly indexed and get more impressions.

Visually

In brand style. Filters, of course, can be used, but this is already out of date. Endless tapes also sunk into ... somewhere very far away.

Now the trend is block design - publication of 9-12 photos from one photoset or location. I found the most beautiful example of this concept from @brunellocucinelli_brand.

You can play with color and shape, you can shoot your product on one - preferably inactive - background, like here:

You can get confused with the design, take multi-layered photos, alternate near, far and macro shots, or you can just make a neat look of a classic checkerboard. And you can never go wrong with light tones:

If this is very difficult, long, unbearable, order a set of neutral templates from the designer. It's not expensive, but it helps out when there are not enough product photos.

Optimization

In social networks, these are hashtags. The same search queries and keywords by which new subscribers will find you. Instagram is one of two social networks where these tags work to their full potential.

Would you like to see how it works? I give screenshots of the current project with a statue of literally a couple of previous weeks.

Want to be even tougher? The same 500-600 subscribers, and this is the buzz:

Geotagging

Here, too, everything is extremely simple - they work, and not bad. It is important to mark not cities or countries, but specific locations: maternity hospitals, art schools for children's goods; cigar clubs, expensive restaurants and country resorts for a luxury shoe manufacturer.

Aim consciously and you will be happy.

But Instagram notifies restaurant owners about marks. Vasya tagged the men's club in his Stories, a notification about Vasya arrived on the club's account.

Good way to track your audience, collect user-generated content and even find advertising partners.

Stories

Instagram Stories. Why do you need them if you sell pizza ovens? Not everything is so simple here - Stories have ceased to be a toy for children and lifestyle bloggers, they are constantly turning into ... turning ... into a powerful marketing tool - Stories are viewed by more than 500 million users a day.

In the summer of 2018 it was 400 million, and in the fall of 2017 it was about 300 million, in 2016 it was 250 million. The pace is reactive, right?!

Let's see how they help you:

What to do with it all

Play . Now it is in trend. Screenshots of predictions, rebuses with emoticons, mazes, chains of questions with stickers - all this appeals to the audience and algorithms.
Telling stories . Literally. Stories are used for multi-page storytelling - such a consistent story on several spreads. You can write about anything in the storytelling format.
Put active links to products or other social networks. The feature is also available for accounts with less than 10,000 followers. If you confirm your page with documents - get a blue checkmark - you can put links even with 20 subscribers. This works for brands as well as people.
Run long advertisements . You can now start targeting from the Facebook account for Instagram Stories on videos 60-120 seconds long, instead of 15, as it was before.

Promotion

Promotion methods directly depend on the business goals. What do you want from social networks - recognition, subscribers, traffic to other resources, sales? What? Decided? Then choose from the list.

Paid and effective methods: targeting (works especially well by geo), bloggers, advertising in public, mailings in direct (a mini analogue of email marketing), native advertising on websites, in articles, in videos - everywhere, where the hands and imagination will reach.
Free , but slow options: optimized profile header, beautifully designed page, normal content, tags - hashtags, geotags, name tags - post relinking, external links to an Instagram account, cross-posting, guerrilla marketing, commenting, liking and following (preferably in manual mode), networking, contests, mutual PR and joint promotions.
Gray and frankly toxic methods of subscriber base development: giveaways - they are also star contests with expensive gifts and a bunch of sponsors - activity chats, like-times, etc. d.

Useful resources

I left the full list of services in the document, here I will quickly go through the most useful ones. I’ll tell you about the little-known ones in more detail, so that you understand what to expect from them.

Microlendings

To group contacts and business cards if there is no site: Mssg.me, Taplink, Linkin.bio. Or a direct link to WhatsApp: https://wa.me/[your number].

In addition, a whole WhatsApp ecosystem is now developing, where you can assemble a convenient landing page, connect a bot and completely forget about other sites.

Official delayed posting

Facebook Creator Studio or Boompublic - Content can be purchased from creators. Business sets the price. There is a convenient editor, a calendar for planning, cross-posting to all social networks and, most importantly, safe posting on Instagram.

Crossposting

Content reposts from Instagram to other social networks are limited, so onemorepost.ru helps a lot. It knows how to distribute even old posts in auto mode to VKontakte groups, to most popular social networks and instant messengers.

Moderation

This is a pain for every SMM manager, and even more so for a businessman who manages social networks himself and often misses important questions in the comments. It is advisable to use the official Pages mobile app from Facebook, but it also often loses comments. There is a legal alternative.

Morecom.ru - collects and does not lose comments, sends them to VKontakte or Telegram. Works officially, approved by Facebook to use the Graph API.

The bot helps answer questions directly from Telegram, the answers fall exactly into the original comment thread, and do not fly apart. You can work with a team and multiple accounts.

There are extended statistics on the page and search by comments - by phrase, nickname, tags. Soon they promise push notifications and binding to Slack. Our sales team is very helpful.

Analytics

Livedune is the only Russian-speaking Instagram partner in the niche, and the most adequate in terms of price and features.