Not Using Instagram to Promote Yourself As a Writer? You Should!

Instagram: The photo app that took the globe by storm, allowing its users to daily showcase their lives to the world. But if you still think that Instagram is only good for sharing pictures of your dinner or photos of your neighbor’s ugly baby, then you, my kind friend, are credibly wrong.

Instagram is a social media app. They keyword we need to focus on here is ‘social.’ With an international reach, it has to date over 600 million registered users. That far exceeds the 313 million users of Twitter. I assume everyone has a Twitter account, right?

So, I tell you that Instagram is a valuable tool if you’re a writer. “But how?” you ask. The answer is simple. EXPOSURE.

Every writer needs an online presence, a social network of industry peers and followers alike. Facebook, Twitter, personal blogs and websites, YouTube, Pinterest, Tumblr and even Goodreads are all valuable tools for exposure. Instagram is no different.

From authors to bloggers to publishing houses, many are reaping the benefits of Instagram.

View your social network as a digital spider web, stretching out across the internet. The further your web reaches, the better chance you have of catching prey. Prey here being of course fans, followers and potential clients and publishers. The spider must eat and writer must get paid.

“Okay. But I still don’t get it,” you say. “If I don’t post photos of cats and dogs and ugly babies, how do I use Instagram?”

Follow and Be Followed

The more you interact, the more you’ll be noticed and the more exposure you’ll gain. While this is not necessarily good advice or practice in most other areas of your life, look at it in this way: if you are trying to hit an object with a rock, you’ll better your chances of hitting something if you throw a handful or rocks at the same time. One of them is bound to hit something.

Treat Instagram followers the same. The more relevant users you follow, the better the chances are that they will follow you. In fact, you’ll soon be surprised at how many users follow this sneaky method.

Post the Perfect Post

The great thing about Instagram is that it gives followers an insight into your life. It gives them a sense of who you are. They get to know you on a personal level, and that is a good thing. You will get to know them too, and soon get a feel of what they like and what they don’t.

Tease your followers with excerpts from your new book, a poem, a short story you’re working on. Motivational quotes always do well. Let them into your personal world. Don’t shy away from a picture of a meal here or there. Everybody loves food! And most writers and lovers of literature have cats. Who does not like cats?

Look at other trending writers, authors and poets. What are they posting? Which posts do their followers most respond to?

Be Active!

To have a noticeable presence on Instagram, you need to be active and post regularly. The more you post, the more you’ll be seen. Post every day.

Interact with your followers. Reply to their comments. Comment on their posts.

Hashtag Everything

“Please, if you ever find me adding a hashtag, kill me. End my life.” Those were my words, and boy was I wrong.

Hashtags are the bait in your spider web. It’s how your prey finds you. Using the right hashtags are important. All good and well if you have 500 followers, not so good if only 20 of them are actually interested in you as a writer.

Some of the best and most common hashtags for writers are:

· #writer

· #writersofinstagram

· #writing

· #author

· #amwriting

· #poetry

· #poetsofinstagram

Hashtags are easy enough to figure out and you’ll soon have the hang of it.

Networking

Keeping with the analogy of Mr Spider and his web, make sure to link all your social accounts. Consistency is key here. If you have a personal website or blog, make sure to ad links to your Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc. Make sure that all these accounts reflect on each other and are consistent with each other.

Unfortunately, on your Instagram bio, only one link is allowed to an external profile. Choose wisely. Choose the one that best promotes and showcases your work as a writer, whether that be your website, Medium.com profile, Facebook page or blog.

bit.ly Links

Bitly.com is a great tool to create short links or URLs. You have no doubt seen bit.ly links on Twitter. They are also very handy on Instagram to promote external media and content.

Try bit.ly/2lDVKZI to link to my latest post on Media.com, and bit.ly/2lDYQwC to link to my Twitter account. It is that simple.

These bit.ly links are quick and easy to create. They are perfect for Instagram and they are free. Be sure to make use of the service.

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