Instagram 101: 5 Tips To Slay It On Instagram

Sapne Editorial
Sapne
Published in
5 min readFeb 13, 2019

I have always been a social media fan and over the years, I have spent enough time exploring its superpowers. And among all the social media platforms available today, Instagram is my go-to platform.

Since the very first year, Instagram has grown to an incredible level. The platform started out as a mobile photo-sharing social media platform in October 2010. However, things have changed significantly — not only for the platform but also for its user base. Today, the platform has 1 billion monthly active accounts and 50 per cent of the accounts are active on a daily basis. That is not all, Instagram is also one of the most sought after platforms when it comes to scaling a business. Whether you are an influencer or a company, Instagram can make your business gain a great momentum — it has become a land of discoverability.

If you are someone new on Instagram and want to grow your account, then read along. Here is a list of some of the things that you should keep in mind when you are trying to hit the mark on Instagram.

Decide Your Target Audience

Read this point as many times you can and get in your head because this is the most important point. Before you jump straight right into creating your account and posting, make sure you list down your goals (Whether you just want to grow a follower base of random people or you want to target people who would connect to your content). There are many brand and business accounts on Instagram that has thousands and thousands of followers but it’s still not making an impact.

Why so? Because, the follower base isn’t relevant; they are just random followers who scroll their feed, see a post, like, turn their phone down and sleep. And I am sure that is not something you want. You want a follower base that enjoys your connect, read the caption, DM you, let you know what they feel about your content.

How Often And When To Post

In order to attract followers and boost engagement, you need to be active on Instagram; you should never keep your Instagram account stale.

Usually, posting once or twice a day is considered to be a good practice. However, it may differ from space to space. Also, you should know when to post because there is no point posting when people aren’t active and when by the time they become active, your post will go lost. There is no particular sweet spot for throwing an Instagram post; you have to figure it out at the initial stage by throwing posts at different times of the day. If you keep your consistency, then you can definitely create a significant follower base.

Be A Storyteller

I am pretty sure every time go to your search on Instagram you see a lot of mediocre post from mediocre brands. I have no idea, why people forget that no matter what Instagram is a photo-sharing platform — people share their stories here.

Let me tell you today, storytelling is snowballing at jet speed. People are scrolling their feeds just to see what’s happening in different parts of the world. So instead of shooting shitty brand messaging posts, become a storyteller — through you your captions, videos, Instagram Stories and profile.

If you are a vlogger, show your followers your shooting sessions — tell them about the gadgets you use or the software you use to edit. If you are a writer, show your writing sessions, tell them about the current piece you are working on. Let people know your story. That’s how it works.

The Feed Look

This is something that is really vital for every Instagram enthusiast. Making a post look better is important, but making your feed look better is IMPORTANTER.

Wondering why? I will tell you!

What would be your impression when you visit someone’s home and see a messy interior? Wouldn’t you start judging? This is the same concept that applies to Instagram too. Would you like if someone sees your cluttered feed? No, right? So, keep a theme for your Insta-feed; you can do that by using third-party tools also or by just using a particular filter for your posts.

The better your feed looks, the more you attract followers.

The Hashtag Game

Believe it or not, Hashtags are one of the most crucial elements of a social media post. Hashtags make you discoverable.

By selecting the best hashtags for your Instagram posts, you will give your post the boost it needs to reach a greater audience. If you don’t know the hashtag game then there is no doubt that your post will sink to the bottom of the feed without a trace.

The question here is, “How many hashtags to use?” Generally, using seven or fewer hashtags is considered to be decent because overusing a hashtag will make you look unprofessional.

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