Instagram is a social media channel that focuses mainly on visual content. If you are just about to start using Instagram, don’t worry, there is no such thing as a late entry when it comes to this social media platform.
With more than two billion active users monthly, Instagram is the platform where young adults spend most of their online social time and that’s why it’s a great place to promote content; for private or business reasons.
Read below as we walk you through the Instagram essentials for every first-time user.
Start With Setting Up The Account
After you download the application it’s time to create a profile. You can sign up on Instagram with your Facebook account, phone number, or email address. Make sure that your password is strong enough; at least 8 characters with 3 different character categories, so that profile breach is impossible.
When picking your Instagram username, it’s important to employ the brainstorming technique as the username will be the first thing potential followers notice about you. If you are using Instagram for business purposes, use the name of your brand so that people have an easier time finding you. If the username in question is already taken by someone else, you can get creative and add different characters to make it unique.
In addition to that, Instagram offers a feature specifically designed for businesses called business accounts. To do this, simply open your profile and tap in the upper right corner to open the settings menu. There you will find the option to switch to a professional account. With a professional account, you can gain access to insights that will help you understand who is engaging with your content.
You Can Connect Facebook And Instagram Accounts
Since Facebook and Instagram are owned by the same company, connecting the separate accounts has never been easier. To connect accounts, tap on your profile picture and navigate to the hamburger icon which is located at the top right of your screen, tap on settings and find the Meta logo where the field Account Centre is located, finally, press on “Set Up Accounts Centre” and follow the prompts to log into your Facebook account.
The Content Aspect
We’ve already established that Instagram focuses on visual content rather than blog posts. Before starting to post content, you can decide to glance at what kind of content creates the most engagement. To help you with this task you can make use of an Instagram profile analyzer which can also help you pinpoint hashtags and tactics that work.
Speaking of hashtags, Instagramers love a cool hashtag so much that Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags per post. However, using hashtags liberally can be sometimes overwhelming for the followers, that’s why we suggest keeping the hashtag count from exceeding 10. Hashtags should be short and simple, using long hashtags with a lot of characters is never a good idea. Try to look for trendy hashtags or, if that’s not your style, create your own hashtags or use a generator to help you find the right ones by inserting keywords.
Regular and quality content will keep your followers engaged and the interest will always rise when it’s done properly. Make sure that before you start pumping out content you have at least a month of content ideas preplanned so that the feed well doesn’t run dry.
Stories are especially loved by Instagram users, 86 percent of Instagram users post Stories daily. Stories are a feature provided by Instagram which allows you to post visual content that will last for 24 hours. To post a Story simply swipe to the left to access the Story camera and capture the perfect moment. Additionally, you may add previously captured visual content by opening the Story camera and then swiping up to access the camera roll. From there, you can choose which images to include in your Story feed.
Focus On Interactions
When starting out with Instagram many people are tempted to go for the bot follower option just to pad their follower stats. Focusing on growing your followers organic is key to success on social media. WIth organic followers, you can receive feedback and troubleshoot any problems that might occur. Being active and leaving comments on posts from other accounts can also bring traffic your way, the keyword here is activity. Being passive on social media will yield no results.
Final Thoughts
Instagram is one of the leading social media platforms that enables you to express yourself creatively and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. We hope that the world of Instagram is a bit clearer to you and we wish you the best of luck on your Instagram journey, private or business-related.