The Complete Guide To Getting Started With Instagram

Instagram and social media have become fixtures of our everyday lives. With more than 100 million active users on its platform alone, Instagram is a great way for businesses to reach their target audience with an authentic voice. If you're looking to get started with your Instagram journey, here are 10 tips that will help your account be successful from day one.

1- Choose A Great Profile Name

In social media, it is important for people to be able to locate you easily. Ensure that your profile name includes keywords so people can find you easily when searching throughout Instagram. Did you know that it is actually possible to rank in topic keywords in the Instagram search bar! This is absolutely a game-changer for many location-based businesses. As an example, if I was searching for an NYC photographer, I would want to include this important keyword in my bio name so that I could rank in searches. When anyone types in NYC photographer guess who now shows up! It is a great way to skyrocket new leads and customers.

2- Create Quality Content

A quality piece of content begins with quality photos (and now shifting heavily to videos). Make your posts stand out by adding videos to your feed, try out new text graphics, and tagging people on your posts. The more engaging your content is, the better your chances of getting more people to see it!

Recently, Instagram announced that they will be shifting further towards video content. This is a clear sign that the future of social media belongs to video content. Instagram has been steadily pushing towards more visual content in recent years, but this latest shift shows that it's now putting its money where its mouth is.

As Facebook and Twitter have already done, Instagram will be prioritizing video content over photo-sharing on its platform. This means you'll see fewer images in your feed as videos fill up room for the next few months until we're all accustomed to these changes. But there are some benefits too!

Video allows users to share their experiences with friends. It provides a live, behind-the-scenes moment that social media users have been craving. This is a perfect opportunity to showcase your business and bring it to life with short bite-sized video content.

3- Be Consistent

It's important to post regularly so people can keep up with your account and start building a connection with your brand. I recommend posting at least times per week, but if you have the time and energy to post more often then go for it!

It's also important to not flood your social media with too many posts. Find a sweet spot for you and your business. I recommend spacing out your social media so that people can keep up with what is going on without feeling overwhelmed by social overload.

4- Follow Others

Make sure that you follow other accounts that you really like and avoid any follow-for-follow actions. Whenever you love an account and can see yourself gaining value from their showing up in your feed, follow them, even if they don't follow you back. Put your effort into building real connections with people. I've met so many awesome entrepreneurs this way. Every day I find myself not just inspired, but building amazing relationships and supporting new businesses.

Finding new accounts is easy when you look at trending hashtags. Make a list of hashtags to follow and send 30 mins a week to discover new accounts.

5- Use Relevant Hashtags

Finding the right hashtags for your business is an integral part of any social media strategy. In order to determine which hashtags will create the most engagement, I recommend identifying three popular topics relevant to your brand or company.

The best place to start your search is to look for some of the most popular hashtags and then work your way down to the medium-level tags. I would say that somewhere between 300,000 and 1 million people would be considered a medium-level hashtag. It means it's a very active tag, but not so overused that it can't rank.

Test out different hashtag groups and see how it works. Use Instagram insights to determine which hashtags resonate best with your audience.

6- Engage With Followers

It's easy to get caught up in social media and forget what the most important part is- socializing! Make sure you're regularly responding, liking, or commenting on other posts so your followers know they can count on you. Dedicate time to catch up on reciprocating the engagement you received.

7- Respond To Comments

The social media landscape is changing so quickly that more conversations are happening on Instagram than ever before. Make sure you're responding to comments regularly and try not to continue the conversation in too many places (like Twitter or Facebook).

In DMs, a lot can happen. It is a perfect way to have a quick question answered or to have a longer inquiry about a service or a product. As of now, you can even set up your direct messaging so that you can save Instagram replies. This can be very useful if you receive repeat messages from your followers.

8- Use Instagram Stories

Take advantage of Instagram stories. With this feature, you can share photos and videos with your followers for a period of 24 hours. It's a great way to showcase your brand's personality and offer more insight into your business story. It's crucial to building trust with your customers.

In my opinion, the best stories that you can do weekly are those that go behind the scenes. Here, you can discuss your brand's story, showcase new products, and share customer's experiences. It's a great way to build social media relationships with followers because you're giving them the opportunity to learn more about who you are.

The great thing about Instagram stories is that they can be organized into groups of memories (your highlight reel) perfect for businesses or brands that want to keep social media organized by topic. Imagine your highlight reel as your mini-website. Put up a Q&A section, an about us section, etc.

9- Be An Active User

If you're new to social media, it can take a while for your posts to be seen, but I promise you that with consistent work, you will begin to rank. Social media should be viewed as a long-term marketing strategy that is meant to build trust and consistency with customers.

As I mentioned above, it is very important that you are actively participating and have an account that is active. At the core of Instagram is the notion of community. You should have the goal of finding your tribe, that is, the community of customers that truly believe in your business. When this connection is established, they will likely be eager to follow your social media channels, even opting to join your mailing list.

10- Have Fun

Instagram is a place for creativity, so make sure you're having fun with it! Instagram is all about those candid moments and capturing life as it happens. Make your followers feel like they can be part of your world by posting photos of yourself working or the process being the product. It's important to showcase the more human side of things.

Explore different genres- take inspiration from photography, fashion, food, fitness, etc., just think outside the box!

In Conclusion

We have finally come to the end of this guide, and I hope that it has helped you. Your marketing strategy will be greatly enhanced if you add social media to it since it will serve as a great way to get your brand noticed.

Should you have any questions along the way, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. You can find out more about how I can assist you in gaining social media engagement at www.TheFoxCreative.com, where you can also schedule a free consultation.