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Instagram – How to Use Hashtags

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How to Use Instagram Hashtags

Hashtags are an important part of any Instagram strategy. Hashtags help increase the visibility and reach of a post. You’ll find that if you don’t include hashtags on each post, the post won’t earn much reach.

Hashtags are part of the text description under the image or video in an Instagram post. They can also be used in stories. Using a hashtag in an Instagram story has a significant impact on reach. If you have an Instagram business account, then you will be able to view the views for that hashtag. You should post images and videos to your story and experiment with hashtags to determine which hashtags work best.

How Many Hashtags Should I Use?

Besides which hashtags, you also need to focus on how many hashtags you are posting. If you use too many, you’ll find that engagement is nonexistent. Instagram’s algorithm can ghost your account as an unannounced penalty for using too many hashtags. Limit the usage to 30 or hashtags or less to avoid being ghosted.

How Many Hashtags Can You Use?

Twenty hashtags is about the most a new account should use. It’s enough to help the post reach your audience but not so much that it is a turn off for followers. Many posts hide their hashtags by

What Instagram Hashtags Should I Use?

If you haven’t used any hashtags on your Instagram post or aren’t having much success with engagement, then you may need to spend some time finding relevant tags that will bring more views and followers to your account.

How to Check if Someone Follows You-on-Instagram
How to Check if Someone Follows You-on-Instagram

How to Find Instagram Hashtags

Take a look at your competitor’s Instagram posts and see what hashtags they are using. Check an account that is somewhat more popular than yours. If you copy the hashtags of an Instagram with tens of thousands of users, you’re not likely to get the same reach. So, you’ll need to find Instagram hashtags that are mid-range and can work well for an account of your size.

You’ll notice that as you type in a hashtag on a post, Instagram automatically shows you how popular that hashtag is Use this as a guide for choosing you twenty or so tags. Posts should always use the location. This increases visibility. Other Instagramers can find your post from the map that is native to the app. But use the location as a hashtag too. For example, if I tag a post location as Manhattan, then I’m also going to use #ny, #newyork, and #nyc as hashtags. There, of course, will be others, but the location-based hashtags are easy.

Describe what’s in the photo. Include the subject of the photo, for example, #dog then expand and include more hashtags by using the plural #dogs and of course the typical #dogsofinstagram. Don’t forget to use hashtags for colors, the day of the week and mention what you are doing #working #flying or #eating. If you are stuck for ideas, you can append words to
#ig
#love
#gram
#location

For example #igdogs

Instagram – Four Types of Videos on Instagram
Instagram – Four Types of Videos on Instagram

Instagram search is super helpful for discovering relevant hashtags that can bring more engagement to your account. Tap the magnifying glass icon and go to #tags.” type in a few words of a hashtag you are considering. Instagram will list more tags along with how popular each hashtag is. If you are just starting out you may want to use a hashtag that ranks in the thousands, rather than a tag that has millions of posts associated with it.

How to See Popular Posts on Instagram

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Instagram How to See Popular Posts on Your Account

Instagram is one of the most popular social media channels for marketing strategies. Of course, the largest and most widely used is Facebook which owns Instagram al9ng with Messenger, WhatsApp, and WeChat. Instagram is of course, highly visual as all posts must have an image or video attached. The channel also offers a variety of video formats of various lengths to increase engagement with followers.

Instagram is a desirable channel for a brand or business looking to connect with social media users under the age of 45. The platform is a top channel used by those who have abandoned Facebook for a simpler way to connect with businesses and friends. More than half of Instagram users follow a brand on Facebook.

Posts should consider posting lifestyle photos, celebrations, events, promotions, and other imagery that connects with a follower on a personal level. Videos are especially engaging. Products are best shown in photos and videos that demonstrate how they are used in everyday life.

I mention SEMRUsh in the video, here’s a link to a FREE 7-day trial http://ow.ly/NC7v30nUeeH

Instagram for Local Social Media

Instagram works well for local social media too. Adding a location to an image increases reach for the post and works well for local social.

But how can you tell which of your posts are most popular and what type of content is working for your business? It’s challenging enough to determine who is following you back on Instagram. Hint- although you can scroll through your list of followers for that information, it’s time-consuming and not practical for an account with a large following. Third-party apps are a better solution.

To get an idea about what posts are working for you, including stories, you’ll need to convert to an Instagram business account. With a business account, you will see data and analytics not available to personal Instagram accounts. Even if you are using Instagram for personal branding, consider converting to an Instagram business can bring a boost to your social media strategy.

How to Convert to an Instagram Business Account

Converting to an Instagram business account is easy. You’ll need to connect it a Facebook business page in the process. Go to your Instagram profile then tap the hamburger menu in the upper right corner of the Instagram app. At the bottom of the next screen, choose to Account. From here you can begin the process of converting to an Instagram business account. If you already have a business account, then you can convert back to a personal account from this screen. During the conversion process, which takes just a few minutes, you will connect to your Facebook business page.

Once you convert to a business account, you will be able to see your most popular posts. Some of this data on each post including who viewed a video. Once changed over, when you go into your new Instagram analytics, then you will see what days of the week and times of day are most popular for your followers. Instagram will also show you posts that are popular with your users right in your feed (but only you can see this as an account admin.)

With Instagram insights, you’ll see per post what hashtags bring viewers to your content. You’ll also be able to share popular Instagram posts to your connected Facebook page when you are on the app. Stories are very useful and help an account get more reach. Try posting to stories and experiment with hashtags to find a set that works well and brings more reach.

I use SEMrush, to manage my SEO campaigns as well as track my social media engagement. have Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest connected to it for stats and competitor analytics. But the free insights work well too.

DISCLAIMER: This video is SPONSORED! Thanks to you guys for supporting me and thank you to Briogeo for sponsoring today’s video! Some of the above links are AFFILIATE LINKS meaning I make a small amount of $$ off your purchase

Instagram – Four Types of Videos

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Instagram – Four Types of Videos Used on Instagram

Instagram offers four ways to use videos. Videos can increase reach on Instagram and make your account more visible. Instagram videos can be recorded live or uploaded later. The social media channel allows uses to edit videos for the correct length.

Instagram boats over 1 billion monthly active users. It is considered the social media channel to be on for any marketing to US consumers under the age of 45. For many regions of the world, Instagram in the only social media channel, regardless of age, because it is a mobile only app. Although, the web app has recently added a few more features, Instagram is still easier to use and remains a mobile device app. This makes it popular in areas, such as Africa, where there is far less laptop and tablet use.

Videos offers a good way for brands and individuals to connect with an audience. Videos allow a business or brand to make a personal connection with consumers. Videos can promote products but can also show potential customers what everyday life looks like at the office. Social media also allows brands to converse with followers.

Instagram has several types of video content. The original was simple video post to a user’s newsfeed. Newsfeed videos are simple to create. They can have filters and users can choose a cover image for the Instagram video. Stories also allow videos although the maximum length is shorter than a newsfeed video. However, stories have many advantages such as stickers and hashtags to help gain more reach. IGTV is the newest type of video content on Instagram and is also the longest length video allowed on Instagram. This is an underutilized type of post as brands have been slow to adopt it. The content that is posted is generally repurposed form elsewhere. IGTV is an opportunity to gain more reach an Instagram. Highlights are videos saved from other posts. Highlights are great for what appears to be categories on an Instagram profile.

Four Types of Videos on Instagram

  1. Newsfeed
  2. Highlights
  3. IGTV
  4. Instagram Stories

    Instagram newsfeed videos are up to 60 seconds long. Instagram Story videos are 15 seconds long. IGTV videos can be 10 minutes long offering the best opportunity for a longer video. Approved Instagram accounts can go up to an hour on IGTV. Highlights are saved from other content.

Instagram Adds New Security Features

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Instagram Adds New Security Features

Instagram rolled out a pair of new features designed to increase the security of your Instagram account

Accounts that have a large following can request verification. Like Facebook, verified accounts will sport a blue checkmark in their profile. Instagram has not specified what constitutes a large following or large audience for the app. A verified profile on Facebook does not coordinate with a verified profile badge for Instagram. You will have to apply for it separately.

How to Apply for Instagram Verification

  1. On your mobile device, open the Instagram app
  2. Login to your account
  3. Tap your profile icon on the lower right-hand corner of the app
  4. Tap the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) in the upper-right corner
  5. Select settings at the bottom of the screen
  6. Scroll down to the Settings section
  7. Select “Request verification” (if it is there)

NOTE: You will have to supply your Instagram account name and provide the required form of identification.

Two-factor authentication (2FA)

Instagram also added two-factor authentication (2FA) to help users keep their accounts secure. This security feature adds an extra step to the login process. 2FA is used by many social channels like Pinterest, to help keep accounts secure. But like the others, Instagram also made the security enhancement optional as the users’ discretion.

Instagram users can turn on 2FA from the settings section of their apps. The steps are detailed in this blog post about enabling Instagram 2FA.

Both features are rolling out to users. Two-factor authentication should be available to all users over the coming weeks. All accounts we manage already have it enabled. Large account can apply for verified profile badges as they see fit!

About Instagram

Instagram is a popular photo and video-sharing social media channel. It was launched in 2010 by creators Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. In 2012 Facebook acquired Instagram which now has over 800 million users globally.

The Best Time to Post on Instagram

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The Best Time to Post on Instagram

The best time to post on Instagram depends on your individual audience. Like any social media channels, different users are active at different times of the day. The best time to post is when your users are online and posting themselves. You may have viewers from all over the globe or if you are a local brand, then your followers may all be in the same time zone as your place of business.

Instagram has over 700 million active users. The mobile app social channel is owned by Facebook. Although it was once unique, many features have been copied from rival app Snapchat causing Snapchat usage to decline. There are two ways to post on Instagram – through stories and on a profile. Like Snapchat, stories disappear after 24 hours. Wall posts are permanent unless deleted.

To understand the best time to post, you’ll need some metrics to look at when your users are most active. It’s true, you can use a third-party app like SEMRush for example to track your audience. However, it is possible to see their active times, without paying for another service.

The first thing you’ll need to do to understand when your followers are active and when they are not. Converting your Instagram to a business account will get you the stats you need – popular days of the week and time of day. Converting to an Instagram business account is free and only take a few minutes.

After changing over to a business account, users can swipe through the account and see that stats on each post, including likes, comments, reach, engagement, and impressions. In addition, an Instagram business account also shows admins which days of the week are most popular and which hours users are watching.

Why Instagram and Snapchat Screenshots Are Not Always Creepy

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Why Instagram and Snapchat Screenshots are Not Always Creepy

Hey social media creeps, are you worried that someone knows that you are saving screenshots of their photos on your smartphone? I will admit I do occasionally screenshot inspirational quotes on Instagram, but that is it. The only screenshots I save from Snapchat are my own, and I use them as posts on Instagram or in blog posts like this one! So there, definitely not creepy!

Snapchat refused Facebook’s two early offers to buy. The Instagram parent company has unabashedly copied certain features of Snapchat, like disappearing messages and stories, like a scorned lover! Now Snapchat has more than 150 million daily active users and nets about six billion (yes, billion!) video views each day. [1] While rival Instagram has over 500 million monthly active users. [2]

There has been quite a swirl of chatter and misinformation around Instagram users’ ability to screenshot posts on the down low. Newsflash: It’s not true – sort of! Snapchat users do receive a notification when someone saves a screenshot of their snap. On Instagram, well, it’s slightly more complicated.

Snapchat users can screenshot anything – a story, a snap or a direct message. The sender can always tell how many screenshots were saved and who took them.

Instagram just updated the app to include a notification. Users are only notified if the recipient of a direct message takes a screenshot. This means your fellow Instagrammer had to have sent you a direct message. When you screenshot it, the sender is notified. Instagram Screenshot notifications are not sent for regular posts or story posts.

While users of either social channel cannot stop friends from taking screenshots, they can however, restrict who sees their content with privacy settings thereby controlling which people can take a screenshot.

For those who use Snapchat for personal use only, screenshots may be quite creepy. However, if a Snapchat account is a business account, screenshots can be a useful metric! Note: There are no official “business” accounts on Snapchat like there are on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. There is not a lot to measure with Snapchat “free” snaps if you are trying to assess your strategy. With the minimum ad spend at about $150k, there is no place for entry-level ad buys.

Brands posting a promo or storyline can use Snapchat screenshot counts to get a feel for how many people may act on an offer. Another metric, number of Snap views is also useful. Next time you post, look at the number of views on the first and last post. Are followers reading all the way through your story or are they leaving? Where are they dropping off? Check back just before the posts disappear to get your maximum view counts. Try to figure out the optimum number of posts in your story. When posting a promo code, coupon, or other directive for a retail location, then the number of screenshots taken can help measure reach and effectiveness. [Figure 1] So there not all screenshots are creepy!


Figure 1

Business Instagram users get some, but not very granular, metrics from their accounts. If you have not already changed over to an Instagram business account, make the switch. Stats will show retroactively.

If you have a personal Snapchat or Instagram account and don’t want random people screenshotting your posts, then change your privacy settings! No one can see your content unless you allow them to. To restrict who sees what on Snapchat, change your account settings so that “Who can View My Story” is set to “private.” If you only follow people you know and trust, then screenshots should not be a worry. This of course, does not apply to brands. Instagram accounts can be set to private as well, so only friends can see (and screenshot!) posts.

Follow me on both Snapchat (Snapcode below) and Instagram – I promise I don’t screenshot (much!)


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Sources:
[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-02/snapchat-passes-twitter-in-daily-usage

[2] https://www.statista.com/statistics/253577/number-of-monthly-active-instagram-users/

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