Expersight Intelligence
Instagram completes its 10th year of being in the social media market in 2020. In its decade-long stint, the app has grown multifold and helped build and promote millions of individual and enterprise brands. Started as a photo-sharing app, Instagram is a crucial asset for everyone in the digital spectrum since it directly impacts 1 billion active users every month. With a visual-centric approach, the app never deviated from its core character of vertical browsing and hence, kept the users engaged with instant consumption and valuable conversations. However, there are many users whose efforts haven’t produced the expected engagement.
Ever wondered why some Instagram accounts with fewer posts have a hundred thousand genuine followers while others despite uploading content every day struggle to reach half the numbers?
Instagram is a simple yet deep phenomenon and not everyone has cracked the underlying algorithm. It is only after a real-time experience that few legit derivations can be made. Here is a quick run through the 4 common mistakes that you have been doing with your Instagram handling.
Writing single line captions
If a beautiful picture flocks more users to your account, a well-written caption retains them and inspires them to browse the feed. Instagram allows us to explain our post in brief so that it is appropriate for vertical browsing. However, most of us don’t take the descriptions seriously and put a random quote. This happened because we follow our loved brands and try to imbibe everything from them including the size of the captions. But what we don’t understand is the fact that celebrity accounts held their status before signing up on Instagram. So, an account like Coke can put a single-line description and yet attract millions of more followers but we cannot.
A post’s caption can basically contain 2200 characters (maximum caption size allowed). Writing a brief description that conveys some story, helps the readers to feel connected and stays with the flow. It is also important to know that breaking down a huge description into 2 or 3 paragraphs will make it easier for the readers to read through and understand. This will also help the reader consume the content quickly and slide to the next post in the feed.
Using hashtags incorrectly
Do you know the difference between #using #hashtags #like #this and #usinghashtagslikethis? If not, then you have been doing it all wrong while draining all your content posting efforts to waste. Most Instagram users don’t know the true meaning of the symbol that has been driving engagements across multiple social media platforms. Hashtags are the symbols used to denote a search phrase in the social media application. So, when a user has triggered a search like “best travel pictures”, the Instagram algorithm crawls those posts that include hashtags like #besttravelpictures and not #best #travel #pics. Those pictures that are accompanied by appropriate hashtags have 12.6% more engagements than improper or no tags.
Instagram allows using up to 30 hashtags in a single post. As per the context of your picture or post, filter the most relevant hashtags. Make sure they are trendy and targeted. If given a choice, avoid those tags that are too long. Also, avoid using ordinary tags such as #travel, #holiday, etc as there can be so many posts related to it.
Devaluing the impact of Instagram Story
Instagram Stories are huge; nearly 500 million people use them every day. The story, introduced by Snapchat is probably the most talked-about feature in social media apps and Instagram is no different. While the traditional posting stays intact, Stories have created an upheaval in social media content production. With a limited shelf life of 24 hours, the content here is meant for quick consumption, so that the users are tempted to upload more. Understand this; social media apps want you to create more volumes of content and Stories are one effective tool to drive instant engagement. Most users haven’t looked beyond randomly using filters on ordinary pictures. But for Analyzing the advertising side of it, Stories should be put to productive use by adding extended functions.
Try different features. Conduct polls; include CTAs, use filters, editing tools and everything available on the tray. Just do more than just posting ordinary pictures. The idea of having an additional section of Storie’s is to publish content that does more than just a post. Therefore, make use of all the features for guaranteed better returns.
Not using professional Instagram management tools
Instagram is not unaffected by automation especially when social media apps were one of the first adopters of this digital trend. Social media management tools work at multiple levels. Besides scheduling posts, these tools provide a comprehensive look into the performance of every post, integrating 3rd party tools to design and run campaigns from Instagram, track followers, study geographies and a lot more. There are plenty of Instagram management tools that let you do bulk scheduling and check who unfollowed you. However, at the professional level, there’s a lot more at stake. Businesses are trying to discover revenue streams through Instagram while individuals want to pursue their dream of being an influencer.
It is very simple to use an Instagram management tool. Essentially the user must sign up to an app that provides dashboard access to different functions of Instagram. Use the tool to research hashtags, schedule weekly posts, study performance metrics and ultimately make decisive changes to your posting strategy. It helps in saving time and also reduces the efforts put into managing the social media account.
Ultimately, it is the uniqueness of the content that triumphs. No matter how smart you get with your tactics, Instagram always acknowledges high-quality content. Entering an era influenced by social media, there’s no better time to experiment with your Instagram feed and that’s exactly what you ought, to begin with.
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