If you're not on Instagram yet, you should be starting right about now. Boasting a staggering 1 billion active users every month, getting started on Instagram is fairly simple.
Before you get your Instagram marketing strategy up and running, you need to be acquainted with the features offered by Instagram. The first step in this process is to learn how to post on Instagram.
You can directly post on your Instagram feed, which will appear on your profile grid. You can also post “stories” and create scrollable “guides.”
But first, let’s get you going with Instagram feed posts.
How To Post On Your Instagram Feed
Your feed posts are the content that will get more reach or exposure. These posts appear on the home feed of your followers.
Here’s a 10-step short guide on how to make your first post on Instagram.
1. Open Instagram and tap the plus (+) icon at the bottom
Click on the [+] icon placed in the middle of the bottom ribbon of your screen.
2. Choose a photo or video from your phone or use the camera button to click/shoot one
You can select a photo from the pictures and videos in your gallery or click the camera icon to take a picture or shoot a video.
3. Pinch the screen to adjust dimensions
The default ratio is 1:1 or a square. You can change it by pinching your screen. The image will be cropped according to the dimension you set.
4. Select multiple photos to make a carousel post
Use the “select multiple” option or the stacked square icon to make a carousel post with up to 10 images. Once you’re done, click “Next” or the arrow button.
5. Pick a filter preset or edit manually
You can use one of the filters offered by Instagram or adjust your image manually using the edit feature. Click “Next” or the arrow button after finishing the edits.
6. Type your caption for the post
Add an interesting caption to go with your post.
7. Tag other accounts
Click on “tag people” to tag other accounts on Instagram. Your posts will appear on the tagged posts section of their profile.
8. Add a location
You can also add a location to your post. You can select the location manually or select one from the suggestions below the “Add location” option.
9. Share to other accounts
You can also share your post to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr directly from your Instagram account. These accounts need to be linked with your Instagram account beforehand.
10. Post!
Finally! Click on “Share” or the check-mark icon to post on the Instagram feed and watch the magic happen.
Tips to help you make the most out of Instagram posts
Create posts that get “Saved”
As Instagram continues to test the removal of like counts in posts, post engagement is likely to become the primary metric to gauge performance.
The “Save” option of Instagram, along with comments and shares, make up the engagement figures of an Instagram post. The Instagram algorithm is designed in a way that the more “saves” your posts get, the more users are likely to see them.
To take advantage of this, make posts that are useful to the users, which will lead them to save your posts to view later. This can be how-to guides, infographics, or blog post summaries.
For example, Ascend from Harvard Business Review (@hbrascend) posted a summary of an article highlighting key points, which are likely to be saved by users because of the useful information it contains.
Add hashtags for better reach
To show up in the most relevant searches, you need to use hashtags that are appropriate for your posts. This will ensure better reach of your posts and help your audience find you.
Here, Carlsberg USA (@carlsbergusa) posted about a soccer match before the kick-off and used the hashtags of the team and their slogan, along with Carlsberg’s tagline. Whenever a user is searching with the hashtag of Liverpool FC, Carlsberg’s post is likely to show up in the results.
Tweak additional settings
Instagram posts come with advanced settings, including comment control, age restriction, accessibility, and business partnership options.
You can find these options by clicking on “Advanced Settings” at the bottom of the window where you type your post’s caption.
You have the option to turn off comments, write “alt texts”, turn on the option to share your posts to Facebook automatically, and add minimum age by default or by specific countries.
Tag your business partners
If you are partnering on a project or event with another business, you can use Instagram’s business partnership tools. It allows you to share post metrics with your partner automatically.
Here’s actor Michael B. Jordan (@michaelbjordan) partnering with Coach (@coach). Notice that using business tools adds a “paid partnership with” label to the post, which makes it easier for the audience to understand who you are partnering with.
Scheduling Instagram Posts: P Postfity
Scheduling posts is a great way of ensuring that you have a smooth Instagram strategy and don’t have to wait to make the post in real-time.
Although Instagram allows you to save the draft of your posts, it doesn’t offer a built-in scheduling feature. Lucky for you, there are a lot of great third-party options to start scheduling your posts, including Planoly, Later, and of course, Postfity.
Postfity
With Postfity, you can schedule up to 10,000 Instagram posts, including posting to multiple accounts. You can now schedule posts to Instagram accounts directly from your desktop, without any workarounds!
Postfity offers a unique feature that allows you to create Twitter snapshots that can be shared on Instagram.
You can also manage client accounts as a team and set approval levels for each member.
Final Word
If you’ve waited this long to start posting on Instagram, it’s now time to stop waiting. Get your Instagram strategy underway with brilliant features of Postfity, including seamless post scheduling and collaboration.
Sign up and get your free trial on Postfity today!
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