Better instagram habits for 2021
Use Hashtags
Hashtags are a discovery tool that allows users to find (and follow) collections of content they find valuable and relevant. Whether you think they work or not, you should use them, and here’s an easy way to do it.
Make 2-3 blocks of 8-10 relevant hashtags each, and save them in a note on your phone. This way, they’re easy to copy and paste in to a comment, or at the bottom of your caption.
Do a little research to find tags that have at least a few thousand posts, but not more than several million. You may think it’s a good idea to try to reach a bunch of users with a hugely popular hashtag like #realestate, but unless your content is gold, you’re likely only going to get interactions from bots and users that only want your attention in return.
Change up the tags in each block, perhaps even categorizing them for different kinds of posts you make frequently.
Always use a few hashtags that aren’t in your block, and are unique to the specific photo or video. Otherwise, IG may hide (shadowban) your content from appearing in certain hashtags if it thinks you’re “spammy.” The worst part is, you won’t even know it’s happening.
Push your posts to your story
You’re always at the mercy of the IG algorithm, but in your feed, it really does choose who sees your content and who doesn’t. The algorithm may not deliver your content to certain followers in their feeds, but lots of people flip through stories all day and can discover content they would like that they may not have seen.
PRO TIP: You can also use hashtags and location tags in your story! This is a great way to get featured in the story for that hashtag or location, making it a great discovery tool for users that follow those hashtags and locations.
Tag people
Everyone needs content, so posting content featuring others, and also tagging relevant people in your posts shares the love. It gives your colleagues, clients, or friends something to repost to their feeds, and when used in your story, it offers a quick and easy snippet of content for your tagged follower to add to their own story. The more (relevant) people you tag, the more built-in attention your post will get.
BUT… Don’t just go tagging random people in a post if they have nothing to do with the content. That’s a great way to be spammy, ineffectual, and probably get unfollowed.
Publish good content!
It may seem obvious, but putting a little extra care into your content can go a really long way. Let’s face it, the content quality bar has been raised due to the insane advancements in phone camera tech, but it still takes more than a fancy camera to make a great photo or video. To that end, pay attention to your composition, lighting, and always clean your lens before you shoot! For more on the basics of quality photography, look out for a future blog post coming soon.
Golden Rule
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is true in all aspects of life. If you want your colleagues, friends, and followers to comment and like your posts, spend a little time doing the same for them! And please, do more than just a string of emojis. I’ve been guilty of it too, but everyone knows how little effort that takes and it shows. A little extra effort to craft a couple solid sentences can go a long way towards creating dialogue and building a more real connection with greater potential to bring both parties future value in the real world.
