Instagram has quickly grown from the lowly position it once held and has now become among the leading social media sites today. Among the many changes, it has implemented include the sharing of your content to other social media platforms, as well as incorporating the posting of videos and Instagram stories.
Because it has such a wide user base (more than 500 million monthly users worldwide), businesses are now seeking to use it as a focal point of entering the business of branding their enterprises. It is not difficult to understand why; when you manage to make your name known on the site, you will have an easier time seeing yourself outside of your audience there.
In addition, brands and businesses are seeing the value of engaging with people on the platform. Studies are continuing to show that the per follower interaction rates are 2.3 percent. This is much higher compared to other sites such as Twitter, standing at 0.02 percent, and Facebook, standing at 0.2 percent.
While that sounds amazing, the truth is that it takes time and dedication to build your brand, and it will not come easy – especially on Instagram. There is a lot you must do, more than using services that buy Instagram comments for photo or video posts. From engaging with followers to regular posting, it can honestly feel overwhelming sometimes. Here are some tips that can help you navigate that with less effort.
Create the posts on desktop, not mobile
We have come a long way in terms of the activities we can now do on the desktop, and there are many tools that you can use to create and edit posts. Of course, the desktop platform of Instagram will not allow publishing, but you can use many tools to create and edit your posts on the desktop first.
There are two reasons why this is an advantage. First, many scheduling tools on Instagram save you the problem of trying to transfer photos and graphics from your computer to your mobile. Secondly, editing photos and videos or creating graphics is easier and faster on the desktop compared to mobile.
There are guidelines you should follow before you post your content, and desktops can allow you to adjust your image size quickly. The guidelines will depend on the kind of image you are posting, but the general rule is working with square images that are 1080px by 1080px, horizontal images of 1080px by 566px, and vertical ones of 1080px by 1350px.
Take advantage of quick reposts (with permission)
There is a reason why user-generated content and platforms such as Tumblr and YouTube are so popular – they are entertaining, and guarantees that your profile gets attention because people see you are current with your affairs. In fact, a study discovered that this type of content is more than 30 percent in memorability, and has trust rates of 50 percent more than the non-user generated and traditional media (such as TV, newspapers, radio).
Instagram has also incorporated this immensely into their platform, and it is a surefire way of growing your audience immensely. However, note that it is important to request permission from the OP (original poster) before using their content in your account.
Make sure your Instagram gallery has a specified layout
You may have begun your account having random posts about anything you want to post on, but it is actually better to have a plan in mind when laying out your strategy. This will help you remain focused when posting, and help you post the relevant content.
In addition, keep in mind that the platform itself is becoming more of a curated space, where an individual or business will only put their best content. This depends on the themes they are going for, rather than randomly selecting them for all the photos they take. Therefore, the more consistent and well-curated your gallery is, the better your profile will look, and the more followers it will attract.
Utilize tools that help in separate creation of content and your engagement
We are sure you have heard of the saying on doing one thing at a time, and it applies here as well. The cost of switching your mind from one task to another will negatively impact your progress in something – regardless of whether the switch is brief or long.
This is because when you switch from one task to another, the brain will interpret the old task as leaving an ‘attention residue’, and this reduces your cognitive performance for some time. Multitasking is therefore very hard to accomplish something meaningful because the brain is trying its best to switch between all the tasks it has.
When it comes to creating your content on Instagram, this will also apply. The two main tasks you have are creating content and engaging with others. A trick you can use is to separate these two tasks and do them at different times. When you are engaging with other users, focus on that, and so on.
Posting all of your content in a concentrated space of time
This is taking the previous step to a new level, because you are bulk posting all of a week’s or day’s content in one go, then afterward engaging with other users. The main idea here is grouping tasks that are similar in outcome, and doing them at the same time.
This may be difficult when you are used to the idea of multitasking, but you will soon find it works even better and increases your productivity. For instance, instead of posting several times a day, try posting all of the day’s content at once. Scheduling tools can also help in this, and the overall effect is that your posts become more consistent as time goes by.
In addition, do not forget the importance of engaging with other users, and you will begin to have control over your schedule.
Final thoughts
Maintaining high activity levels on Instagram is not easy, but it is important if you want to grow your audience substantially with these tools, you will be better able to create consistency, and attract followers – even more often than using social media plugin integration tools.
Chris Mcdonald has been the lead news writer at complete connection. His passion for helping people in all aspects of online marketing flows through in the expert industry coverage he provides. Chris is also an author of tech blog Area19delegate. He likes spending his time with family, studying martial arts and plucking fat bass guitar strings.