Social MediaTechnology

Are You On Instagram? Here’s Why You Should Be.

Instagram is one of my favourite Social Media Platforms. It's cool, it's fresh, it's simple, yet sophisticated. They recently announced in a blog post that they have reached 300 million users, which means they have officially beaten Twitter in number of users.

Facebook  made a very smart move when buying them, along with Whatsapp. There’s now 70 million photos shared every day day, and over 30 billion photos in total. Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom says “Over the past four years, what began as two friends with a dream has grown into a global community.”

Right now, Instagram doesn't have edgerank or any type of filter. So you just see everyone's posts in your feed. There are no lists like on Twitter, and no top stories like on Facebook, etc. Basically, you are flooded the more people you follow. However, while this still remains that way, that means we have a huge chance of our photos being seen by those who follow us. So as Marketers, we have a big opportunity right there.

But be careful. Instagram also announced on their blog and on their platform, that they are currently removing spammy accounts, which I think is a good thing. So don't go there and thing you can spam all day long, use it wisely.

intagram spam accounts

Now, if you ask me how I use Instagram, I'll tell you this: I use it as a Personal Branding tool. That means, I don't post a bunch of offers and links every day, but, I use it as a window into my life. I basically use it to show the World that I live life and enjoy life. I use it to inspire. Every once in a while I will throw in a message that combines my lifestyle with how I make a living through the internet. All in all, I am as human as it goes and people appreciate that and they also look up to it.

Here are just a few tips on how you can brand yourself on Instagram to showcase your life, your work and your passions!

#1 – Post frequently. You want to stay in the top of mind of people, so try to post every day, or at least 5 times per week.

#2 – Use hashtags. Just as Twitter, Instagram has hashtags and they're insanely useful. The more hashtags you add, the better, because that way you show up when people want to discover more photos related to the topic of your image. And also, once you're more involved in the instagram community, you'll see that some hashtags get a lot of attention. One good example is #f4f which means follow for follow. Then there's #nofilter to let people know that the awesome colours on your photo are natural. Or #dogsofinstagram whenever you upload a pic of your dog.

#3 – Share photos that are well taken. Despite the fact that we take pictures with our smartphones for instagram, we can still make an effort to make those photos look decent. Nothing like an ugly blurry photo with a filter. Clean up your lense and have good lighting, please.

#4 – Share inspirational stuff. You can create some graphics with apps such as Overgram, or Phoster, and send your message across. Inspirational quotes work pretty well there, and help you get a ton of likes. And pictures of kittens too.

#5 – Interact with the community. Go on other people's photos and leave comments and likes. That will help you get a few more followers. Simply look up some hashtags, click here and there and you'll find yourself in places you didn't know existed. I somehow ended up following a cat that has hundreds of thousands of followers, and it's not Grumpy Cat.

If you want to harness the power of social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook, I am opening up a training so I can teach you these strategies in more detail. The results I've gotten in my online business have taken me where I am now and continue to take me places I never thought I'd be at. You can achieve the results you want from Social Media with the right mentor. Fill out this form to be a part of my private training and help you get the shortcut you're looking for.

Liked this post? Got a few tips you'd like to add as well? Leave me a comment below and share this post with your friends and followers!

2 thoughts on “Are You On Instagram? Here’s Why You Should Be.

  1. Hey Carolina, wow I didn’t know Instagram is so powerful. I prefer to take pics with my DSLR so that’s one of the reasons I didn’t join yet but after reading your post I will definitely use it. Heard a lot of people getting good leads from Instagram. Thanks.

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