When it comes to the social media sphere, Instagram is a shining sun among the stars of Twitter and Facebook. Yes, it’s wildly popular with the middle school and high school demographic, but according to the Pew Research Center, 26% of adult internet users utilize the network, with 53% of 18-29 year olds checking in daily.
What does this mean for you? Mobile phones are being used more than ever to access social media, and app based networks are quickly becoming king of the castle. It also means that you should be taking advantage of the mobile photo-sharing app to further your brand and maybe, posting a few selfies along the way. Here, we’ve compiled three Instagram hacks you should be using NOW.
Rearrange filters and hide the filters you don’t use.
If you’re a seasoned Instagram user, you’ve likely developed a favorite filter. For those of you that don’t yet have one, Valencia is awesome for beach days and Mayfair could make a Blob fish look like a Kardashian.
You may or may not have known this but there’s a feature that allows you to manage and reorder your filters, which makes life much easier when you know what you want. Just upload a photo and when you come to the filters page, scroll all the way to the end and click “Manage.”
To hide filters, simply deselect the ones you don’t use by tapping on the white check mark next to the filter.
To reorder filters, Hold your finger down on the three gray lines, then drag it to reorder it. That simple.
When you’re done, tap the X at the top and VOILA! No more having to sift through filters you’ll never use.
Insert line breaks in your bio.
The “Enter” button is mysteriously absent from Instagram’s app, making it (I once thought) impossible to insert line breaks and captions into your bio. Imagine my utter surprise when I learned creating an “Enter” button is as easy as pressing the “123” button in the bottom left corner. Like magic, the “Enter” button appears, making it easier to (gasp!) start new paragraphs when writing about how awesome your business is.
Move traffic to your business website.
This one is a biggie. One of the top complaints about Instagram is that its platform doesn’t encourage linking to external sources because clickable links are not allowed anywhere but the “website” section of your bio. When inserting a URL into a photo’s caption, it appears as plain text, which means the user would have to open a web browser app and copy and paste the link, which in this day is akin to walking six extra miles for water. No one wants to do that.
The best way to move traffic to your website via Instagram is to take advantage of the photo caption to encourage users to visit your profile for a link. You can easily update that link on a regular basis to contain your latest blog post, offer, or kitten video on YouTube. Create a call to action under your photo and add: “Link in Bio,” or “Link in Profile.”
Using these hacks will help push your brand forward, streamline Instagram’s ease of use and hopefully, move your business to the next level. If you’re ready to up your Instagram game, or simply don’t have the time each day to create content, check out Ghost Tweeting’s Instagram Master program.
