Want to master Instagram?
Why wouldn’t you? Instagram is powerful.
However, not many people and businesses take full advantage of it. Over the past year, I’ve dedicated myself to learning as much as possible about Instagram to get the best out of it.
The result? I applied what I’ve learned and took my account from 0 to over 70,000 Instagram followers today. Instagram allowed me to grow a completely new personal brand from scratch.
Today, I’ll share with you all the Instagram tips, tricks, and hacks that have led to my success.
1. Post more than 30 hashtags
Here’s an Instagram tip for those who love to add a lot of hashtags. Currently, there is a small loophole on Instagram that allows you to add more than the maximum of 30 hashtags.
You will need to follow the proper steps to add up to 60 hashtags per post to give you even more exposure.
Here’s how you can do it.
Post your photo or video as usual. Make sure there are no hashtags in the original caption, otherwise this trick won’t work.
Next copy and paste 30 hashtags into a comment of your photo or video.
Once that is done, edit your photo’s caption and add up to 30 more hashtags.
2. Research hashtags for your posts
Some hashtags may be obvious; but the obvious ones tend to be overused and your post will drown in them. Hashtags like #business may be relevant, but it has over 17 million photos. Your photos will probably get lost in a matter of seconds.
What you should do instead is use hashtags that are popular but not overused. The trick to doing the research on Instagram.
All you have to do is start with a common hashtag. I’ll start with #business. Then start scrolling to the bottom.
See how #businesslife has just 300,000? This hashtag would be a better hashtag to use. You can easily find more hashtags like these by scrolling for more suggestions each time you search for a common hashtag.
Continue to find up to 60 hashtags. It may take a while, but you’ll see better results and engagement from it.
Here are a few more hashtags you can use to get you started in the right direction.
- #entrepreneurlifestyle – 710,000 posts
- #entrepreneurial – 205,000 posts
- #successtips – 120,000 posts
3. Save hashtags for future use
Ready for more Instagram tips on using hashtags? Here’s one to keep you organized.
Because we’ve been there. You have the perfect photo or the best video to share on Instagram and, after posting it, you only have a short window of time to post your hashtags.
Oh no, you start panicking and forget all the hashtags you want to use. The worst? You forgot some of the most important hashtags! Noooooooo!
No worries. All you have to do is create a note in a notepad app and sort them by categories. If you’re a business account, you can create hashtags for
- Business
- Quotes
- Personal
(Don’t forget to maximize the 60 hashtags trick I shared above!)
4. Hide hashtags on Instagram
A list of hashtags on every Instagram post looks spammy. It may even feel like you’re craving for attention. We don’t want that do we?
Here’s a little hack you may not know.
Hide those hashtags by using “.” and spaces. All you have to do is save them in a notepad like so.
5. Save drafts for later
Alright. Let’s go beyond hashtags and get to some Instagram tips about your visual content.
Did you know you have the ability to save posts as drafts? Yes! In your drafts, you can include the pics and captions.
How to do it:
- Tap the + at the bottom of the screen to shoot or upload a photo or video like how you would normally do.
- Edit your photo, add your caption, location, etc.
- Hit the < icon in the upper left-hand corner of the screen to go back to the editing screen. (Android folks: tap the arrow pointing left.)
- Hit the < icon again (Android users: the arrow.)
- A pop-up menu will appear asking if you want to Save Draft or discard it. Just click Save Drafts.
You’re done. Next time you want to upload a photo, it will appear like this.
Important: Sometimes your drafts may disappear when Instagram updates their app. You may not want to keep too many drafts.
6. Monitor comments on ads
Instagram ads are compelling. They are an excellent way to generate leads and traffic from Instagram. The problem? You can’t see comments.
Here’s a great solution: Agorapulse!
You can set up Agorapulse to monitor comments on your Facebook ads and … yes Instagram comments. They will all be delivered to your inbox in Agorapulse.
To set up, all you have to do is follow this guide.
7. Record video hands-free
If you’re alone and looking to record a video on your own, you can. Click on the “+” icon just like how you would normally upload or record your Instagram story.
Next click on hands-free. It will start recording. You can choose to save it or upload it to your Instagram story.
8. Share photos from your camera roll on Stories
So, you’ve taken the perfect photo for your Instagram story. The problem? You only have 24 hours to post it.
Don’t worry, if you can’t post all of them at once all you have to do is take a screenshot of that photo and that photo will appear as new in your photo. The quality may not be the same, but it’s a great workaround.
9. Mention other accounts in your Story
What I love about Instagram Stories is the ability of tag other accounts in the stories.
Tagging is simple, all you need to do is type their username like how you would in a caption. When you mention correctly it will look something like this.
Otherwise, it will look like normal text.
Your followers will be able to see who you mention and can click to head over to their profile. When you mention someone in your Instagram story, it also sends who you mention a notification.
10. Gain more followers
Shout for shoutout aka #S4S or #SFS (share for share) is a great way to get more Instagram followers. The way it works is you find a similar account to yours with a similar audience, and you approach them asking if they are interested to trade a shout for a shout. If they are, you both mention each other in your captions and Instagram Stories.
This method alone has helped me get thousands of followers. The key is finding appropriate accounts or accounts that are similar to yours.
11. Get free analytics
If you want analytics on the cheap, all you have to do is switch to a business profile. The business profile comes with analytics that can help you determine if your Instagram marketing is working or not.
Switching to a business profile is straight forward. Go to your options and click on “Switch to Business Profile.” Next, all you have to do is connect it to your Facebook page.
12. Make your captions more readable
I don’t know ’bout you, but when I read something on Instagram, I would prefer it if there’s adequate spacing between them. This makes your Instagram captions more readable. I know, you look at your iOS keyboard, and the ‘return’ button isn’t there. (Android users: You’re fine here. Skip to the next Instagram hack.)
It’s there. Click on the 123 button.
The return button will appear.
13. Turn off commenting
Do you have a particular type of content where you don’t want anyone to leave a comment?
On Instagram, you can switch off comments. It’s quite simple to do too. Just click on the “…” like so and click on “turn off commenting”
Now people can’t leave any comments on your photo anymore.
Summing up:
These Instagram hacks and tricks can be daunting if you’re still new to Instagram. I recommend bookmarking this blog post for future reference.
Once you’ve done that, take a few of these Instagram tips and try them. Let us know how they worked for you!
