Did you know that 81% of people use Instagram to research products? A lot of businesses have Instagram and most people are familiar with its basic functions like making posts and creating stories. I also like to highlight its lesser-known features to make sure that my clients (and their customers) are getting the most out of their Instagram pages. I’ve put together some of my favourite tips below!
SAVING POSTS AND MAKING COLLECTIONS
Instead of just scrolling through Instagram, I encourage you to think about saving some posts and creating collections for inspiration and content planning. Saved post collections are a great way to group together posts for brand or content ideas or to bookmark posts that you want to read later (or read again and again). Plus, I often use them to plan out the design aesthetic of a client's grid. I save posts from their page, with other posts/images that match the look we are going for, so that we can see an example of how it would look laid out on their page.
To save a post, click on the bookmark icon in the bottom-right corner: You will be asked if you want to save the post to a collection. You can review your saved posts and collections by going to your profile page, clicking on the hamburger icon in the top right, and clicking on Saved.
INSTAGRAM GUIDES
Have you heard of Instagram Guides? If not, you are not alone, but trust me, you'll want to check them out. Guides are a relatively new Instagram feature that allows you to group a curated selection of content with commentary from you. There are three types of Guides:
Places: Recommend places in your city and beyond
Products: Recommend your favourite products
Posts: Recommend posts you created or saved
You can find Guides by clicking on the Guide icon tab from your account's profile tab (it will only appear if an account has created Guides). To create your own, click on the + icon from your profile and click on Guide. After you've made your first Guide, it will be visible from the newly added Guide icon tab above your feed. After you've made your Guide, share it to your Stories to promote your content!
There are a lot of possible uses for Guides depending on your industry, the type of content you create, and how you want to connect with your audience. A few ideas:
Step-by-step instructions
Grouping your post series
Sharing local recommendations
Seasonal gift guides for your website
Want some examples of Guides? Head over to my Instagram and click on the Guide icon on my profile page to see the ones I've created!
INCREASE YOUR STORY REACH WITH HIDDEN TAGS
You probably already know that adding location tag stickers and hashtags to your stories can help expand the reach of your content, but did you know that you can hide them so that the look of your Story doesn't end up looking too busy and matches with your aesthetic?
To do this, add your location tag or hashtag sticker the same as you would normally. Then, either drag them off the screen or shrink them down (by pinching your fingers together) so that they are no longer visible. Even though you can’t see it, Instagram will still know they are there and will treat your Story the same as if they were clearly displayed.
With the hashtag sticker, you can only use one hashtag for your Story, but you can expand your potential reach even further by adding more hashtags in: just type them in as text and then hide them the same way as above (dragging them off screen or shrinking them down).
Happy Instagramming!
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