It is all about the feed

Look at your feed’s bigger picture

What do you want to achieve with your account? Do you want to gain more followers to broaden your brand or do you simply want to show off all the fun you had on your latest vacation? Decide what you want to achieve, then brush up on hashtags that will benefit your feed and get a better reach. Adding descriptive captions will allow you to engage with your followers.

Stick to high-quality images

Whether it’s applying a retro filter or adjusting your photos’ saturation, you’re a photographer, so showcase your skills.

Follow a theme

It’s easier for your audience to follow a story they recognise: following a specific theme can stir up excitement for what you’re posting next. Instagrammer Daniel Navarro is an expert in this area narrating posts in such a way that they all flow into one another gradually telling the same story.

Mobile purchasing

Instagram can now be used to advertise and sell services or products. By linking your Facebook and Instagram business accounts and integrating your shop catalogues from both platforms, you’ll be able to tag products in your posts. The product tags give your followers the option to click through to your online store and shop away. They’ll also allow you to tag products in beautiful, colour-coordinated lifestyle photos instead of boring stock images.

Keep it simple

If your main goal is to promote your brand, don’t clutter your audience with photographs that have no real benefit.

She is visual account

Q&A templates in your stories

A new trend taking Instagram by storm are question stickers and templates. These offer a quick and quirky way for people to get in touch, answer brand-related queries or even make suggestions.

The Canva app has various fun templates to use. You can also make these longer for surveys or questionnaires. Feeling silly? Answer using a funny GIF, which is all the rage right now.

Instagram stories – live or not, keep them entertained

Reasons to make use of this fresh feature:

1. Instagram stories are discoverable

Without even following you, others can see your stories. Instagram stories allow you to show the Insta-world what you’re capable of or help them get some more insight into your personal life.

2. They add a personal touch

People want to see authenticity and spontaneity. By showing them personal moments with stories they’ll keep going back to your profile. They might even suggest your account to others. Creating high-quality videos is a must if you’re a professional, follow Matt Masson for great examples.

3. They’re visible for 24 hours

You can post any time because your story is visible for 24 hours, so say goodbye to that “what to post when” stress.

4. Get that fun factor

With add-ons like stickers, mentions, hashtags, locations and gifs you get to add that fun factor to your videos.