If you're like me, then you might have a slight addiction to Instagram. No, seriously. If you find yourself flicking through the app with cat-like reflexes a few more than a dozen times a day, you might be on the brink of IG overload. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Facebook advocate too, but there's something to be said about the intuitive and easy-to-use interface of Instagram:
- Open app.
- Flick through pictures and videos from friends and celebs
- Double Tap to like.
It's frickin' genius.
By now, you're probably an expert. Instagram began it's reign of the video-sharing market in 2010, becoming an overnight success, ending up with more than 200 million active users to date. The smartphone app enables its users to take pictures and videos, apply digital filters to them, and share them on a variety of social networking services, such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr. Users can also leave comments on friends' pictures and filter content posts based on hashtags and search.
I wanted to provide a nifty tip on how to optimize Instagram posts for maximum engagement. This quick tip works well on a personal and business page level to bring more eyes and likes to your posts.
Use Content Related Hashtags
Hashtags can increase your post engagement, especially for users who don't have a large following on the video-sharing platform.
As defined by Small Biz Trends: A hashtag is a label for content. It helps others who are interested in a certain topic, quickly find content on that same topic.
When creating an Instagram post, I use a FREE iPhone/Android app called Tags For Likes. It's a great app for acquiring content related hashtags for your posts. For example, if I'm uploading a post of an art piece I admire, I would pull up the "art" category on my Tags for Likes app. It would then provide a list of the most popular hashtags for the art category.
Then, I would post my cool photo and a quick caption. Be sure to post a brief explanation of your pic (you can include hashtags here that might not be mentioned in your Tags For Likes search). Instagram allows a maximum of thirty hashtags per post.
Also, be careful! Instagram can be stringent when it comes to Hashtag abuse. They can revoke your Hashtag use indefinitely so don't post more than 30 hashtags per post.
You might end up like these two Hashtag abusers!
I would even suggest doing less than 15. Now, users searching specific hashtag keywords like "art" at that given moment will be served up your pic as the most recent post. They'll click your picture and if they like it, double tap the pic (resulting in a like!).
This works wonders for business owners with a national product they want to promote in a specific niche.
Don't believe me? Try this:
1. Post a photo with a quick caption
2. Wait a minute or so
3. Now, access your Tags For Likes app and search for the category closest related to your pic
Now, watch likes trickle in as users see and engage with your post
Voila!
Using Tags For Likes can really optimize Instagram posts for maximum engagement. Try it out and leave a comment below with your thoughts. Happy posting!