Do we all remember that Instagram "borrowed" the idea of stories from the ghost app, reels from the clock app, and threads from the former bird app and current one letter rebrand debacle? Just checking.
But still we can't quit it. Heston Roberts from Social Varsity brought receipts about the “social media darling” that has more than 2 billion active monthly users.
As Instagram has added features from here and there, how do you keep up?
Do we complain about changes until Mark Zuckerberg settles it in a Brazilian Ju Jitsu fight? Or lean in and learn how to optimize each feature? Heston teaches the latter, by the way.
Instagram’s classic feature is adding single images. They are the easiest to create and easy to save for later. Heston suggests optimizing these images by using portrait images as they will take up the most screen space. Use high quality photos and if you use text, make sure it’s legible at a mobile thumbnail size.
Like single images but MORE. These get high engagement because of an Instagram trick I did not know until this workshop. Carousels will get shown in your followers feeds twice. First with the first slide in the carousel and second with the second slide. Therefore, both of those images should be highly engaging and encourage swiping. Keep it cohesive and watch your engagement pour in.
Yes. They are here to stay. No. You don’t need to dance in them. You don’t even need to love them. But if you do use them, make sure you remove watermarks (looking at you clock app) and add a reel cover as a title card. These are built for outreach. Reels will get shown outside of your followers so use them to reach a wider audience and drive traffic to look at your profile.
Remember when Snapchat owned these? Just like Snapchat was for connecting with people you know, stories are for engaging with your followers. Think conversions when you think of stories. And use Instagram’s native tools - stickers and questions - to make it easy for your followers to let you know what they are thinking.
Heston is the king of IG lives and even co-hosts a weekly show on IG Live, The Social Roundtable, that you don’t want to miss. After hosting hundreds of IG lives, Heston shared his hard learned best practices:
1) Be prepared
2) Promote it to your audience
3) Make sure you’ve got good sound and lighting.
These buy you extra notifications from Instagram’s platform so don’t sleep on an IG live now and again.
These let you share text either 1 on 1 (DMs) or 1 to many (broadcast channels). This is a great place to network. But remember as our friends from Weekend Creative told us on our podcast, DM’s are for friendship, NOT for business.
Don’t miss Heston’s full workshop or find him on Instagram (obvs) and YouTube with tips and updates for all things Instagram.
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