Instagram Tips and Tricks!

In this day and age, social media is a very important asset in growing a business, exploring a hobby, or even just connecting with friends. Because of this, the app Instagram has exploded in popularity over the past few years. I personally am on Instagram because I am a photographer and love connecting with bands and friends. For some people, Instagram following count is very important as it can lead to many wonderful opportunities. Here are my tips for getting more followers and likes on your posts! 

1. Post Consistently

A major key to getting an audience is to have a consistent posting schedule. It is preferred to post at least once a day. I, personally, post three photos at a time to keep my feed looking very uniform, but this is not necessary. There are best times to post during each day of the week. This, however, varies often, especially based off your target audience. In order to combat this variable, I have my Instagram account set as professional (which means it's connected to my Photography Facebook) which allows me to see my statistics about my followers and when I get the most follows and likes (times and days).

2. Use Planning Apps

Because consistency is key for an Instagram following, it is a very helpful tool to use planning apps for your photos. These apps can allow you to schedule your Insta posts to remind you to upload your photos at certain times. They also help you to layout what your photo spread will look like on Instagram before posting. My favorite app like this is called Preview. (No sponsorship, I just really like this app!) Another perk of using this particular planning app is that it allows you to edit your photos through it before uploading! This is a free app, but there is an option to purchase a membership. It is available for IOS and Android systems.


3. Maintain an Specific Aesthetic

It is important with Instagram to maintain a specific aesthetic. This basically means that it is great to post photos on Instagram that flow together nicely due to the colors and subjects in them. This can be achieved by using the same filters on all of your photos or by picking a color or colors that you enjoy and including those in all of your photos. Now, you can phase out an aesthetic on your Instagram page, but this should be done after a few rows of photos-not suddenly as this will disrupt the aesthetic. Another way to maintain an aesthetic would be to post photos that all contain similar subject matters such as three rows of live music photography, or by posting chunks of photos that all have to do with room decor. The best method is probably maintaining a consistent color scheme and similar filters, but Instagram is an art form, so find what works best for you! You can also get inspired for your personal aesthetic by searching different aesthetics on Pinterest. Try some searches such as: "grunge, airy, cozy, warm,...." followed by the word aesthetic.




4. Encourage Engagement

A good way to get your posts on the recommended page or to get more people engaging with your posts, which leads to more likes, comments, follows, etc. is to ask a question in the description of your post. If there is a question in your post that is relevant to your photo, then it causes your followers to comment on the photo beyond just liking it. This helps your engagement ratio on Instagram and can lead to your posts getting recommended more. Also, some people have said that they prefer longer descriptions on posts so it is best to keep this in mind when writing your photo descriptions.


5. #Hashtags!

This piece of advice may seem pretty simple and obvious, but that's not always the case. It is very important to add a list of hashtags on your post (typically in the description) that are relevant to the photo you posted. These hashtags cause your post to get put into a list of photos whenever people search on Instagram for that topic. This is incredibly helpful for reaching out to other users on Instagram. Make sure though to keep the hashtags specific and not too verbose. There are many websites that you can use to find relevant hashtags that are searched often for certain types of photos and videos on Instagram. Use these websites to add more specific hashtags to your posts to allow maximum visibility on Instagram.

https://www.all-hashtag.com/top-hashtags.php (Website for searching Hashtags)

Best of luck to you all on your Instagram journeys!

If you want to follow my Instagram, be sure to check out: @photosforinfinity!