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TRANSCRIPT
By the end of 2017 Instagram had 500 million daily active accounts
worldwide.
Of the 500 million users, 300 Million are Instagram story users
Instagram is owned by Facebook
60 billion photos have been shared to date
25 million businesses are on Instagram
68% of Instagram users are females.
59% of internet users between the ages of 18 and 29 use Instagram and
33% of internet users between the ages of 30 and 49 use Instagram.
Instagram videos get twice the engagement of photos posted on any
other social media platform.
The most popular hashtags on Instagram are #Love, #Instagood, #Me,
#Cute, and #Follow.
EDUCATION
COMMUNITY
INSPIRATION
SUPPORT
PROMOTION
www.celebrantscollective.eu
INSTAGRAM STATS
YOUR QUICK WIN GUIDE TO INSTAGRAM
Having read all of these statistics about Instagram, you should now fully appreciate
why Instagram is a social media channel that you should be using to market your
business, and if you don't already, maybe it's time to get on the case!
This quick-win guide will tell you everything that you need to know about Instagram,
and will be useful to you whether you have an account or not.
Instagram stats courtesy of Omnicore Digital Marketing Agency
THE LOWDOWN ON INSTAGRAM
Since its inception is 2010, Instagram has become one of the fastest-growing social
media platforms. It was developed as a way for people to share photos and stories
easily via their smartphone. Fast forward a few years and Instagram has become a
huge platform for businesses and brands alike, not just regular social users.
Just like with Facebook and Twitter, having an Instagram account means you have a
profile and a news feed. In recent years, Instagram introduced a business account to
differentiate from personal accounts. With business accounts you have more options
and ways for people to get in contact with you. We recommend having or switching
to a business account, if you haven't already.
And now that Instagram is part of Facebook, it's easier than ever to set up an account.
You can set one up using your Facebook login or your email address.
This is where you describe your business (the cleverer the description, the better, as
you’ve only got 150 characters to describe you and your services). Here you can also
give basic contact info for your business such as your website url, phone number or
email address.
YOUR PROFILE BIOGRAPHY
This is where all the photos/videos that you post
are displayed.
This is where you see all the
posts/videos of the people that you follow on Instagram. Don't forget that it's a two-
way process, and you should comment and like other people's posts too.
YOUR PROFILE PAGE
YOUR NEWS FEED
WHAT'S IN A POST?
An Instagram post consists of a) your shared photo or video b) your accompanying
text (limited to 2,200 characters) c) hashtags (limited to 30).
Think of photos and videos as the star of your Instagram posts and the caption text,
as what gives the stars some context. With that in mind, it’s believed that between
138-150 characters is an ideal chunk of text to engage people with.
1-2 posts
a day
Square photo
Instagram photos are square. If you’re using a photo taken directly from an iphone,
you can set the photo to square within your iphone camera settings. If you use a
library photo, Instagram will fit the photo to a square, however Instagram has recently
changed it so that you can zoom in and out of a photo of crop it to size, so you can
use a rectangle photo and crop it to size.
Hashtags
-check your
spellings!
Caption text
This is a desktop view of an Celebrants Collective Instagram post. On a phone the text
and hashtags sit underneath the photo/video.
If you make a graphic to use on Instagram, we recommend creating it at 800x800
pixels which will ensure that any text used on the graphic are Instagram-friendly and
legible. And just like with Facebook, you can follow accounts, be followed, comment,
like, tag others and private message. As well a posting photos, you can also post
videos of up to one minute duration.
If you find that your phone is fiddly, you can also view your
Instagram feed and profile on your desktop at
www.instagram.com/your_instagram_handle. You can like and
comment on posts, edit your profile and change your profile photo
BUT you can’t post from your desktop. This is still only a feature
available through your phone.
DID YOU
KNOW?
INSTAGRAM USES
Like with most social media, Instagram can be used in two ways;
Think of Instagram as a way of telling stories about what you do and
engaging and communicating with interested parties and your ideal
clients, NOT as a tool for selling and promoting what you do.
TOP TIP
The use of hashtags in Instagram is the same as for Twitter. Hashtags are a way of
marking/identifying a post, so that if someone searches for posts/tweets using a
specific hashtag, their search would bring up posts/tweets that are using the
searched hashtag. So if you were interested in wedding stationery and you put
#weddingstationery into the Instagram search bar, it would bring up posts which are
using that hashtag.
WHAT THE #HASHTAG?
SMART HASHTAGS
The key to using hashtags is to use a mixture of different hashtags, which serve
different purposes. Say for example if you were to post a photo of your computer
screen, showing a half written wedding script, with a caption which says, ‘‘My eyes
are tired and my fingers are numb, but when you love what you do, you just keep at
it.’ You could then use hashtags which focus on;
To draw new people to your account from the wider Instagram circle via your
great imagery, engaging text and well-used hashtags.
To complement your wider social media use and online presence. To encourage
people who you are already known to via other sources, to visit your Instagram
account to learn more about you and what you do.
1. The photo itself #worklife #hardwork #creative
2. The message you’re conveying #lovemyjob
#lovewhatido #jobsatisifaction #celebrantwork
3. The audience you’re conveying that message
to #weddings #engagedandready
#couplesinlove #newlywedstobe #love
4. Other relevant hashtags
By using a variety of hashtags you can give your
post a wide reach, all whilst staying relevant to
your message.
Check out those people who you love on Instagram.
Those who are in your industry/area of
expertise/speciality, those who are considered as
influential, with large numbers of followers and
engagement. Look at what hashtags they use, and use
them for yourself, especially if your target audiences
overlap. There is nothing wrong with using hashtags
that others use, that’s the point of hashtags!
WHICH HASHTAGS?
Over the years there has been some debate on exactly where you post hashtags ie in
the photo caption area or in the comments area below. You can put hashtags after
your caption text, or some write them into the comment section after they have
posted their photo or video. However hot off the press, it does seem like the old-
school system of putting hashtags in the caption area is the way forward and better
for Instagram searches. And it does seem like Instagram is leaning towards this
method.
People started placing hashtags into the comments section so that they weren't
limited to the 30 hashtag limit that there is on Instagram posts (although 30 hashtags
is a lot anyway and a bit spammy looking!). We would recommend 5-10 hashtags.
HASHTAG PLACEMENT
You may also want to start your own hashtag which becomes a brand hashtag, which
you can encourage your couples and clients to use in their own wedding posts. This is a
great way to get good use out of a hashtag which is directly associated with you. If your
company is called Rocky Horror Weddings, then you could have a branded hashtag
such as #rockyhorrorweddings. Make sure to use it consistently in all your posts.
If you like the idea of keeping the hashtags in
with the photo caption (our preferred method),
maybe use a line of stars or plus signs or some
other symbol to separate your caption text from
your hashtags, thus putting a bit of separation
between the two and keeping the focus on the
photo and caption text.
Also, posting the hashtags at the same time as
your photo caption means you don’t have
to muck around with placing hashtags into the
comments after you’ve posted.
Just as with Facebook, Instagram is a social media driven by these dreaded algorithms -
the calculations and processes used for determining how, when and to whom your posts
and other content are shown. What's more, algorithms are a secret and how they work is
anyone outside of Instagram or Facebook's guess. This means that nobody really knows
for sure the best practices for how Instagram, in this case, works. It is simply a case of
trying to follow what others do and hoping for the best. If you post and comment on other
posts genuinely and regularly, and you start to see that your own posts are being
interacted with too, then you'll know you are doing something right.
If you treat your Instagram account as a wider extension of your online presence and a
way of showcasing yourself in another arena, rather than as a tool for direct sales, you will
likely have more success and less disappointment!
A WORD ABOUT INSTAGRAM
DON'T STRESS OVER HASHTAGS
TIPS FOR USING HASHTAGS IN THE PHOTO CAPTION
Don’t stress too much over hashtags! Hashtags are
just a way for people to find you on Instagram. So if
some of your posts are aimed at the people who are
already following you on Instagram, then don’t
worry about going hashtag heavy. Go hashtag heavy
when you want a post to be discoverable and
discovered by others who are yet to know who you
are and what you do! Think quality of hasthtags not
quantity!
Instagram stories although not new, are one of the more recent developments that
Instagram introduced. Stories are a way to tell a pictorial story with a sequence of
photos or a video. You simply add photos and/or videos, which are strung together to
make a slideshow. AND stories are only visible for 24 hours and then they disappear.
It's thought that Instagram stories will be given more preference and influence to
people's
Why use Instagram stories?
Stories are good for example, if you are at an event and you want to show off
different images in a slideshow presentation, or a sequence of videos to create a
longer video slideshow. You can annotate you videos and images, by writing on them
with pen or drawing pictures or symbols on them. One of the pen options lets you
make neon signs Cool, right?
1NSTAGRAM STORIES
We all like to know how the things we post fair.
How much they're engaged with and seen. Who
liked what we did or said. Instagram gives you this
insight by allowing you to see who has been
looking at your stories. And even better, only you
can see this information.
Simply open your story and swipe up on the
screen. At the bottom of the screen you’ll see a
view counter and the names of the people who
viewed it. Ta-dah!
WHO’S WATCHING YOUR STORIES?
1. Head to your Instagram newsfeed and press the blue + button on the top left hand
side. It sits next to your profile photo.
2. Depending on which way your camera is pointing, you’ll either see yourself or
whatever you’re camera is looking at.
MAKING A STORY
3. There are lots of options on the bottom of the screen - TYPE - LIVE - NORMAL -
BOOMERANG- REWIND - AND HANDS FREE.
4. Tap normal to create a normal photo image or hold the normal button down to
record a video. If you don’t want to record a live photo or video, press the photo box
on the left hand side, next to the flash symbol and select a photo or video from your
library.
5. Edit the photos if you please, with text, drawings or symbols. Tap Done to save your
Story.
6. Tap the <Add Your Story> button to share to your story. Or you can also tap on the
Save icon to save your image or video on to your phone to use later on. If you wanted
to you can click the <Arrow> icon, to send your image to one of your friends as well
as your story. Just tick the bubble by Your Story and select the person you want to
share with. Images disappear as soon as whoever you’ve sent it to sees it.
7. To create a slideshow effect, keep adding photos or video by repeating steps 4 and
5 and this will play them all in the sequence of how you added them. With all photos
disappearing after 24 hours.
8. If you’re not happy with the end result, simply click on the image and tap on the
three dots at the bottom right of the photo or video that you'd like to delete, press
Delete and then confirm. And it’s gone.
9. If you want certain photos from your live story to be shared on your profile so that
they remain permanent and not lost after 24 hours, simply tap the three dots at the
bottom right of the photo or video and tap Share as Post. At this point you can then
add filters, captions and locations to funk up your photos, if you haven’t already. Then
you can share them to your profile page.
BOOMER
WHAT?
Boomerang! This is the feature that allows you to record a short video
which will then play on repeat. The idea that the same image keeps
coming back - get it? So whilst still in story mode on Instagram, click
Boomerang and have a go at pulling a funny face. The great thing with
Boomerang is you can simply delete what you’ve done, without posting
it, so there’s plenty of opportunity to practice it. If you don’t want to use
Boomerang in your story, you can save it to your phone and use it on
your Instagram profile.
Providing daily content for Instagram or any
social media channel in fact, can be a bit of a
grind, if you don’t plan ahead. Take time out each
week to plan in advance what you’re going to
share on Instagram.
Planning ahead can make social media use more
enjoyable and save you precious time, which can
be spent on other important business elements.
Most people share the same content, albeit in
slightly different ways throughout their various
social media channels, which is great. However,
if you’re stuck for content, you can share content
on Instagram, which is Instagram specific.
Giving your Instagram content daily themes will
help you decide what to post on each day of
every week. Mixing these in with other planned
spontaneous content which comes about,
should give you enough to post on a weekly
basis, and to be better planned and prepared for
it.
Some of the difficulty with social media is
knowing what to post and when to post it. So if
you can crack that and be organised with your
posts, you will free up your precious time to do
other things.
Below are some of the popular Instagram days
of the week hashtags and photo suggestions, to
give ideas for what to post on different days.
With time you can create your own week-day
tags and create your own Instagram schedule.
TOP WAYS TO SCHEDULE CONTENT FOR INSTAGRAM
INSTAGRAM CONTENT PLANNER
day of the week hashtag suggestion photo suggestion
monday#Mondaymusings
#Mondaymotivation
#mondaymusic
- Thought of the day graphic
- photo of something
motivational
- bride walking down the
aisle
tuesday#BehindtheScenesTuesday
#Tuesdaytip
-A behind the scenes photo of
you at work, or something
you're working on
- a photo related to a useful
tip
Wednesday#WednesdayWisdom
#wellnesswednesday
- a photo related to a
useful wedding or funeral tip
-a text graphic showing a
useful wedding tip
thursday
friday
#ThrowbackThursday
#ThankfulThursday
#Thursdaythoughts
- a photo of one of your past
wedding which tells a great
story
- A photo of a beautiful wedding
venue which your grateful to
work at
#Friday Introductions
#Follow Friday
#Feelgood friday
#Fridayreads
#Friday recommendations
- a headshot photo of you or an
action photo to introduce
yourself and what you do
-a photo of a book, magazine or
other resource that your
recommend
For those who post or who want to post over the weekend too, there are some great
hashtags such as #weekendvibes #saturdayvibes #sundayvibes #instaweekend.
This guide really just covers the basics of Instagram, but if you have a spare
minute, have a play around with it, as there are some really cool, advanced but
easy features on it. You can add gifs to images, text, drawings, speech bubbles,
hashtags (which enable others to find your live stories) to your live stories. You
can jazz up your profile photos with filters, add boomerangs and have multiple
photos in one frame (layouts) or multiple photos to create a photo gallery. Have a
play around and delete what you don’t want to use. Checking out the accounts
of influencers and people that you follow can also give you some good ideas of
how to use Instagram. So, if you aren't on Instagram already. get posting and put
yourself out there.
INSTA OVER
APPS TO HELP YOU OUTFor the Instagram novices out there, now is a great time to have an Instagram
account, because up until recently Instagram was the ONLY social media
channel that didn’t allow scheduled fully automated posts, neither through the
Instagram app itself or via a third party app/software.
So the good news is that Instagram is now allowing this (before it was against
their policy) and so some third party scheduling apps have now changed their
systems to make Instagram fully automated through them ie they can publish
your posts for you on your behalf at the time and day that you specify, without
you needing to manually publish. This is fab news for people who want to have
the majority of their social media content scheduled in advance, to let it
publish automatically.
And one last thing, to be able to use the scheduling apps in this way your
Instagram account must be a business one. But don’t worry this takes two
seconds to change. Go to the Instagram settings wheel on your profile page,
and switch to business profile. Done.
The scheduling apps with an asterix are those which currently allow full
Instagram post automation. However, it’s thought that the rest are soon to
follow suit, so keep an eye out.
Later* Buffer
Tailwind*
Iconoquare
Hootsuite* Loomly
www.celebrantscollective.eu - Copyright 2018