Best Things For Every Brand That Use Twitch Needs To Implement

Are you looking to expand your viewer base online? Do you want to generate more leads? Do you wish to make your content reach more people without having to spend too much on the budget? Livestreaming is the answer. Livestreaming can work wonders no matter what type of business you are in. This is why it is increasingly becoming the go-to marketing strategy for many big brands today. When you combine the power of live streams with a giant platform like Twitch, you set your business on the path of excellence.

1. Know Your Goals

2. Engage with Viewers

3. Promote Your Streams

4. Test Your Equipment

5. Control Your Environment

6. Save and Share

7. Have Fun

Wrapping Up

As with every other social media marketing strategy, livestreaming requires a good amount of planning and preparation. Consider following these above-mentioned Twitch best practices to humanize your brand and foster two-way conversations with your audience globally. Once you start implementing these best practices, you are more likely to nurture long-term relationships with loyal viewers.

The Best Instagram Reel Ideas

Looking for Instagram Reel ideas amidst a creative block? You’ve come to the right place. Whether you’re just figuring Reels out or are simply just trying to find new ways to entertain your audience we’ve got some great inspiration to get you creating. But before we share let’s break down Instagram’s latest feature that’s got everyone talking.

Instagram Reels have quickly become one of the most popular ways to create content on the platform. Launched during the summer of 2020, Reels was Instagram’s response to the rise in popularity of TikTok. Just like many of Instagram’s moves to replicate the competition, they were met with mix reviews. But in less then a year Reels have earned their spot on Instagram, being embraced by both creators and brands alike.

What Are Instagram Reels?

Instagram Reels are 30 second multi clip videos, similar to TikTok. Instagram provides a bunch of creative tools to add things like audio, text, emojis and other edits to create your videos all within the all itself. The main differences between TikTok and Instagram is the 30 second time limit for content, among a few other things. However the essence and even look of the two are extremely similar. This makes it easy for those used to TikTok make the transition over to Instagram Reels.

Now that you’ve gotten the crash course it’s time to get creating with these fun Instagram Reel ideas!

Instagram Reel Ideas

1. Get To Know You

A great way to introduce yourself or your brand to the world of Reels is by doing a “Get To Know You” segment. This is such an easy thing for both influencers and brands to create. Pick a few things you want to share with your audience and create clips to represent each of them. Brands for example might want to highlight things such as green initiatives, product selection or introduce their founders. For influencers you could cover topics such as where you live, the niche of content you create or fun facts about you.

2. Behind The Scenes

One thing that a lot of Instagram users are always interested in is seeing the behind the scenes of their favourite brands or creators. There are so many Reels that can be created from this one idea alone, which is what makes it a great one to keep in your arsenal. Sharing what goes on during a photoshoot or how you edit your pictures are great Instagram reel ideas for influencers and creators. For brands you can easily share the behind the scenes of creating a product, or services you offer.

3. Tutorials

It’s almost as if Instagram Reels were perfectly created to share tutorials. Whether it’s sharing your go-to life hacks, favourite recipes or beauty routines it’s another one of those Instagram Reel ideas you’re sure to return to over and over again. The trick for creating a tutorial with Reels is to keep it quick and simple to understand. Things that require several complicated steps might not be the ideal topics to cover on Reels.

4. Before And After

Everyone loves a good before and after, so why not bring them to life on video with Reels? This is a great idea for businesses like salons, interior designers and other industries where visual reveals are everything.

5. Get Ready With Me

A great way for influencers and brands especially in the beauty space to jump into the game is by creating “Get Ready With Me” Reels. It’s an easy way to incorporate your everyday activities into your content so there isn’t much to think about. Sharing a peak into your daily makeup application or night time skincare routine are great Instagram Reel ideas that your audience is sure to love.

6. Outfits Of The Week

Can’t always get that perfect shot of your outfit of the day for Instagram? Why not quickly snap some videos of your looks and put together an “Outfits of the Week” Reel? A great way to do this is to pick one particular area of your house (or neighbourhood) and shoot a quick little video of your look for that day. You can spice it up a little by jumping or twirling at the end of each video, to add to the transition to the next frame.

7. Reel/TikTok Trends

If you’re still looking for Instagram Reel ideas that go beyond what we’ve mentioned above, rest assured a weekly trend is sure to pop up. There are many Reel and TikTok trends that everyone can’t help but duplicate like that baked tomato and feta video that got everyone hungry. Also if you want more views or likes in your reels we can help you! click here.

How To Make The Best Use Of Instagram Reels?

When Instagram revealed Instagram Reels on 5th August, 2020, many people thought it would be a copy of TikTok. It’s not. Instagram Reels was first launched in Brazil in 2019, and is now available in over 50 countries.

With over 1 billion users every month on Instagram, brands can leverage this new addition to the platform to reach large audiences, get more Instagram followers, and boost sales. Instagram Reels lets you share 15-second bite sized videos on the platform. Unless you’ve turned your profile into ‘Private,’ the content you share will also be available on the Explore tab. This is great news, as 50% users utilize the Explore tab to find new content, people and brands to engage with.

What is Instagram Reels?

Instagram Reels is not the same as Instagram Stories. Both features are available on the platform, and there are slight differences between them. Instagram Reels gives you access to a greater range of editing tools.

You can add music to your content, add multiple clips to create one bite-sized video, and make use of AR and other filters to spice up your videos before you post them.

Instagram Reels gives you access to:

• Music: Go through Instagram’s library of music to find something that fits your video perfectly. You can also add original music to your content. Adding your original music to the Instagram library gives other users the opportunity to use your music. You get attribution, and your music gets heard by millions of other users.

• Effects: Instagram Reels provides access to a wide variety of filters and AR effects you can use to make your videos look more appealing.

• Playback: Slow down your videos or fast-forward them using the playback feature.

• Timer: The timer tool lets you take hands-free videos. Just set the timer, and Instagram Reels will automatically set the timer. The shoot your video without worrying about starting or stopping the video. The video should be within 15-seconds, after which the timer will automatically turn off.

If the length of your videos are lower than 15-seconds, you can add multiple videos to fill up the time. You can also upload videos you’ve shot outside the app, and edit them through Instagram Reels.

How Do You Use Instagram Reels?

Instagram Reels is a feature that’s available next to the Instagram Stories button within Instagram. To locate it, you have to tap the camera icon locate on the top left corner of your Instagram screen.

Keep swiping on the menu at the bottom of the screen until you reach Instagram Reels. When you reach Instagram Reels, you’ll find the various available features on the left side of the screen.

When you’re ready to record your video, all you have to do is click on the camera button. You’ll also notice a progress bar appear at the top of the screen when you’re shooting your video. This progress bar shows you how long you have left before you reach your 15-second time limit. To stop recording your video, you’ll need to click on the camera icon a second time.

Once your 15-second video is ready, it’s time to hit the ‘Next’ button so you can move on to editing! If you’ve reached the 15-second time limit while shooting your video, Instagram will automatically direct you towards Instagram Reels’ editing tools.

The editing tools available to you let you trim, align, add music to and use filters on your videos. Once your done, you can publish your video. You can either save your video as a draft, share it to your Instagram Story or publish it on your newsfeed. Content uploaded to Instagram Reels from public accounts appear on Instagram Explore as well.

Instagram is one of the most popular ways to digitally market your brand. Owing to the rise in video content on the platform, courtesy Instagram Stories, IGTV and now Instagram Reels, more and more people are both posting and viewing video content on Instagram.

There has been an 80% increase in the time people spent on viewing videos. Various brands have already leveraged Instagram Reels to promote their content. Louis Vuitton, Balmain, Sephora and other brands utilize Instagram Reels to get more Instagram Followers and Instagram Likes. TopShop has been showcasing their catalog, to a lot of success, on Instagram Reels.

Here’s how you can incorporate Instagram Reels into your Instagram Marketing strategy:

1. Create an Instagram Marketing Strategy for Instagram Reels.

Having your content bucket ready before you start posting your video content can help you post on a regular schedule. There are various kinds of content you can promote using Instagram Reels:

• How to videos and tutorials
• Tips and tricks
• Promotional content and sneak peeks
• Behind the scenes videos
• Showcasing your catalog
• Revealing launch dates
• Collaborating with influencers, and more!

2. Use Your Content From TikTok

One way to promote your brand with regular content is to repurpose the content you’ve already made for TikTok. Multi-platform branding helps you reach real Instagram followers. Don’t worry about your Instagram followers overlapping with TikTok. Authenticity and being real and approachable is what gets you noticed on Instagram. If you already have high-quality videos ready for posting, why not make full use of it?

3. Start a New Challenge

Challenges are popular on Instagram.

Sephora collaborated with @ryanbpotter to create a new makeup challenge, to great success. If you’re a new or up and coming brand, then you can consider collaborating with an influencer. Challenges are a great way to get noticed on the platform.

To create a popular challenge, you’ll need to also think of relevant hashtags. If you can work with one or more influencers to promote your challenge, you’ll be able to popularize it even more.

4. Collaborate With Influencers

Influencers are big on Instagram. These days, micro-influencers are more often approached by brands and businesses. A micro-influencer typically has around 50,000 followers on the app. The benefit to working with a micro-influencer is that they build closer relationships with their audiences. The content they share has high engagement rates. If you can find a micro-influencer who has Instagram followers that fall within your niche, you’ll be able to organically grow your account with real Instagram followers.

Micro-influencers are also more affordable than top influencers or celebrities on the platform.

5. Showcase Your Catalog

Brands like TopShop have already done this to great success. One of their videos received more than 1.7 million views. If you own a fashion brand for example, creating a mix of people wearing your clothes within a single 15-second clip can help you show off multiple outfits within a single post.

You can also share content created by other users. Nike did this with @colormecourtney, when she wore different Nike products and put up that content on Instagram.

6. Go For Popular Kinds of Content

If you want your Instagram Reels videos to become popular really fast, then you can create content that naturally generates more leads. For Instagram,

How-to videos are the most popular, followed by behind the scenes content. Make short videos on how people can engage with your products, and you can gain more real Instagram followers.

Instagram Reels is still a new feature. Brands are learning how to use it to promote their content, and you can get ahead of them by maximizing lead generation through Instagram Marketing on Reels. Remember to create authentic content, and to engage with the people who connect to your content. Consider posting content on a regular basis, and keep to your Instagram Marketing schedule to consistently grow your Instagram account. With Instagram Reels, now you have a new way of getting more real Instagram Followers and getting more Instagram Likes.

Instagram Reels

Instagram just added a new feature called the “Reels.” Many people feel that this is their direct answer to the ever-growing popularity of TikTok and the trend of short videos. The new feature has been received very well by many prominent Instagram stars, and one can already see the influx of videos coming on to the platform due to the “Reels” feature.

People who wish to grow their audience should definitely consider capitalizing on this trend. When a new feature is released, its reach is maximum and will not be diluted to a large number of people using it. This because Instagram will be promoting Reels themselves for a good amount of time. If you are someone who has never considered trend hopping, this is a great time to make use of the hype of a new feature.

Reels vs TikTok

Like TikTok, the user interface is very intuitive and promotes portrait videos to fit the screen better. The video length is 15 seconds, just like the story length. But the distinct advantage is the fact that “Reels” will definitely make you reach the explore page with lower views as compared to normal videos.

A new feature usually means that a user or a brand can maximize their reach for almost no cost. It would be very easy to have a great amount of engagement during this rollout. This also serves as a great opportunity to be visible to the millions of people active on Instagram. Not only does Reels allow you to reach a lot of people, but it also pushes your creative buttons to the max. With a limited amount of time in hand, we suggest you make the video as impactful as possible. This means gone are the days of an intro or some epic starting shot. Now one needs to get to the point as quickly and effectively as possible.

Lip-syncing and dancing would be expected as the feature is so similar to TikTok. But one could use this similarity to carve a niche for themselves by doing something different. Thus bringing value and education to the new platform. This will help you stand out and gain that interaction with the people first hand.

Using Reels effectively means that one can get free Instagram followers and Instagram likes.

How does one go about making a Reel?

Instagram Checkout: A Thorough Guide

In this blog, we’ll cover all that aspiring marketers need to know about using Checkout to make loyal customers out of their Instagram followers.

How does Instagram Checkout work?

Before Instagram rolled out its Checkout feature, it had already given a big boost to brands and influencers by allowing them to create ‘shoppable’ posts. To make posts ‘shoppable’, all those brands and influencers had to do was to add product tags to their posts. Interested Instagram users had to tap on the product tags, which would re-direct them to different eCommerce sites where they could purchase the products.

While these ‘shoppable’ posts did have their advantages, there was one major inconvenience; users had to go out of Instagram to complete their purchases. The idea behind Instagram Checkout was simple; to facilitate shopping within Instagram itself. The feature made its debut back in March 2019, when Insta signed up with 26 world-famous brands (including Nike and Zara) to test it.

The results were successful, which has led to Instagram rolling out the feature for all eligible influencers and businesses in the USA. With more and more businesses taking advantage of Checkout, Instagram is set to go beyond its social media platform status. Soon, it’ll be no less than an eCommerce marketplace.

To use the Instagram Checkout feature, your business has to fulfill certain eligibility requirements:

• The business has to be a seller of physical goods as the feature isn't available for businesses that offer services.

• The business’ Insta profile should be a business profile.

• The Insta profile is connected to a business page on Facebook.

• The business is compliant with the commerce policies stated by Instagram.

• Boon for smaller businesses: Small businesses that have just started their operations can find it hard to reach out to their target audiences on major eCommerce portals like Amazon. Even though Amazon allows small businesses to list their products on their website, most of the space for promotion is occupied by the big-name players, simply because they have more money to run elaborate campaigns.

However, Instagram Checkout is a gamechanger for small businesses, primarily because Insta is still predominantly a social media platform. Irrespective of the niche your business operates in, your posts will get Instagram likes and shares from pages that are actively interested in your products. As a result, your business and its products will always find takers on the platform.

• Possibilities for Instagram-only businesses: Thanks to the Instagram Checkout feature, an online business can be set up on Instagram without any need for a separate website. While the Insta-only route won’t make much sense for medium and big-sized businesses, it’s something to ponder upon for small businesses.

Yes, owning a dedicated business website can have numerous benefits, but several associated costs may add up to be too expensive for small businesses. eCommerce businesses have to shell out money for their domain names, web hosting services, and the shopping cart software as well. Payment gateways that websites use to process transactions have to be paid as well. However, there are no such expenses to worry about when it comes to Instagram Checkout.

• Support for integration with other sales platforms: If your business has stores on popular online eCommerce platforms like BigCommerce, CommerceHub, and Shopify, you can integrate them with Instagram Checkout easily.

Easy integration facilitates greater consistency levels than ever before for businesses in terms of their logistics and operations. As a result, you’ll be able to spend more time on improving the core aspects of your business instead of worrying about the logistical aspects.

• Fewer barriers for interested buyers: Across many eCommerce websites, the online buying process is complex, with prospective buyers required to complete several steps before they can finalize their purchases. As patience levels of most internet-savvy users are running thin in today’s times, a complex purchasing experience is the last thing that they want. As a result, shopping carts are often abandoned, significantly affecting business’ sales.

Yes, Instagram Checkout is a promising feature that’s bound to get better with time. While there’s no reason why you shouldn’t start using the feature to make it easy for your real Instagram followers to become loyal customers, there are certain limitations you have to work with as well. Let’s take a closer look at them.

• Transaction fees: Transactions completed through Instagram Checkout would require businesses to shell out 5% for every shipment, which amounts to a fee of $0.50 for every $8 shipment.

• User data handling: If an Instagram user purchases through Instagram Checkout, it’s the social media platform and not the seller that has the right to the customer data. This would mean that businesses lose out on valuable information like customer email IDs that they would use for sending promotional emails and newsletters.
  

• Restricted control on customer experience: A business with its own website can dictate how it looks, feels, and responds to its users based on the tastes and preferences of its target audience. However, that simply won’t be possible with Instagram Checkout. All that businesses and influencers can control are their ‘shoppable’ posts, which can feel restricting after a while.
  

How to make the most out of Instagram Checkout

• Exclusive product launch on Instagram: Even if your Instagram page has a small but dedicated group of followers, you can work wonders in terms of driving sales by launching a product exclusively on Instagram. Doing this will make your Insta followers feel more valued and appreciated and encourage them to purchase the product.

What You Should Know About Instagram’s Latest Feature: Instagram Reels

As a platform that’s popular among users, Instagram is constantly working on coming up with new features that can drive engagement on the platform. With more businesses using Instagram marketing today, it’s imperative to take advantage of Instagram’s latest features to boost business growth and gain more Instagram followers. Instagram Reels is the latest addition to the pool of features that Instagram offers and this guide will take you through all you need to know about this exciting feature.

What is Instagram Reels?

Instagram Reels makes use of a content format through which you can make and share 15 second videos on a new dedicated feed as well as Explore tab. Reels is an attempt by Facebook to compete with TikTok’s popularity. This short video format is great especially to connect with Gen-Z.

Although initially launched in Brazil in 2019, Instagram Reels is now available in more than 50 other countries on iOS and Android. Here, users can record up to 15 seconds multi-clips using a variety of creative features that will make content more engaging and increase the possibility of getting more Instagram likes.

Once you've recorded your content, you can add drawings, stickers, and text to make edits to your Reel.

Sharing Instagram Reels

Sharing your Reels with your real Instagram followers is necessary for you to have a wide reach. Once you’ve created your Reel, you’ll see the Share page where you can add a video thumbnail to your Reel and write a caption.

With a public account, you’ll be able to share the Reel to the dedicated spot in the Explore tab where you can reach more Instagram followers and get more Instagram likes. You can also post it to your Feed. A Reel that has a specific song, hashtag, or special effect can also be viewed by Instagram followers who click on that particular song, hashtag, or special effect.

Private account holders can share Reels to their feed without anyone else being able to access their Reels or use original audio, unless they’re Instagram followers. As a business, your profile will be public so you’ll be able to share Reels that can reach a much wider audience.

You can even share Reels to your Instagram Story but they'll disappear in 24 hours.

Just like IGTV, there’s a separate Reels tab on your profile where your real Instagram followers will be able to find the Reels you've posted.

Watching Instagram Reels

You’ll be able to see comments, Instagram likes and mentions on your Reels as well as get notified if your Reel is selected as a featured Reel by Instagram for the Explore tab.

Applying Instagram Reels for business purposes

Businesses can benefit from using Instagram Reels through several ways:

Reuse old TikTok videos

If you’ve posted content to TikTok, reuse those videos on your Instagram Reels. This will enable you to reach out to an audience on a different social media platform and make it possible for you to engage the platform’s users with your content.

Flaunt products

Users love video content and videos can do a better job of showcasing your products. The fact that Instagram Reels appear on the Explore tab means that a lot more people will be able to view them even if they aren’t your current Instagram followers. This is a massive opportunity for you to wow your viewers by flaunting your products and their uses. If you run an apparel company, for example, you can create seamless transitions between different outfits and give your viewers an idea of just how good your products look when put on. This can create a more lasting impression on your viewers and get them excited about your brand.

Announce sales

Have a special offer or upcoming sales plan that you want to announce? Why not do it through Instagram Reels. You can give your Instagram followers all the information they need in a short 15 seconds video. Tell them what the offer is and how they can benefit from it or what they can do to take advantage of your next sales.

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How To Set Up An Instagram Business Account Optimally

Until 2016 came around, Instagram was considered a fun social media platform for individuals, but as far as businesses were concerned, the platform didn’t have much use. However, the addition of business profiles to the platform in 2016 proved to be a game-changing decision. Fast forward to 2020, and in the US alone, over 75% of businesses of all scales and sizes have set up business accounts on Instagram and are reaping the rewards of a platform that’s getting bigger with each passing day.

What’s more? Instagram’s business accounts feature is not just meant for conventional businesses. Some of the biggest social media influencers, with hundreds and thousands of Instagram followers, have been blessed with its benefits as well, and you too stand to gain a lot if you make the right moves. In this blog, we’ll delve into the details of how you can set up your very own Insta business account and what you can do to optimize it in a step-by-step manner.

Step 1: The profile picture

Remember to choose a high-quality photo as your profile picture. There shouldn’t be any pixelation in the picture, and it should look good across all devices. Uploading a larger picture is recommended, as Instagram offers bigger dimensions across desktops. If someone views your Insta business account from a mobile device, the platform will automatically resize the picture and bring it down to 110 x 100 pixels.

Apart from your Insta business account, you should try and use the same profile picture across all your social media profiles, because it manages to establish a certain degree of consistency.

Step 2: The bio

It all starts with your name, and keep in mind that your name and your username are two separate entities. When you’re setting up your Insta business account, choose the name that you want people to use to search for you. You could also add certain things, such as your location to your name. To add a dash of color to proceedings, separate your name from your location by using an emoji. Adding details like location to your name can work wonders, particularly if you’re trying to reach out to an audience based in a specific location. Including a keyword specific to your target audience is also a great idea when you’re setting up your profile, as it improves Instagram searchability.

Next up, head to the ‘bio’ section, which you should use to tell your audience about all your skills. Instead of writing elaborate sentences, just use the words that describe your skills the best. Apart from your skills, you could also include your hobbies, which would help in showing off both your personal and professional side.

The best way to incorporate both your skills and hobbies in the bio is through the use of targeted keywords. To determine the right keywords for your Insta business profile, you should think about your target audience and the keywords they would probably use to search for what you have to offer.

However, you need to remember that using keywords in the ‘bio’ section won’t make any difference to your Instagram searchability; their sole purpose is to help you earn real Instagram followers who are genuinely interested in the content you’re putting out.

Finish creating your bio by entering the link to your website or blog in the ‘website’ section and don’t forget to share your email ID as well. If there’s too much engagement with your Instagram profile, it can be hard for you to keep up with all the direct messages, in which case your email ID will come in handy.

Despite the fact that Instagram has become one of the world’s biggest social media platforms and ranks among the most potent marketing platforms, it’s still very much light-hearted at its core. Its casual and colorful vibes give you the freedom to get as creative as you want when you’re setting up your business account.

Apart from using emojis in the ‘Name’ field, as mentioned in the previous step, you can use them in the ‘Bio’ section as well. Some tools allow users to use special fonts on Instagram as well, and even though the trend of using special fonts isn’t as big as it once was, it’s still something you could try to spice up your profile.

Remember also to create a branded hashtag that you’ll use consistently across all your posts on Instagram. Hashtags have become key brand identity elements, especially on Instagram and a memorable hashtag won’t just make your brand stand out from the competition, but also encourage your followers to use it.

Coming up with a creative call-to-action (CTA) is imperative as well, as it will encourage more viewers across Instagram to engage with your profile and the content that you share. With a quality CTA that manages to persuade people to interact with your Insta profile, you can expect more Instagram likes across all your posts on the platform.

With an optimally set up business account on Instagram, you can go places. However, simply setting up a great business account isn’t enough. You have to complement your well-crafted account with certain practices that we’ll cover in the next section.

Practices to turn your business account into something big

• Create a content posting plan and stick to it: Content is what will ultimately determine the fate of your Instagram business account, and you must post content that’s relevant for your target audience from day one.

Once your business account earns a decent following, you should draft a content posting plan that you’ll stick to. As part of the plan, you can decide on what content you’re going to post in advance so that nothing’s left until the last minute.

• Be visually consistent: We talked about your business account’s profile picture at great length before and why it’s important to choose one that helps connect your target audience to your brand. The same goes for the overall visual look and feel of your Insta business profile, and it’s up to you to create visual consistency through your posts.

Even if two posts contain radically different imagery, you can still incorporate an element that connects the two in terms of look and feel. You need to look no further than photo filters to make your work easier. Numerous Instagram influencers have created their signature styles simply based on the filters they’ve used to spice up the images they’ve posted.

To create your unique style, you should experiment as much as you can with Instagram’s built-in filters and decide on two or three filters that you are going to use consistently across all your posts. You could also go beyond Instagram and try your hand at editing your photos and videos with dedicated editing software.

• Use the Instagram Stories feature to your advantage: Every day, the Instagram Stories feature experiences more than 400 million users, and among them, many use the feature to promote themselves along with their skills/products/services.

As the Instagram Stories feature can be used to post content that automatically disappears from your followers’ feeds after 24 hours, it is the ultimate way for up and coming brands to take creative risks by posting photos and videos that are colorful, vibrant, and most importantly, attention-grabbing.

The feature is a world of its own, and once you’ve successfully uploaded your first Instagram story, make it a point to post stories regularly. The aim of posting stories every day is to get your followers into the groove of viewing them. If your content manages to capture the attention of viewers, you can expect your stories to contribute immensely to the growth of your Insta business profile.

So, if you’re an avid Instagram user, why not consider turning your use of the platform into something more productive by setting up a business account?

How To Make Your Instagram Profile Stand Out from Others?

Instagram recently crossed the one billion mark, making it one of the most popular social media platforms there is. On average, 63% of users log in at least once in a day, and 500 million people use Instagram stories. Marketers are gaining a lot of perspective with this channel with at least 200 million real Instagram followers visiting a business profile, and nearly 62% of users becoming more interested in a product or a brand after watching Instagram stories. The statistics for this social media channel are so attractive that it is expected to see immense growth in the years to come.

Instagram offers plenty of opportunities to its users, from helping them earn as an influencer to expand their small-scale business. But a question may arise, how can Instagram users increase their visibility with billions of users? How can you, as an avid Instagram user, make your Instagram profile stand out from others? Read on to find out!

Know your audience

You may be a brand, big or small, or an influencer with a good number of Instagram followers, or even a commoner who wants to showcase some talent and stand out amongst the crowd. No matter who you are, the most vital aspect to consider before you open an Instagram account is who your audiences are. Your account must appeal to your audiences and draw their attention, and invite them into your world. Unless you know who your target audience is, you cannot reach out to the right viewers, and you will not receive the exposure and the visibility you deserve.

Work on your profile

Your profile is the first impression that you create on your audience, and it must be enticing enough to make them click-through to your site. Here are a few things you can do to improve your Instagram profile that will help you stand out in a crowd of millions of users.

• Profile picture: It is the first thing that people will notice. Make sure that your profile picture is clear, and represents you or your business. Do not use something you found on google images. Your profile picture will show up on your Instagram followers’ feed when you share content as well as on the news tab, which your followers see when they get a notification.

• Your bio: Your Instagram bio will tell people who you are. If you want to tell people what you share on Instagram, your bio must be as attractive as it can be. Remember, keep it short and to the point, enough to entice the reader to follow you. A scattered bio will drive them away.

• The link: It is the most important aspect of your profile and a place you would want your audience to go to. It is a connection that, when kept alive, helps in driving more audiences to your profile.
  

Choose a consistent color theme

Before you get into any advanced engagements, the first thing you must do is to choose a basic color theme or a color palette for your Instagram account. Hashtag, stories, and other engagements can help you pull in more audiences, but without a consistent color theme, your images may look like a jumbled pile of amateur pictures of disconnected moments of life. You can make your images and videos look like a curated collection when you make use of a color theme.

When you choose a color or a color palette, make sure that you are consistent with the lighting as well. You can make a great impact on your audience by limiting yourself to key filters. Use the same apps and filters to edit all the photos you post on Instagram. 

Have a theme 

Having a color scheme or a color palette that compliments the images you post on your profile is vital. It helps declutter your content to make them look consistent and professional. But how well will a color palette fare if you do not have a theme? A theme refers to the subject matter of your content.

Having a specific theme helps you with developing an audience base as well as to nurture your hashtag. Additionally, you can stay on track, get more Instagram likes, and build more followers. Developing a theme as soon as you open an Instagram account helps you to be consistent, which is a difficult aspect of posting on social media platforms. If you are not a business, choose a theme you are passionate about, and everything will flow in the set path. If you are a business, make sure that your theme is consistent with your brand, product, and services.

Edit before you post

Editing is the most important process of photography. You don’t need a costly camera to get a great picture. All you need to do is edit to be able to stand out. Real Instagram followers love to see something new and creative. There are a ton of apps that can help you perfect your images, make them attention-grabbing when someone is scrolling through them. Remember, a lot of improvements add up to perfection.

Make use of hashtags and stories

Hashtags are the best way to search on Instagram, and if you want to be found, you must make use of hashtags. They give meaning to the image you are sharing as well as increase exposure. There are a bunch of tags that you can use and increase your visibility, comments, and Instagram likes on this social media platform.

Instagram launched stories in 2016 to be used as an ongoing highlight of your profile. Stories offer a lot of features, from taking polls to the swipe-up option for links to the content. It is one of the easiest ways to grow on Instagram.

Post regularly

Consistency is the key to growth on any social media platform. If you want to make your Instagram profile stand out from the others, then don’t forget to post regularly. The more images you post after you optimize, the more exposure you get using hashtags. You will also receive more comments and likes if you have interesting posts. Posting regularly will ensure that you appear on other people’s feeds more regularly.

Be a curator

Many Instagram users have a niche theme and post very little content, and others are super targeted Instagram accounts that share content on a few different topics. The theme can be hairstyling, a particular breed of dog, skincare, wardrobe malfunction, and so on. By being a curator of these niche content, you can brand yourself as an expert and grow a super targeted Instagram following. You become an influential content curator by sharing highly targeted information to a devoted group of real Instagram followers.

Don’t hold back from commenting and liking

Instagram is a community that relies on your involvement. You can have great content and yet not receive as many likes as you expect. One of the reasons why is because many people on Instagram are reciprocal. These people may comment and like your images if you like or comment on theirs. As much as it sounds immature and unprofessional, if you think about how it works for your good, you may prefer being more active. When you comment on someone’s feed, your profile is seen as being very active. You can attract attention and gain more followers using other’s Instagram feeds.

Geo-tag is very useful

Geo-tag is a great way to make your profile stand out! People not only search for places on Instagram, they also like to stop-by at restaurants, stores, and tourist spots if they like what they see. You can attach your image to a specific location, and if you own a store or a restaurant, it is a great way to attract more customers. If you think geo-tag is not helpful to you if you are not a part of a business, then think about this! You can reach out to local businesses that you think have potential, gather a following of locals, and become an influencer for these businesses. It can help you increase your foot traffic.

Tag others

Did you know that tagging others is a great way to appear on their feed and on their profile page? You can tag people in your image or even in the comment. You can also ask people for their opinion and ask them to tag people your content reminds them of. This may make your post viral as well if the content you post is interesting and has the capacity to grab attention. Tagging is the best way to find more visibility on this social media platform.

Every tip mentioned above has some influence in ensuring that your Instagram profile stands out. All you need to do is pull all these elements together and create a profile that can have a deep connection with the viewers. Instagram is a powerful tool as long as you know how to use it to your benefit.

How To Make Your Instagram Videos More Interesting?

Instagram has always been a visual platform where you can gather more Instagram followers, and Instagram likes by taking advantage of people’s tendency to engage more with visual content. Using videos on Instagram is a great way to increase your brand engagement and get higher search engine rankings. However, that doesn’t mean that just any old video will do. If you want to boost business growth using videos that will fetch you more real Instagram followers, you need to make them interesting. Here’s a guide on what you need to know when using videos for Instagram marketing.

Why use videos on Instagram?

Although images get more engagement at present in the form of Instagram likes, using videos can help you increase engagement rates on your account through a higher number of comments generated. People who watch a video on Instagram are more likely to share their thoughts on it in the comments section or respond to some aspect of the video.

Using a video, you can elaborate on aspects of your brand, its products/services, and other factors that are difficult to do in writing or through an image. Videos can help you tell the story you want for your brand and this can create a personal connection between you and your Instagram followers. Those who end up watching your videos can better understand how to use your products or may even connect with the brand personality established through the video.

People lead busy lives and are being bombarded with information every day. This has resulted in the creation of a world where people are seeking information with as little time investment as possible. Most people simply don’t have the time to read through text or comprehend other media, but videos can help achieve what these other media can’t in a short period of time. They can also create a better understanding of the message than other forms of media can.

Businesses have begun to realize the importance of using video to further business goals and this has contributed to the rise of video marketing in today’s world. More videos are also being watched on Instagram today, so you need to step up and deliver if you don’t want to risk losing your Instagram followers to your competitors.

Video formats on Instagram

Videos on your Instagram feed

These are the videos posted to your feed directly which must be at least 3 seconds long and can be up to 60 seconds in length. The aspect ratio of feed videos is between 1:1 for the standard Instagram square to 4:5 for vertical. These tend to show up on the Explore page of people who already watch videos and can help you reach a wider audience.

Instagram Stories videos

These are best as vertical videos with an aspect ratio of 9:16 and can be a maximum of 15 seconds in length. While Stories disappear after 24 hours, you can highlight important Stories to keep them on your profile.

IGTV

Such videos must be at least 15 seconds long and can go up to 10 minutes, with larger, verified accounts being able to post videos that are up to 60 minutes long.

Live Streaming

Live Streaming is also one way for you to use videos on your Instagram to build a deeper connection with your real Instagram followers.

Planning for great Instagram videos

Think about what you want to achieve through your video. Do you want to gain more Instagram followers or just increase engagement on your posts? Do you want to boost conversions through your videos? Knowing what you want will help you plan accordingly so that you have the right video that can help you meet the goal.

Decide on the equipment you'll need

High-quality videos require usage of high quality equipment. You need to make sure you’re using a great camera and audio equipment so that you visuals are great and sound is spot on. You’ll also want to get the right lighting for your videos so invest in lighting equipment if you need to so that your videos are well lit.

Shoot your video

While shooting your video, make sure that the subject is in focus and keep your shot steady so that jerky movements don’t end up distracting your Instagram followers. You can also find creative ways to incorporate brand colours into your video to resonate with your brand’s overall image.

Edit it well

Make sure you do a good job of editing your videos once you’ve shot them to keep your Instagram followers glued till the end.

Post your video for SEO

Even great videos require you to put some effort into optimizing them for search engines. Make use of the right hashtags and keywords so that your videos reach a wider audience and result in business growth.

Video ideas to boost business growth

Teasers

If you’ve got a longer video that you can’t put up on Instagram, but are uploading it to your YouTube channel, you could always direct your Instagram followers to it by using a teaser video. This way, they’ll get to know about it and get interested in watching it on the other platform.

Teaser can also be used to create hype around a product you’re going to launch. You can include key features and highlights of the product and put it up in the form of a teaser so that your Instagram followers become aware of it and can eagerly await its release.

Time lapse videos

Taking your audience behind the scenes and introducing them to the work involved in your business is a great way to establish a personal connect, but there is a risk of revealing too much. This is not something you want for your business as it can result in your ideas being stolen. Time lapse videos work perfectly in such cases because you can take your audience behind the scenes and create an interesting video without revealing too much. Through time lapse videos, you can show:

• A product being packaged for shipment to customers
• Setting up a venue for an event
  
• Brainstorming content on a whiteboard
  

Explainer videos

You may feel like you’re coming across as too promotional with these, but in reality, explainer videos are crucial to the success of your business. Remember that your Instagram followers are interested in your content which is why they’re following you in the first place. They consider you to be the authority when it comes to your products, so take advantage of that and use explainer videos to your products’ advantage. These videos can be used to:

• Highlight specific features of a product
  
• Showcase your products in action
  
• Demonstrate the use of the product
  

They are a great way for you to show your audience why your products will add value to their lives and encourage them to buy your products.

Stop motion videos

Stop motion videos are those which have been made by compiling several images together to communicate a story or take your Instagram followers on a journey. Through these videos, you have the advantage of assembling props and other items in any way that you’d like. This is not something you can do for a normal video or a single photo. With such videos, you get to take your audience on a journey in a fun way and ultimately reveal the outcome you want to. For example, using a stop motion video to put across the proceedings of an event can keep your viewers interested until the end of the video revealing the final outcome from the event.

User generated videos

People are sometimes sceptical of what they see and hear from a brand because of the obvious profit motive involved. They’re more likely to believe that your brand’s product or service holds value if they see that other customers of your brand are reporting on it positively. Content generated from existing customers of your brand feels more genuine to others than a marketing message or ad and can be used to experience a growth rate in conversions.

Videos to introduce yourself

It’s important to remember that Instagram is a social media platform so people on the platform are looking to make some real connections. They want to be able to connect with other people and when they connect with brands, having a human element can make a big difference. Posting videos where you’re directly talking can help people put a face to the brand and erase that dividing line to create a deeper connection. You could start off by talking about what got you interested in this industry and keeping up with more personal content so that people feel a more personal connection with your brand.

These are just some of the many video ideas that you can use to boost business growth on Instagram, but there’s really no limit to what you can achieve if you put your creativity to the test.

Conclusion

Using videos on Instagram to grow your business isn't always easy, but with some practice and patience, you can end up making videos that your Instagram followers just can’t get enough of.

How To Get More TikTok Followers

TikTok is the hottest social media platform on the planet right now, with hundreds of millions of people watching hundreds of millions of hours of content each and every single month.

One of the best sources of organic traffic – especially if you are able to generate TikTok Views from your followers with ease – it’s critical to take advantage of this social media platform ASAP, especially before your competitors are able to get established.

That’s where this quick guide comes into play.

By the time you are done with the inside information we highlight below you’ll know just about everything there is to know about getting more tiktok followers. Combine that with the opportunity to Buy TikTok Views and Buy TikTok Followers from our service and you’ll be able to dominate on TikTok almost overnight.

Let’s dig right in!

Post original content

Nothing kills your ability to get more TikTok Followers faster than posting the same kind of content everyone else on TikTok is posting right now.

Because there are so many people on this social media platform fighting for the attention of millions the last thing you can afford to do is get lost in the shuffle right alongside them.

It’s important to stick out from the crowd, to separate yourself from the rest of the pack, and to find a way to put a unique spin on your content that cranks up the potential to go viral.

Obviously, seeding your TikTok account by Purchasing Followers  (more views) is a great way to hit the ground running, but your organic, original content is the lifeblood of your account.

Stick to a daily upload schedule 

TikTok is super fast paced and you need to be able to stick to a lightning fast delivery schedule if you’re going to have any success at all.

One of the real values in choosing to buy TikTok followers cheap from a service like ours is that it lets you immediately give your content a head start, content that is (by its very nature on TikTok) going to have a relatively short lifespan.

Daily releases need to happen on this platform or your fans and followers are going to start to look elsewhere for their TikTok fix.

Use hot TikTok songs

Collab with influencers

Duets and collaborations with already successful TikTok promoters and influencers have the potential to fast-track your success more than anything other than choosing to buy TikTok views from a service like our own.

If you’re looking for overnight celebrity and influence on TikTok nothing does a better job than partnering with – or getting promoted by – already successful TikTok celebrities.

Even just a quick collaboration with these kinds of influencers can take you to the next level.

You don’t even have to connect with the most popular creators on TikTok – the ones with millions and millions of followers already – to have real success. Micro influencers can help you dominate your niche even more effectively!

Study TikTok success stories

It’s critical to remember that success leaves clues and you can follow a similar blueprint that the most popular TikTok users built to generate their own success on this social media network, using it to create almost overnight celebrity, influence, and leverage for yourself on TikTok as well.

Look at the kind of content that popular creators and influencers in your space, market, or niche are putting out and find ways to put your own spin on something similar. This gives you an immediate head start – as well as a bit of x-ray vision to see what’s working now – so that you don’t have to spend all your time thinking of new ways to come up with something that makes a splash on TikTok.

Leverage hot hashtags for more views

Of course, it’s always a good idea to have a look at the hottest hashtags that are attached to the most popular TikTok videos at anyone particular point in time and use those same hashtags to promote your own content.

At the end of the day, nothing’s going to give you a head start as fast as choosing to Buy TikTok Views from our service.

By taking advantage of our TikTok follower packages – making the decision to Buy TikTok Followers , you’ll be able to hit the ground running with a real head start on this platform, leapfrogging your competition and giving yourself every chance at success on TikTok today.

How You Can Get More Likes On Your Instagram Posts

Posting high-quality content is the basis for getting more likes on Instagram and building an audience of real Instagram followers. You can’t afford to compromise on the quality of your content. Engaging content starts with posting high-quality photos that can automatically capture the attention of your Instagram followers. Using the right equipment to take high-quality photos is necessary if you want to set your account apart from your competition. Following a consistent theme for your account by using 1-2 filters can give your brand a personality and make it easily recognizable for your Instagram followers. Color plays a huge role in the human mind, so be sure to stick to colors that help enhance your photos.

Apart from just high-quality photos, engaging content requires an engaging caption. You need to use the right words to complement your photo so that you can get more Instagram likes on your posts. Your caption should create a story and include a call to action, making it easier for your followers to be drawn to your posts. You can also post content that capitalizes on trending topics to get more likes on your posts.

Make use of the right hashtags

Hashtags are very important as they help your content show up along with other related content on Instagram, making it possible for you to reach a targeted audience. Putting time into researching the right hashtags can help you gain more Instagram likes on your posts. Make sure you look up the related hashtags recommendations on Instagram because this way, you can be sure that you’re selecting niche hashtags based on the Instagram algorithm. You should also use local as well as popular hashtags after conducting research on what your target audience and competitors are using. There are also many tools that you can use to find relevant hashtags to include in the caption of your posts. You can also experiment with branded hashtags and see the results they generate.

Utilize photo and location tags

If you’re featuring a post with an influencer or some other account, be sure to tag them in your post. This increases the chances of your post showing up on the Explorer tab of their Instagram followers, giving you a wider reach and increasing your chances of getting more engagement. Location tags are also very important if you want people to find you on Instagram and connect with your brand easily. When you’re tagging accounts and location, make sure it’s relevant and not spam, otherwise, it won’t help you reach your target audience.

Post at the right time

If you want to get more Instagram likes on your posts, you must analyze insights to see when your audience is most active on the platform. This will vary depending on the target audience, but with the help of Analytics, you can access this crucial information to make sure you post at the right time, as posts on Instagram feeds appear based on recency. The quicker engagement your post gets, the more likely it is to reach a wider audience and even show up on the Explore tab.

Be consistent

Posting consistently will give your real Instagram followers something to look forward to and establish your credibility as a brand. Maintaining an account by posting consistently can be hectic, which is why making use of a scheduling tool can save you time and effort when it comes to consistent posting. Using a scheduling tool, content for weeks/months can be created and uploaded to a content calendar so that automatic posting can be done as per schedule without you having to put a stop to everything else in your life just so that you can maintain consistency in your posting.

Benefit from an engagement group

Engagement groups on Instagram function based on a “like for like” policy where users mutually agree to like/comment on others’ posts once they’re uploaded. A direct message is sent out to members of the group as soon as a post is published so that it receives higher engagement and reaches a larger audience.

Re-share your content on other social media platforms

Cross promoting your Instagram content on other social media platforms of your business can help you maximize the benefits from your followers on all these other platforms as well. You can directly post your Instagram content to Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter when you make a post, but such posts may appear differently on different platforms due to character and image restrictions. Letting your audience on other social media platforms know about your Instagram handle can get them to follow you on Instagram and fetch you more Instagram likes for your content.

Make use of Instagram ads

While using Instagram ads isn’t free, it’s a great way to increase the reach of your posts. On a platform as big as Instagram, an organic reach can only get you so far. Paying for Instagram ads can help you reach out to a wider audience and fetch you more Instagram likes. If you’re making great posts but still aren’t getting the kind of engagement you had hoped for, deciding on an ad budget for your posts can help you see great results.

Conclusion

Instagram likes may seem to be nothing more than vanity metrics, but they’re extremely important for the Instagram algorithm. Likes can help your content appear on the Explore tab, fetch you more Instagram followers and boost business growth, so focusing on posting content that gets you more likes is very important for your business. InstaMarket can help you out with this.

Why No One Seems To “Like” You, And What You Can Do About It

As of June 2018, Instagram announced that the popular social media platform had reached an unprecedented 1 billion monthly users, with 500 million daily active users. This makes Instagram the second most routinely visited social media site next to Facebook, at 1.47 billion daily active users, beating out its competitor, Snapchat, who sits at a respectable 191 million daily active users. Everybody and their mother is on Instagram—literally—“liking” and “sharing” media at all hours of the day or night.

Businesses are now capitalizing on the widespread reach of the application, and since the creation of the Instagram Business Profile in 2016, there are now over 25 million business accounts on Instagram to date.

Nearly 80% of Instagrammers report that they willingly have followed multiple business profiles and view brand content from these businesses on a regular basis. Despite the ease of access companies have to potential clients via the app, Instagram business profiles are not immune to the competition. Ever-changing algorithms make reaching desired audiences more difficult than ever, and profiles are no longer being ranked based on “follower” count, but based on their levels of engagement.

So what is engagement? In the simplest of terms, engagement on Instagram is the number of “likes”, “comments”, or “shares” a given post receives. The more “likes” your page’s content has, the higher the content is ranked in the eyes of Instagram. A higher rank gives you a better chance of having your message put in front of potential consumers, therefore growing your brand awareness and overall presence.

As the importance of engagement becomes harder for users to ignore, an increasing number of individuals are opting to purchase “likes” for their profiles, and in doing so, are experiencing an immediate boost in activity on their pages. Though many social media gurus are quick to dismiss this method of obtaining “likes” as an artificial inflation of brand awareness, paying for “likes” has numerous benefits for all businesses, and is a welcome addition to any well-rounded digital marketing strategy.

“Likes” and “Followers” are not created equal.

With the recent shift in Instagram’s algorithm, “likes” are considered more important than “followers.” It is not enough for brands to simply have a large number of “followers” on their account for their content to be seen. In reality, it is estimated that a given brand’s followers will only actually see about 10% of their organically posted content. That means 90% of your perfectly curated posts will never reach the consumer, essentially wasting your time and your resources. In order for a business to be visible in the Instagram community, audience members must be actively “liking” and engaging with that business’s posts.  When you buy Instagram likes, your brand will stand out as the appealing concept it is, reach a wider audience, and convert prospects to consumers.

Increased number of “likes” leads to increased brand visibility.

Instagram rewards posts with high levels of engagement by exposing them to a broader audience that is also likely to engage with your posts. Here’s how it works; if you post a picture of a delicious ice cream cone and that post gets a bunch of “likes,” it will most likely rank higher than similar popular posts with the same hashtags. According to a recent poll by Omnicore, 95 million pictures are uploaded to Instagram each day. With that level of competition, how can you know for sure that your audience is actually seeing what you post? When you buy Instagram likes, not only will your content sit higher on your follower’s own feeds, but followers of followers will have an increased chance of seeing your posts pop up as well. You could even land a spot on Instagram’s Explore Page, a nifty little feature that compiles all of the posts that the user has “liked,” as well as posts that are “liked” by profiles the user typically engages with. By making the decision to buy Instagram likes for your page, you are giving your content a boost that could exponentially increase visibility, and introduce you to niche markets your brand has yet to explore.

Other platforms pick up posts with high levels of engagement.

If you’re going to buy social media “likes,” Instagram is the platform to do it. Since the format is centered on the sharing of pictures, Instagram allows for users to experience everything your brand has to offer in the palm of their hand. Even Facebook took notice of the incredible impact of Instagram, and purchased the application for a whopping $1 Billion dollars in 2012. Both applications link together seamlessly, making sharing across multiple platforms a breeze for clients, and from there, the sky’s the limit. Once trust is established for your business, your following will grow, and your content will continue to be compelling and relevant. The first step in this miraculous process is to build engagement. When you buy Instagram likes, you are positioning your brand to be exposed to diverse markets of incomprehensible size and influence.

Increased brand legitimacy.

“Social Proof” is a term used to denote a powerful phenomenon where individuals identify correct social behavior based off of the behavior of others. Humans are pack animals by nature. If individuals see a post with a high number of “likes,” those individuals are likely to conclude that it is appropriate, or even necessary, for them to “like” said content as well.

Instagram is essentially a way to personify your brand, and to make it more relatable to the consumer

An Instagrammer might consider their personal friend’s profile with low engagement unpopular, in the same way that a business profile with low engagement could be considered unpopular. This creates what is called a “legitimacy gap,” where there is a discrepancy between the intended identity of a brand, and how that identity is received by the consumer. So if your brand’s profile has a catchy bio about how you are community oriented and well-connected, but no one is engaging with your content, the consumer will infer that you are not as well-connected or popular as you say you are. When you buy Instagram likes, you can bridge the gap for the customer, and increase brand legitimacy and following.

Increased revenue.

ROI is the bottom line. Your brand’s participation with Instagram ultimately has the goal of increasing profits and converting individuals from viewers to patrons. The number of likes” you receive on a specific post is essentially a review of the post’s content. Buying Instagram likes has a high return on investment because your product is perceived as better or more reliable, and consumers viewing your page are more likely to purchase that specific item. Audience members are no longer willing to be guided by standard network commercials filled with glittering generalities. They are turning to review sites like Yelp and Google, and yes, Instagram, to gain information about products from their fellow consumers. The more “likes” you have on your content, the more your products will be sought after. Purchasing “likes” drives business profits up by showing consumers that your products are high quality and in-demand.

So what does this mean for your brand?

If you’ve already taken the step and made a business profile on Instagram for your brand, good for you, you’re on the right track. The value of the platform is pivotal in connecting brands with consumers and providing an immersive view of an organization’s culture and concept for potential clients. A strong Instagram presence is essential to any business’s marketing plan, and that presence boils down to “comments,” “shares” and “likes”. Remember, Instagram has 500 million daily users, and in order get noticed by those users, your brand must have high levels of engagement. Buying Instagram “likes” immediately delivers rapid engagement growth, exposes your brands to a wider audience, increases brand legitimacy, and could serve as just the boost you need to make the transition from observer to influencer. Buying “likes” is an essential Social Media Marketing tactic, delivering the results your brand needs, where you need it most.

Invest those marketing dollars where you’re going to see results. Click here to buy Instagram likes from InstaMarket, and open the door to increasing your brand’s legitimacy, web presence, and profits.

How To Use Instagram As An eCommerce Owner?

Instagram is one of the most thriving, Widely-used social media platforms these days. It started as a photo-sharing platform but soon boomed into a community of avid photographers and marketers. Instagramming today is not just about sharing special moments with family and friends and garnering Instagram likes. It’s become a major platform for selling for ecommerce brands and making a memorable impact on their Instagram followers.

Let’s check out some statistics that throw light on the popularity of the platform:

Share contests and ask followers to generate content

You certainly want to achieve high growth rates through Instagram, but that rarely happens until and unless you engage your Instagram followers. You need to make them feel special in some way for them to stick around with your ecommerce brand. That is possible when you create interesting contests for your Instagram followers to take part in. Such type of content brings your followers closer to your brand and gives you chance to treat them with something interesting and conversion-driven.

Building an engaged community on Instagram also depends greatly on bringing users to create content. Instagram is pretty powerful in creating new prospects for your brand at the starting stage of the conversion funnel by building an inspiring, highly artistic feed of your Instagram followers. You can share behind-the-scene snaps, or experiential posts created by users of your product themselves. This is truly a great way to see substantial growth in your Instagram likes and product sales.

Get in touch with influencers

The truth is influencer marketing truly works. It’s a good way to promote a brand through a famous personality and celebrity because it builds trust and generates awareness. You can do the same on Instagram to promote your ecommerce store. In fact, influencer marketing is a thriving business on Instagram. Such a collaboration on the platform can get you real Instagram followers in very less time.

Collaborating with a person whose posts reach thousands of Instagram followers can be a major sales booster for your ecommerce store. The best part: the whole exercise won’t require a massive monetary investment on your part. You need to pay a small fee to an influencer (something way lesser than traditional TV ads) to create a piece of content around your brand and promote it among his or her Instagram followers. This can boost the credibility of your ecommerce store by many folds and up your traffic and sales on the platform.

Keep a tab on engagement

This is the age of real-time data. It’s data that’s driving major marketing decisions and actions of brands across the globe. Be it a small tech startup or a multinational brand, every business relies on data to know about what they don’t know—about consumers, market trends, and so on and so forth. The same goes for ecommerce stores on Instagram. Unless you know the results of your efforts in quantitative terms, it’s difficult to truly make a difference.

Hence, you need to measure the level of engagement on your Instagram profile by leveraging the right analytics tools. If you have an Instagram for business account, you can find the analytics information under the audience tab. You can check the number of Instagram followers, Instagram likes, and overall engagement of your profile to plan your future posts better. Keep an eye on the image posts that have got the maximum likes. This will help you focus on the positive aspects that boost your profile’s engagement.

Closing lines

Instagram is a great platform to connect with target audiences and close sales. But for ecommerce stores to get the best out of the platform, they need to focus thoroughly on engagement. You can surely do wonders on it if you are committed. It’s just not about growing your Instagram followers or Instagram likes. It’s about achieving business growth by delivering something of value to audiences. You can use a tool like Mr. Insta to boost engagement of your profile and also increase the number of Instagram followers.

Buy Instagram Followers To Increase Your Online Reputation

Why Instagram Followers Matter

Both Big and Small Profiles Need Followers

Instagram Followers Determine your Credibility

Give Your Instagram Photos An Edge With These Photo Editing Apps

Instagram has a basic photo editor for users, but if you really want your pictures to stand out, making use of some popular photo editing apps can help give your photos an edge over the competition, allowing you to get more Instagram likes and thereby attract more real Instagram followers.

Snapseed

This free app is available for iOS and Android users. Using Snapseed, you can enrich the colors in your photo, double up on the attractive factor on your selfies, and even smoothly get rid of people in the background of your pictures. It’s super easy to use, so even if you’re not a pro at editing, you won’t have a difficult time with it. You can add filters and special effects to your photos, as well as make use of white balance, tonal contrast, and lens blur to make the pictures stand out. If you’re a pro at photo editing, you’ll really enjoy using the HDR Scape, Perspective tools, and Double Exposure features to give your photos a professional look that can help you gain more real Instagram followers who are interested in your content.

Adobe Lightroom CC

Adobe Lightroom CC, the free photo editing app available on iOS and Android is one of the best photo editing apps created. With it, you can take pictures or record videos, and you also get to make use of its HDR mode, which extends the exposure scope of your pictures automatically. You can make use of its editing tools like tone curve with which you can adjust color, contrast, and exposure. You can also run a bulk edit of your photos by copying the same editing across several photos to give them a consistent style. You can even edit just a portion of the picture to try it out. It has a Premium feature known as Adobe Sensei, which can auto-tag your photos by making use of artificial intelligence.

VSCO

Also available on iOS and Android, VSCO is a free app that’ll give you full control over your photo editing. You can take your photos with your phone’s front or rear camera with VSCO and make use of its advanced camera features while adjusting white balance, exposure, and other aspects of your photo. You can even edit photos on your desktop and receive the same results on your phone. With VSCO installed on your smartphone, you’ll also be part of a larger creative community of photographers that you can connect with to learn more about improving your photography skills.

Afterlight

With Afterlight, you can add beautiful filters to your photos and make your Instagram followers want to see more of your content. Although the app is freely available on Android and iOS, it does include some in-app purchases, but the good news is – they’re well worth it. The Instant Film Pack or the Wander Pack available through Afterlight costs just $0.99. on the free version of the app. With this, you’ll have access to numerous filters,, as well as textures that you can apply to your photos with the ease of a tap. Afterlight offers users the option of 15 free cropping pre-sets that can allow you to create photos to match the aspect ratio of photos on Instagram easily.

Enlight

As the top paid app in 121 countries, Enlight has a lot to offer. You can be sure to get more Instagram likes on your photos by making use of the features of this app. It is priced at $2.99 and is available on iOS. With Enlight, you can create breath-taking black and white photos, create collages, and give your pictures an artistic touch. The built-in masking feature for each tool the app offers makes sure that the editing blends into your photos seamlessly. Once you’re done editing your photos, you can share them directly to your Instagram account and impress your Instagram followers.

Facetune

If you want to post a great selfie or portrait, you’re going to have to put in a little more effort than just posing for a photo. Using Facetune can help you produce selfies and portraits that are sure to draw attention to your account. Available on Android and iOS, Facetune is priced between $3.99 and $4.59. You can work on editing various details of a face using Facetune, make use of its customizable filters, change colors, and remove any perceived imperfections from the photo. If you want, you can change your hairstyle, make your smile wider, or even accentuate your eyes to create a photo you’ll be happy to post for your Instagram followers.

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Mextures

Mextures is a great app for editing your Instagram photos, and it’s available for iOS users at $1.99. Using Mextures, you can choose from more than 150 textures, make your own filters, and select from almost 30 photo editing pre-sets. You can add several filters and effects to your photos since the app permits the use of infinite layers to create the photo that you want. You won’t have to struggle with it – this easy to use app is great even for beginners to create quality posts on Instagram.

With all these options, you may be wondering which one you should choose for your business. The choice of which app to use depends on your budget considerations, compatibility of apps with your device, ease of use, and most importantly, the type of editing you want to do using the app. Trying out different apps is a great way to get a feel of what works well for you so that you can make a decision and start boosting your business’ growth with photos that stand out.

How To Get More Spotify Followers

The competition on Spotify has gradually been heating up recently, as the platform is streaming millions of songs created by talented artists. And as a Spotify user, you want your playlists to get viewed and played as frequently as possible.

As the platform is moving towards getting the reputation of a social media network, undoubtedly, many people and even brands are tempted by the idea of increasing their followers on Spotify.

Understand your listeners’ needs and preferences

If you are a core song creator, even then Spotify encourages you to think and act like an entrepreneur about your target audience. Today with immense success underlying in digital platforms, the more you promote your work in any profession, the more success you’ll enjoy.

Therefore, you must consider your followers’ interests and observe what kind of music they would like to listen. Start by narrowing down your target audience; besides your music, what other kinds of music they like; and what other genres you are interested in, even if you haven’t made any music in that category.

Map your marketing activities

As Brain Tracy, a well-known motivational speaker says, “Every minute you spend in planning saves 10 minutes in execution.” Pen down all the realistic ways through which you can increase the number of your Spotify followers.

Even if you plan to Buy Spotify Followers from a reliable source, break down every strategy in bite-sized chunks as doable tasks. Try one thing and observe the results, and then alter your strategy if things aren’t working.

Harness the power of social media platforms

To acquire a healthy followers list on Spotify, start using social media platforms. Create a professional page of your business with the relevant information included such as profile picture, bio, portfolio, and brand name.

Only post relevant content and try engaging with your audience. As your social media page starts to grow, start promoting your Spotify account over here to lure them there.

Find and register yourself at playlisting platforms

There are different websites and networks for content curators such as playlists.net, Sound Plate, etc. that allow artists to promote their playlists. For example, you can use the “Playlist a Day” app available in the Play Store and Google Play, the app has collaborated with playlists.net.

Such platforms allow artists to upload their playlists and make new fans each day.

Market your playlist on Reddit

Not many people are aware, but Reddit has a special sub-category, Spotify Playlists, which conducts competitions on regular basis where best playlists are chosen as winners. You can start by associating your playlist with the “Spotify Playlists” subreddit. In doing so, you’re pulling quality organic traffic as Reddit is a top authority website on Google allowing your posts to go viral in no time.

How Can Marketers Connect with Generation Z Through YouTube?

Generation Z comprises folks born between 1995 and 2010. This chunk of people outnumbered millennials or Generation Y in 2019, holding 32 percent of the global population of 7.7 billion, and 25.9 percent of the population of the United States. As of now in 2020, this generation is likely to make up over 40 percent of consumers in the United States.

For marketers, the digital habits of this generation has become an important point of study. More than seventy-four of this generation spend their leisure time online, and sixty-six percent of them use more than one device connected to the internet. And when it comes to YouTube, 62 percent of them visit the video-streaming platform daily.

There are many reasons why Gen Z prefers to use YouTube. They believe that the platform makes them knowledgeable and keeps them informed. Since this is a generation that’s exposed to immense stress of life, YouTube acts as a stress buster for them. Most importantly, branded content on YouTube entertains them, which is why they engage more with brands.

Given these reasons, it has become extremely important with marketers to connect with this generation of people. Here are a few ways marketers can create YouTube video content that connects with Generation Z:

Making the content visually rich

Believe it or not, 73 percent of Gen Z teens in the age bracket of 13 and 18 years watch videos on their smartphones. For this chunk of people to engage with any brand content, there has to special emphasis on visual appeal. The generation prefers visually rich YouTube content because it is easier to consume compared to text content. At the same time, such content is more rewarding which is why they consume more of it. Since most of them are raised in a digital environment, they are confident in navigating visually-oriented interfaces. Hence, it’s important for marketers to create content that is in line with YouTube’s inherent design patterns for smartphones.

Creating snackable content

Let’s face it: Gen Z people are busy with their lives. They lead an on-the-go lifestyle and deal with a lot of already-existing clutter. Also, their attention span is shorter than millennials (about 8 seconds, while its 12 seconds for millennials). So, it’s important for marketers to send across the intended message in the fewest words possible. This brings them to a point where they have to determine the idea length of their YouTube video. The average length of a first page video on the platform is 15 minutes, but it’s seen that the to 10 videos on the platform is circa three minutes. As such, crisp and snappy videos work great for Gen Z viewers.

Using humor and inspiration

Gen Z use YouTube to check out videos that entertain them, gives them a stress-free experience, and inspires them to do something. If a video can bring a smile to their face or make them laugh, then that content is sure to win on the platform. Slapstick comedy is something that’s working amazingly on YouTube these days—something that’s garnering numerous likes, comments and shares across other social networks too. If marketers can bring out good humor in their videos, then their brand is surely going to become memorable.

Working with crucial issues

For marketers, it’s necessary to associate their brand with something that’s trending and catching public attention. Generation Z is a generation that truly practices what they usually preach. They expect the brands they follow on YouTube to do the same. They like brands that reflect a realistic viewpoint of life and not those that promise a utopian, non-diverse world. That’s why it’s important for marketers to take a stand on important issues through their video content on YouTube. This would make their brand more relatable to their viewers and make them successful in winning their loyalty and hearts.

The above are just a few of the many ways marketers today can use YouTube to build long-lasting, more meaningful connections with their Gen Z audience. No matter what, the bottom line is that they have to remain authentic, entertaining, and relevant in whatever story they tell to their audience through the platform to succeed in a competitive video marketing landscape.

Apps You Need To Start Using To Take Your Instagram Stories Up A Notch

As a brand, you need to do a lot more than post a quality picture or video on your Instagram Stories to keep your Instagram followers engaged. With the platform seeing high growth with more and more businesses using it for their marketing efforts, it’s important to make sure you’re creating great content that draws in real Instagram followers and generates more Instagram likes for your profile.

Instagram Stories are a fun way of engaging with your audience, and with the popularity of Stories increasing 15 times faster than other content, it’s important to put your time, creativity, and energy into creating stories that can draw in your Instagram followers.

Today, this process has been made a lot easier with numerous apps making it easier for you to create engaging stories. Here’s a list of some of the best apps that you should get your hands on to set your Instagram Stories apart from that of your competitors.

InShot

InShot is one of the best apps that you can use to edit photos and videos for your stories, offering numerous design elements that your Instagram followers can’t get enough of. Using InShot, you can trim, crop, merge, or cut videos while adding backgrounds, special effects and filters to your videos. You can even experiment with music and other audio on your videos while fading the music in and out. A speed controller allows you to make videos in slow motion or speed up your videos. You can even adjust the aspect ratio of your video to make it suitable for various platforms. There’s a collage maker and photo editor that you can use and various enhancements through filters, text, emojis, stickers, and other icons can give your videos/photos an edge. Available on iOS and Android, InShot can be used by novices and professionals alike.

Canva

With Canva, you can benefit from more than 60,000 templates that you can use for the photos you want to post to your Instagram Stories. You can even make use of its stock images and get access to more than 1 million background images that you can use for your stories. The number of design grids, photo enhancers, vignettes, blurs, badges, stickers, icons, textures, and frames that you can choose from are sure to amaze you when you want to create a story that stuns your Instagram followers. Available on iOS and Android, Canva can also be used from your desktop.

Adobe Spark

The Adobe Spark is an app family with post and video apps that can take your Instagram Stories to the next level. Adobe Spark Post is supported on iOS, Android, and desktop systems while Adobe Spark Video is supported on iOS and desktop. Using it, you can add quality video clips or put pictures together to create a video story. There are many typography options, text cut-outs, effects, layouts and animations that you can add to your photos and videos. You can add audio from your phone or from Adobe’s collection and choose millions of stock photo options. Easy syncing also allows for cloud backup of your content and the best part is that you don’t have to be a professional designer to understand how to use the app.

Unfold

Available on iOS and Android, Unfold allows you to create quality images and videos for your Instagram Stories with the help of elegant yet minimalistic templates. There are 25 free templates and 90 premium templates that you can choose from with more than 5 types of font and advanced text features. You can give your stories a branded feel by using this app to edit your photos and videos.

StoryArt

This simple app, available on iOS and Android, gives you access to over 200 free templates and more than 20 themes with new templates being added on a weekly basis. Apart from this, you can also use its variety of fonts, design effects, themes, and filters for your Stories that can fetch you more real Instagram followers.

CutStory

CutStory is available on iOS only and allows you to cut longer videos so that you can create 15 second videos to meet the Instagram Stories requirement. It supports all formats of videos and can produce a stream of 15 second videos for you to be able to post to your Instagram Stories directly. With CutStory, you can also export your videos without having to compress them. This app overcomes the limits imposed by Instagram’s 15 second story requirement by making the task of cutting a longer video easy for you.

Lifelapse

With Lifelapse, you can experiment with stop motion animation and create animations that look professional just using your phone. It’s available on iOS and Android systems and also gives you the opportunity to add filters, stock music, and make changes to the play speed. You can also get your video timing right with the help of its interval timer to create videos that have high production value and can fetch you more Instagram likes for other posts on your profile.

PhotoGrid

PhotoGrid offers you the opportunity to create photo or video collages for your stories and is available on iOS and Android. There are over 300 photo collage templates, 60  filters, and more than 90 backgrounds that you can choose from. You can make customised photos using its stickers, effects, filters, and fonts while choosing to clip an object from a photo or remove the photo background. You can even touch up profiles and selfies with its beautifying features or use its selfie camera and automatically have it touch up the image. PhotoGrid can help you level up on your Stories with the help of its meme and GIF generator, smart face filter, and scrapbook. It’s also compatible with several aspect ratios and can be used to create slideshows for your Instagram followers.

Hype-Type

Hype-Type is an app supported on iOS and Android devices and is one of the best Instagram Story apps for using text, offering numerous fonts, styles, and animations. You can use it with the photos or videos that you want to post to Insatgram Stories.

8mm

If you want to show your Instagram followers stories that have a retro touch, 8mm is the app that you need to use. It’s available only on iOS devices and can be used to add special effects even to already existing videos in your gallery. There are 8 different types of lenses, and 13 different types of aged and retro film styles. 2 free themes and 3 premium themes are available with a jitter button to mimic the frame shakes of 8mm cameras. The app supports HD recording up to 4K and allows you to live edit your footage while you’re recording.

Jumprope

Jumprope is the perfect app available on iOS if you want to create “how to” style content for your Instagram Stories like sharing recipes, fitness routines, make-up tutorials. You get personalised templates, and can make use of its filters, time-lapse, text overlays, colours, animations, and voiceover. You can also make use of a shoppable format to highlight your products for your Instagram followers.

Typorama

If you want to grab the attention of your Instagram followers with exciting text, iOS supported Typorama is the app you need to use. Using it, you will get access to more than 50 typographic styles and 100 fonts/typefaces. Choose a background that you like and start typing with its text styling tools. It also gives you access to several quotes that you can add to your Instagram Stories with numerous stock image options that you can choose from. You can even enhance your text using shadows, distortions, and gradients.

A Design Kit

A Design Kit is available on iOS devices only and can help you give your Instagram Stories an artistic touch. There are more than 120 designs and template options for you along with over 30 font choices. You can add stickers and backgrounds to your stories while using the brushes available to draw textures and colours.

Clipomatic

Clipomatic is an app available for iOS devices and is a great way for you to reach out to those with hearing impairment or just those who view Instagram Stories with the sound turned off. With Clipomatic, works spoken in your videos can be converted into captions live just by pressing a button thanks to its Smart Video Editor. It also offers several visual filters and typography options and can be used in 40 languages which can help you reach out to a larger audience and gain more real Instagram followers.

Microsoft Hyperlapse

Microsoft Hyperlapse is supported on Android and desktop systems and allows you to create time-lapse videos for your stories. You can also use it to adjust the speed of your current videos and increase the speed up to 32 times the normal video speed. The time limit for recording time-lapse videos using Microsoft Hyperlapse is 20 minutes. The app supports high resolution videos (720 and 1080 px).

Conclusion

Incorporating Instagram Stories into your Instagram marketing strategy can boost your business growth tremendously if done right. To take full advantage of the feature, you need to make sure you’re putting out excellent content and these apps can help to make that happen. Make sure you choose an app based on the features you’re looking to benefit from and one that you know how to use easily so that you start seeing the benefits of it through your Instagram Stories.

Using Instagram During The COVID-19 Crisis: How Does It Look Like?

Instagramming And The COVID-19 Crisis

The outbreak of COVID-19 has been a life-changing event. It has completely changed the way businesses and societies operate. While every individual is taking all measures possible to protect themselves from the virus, businesses are pushed to run remotely and virtually. Social distancing and work-from-home are the new normal, and everyone is trying to embrace it.

Let’s talk about social media marketing, particularly Instagram marketing, and how the crisis is likely to affect the realm. Believe it or not, Instagramming won’t be the same for businesses. The platform has always been about having social interactions and creating virtual, visually rich experiences. But as the crisis engulfs the world, the informational quotient of the social network has increased to a new level.

Fake news and misinformation are becoming rampant during this time of crisis. Hence, Instagram is now beefing up its potential as a powerful news aggregator to prevent the circulation of malicious and fake rumors about the outbreak. It has decided to remove all misinformation about the crisis and provide valuable information from health authorities through hashtags. Now, it also prevents its users from looking for augmented reality effects related to the virus.

Industries across the globe are now grappling with these times. They lack liquidity and growth prospects and are seeking the government’s assistance to stay afloat. Supply chains for Chinese items, events and conferences, travel influencers, restaurants, bars, and hotels are facing the brunt of lockdowns to prevent the spread of the virus.

With many nations around the globe issuing stay-at-home orders, users are killing time by using social media more than ever. Instagram and its parent social giant Facebook has seen a 40-percent hike in their usage during the pandemic. Most of these users fall in the age bracket of 18 to 34 years. They still aim at gaining Instagram followers and Instagram likes, but the way they are using the platform is certainly very different now.

Usage time has increased

An increase in the number of posting and engagement is surely obvious. Instagram followers of brands are staying longer on the network to engage with content and people. As such, there are high chances of getting more Instagram likes, comments, views, and other metrics. Influencer marketers on Instagram are also witnessing a sharp rise in the number of sponsored posts, and the likes, views and comments garnered by these posts.

Direct shopping on the rise

Real Instagram followers are now connecting and interacting directly with brands. They have all the time to hunt for their essentials and needed products on the platform. Since most countries have asked people to step out only when needed, people are using Instagram to buy products through e-commerce and direct messaging.

Co-watching

Instagram, as a photo and video-sharing platform, has gained immense traction among business users during the pandemic. That’s because they want to share messages expressing their support and update their Instagram followers about their operations. Thanks to a new Instagram feature called Co-watching, which allows users to connect with others through video chat. They can also explore story filters, add donation stickers, and up their profiles.

How businesses can use Instagram during the pandemic?

Pausing all promotions

Most brands and marketers often have a content plan ready. They usually prepare their promotions, posts, and other content in advance. But the outbreak of COVID-19 requires them to reevaluate their Instagram posts. They might have to rethink what they had scheduled or maybe cancel their posts altogether. This is certainly not the time to push offers that are focused on marketers’ and brands’ self-interest.

The pandemic has pushed many brands and businesses to pause their new campaigns. Any brand promotions and initiatives that they have planned are put on hold for now. That’s because people don’t really want to see them now, especially when they are stressed about survival after getting a pay cut or losing their job (even a loved one). People are now more concerned about the safety of their family, friends, and themselves.

Spreading awareness

Real Instagram followers of brands and businesses want to know more about the COVID-19 pandemic. This is also the time when misinformation about the virus is spreading as fast the virus itself. This is the reason why Facebook and Instagram are resorting to strict measures to place bans on certain ads and content. In March, Facebook decided to send home their content review team—something that’s going to have some effect on advertisers. Marketers are likely to face some delay in ad reviews. Also, there will be an increase in the incorrect disapproval of ads and limited delivery of in-stream ads.

As such, this is the time for marketers and brands to acknowledge the pandemic. Nothing really is normal, and they have to emphasize in spreading awareness about the crisis in order to remain authentic in the eyes of their Instagram followers.

Real Instagram followers look for honesty, and the platform is simply perfect for brands to share everything that’s going on with their business. It’s time for them to show their caring side by spreading authentic information through some popular hashtags, such as #covid_19, #corona, #highriskcovid19, #stayathome, and #remotework. Sharing credible information from sources like the WHO and local government can really help businesses in keeping their customers and Instagram followers informed.

Engaging with customers through online events

With stay-at-home orders pushing people indoors, it’s natural for brands and businesses to cancel their planned events and conferences. It won’t be possible for them to host these events until the curve of the outbreak flattens, and governments issue notices to reopen venues. But that shouldn’t stop brands from connecting with their Instagram followers and engaging them. Thanks to live sessions and webinars, they can continue to remain socially present, despite social isolation becoming an in-trend.

Instagram Live, Instagram Stories, and carousel posts are great tools that can help brands and businesses engage their audience on the platform during the crisis. They can use Instagram Stories to receive instant feedback from their Instagram followers. The questions and poll features of Instagram Stories can establish an immediate connection with Instagram followers and help brands listen to them.

This is also the best time to use Instagram Live to creatively show their expertise. Take, for example, a restaurant owner on Instagram. He or she can use Instagram Live to hold online cooking classes. A salon owner can share home manicure tips, and a fitness trainer can hold live workout classes—all using Instagram Live.

Offering online shopping options

It’s true that people are forced to stay indoors. But that doesn’t mean that they can’t relish online shopping experiences. They are allowed to step outside for essentials, but they might have other demands too. Brands and businesses that have relied on in-store shopping experiences have to now switched to online selling. And Instagram certainly provides a great platform to do so.

Brands can create a landing page that sells their products and share the URL with their Instagram followers. They can add the URL to their bio on Instagram so that it’s easier for people to find it. This works great for brands that have closed their stores or opened them for limited hours. For example, if they provide gift cards, they should let their Instagram followers know that they can support the business now and enjoy the experience later.

Also, brands can use Shopping Tags to sell their products directly from their Instagram feed and Instagram Stories. Doing so allows brands to populate their Profile Shop with their products. This would make it easier for their Instagram followers to browse through products that really matter to them. Selling through direct messaging or phone is also a great way to keep sales going and achieve revenue growth.

The COVID-19 outbreak has brought about a great deal of uncertainty and stress for both individuals and businesses. While lay individuals can’t do much other than staying at home and sticking to social distancing norms, businesses certainly need to keep their game going in order to stay afloat. They need to leverage the best practices when it comes to Instagram marketing and stay connected with their Instagram followers.

Stay at home and stay protected!

Getting The Most Out Of Your Instagram Stories

Have an Instagram Stories strategy in place

A strategy for your Instagram Stories can help you control and put into effect several ways of using Instagram Stories to optimize your business reach and growth. Posting between 1 – 7 stories each day has been found to achieve greater story completion rates of over 70% as compared to a greater number of stories. Posting consistently to build relationships with your viewers at the times that they’re most active is necessary to see a rise in the number of your real Instagram followers and get more Instagram likes. Your Instagram Stories strategy should focus on the following areas:

Using Instagram Stories to drive sales

Stories can be used to grab viewers’ attention, get them interested, achieve a sales conversion, and see a growth in the number of loyal customers your business has. Sales conversions can happen through stories in several ways. Even if you haven’t got 10k Instagram followers, product stickers, which are added as tags to particular items in your stories, can help your viewers shop for your products. Color and transparent variations of the product stickers also ensure that it goes well with any aesthetic of your Instagram Stories.

Adding links to your Stories can also be a massive growth driver and serve as a clear Call To Action for viewers to engage in. Whether you make use of text or give verbal instructions, asking viewers to “swipe up” is a great way to encourage conversions. Including “swipe up” motivating GIFs is also a great way to direct your viewers to the link. If you’ve got less than 10k Instagram followers, you can direct their attention to the clickable link in your bio through stories. Putting a countdown sticker in your Stories is also extremely effective if you’re looking to hype up product launches or other upcoming brand events. Viewers can even be encouraged to click on the sticker to stay informed of when the countdown ends.

Instagram Stories Ads are also an extremely effective way to drive business sales and can be targeted to the audience of your choice based on interests, location, demographics, and behavior. They also increase the likelihood of business growth by presenting your brand and its products/services to an already engaged audience.

Using Stories to showcase user-generated content and positive press can also be a great way to put out testimonials for your brand without letting the quality of the video/photo taken by users affect the aesthetic of your Instagram feed. Positive press showcased through Stories can, in turn, capture the interest of another viewer and get them interested in your brand, which could potentially result in a sale, furthering business growth.

Boosting engagement through Stories

Instagram Stories offer a great opportunity to engage with users and make it a more interactive experience, fostering a community sense. Authenticity is also maintained via the sharing of ‘behind the scenes’ footage and snippets from events hosted, leading to a sense of personalization.

Engagement can be boosted through several features of Stories. Polls can be used for viewers to choose between two options, questions can be sent in by viewers that are then answered, quizzes on interesting topics or even your brand can help arouse viewer curiosity, and even the use of emoji slider stickers can offer a sentiment reaction to a story posted. Chat stickers were also recently introduced to allow for a 32-participant chat forum to join the chat, which is a great way to get a focused group discussion going on a topic relevant to you or your business. Going live is another great way to increase engagement through Instagram Stories, not only because your Instagram followers are notified when you go live, but also because it gives them an opportunity to ask questions, make comments, and even engage in live discussions.

Getting more views through Stories

Hashtags and location tags can be included in stories to help your Stories be viewed by a larger audience. They can also be resized or blended into the background so as not to affect the overall aesthetic of the Story. Hashtags and location tags allow your Instagram Story to be viewed by more people by adding them to similar content posted by others. Location tags work well, especially for food and travel accounts, because people looking to travel to a place may just seek some inspiration from already existing content about the place. Posting consistently also helps to get more Instagram followers for your account, generate more Instagram likes for your posted content, and boost business growth.

Disclosing sponsored stories

Proper disclosure of sponsored content is necessary where there is a brand association, whether it is for a paid partnership or gifting. Disclosures can’t be hidden under other text/stickers, and need to be legible during the length of your story, in writing, as many verbal disclosures may go unheard by viewers who click on stories with the sound off. Disclosures not only help you meet the needed requirements, but are also beneficial to both parties involved in the brand association, increasing the likelihood of Instagram followers of each account ending up following the other account.

Scheduling Instagram Stories

Scheduling your Stories for Instagram can save you time and ensure you’re still consistent when it comes to Story postings. Several scheduling tools now make it possible for you to select the image/video you want to post as a story, plan your caption for it, as well as select the stickers you’d like to use with it and choose a date and time for when the posting should be made to your Instagram Stories. By carefully planning and scheduling your Stories, you’ll be able to ensure that your Instagram followers aren’t left wondering why you’ve suddenly gone quiet if you don’t have the time to make a Story, as the scheduling tool will do it for you.

Designing brand-aligned Instagram Stories

Your stories can communicate your brand’s personality, and so, having stories that align with your brand can be extremely helpful in putting across the impression you want. Design app templates, as well as Instagram’s very own built-in design tools, such as layout mode, numerous filters, brush tools, text options, GIFs, color picker, and even boomerang, can help to develop brand aesthetic aligned Stories on Instagram that can further business growth.

Using highlights the right way

Highlights on your profile on Instagram can help to save your Stories beyond just the 24 hours that they usually last, but that doesn’t mean you should be saving all your Stories to your Highlights. Typically, saving Stories that direct the most traffic to your website and other business links, Stories that include a Call To Action, or a shop-able link, should be saved as Highlights to allow viewers to access it even after 24 hours. Having a unique cover for your Highlights will also help to attract more Instagram followers and promote business growth by lending a unique brand aesthetic for your business that your viewers can’t help but be drawn to.

Use the right ‘Stories sizes’

The video/photo aspect ratio for Instagram stories is 9:16, while the maximum length of a video is 15 seconds, although Instagram does post longer videos to Stories as consecutive 15-second segments. The video or photo size requirement for Instagram Stories is 1080 x 1920 pixels. Adding text/stickers to stories while staying within the given blue lines allows the content to be visible to viewers.

Benefiting from Instagram Stories analytics

Insights can be generated for your Instagram Stories just as it can be for your posts, and making use of analytics on Instagram as well as insights from Analytics tools can give you access to information such as reach, impressions, exits, replies, taps back, profile visits, taps forward, follows, next story, shares, swipe away, and so much more. Insights from Instagram Stories analytics can help you evaluate your strategy and assess what’s working and what isn’t so that you can work towards improving your strategy and witness growth.