Instagram news update

Ok so maybe Facebook is quite a long way off folding just yet, however, your Facebook advertising methods are probably getting a bit tighter without spending money on ads thanks to the latest Facebook algorithm changes.

So now is the time to really start investing time & money in other areas – personally, we recommend your own website – after all you don’t really own a Facebook page, Instagram page or twitter page. They own those pages with your name on it.

However,if you are exploring new networks and you’re not already on Instagram – (you really should be) now is definitely the time to start moving over. Instagram is a visual network with high engagement rates and is by far one of the best methods of spreading brand awareness thanks to Instagrams hashtags.

What’s even better is Instagram has updated its algorithms to allow users to ‘follow’ hashtags, which opens up a huge new potential audience should your business be relevant to any of these hashtags.

Instagram Business Profile

You also have the option to change your Instagram page to a ‘business profile’ – before you change over to that, you should watch the video below for a full explanation of what that entails.

Not future proof

Whilst you can avoid business profile updates currently, just remember Facebook owns Instagram and businesses used to use Facebook profile pages instead of business pages because of the better organic reach. Then Facebook forced users to change to business pages.

Also whilst Instagram offers much better brand reach than Facebook in the current format – just remember Facebook used to be similar before it became more of a paywall to reach your own liked users. No social media network is future proof but you can definitely vastly improve your business reach & brand awareness in the short term by taking advantage of Instagrams current popularity & ease of use for advertising visually.

Instagram tips

Use a high-quality DSLR or high-quality camera such as the latest iPhone, Pixel or Samsung.
Research what your competitors or other users in your niche and see what they’re using – what content themes are gaining the most engagement.
Don’t just keep putting up advertisements – people won’t engage/unfollow. Instagram allows you to give users a glimpse into your business in a spontaneous way. Give that a legitimate feeling and you’ll gain new customers.
Instagram is supposed to be mobile only, however, there are multiple services which allow you to use desktop uploading & scheduling – which if you’re running a business is a life saver.
Analyse which content is performing the best, promote it & create more posts that are related to it.
Network – build up relationships with top influencers in your niche and you’ll grow your brand quickly online.
Keep your theme – images posted, colour scheme and content consistent with your brand
Don’t use ‘Follow for follow’ and don’t pay for bot accounts. Block inactive accounts & focus on users that engage with your content as it’ll make it more likely for your content to appear in the ‘explorer’ feature.
Only follow users in your niche & engage with those users.