Last year, I made a commitment to myself to work on my Instagram account. I have always been a Facebook kind of girl, but today, I find Facebook cluttered and a little overwhelming with the number of unwelcome posts, videos, and adverts that appear constantly in my newsfeed. Instagram, on the other hand, I find inspiring and filled with content that I want to view. I wonder how many of our customers feel the same way?
Like any social network out there, there are right ways to use it, wrong ways to use it, and clever ways to use it.
Let's begin with hashtags.
I have written about hashtags before, but this time I would like to be a little more specific. Using hashtags is one thing. Using the right tags is a completely different thing.
If you want to tag your photos properly, you'll need to find and use the most relevant hashtags. This means doing the appropriate research to make sure you're using hashtags that not only describe what you do but are also being searched for on Instagram. So how do you do this?
Have you heard of Webstagram? Not only does it show you the most popular Instagram hashtags, but it also offers a free search tool that allows you to find all the top hashtags related to your post.
The important thing is to build your own hashtag list. There are two types of hashtags: BRANDED and COMMUNITY.
Branded, is specific to your company - your company name, for example. It's amazing how many people don't hashtag their own company name, including me!
Community, like branded hashtags, can connect like-minded users around a specific subject. But, unlike branded hashtags, community hashtags don’t need to be directly related to a business. They can be broader and much less focused. You might decide to do a #happymonday or #TBT (throw-back-Thursday) campaign. This is a great way to engage with a wider community.
A slightly sneaky but great way to discover new and trending hashtags is to check out the hashtags that your competitors and industry influencers use.