Best Practices for Sharing Content on Instagram

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Video Transcript | Intro

When it comes to Instagram, the frequency of your posts should be guided by the size of your community. 

Posting Frequency 

A small brand whose followers are mostly located in the same geographical area should aim for one to two posts a day so as not to inundate their community’s feed. 

If your company has followers all over the world, you should play around with the frequency and timing of your posts to reach different followers at different times. 

Sharing Multiple Photos 

When you have a large number of photos to share at once, like from an event your company has hosted, it’s a good idea to combine multiple photos into one post to avoid overwhelming your followers. 

Branded Hashtags 

Using a branded hashtag in your posts is an effective way of curating user-generated content. Additionally, make sure to regularly search Instagram for mentions of your brand to see where you’ve been hashtagged. When reposting content, credit the original source in a shout out as a means of showing your customers that you value their contributions. 

Hashtags  

Using hashtags relative to your business niche is a great way to grow your network, especially as you’re starting out. If you’re a juice company, you can use hashtags such as #greenjuice, #health, and #eatingwell to attract attention from people who are interested in those topics. A good rule of thumb is to research hashtags’ popularity before you start composing. It’s also best to keep the number of hashtags in your posts under 5 to make sure your captions can be easily read. 

Check Your Location  

If you’re a brick and mortar business, check your geo-location for photos taken in your shop that may not have been tagged with your name. You can also use a hashtag for your neighborhood to let your presence be known to anyone who’s using Instagram to explore the area. 

Trends

Consider participating in popular Instagram trends such as Throwback Thursdays to give users a glimpse into the history of your business.  This is a great way to show a personable side of your brand and engage with an already active community topic. 

Captions

Lastly, the character limit for photo captions on Instagram is generous. This provides an opportunity to tell a great story alongside your photo and provide your audience with better context and insight into a particular topic. For example, as a juice company, you can profile different superfoods in informative long-form posts and become a source of advice to your followers.  

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