If you’ve tried different tactics to get the blue check without any success or you’re not sure how to get started, this article is for you.

Today’s article will review how to get your account verified on Instagram – whether it’s a personal or brand account. You’ll also learn tips you can use to increase your chances of getting verified.

But before we get started…

What Is the Blue Checkmark on Instagram?

The blue checkmark is a verification badge used to signify an account’s authenticity. Instagram introduced this feature to help vet high-profile and reputable accounts.  It’s also effective in helping their users easily distinguish these accounts.

Putting blue checkmarks beside verified accounts is a brilliant way to distinguish legitimate and real accounts from impersonators or fan pages. It also assures users that they are engaging with the legitimate account of a public figure, celebrity, or brand. 

For example:

A well-known singer, like Taylor Swift, has many fan pages or copycat accounts. What differentiates her account from the others is the blue checkmark next to her name. 

With her verification badge, it’s easy to tell her account apart from fake accounts or fan pages.

Also, it’s easy to distinguish Eater Chicago’s account (a food news and dining guide publication) from other accounts with a similar name. 

Their blue checkmark helps the publication stand out from copycat accounts or brands with similar names.

How many followers do you need on Instagram to get verified?

There is a common misconception about how having a large number of followers helps you get verified. 

The truth is your followers don’t guarantee your account verification. It’s not one of the requirements Instagram considers when verifying an account.

Accounts with just a few followers can be verified if Instagram considers them noteworthy. Seeing a verified account in a small niche isn’t unlikely especially if they have made a significant impact in their niche. 

What is the Benefit of Being Verified on Instagram?

Getting verified on Instagram comes with a lot of benefits that can positively impact both individuals and brands.

In this section, we will highlight some of the key benefits of having a verified account.

1) Builds Credibility and Trust

A blue checkmark next to an Instagram account signals that your account is authentic. Your followers also know that your account has undergone Instagram’s verification process.

Getting verified helps public figures, celebrities, and brands establish trust with their followers. Anyone following their accounts is confident that they are engaging with a genuine person. People are also more likely to trust the content shared by these accounts.

2) Increase Brand Visibility & Reach

Another benefit of getting verified on Instagram is that it can increase your brand visibility.

This is because verified accounts are more likely to appear at the top of search results, making it easier for users to find and follow them. 

Not only that, the algorithm is more likely to suggest verified accounts in the “Explore” section. This means accounts that are verified get more visibility and exposure than unverified accounts.

3) Access to Special Features

Instagram often grants verified users access to special features. This can be early access to test new features that are not available to the public. Or it can be access to advanced analytics tools. 

A good example is the “Swipe Up” feature that is available for accounts with verification or 10,000 followers. This feature lets you add a link to your website in your Instagram stories.

4) Prevents Impersonation

Having the blue checkmark protects against impersonation attempts. It also makes it easier for users to identify the real account.

Another benefit, particularly for influencers, is that no one can imitate you. Well, even if they could — but it would be clear that they are fake profiles.

5) Reduce Misinformation

By confirming the authenticity of accounts associated with public figures, news outlets, and brands, Instagram contributes to a more reliable information ecosystem. Your followers can rely on verified accounts for accurate and trustworthy content.

6) Help you Stand out in the Crowd

With a vast number of Instagram profiles, the blue badge acts as a spotlight, making your account easily distinguishable. It’s a visual cue and signifies that you’re someone worth following.

Imagine a small business competing for attention in the crowded e-commerce space. The verified badge can be a game-changer, drawing potential customers to your account.

How to Request for Instagram Verification?

In this section, we’ll be outlining how to get your account verified on Instagram by requesting it. This process involves the following steps:

1) Follow Instagram Guidelines

Instagram uses different criteria to determine if you’re eligible for verification.

First off, your account must adhere to Instagram’s Terms of Use and Community Guidelines.

Also, your Instagram account should consider the following:

• Be authentic: Your account needs to represent a real person, or a registered business or entity. This means that parody, fake, or fan accounts are not eligible for verification.
• Be unique: Your account must be the only one representing a person or organization. Accounts with general interests will not be eligible for verification. However, there are exceptions for language-specific accounts.
• Have a public account: You need to have a public account to be eligible to request verification.
• Have a complete account: You must complete your Instagram account’s Bio and have a profile picture. Your account should also be active when applying.

2) Prove That Your Account Is Notable

According to the Instagram Help Center, they only verify accounts featured in many news sources. Your account should also be well-known and highly searched.

If you or your brand has received press coverage or media mentions, you can use this to your advantage. When requesting to get verified, make sure you compile a list of features that highlight your (or your brand’s) achievements and impact. This not only showcases your notability but also helps Instagram verify your authenticity.

Note: Instagram doesn’t consider paid or sponsored media content.

3) Submit a Verification Request

The next step is to request for your verification. This process shouldn’t take more than a few minutes and you can do it on your Instagram app.

Here’s how to request to be verified on Instagram:

• From your Instagram account, click on the hamburger menu at the top right corner.
• Hit on Settings and Privacy.
• Tap Creator/Business Tools and Controls in the ‘For professionals’ section.
• Tap Request verification at the bottom of the page. 
• Complete the form by providing details such as an identification document (like a driver’s license or passport), your creator category, and links to various articles and other sites where you are featured. 
• Once you have filled in all the required information, click on the Submit button.

How Long Does It Take to Get an Instagram Verification?

You will be notified from Instagram within 30 days if your application is successful. If you don’t get verified, you can apply again after a month.

When making another request, make sure it’s after 30 days from your initial request. You should also ensure that you’re not making sending multiple applications. This is because Instagram will cancel your entire application if you make another request before they review your initial request.

How to Get Verified on Instagram With Meta Verified?

Meta Verified is a subscription bundle that allows Instagram and Facebook users to get a blue check badge. The subscription costs $14.99/month and gives subscribers access to account verification, protection from impersonation, access to human support agents, and more.

As of the time of writing, Meta Verified is only available to individuals and not brands. To get verified using this route, here’s a step-by-step process you should follow:

First, you need to make sure you meet the Meta Verified eligibility requirements which are:

• You must be at least 18 years old.
• Have a public or private profile that’s associated with your full name and has a profile photo that includes your face.
• You must meet minimum activity requirements, such as prior posting history.
• You must have a valid photo ID that matches your profile name and profile picture.
• You must enable two-factor authentication on your profile.
• You must adhere to Instagram’s Terms of Use and Community Guidelines.

If you’re sure you meet all the requirements, then you can follow this process to sign up for Meta Verified:

1. ​​Tap on your Instagram profile at the bottom right of the app.
2. Click on the hamburger menu.
3. Choose ‘Meta Verified’ then click ‘Next’.
4. Choose the Meta accounts you’d like verified.
5. Confirm and pay.

6 Tips to Help Get Verified on Instagram

Looking to get that coveted blue checkmark on Instagram? Here, we’ll be sharing four essential tips to help boost your chances of getting verified on the platform:

1. Optimize Your Profile

Ensure your Instagram profile is a digital showcase. Use a clear profile picture and a concise bio that highlights your identity. You can also include a link to your website in your bio.

Having a well-curated profile will make it easier for Instagram and users to understand who you are. It also helps you establish a distinct and unique presence which is an important verification factor.

2. Be Consistent

Regular posting on your Instagram shows that you are active on the platform. This consistent presence is a positive signal for Instagram indicating that you are committed to sharing content and interacting with your audience.

Consistency in posting also helps build and keep the interest of your audience. When followers know they can expect regular content from you, they are more likely to stay engaged and loyal.

Using an Instagram scheduling tool helps you schedule posts in advance. This feature will allow you to plan, create, and schedule content on Instagram. With Hopper HQ, you can visually plan & publish posts, Instagram stories, and reels.

3. Engage With Your Followers

Engaging regularly with your followers creates a sense of community around your profile. When you respond to comments, like, and join conversations, it makes your Instagram followers feel appreciated and connected to your brand.

If you have a sizable and involved group of followers, it suggests that your account is of interest to the public in your niche. Instagram can take this into account when deciding on verification requests.

4. Gain Media Coverage

Media coverage serves as external validation of your identity or the significance of your account. Therefore, having a reputable media outlet feature or mention you adds credibility to your online presence.

Gaining media coverage also indicates that your activities or persona are of public interest. Instagram is more likely to verify accounts that are notable and of public interest. 

5. Don’t Buy Verification from Third-Parties Platforms

Purchasing verification from unauthorized third parties comes with a lot of risks. First of all, doing this means that you’re directly violating Instagram’s terms of service. Your account can get penalized or suspended if Instagram finds out you get your blue check through dubious means.

Also, you’re susceptible to falling to fraudulent companies that will scam you without delivering the promised results. And even if they manage to secure a verification badge for your account, it could be temporary, and Instagram may revoke it once they detect the fraudulent activity.

6. Remove links to other social media platforms

Instagram has strict guidelines against linking to other social media platforms in your bio. Linking to other platforms may bar you from being eligible for verification or make getting verified difficult. Therefore, we will recommend against adding links to other external platforms in your bio.

The only exception is that you can link to your Facebook account which is also owned by Meta. You can also add links to your website in your bio.

Wrapping it up

While it’s evident that getting verified on Instagram has a lot of benefits, the process itself requires you to be strategic.

To increase your chances of getting a blue badge, you need to ensure you’re consistently creating content that resonates with your followers. Doing so helps you establish yourself as a go-to in your industry and increases your chances of getting verified.

Hooper HQ is equipped with features that help you approach content creation by planning. This way your account can be consistent. To keep on top of your Instagram game, try Hopper HQ planning and scheduling capabilities for free! 

The post How to Get Verified on Instagram and Earn a Blue Checkmark appeared first on Hopper HQ.

To keep up with the demands of effective social media marketing, you need an Instagram scheduler to simplify and automate team collaboration as well as social media marketing processes. Teams are spoiled for choice as the internet is flooded with a variety of scheduling options to choose from and pay for.

You deserve a glitch-free experience while doing social media marketing. Finding an optimal Instagram scheduling tool will help you save time, collaborate better, and effectively meet your business goals. 

The 15 Best Instagram Scheduler Apps to Use in 2024

If you’re trying to choose the best apps for Instagram posts, here’s a list of the 15 best Instagram scheduling tools to help you stay on top of your social media marketing game.

1) Hopper HQ

Price: $16/month (annual billing)

Hopper HQ is an excellent Instagram scheduler comprising a user-friendly interface and easy-to-use elements. With Hopper HQ you can plan, edit and schedule you Instagram posts, stories and reels.

Some of these amazing features include

• Content planning and visualization
• Automatic posting management
• Advanced visibility via branded agencies
• Easy reel creation, bulk upload, scheduling, and preset sharing
• Hashtag generation for optimal media coverage (offers 1000s of relevant suggestions in seconds)
• Effortless story creation for the Instagram platform
• Insightful analytics to monitor media growth
• Premium content creation for viewer engagement
• Seamless scheduling set-up for time management
• Mobile platforms on Andriod and iOS devices
• Multiple account management
• Image cropping & editing
• Team and client collaboration

If you are looking for customer-centered Instagram scheduling apps with a team that cares about your success, try out Hopper HQ. It is the number 1 Instagram scheduling tool that helps entrepreneurs and social media managers like you produce quality content, coordinate its management and improve follower engagement from desktop and mobile phones. It supports social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, Twitter, and Pinterest. 

It offers affordable pricing plans of $16 per month (for annual billing) and $19 per month for monthly billings. It offers a 14-day trial to newcomers looking to explore its prospects on all plans. 

Don’t take our word for it. Here’s what some customers are saying about Hopper HQ’s ease of use, delivery, customer care, and satisfaction:

“Loving the Hopper experience so far. I’m still on my “Hopper” trial, but I must say I’m pretty smitten. I tried “Later” and was initially quite impressed, but I ran out of credits halfway through the month and they don’t allow you to top-up, so I thought I’d give Hopper a try and they haven’t disappointed. Hopper allows you to schedule unlimited posts per month and 50 in advance, which is perfect for me. What’s more, the customer service team at Hopper is exceptionally responsive and they seem to genuinely care about providing a great customer experience – big shout out to Isabel and Elle for that! If you’re serious about taking your social media to the next level, then I suggest you give Hopper a go.”

–Ms. J. Jordyn (February 2, 2022) Trustpilot.com

“In our busy lives we do not always get to post to company social media platforms, luckily with Hopper HQ ensuring there are regular posts is easy and can be scheduled months in advance to ensure there is always something happening. The ease of use is amazing and Hopper HQ is the most cost-effective. Posts are always on time and customer service when things go wrong is amazing.”

–Sharri V. (March 11, 2021) Capterra.com

“The best social media planner I’ve ever used!

I’ve been using scheduling/planning tools for social media for about 7 years and this is by far the best tool I’ve used. It’s really user-friendly, everything is logical and simplified. My favorite thing is the grid view along the side – it’s amazing that it automatically updates with posts that you’ve shared directly on Instagram, not just through Hopper HQ. Also being able to see hashtag information when adding to captions.”

–Emma I. (July 15, 2020) G2.com

Hopper HQ has been given the well-deserved nickname “The Ultimate Instagram Planning and Scheduling Tool” by users old and new.

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2) Hootsuite

Price: starts at $99/month (annual billing)

Hootsuite is a social media tool used to create and publish content on multiple Instagram business profiles and interact with followers. It is used to launch social campaigns across other platforms such as Twitter and Facebook and is quite high-end.

Pros:

• Multiple account and platform management
• Scheduling posts
• Easy content creation

“We have used Hootsuite for over 5 years as a platform to organize and publish our social media content. It is clean and user-friendly!”

–Nicole Vuong , 2022 TrustRadius.com

Cons:

• Complex scheduling system
• Technical issues on the platform
• Unalluring hashtag suggestions 

“Total waste of time.

It’s riddled with constant errors so either you can’t schedule posts or when you do they don’t post!”

–Rob Lazenby, 2022 TrustPilot.com

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3) Semrush: Social Poster

Price: $19.75/month (annual billing)

Semrush is an SEO tool with a Social Media Poster feature that allows you to automate Instagram and Facebook posts. It also serves as an SEO toolkit for Instagram and Facebook. You can use it to manage visibility and content promotion across social media platforms with a $119.95 monthly subscription fee.

Pros:

• Competition’s analysis
• Keyword and advertising research

“Semrush is used by both our Marketing team and our Editorial team. Reviewed’s Marketing team uses Semrush for paid and earned marketing research, competitive analysis, and tracking performance. Our Editorial team uses multiple research and writing tools that help them make decisions about SEO.”

–Melissa D. Cooper (MBA), 2022 Trustradius.com

Cons:

• Expensive keyword features
• Slow data updates 
• Analysis can be broad and shallow

“I dislike their sales team, they aren’t helpful, their pricing is opaque and confusing, and their team doesn’t try to help you. They observe you simply as means for them to achieve their commissions. You won’t be treated like a customer, but an ATM.”

–Brian Bojan D., 2022 G2.com

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4) SocialBee

Price: $24/month (annual billing)

An alternative social media management platform, SocialBee helps users oversee all their media channels to build a firm online presence with monthly payments for solo users and agencies at $19 and $79 at basic rates, respectively.

Pros:

• Hashtag organization
• Post management and categorization

“Really appreciate that it’s easy to use with handy features — like the ability to save hashtags — which eliminate some of the work involved in social media management.”

–Petrina J., 2022 Getapp.com

Cons:

• The user interface could be friendlier
• Slow processing speeds
• Arduous sharing across integrated media platforms

“I started social bee early in the company so my account is not set up properly and I would need considerable help to re-work it.”

–Meara P., 2022 G2.com

5) Sendible

Price: $24/month (annual billing)

Sensible is an analytical social media tool that enables users to manage clients’ content and growth on social media platforms such as Instagram by scheduling video and image posts.

Pros:

• Simple scheduling
• Easy content sharing across social media platforms
• Simple user interface

“Building lists of your client’s social media accounts allow you to post the same content across all platforms simultaneously. Save a tune of time when you are posting content that doesn’t need to be tweaked for a specific platform.”

-Pittman W., 2022 G2.com

Cons:

• Large files affect uploads
• Image content needed to be monitored often

“Overall, Sendible was good. It doesn’t have many advanced features for posting but if you’re looking for an easy and more affordable solution, Sendible might be right for you. If you want the capability to schedule Instagram Carousels and Instagram stories, then Sendible is not it.”

–Juanita I., 2022 Getapp.com

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6) AgoraPulse

Price: $49/month (annual billing)

A social media management software, AgoraPulse organizes, monitors and publishes users’ posts on social media. It offers a publishing calendar and oversees inbox interactions with customers and followers.

Pros:

• Clear user interface
• Inbox management 

“The social listening feature. It helps me a lot to check all the mentions on the same platform. I also like the reports section, it’s clear and well-organized so it`s very easy to understand your results.”

–Alexandra V., 2022 G2.com

Cons:

• Difficulty with editing posts
• Needs more social media outlets
• Rescheduling can be difficult

“Agorapulse worked, but wasn’t as helpful as we had hoped”

–Bailey Letson, 2021 Trustradius.com

7) Loomly

Price: $32/month (annual billing)

Loomly helps social media managers organize, schedule, and post their content automatically. As a social media marketing tool, It has a content library, an approval workflow, advanced analytics, and an ads manager. It supports LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Pros:

• Easy-to-use management platform
• Multiple accounts publishing 

“Loomly allows me to schedule and post with ease.”

-Katie B., 2022 G2.com

Cons:

• Instagram publishing needs revamping
• Accounts connection to the calendar need reconnecting often

“Scheduling, tagging, and more functionality didn’t align with how we anticipated it would work. We canceled a scheduled post and this went anyway.”

-Tom S., 2022 G2.com

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8) Planable

Price: $11 a user a month (annual billing)

This social media tool manages Instagram profiles, and posts and automates their scheduling using workflows and coordinated engagement with user audiences. It comprises a cloud media library for Instagram downloads.

Pros:

• Data management with spreadsheets
• Access to commercial-free images 
• Multiple account posts and scheduling

“The ease of scheduling multiple posts across all platforms. Scheduling is fast and easy. Making your social media presence consistent is key these days and Planable makes that easy.”

–Amber B., 2022 G2.com

Cons:

• Limits advanced post scheduling
• Lack of media analytics 

“It can plan, but has a lot bad UX problems that block from post and you even did not see this.”

–Kirill S., 2022 G2.com

9) Onlypult

Price: $22.93/month (annual billing)

Onlypult is a social media management tool used by businesses to harmonize posts across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and a host of others to enable rapid response to comments and hashtag trends.

Pros:

• Access to multiple social media platforms
• Simple user interface

“Brillant social media scheduler”

–Danielle H.,2022 G2.com

Cons:

• Customer service is tiered
• Can be buggy

“It seems to have some bugs here and there. I would like to be able to access help more often from my Time Zone.”

–Jaime M., 2022 G2.com

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10) Circleboom Publish

Price: $24.99/month (annual billing)

Circleboom is a social media post scheduler that provides content design and publishing services across Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Google and Linkedin.

Pros:

• User-friendly interface
• Wide array of scheduling features

“An exceptional social media management tool that everyone must use”

–Warren C., 2022 G2.com

Cons:

• Poor post backlog
• Outdated services advertisements

“They claim to be able to do things like delete tweets or unlike them on a large scale, but once you buy the pro account and try to use it, Circleboom doesn’t do what was promised. Useless tool and would recommend avoiding at all costs.”

–Andrew Fisher, 2022 Trustpilot.com

11) Buffer

Price: $6 a channel a month (annual billing)

Buffer is a content-sharing social media tool that provides scheduling options for Instagram business holders and other social account variants to promote traffic and follower engagement. 

Pros:

• Simple interface
• Easy posting across social media platforms

“Great tool for everyday social media poster.”

–Ryan Padgett, 2022 Trustradius.com

Cons:

• Analysis is not in-depth
• Experiences some difficulty with Instagram

“Overall? We switched to a different media management program because this one was too finicky.”

–Elizabeth B., 2022 Getapp.com

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12) PromoRepublic

Price: $49/month (annual billing)

This social media marketing tool aids the users’ online presence on local search and social media with the use of an intelligent dashboard and features.

Pros:

• Free educational services
• Smooth automatic scheduling

“A pleasant surprise! More than what we wanted, just what we need!”

–Kim W., 2022

G2.com

Cons:

• Poor account linking system
• Slow customer issue response
• Limited posting to Instagram

“The tool itself would be fine but Promo republic staff (mainly management) does not care about its users. Especially early adopters. Beware of it as this company is untrusted!”

–David K., 2022 G2.com

13) ContentCal

Price: $30/month (annual billing)

ContentCal, a social media management platform, offers post creation, publishing, and analysis to clients for their business. It has a visual calendar interface for content scheduling and categorization with Adobe Express. It also gives educational courses to allow users to optimize their social media handling skillset

Pros:

• Use of collaboration tools
• Free educational courses

“ContentCal has become an essential tool for not only internal planning”

–Dottie Turnbull, 2021 Trustpilot.com

Cons:

• Service cancellation after 30 days
• Extension of subscription without prior notice
• Limited information on interface

“Cancellation is impossible and they try and charge you for an extra 12 month subscription.”

–Ben Harden, 2021 Trustpilot.com

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14) SocialPilot

Price: $25/month (annual billing)

Used by businesses to target large audiences, SocialPilot as a social media marketing platform manages client profiles, content, and activities to increase media engagement and productivity.

Pros:

• Automated scheduling
• Easy access to past content
• Simple user interface

“SocialPilot is a very suitable alternative to some big name options.”

–Joe H., 2022 G2.com

Cons:

• Editing is manual across social platforms
• Interface needs improvements
• Additional features for automated tools is required

“Deceptive with their cancellation process.”

–Marc O’Brien., 2021 G2.com

15) Tailwind

Price: $14.99/month (annual billing)

The social media scheduling and management tool, Tailwind, is used to create and schedule content across Instagram and Pinterest on its platform. It helps with market plans to increase media and follower interaction growth.

Pros:

• Post scheduling
• Weekly summary of activities

“Tailwind is extremely helpful. Every page just has pop-ups to help you to use the platform. I just love that I don’t have to remember posting to my social networks

Thank you. Tailwind!”

–Makgoba Molepo, 2022 Trustpilot.com

Cons:

• Poor customer service
• Buggy features and updates
• No refunds for poor services

“Extremely unreliable service and buggy application.”

–Tommy G, 2022 G2.com

Next Steps

Instagram presents you with a cost-effective opportunity to increase your visibility, sales, and brand value. As much as Instagram scheduling apps are needed, you can’t spend all your time scheduling posts. It is only one puzzle piece in your social media marketing efforts. Choose a platform that allows you to schedule and post to Instagram from your mobile and desktop devices.

You can learn more about how to choose the best Instagram scheduler for your business or visit our blog to glean more ideas on how to build your business with social media.

 Related content:

– The Best Time to Post on TikTok
– How to Link Instagram to TikTok
– How to Get More Views on TikTok
– How to Remove The TikTok Watermark in 7 Easy Ways

Stephanie Inabo

Stephanie Inabo Moses is a freelance writer for B2B and SaaS platforms. She worked as an editor and ran a social impact initiative in the work and learning space. You can connect with her on Twitter @inabo_stephanie and on LinkedIn @Stephanie Inabo

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The post The Top 15 Instagram Scheduling Apps for 2024 appeared first on Hopper HQ.

Now an almost $2 billion industry, Instagram influencer marketing has taken the social media world by storm. In recent years, Instagram users around the globe have begun making a living from paid posts and collaborative marketing campaigns.

The app offers the perfect space for brand ambassadorship, with influential users authentically recommending products and services to their loyal audience. With the influencer space estimated to grow to a $5-10 billion industry by 2021, it’s clearly a marketing force that isn’t going anywhere…

We’ve compiled all you need to know about Instagram influencer marketing and the way it works into this simple guide!

Contents:

1. Instagram Influencer Marketing: In A Nutshell
2. Why Instagram Influencer Marketing Works
3. How Much Do Instagram Influencers Cost?
4. What Makes An Instagram Influencer?
5. How To Work With Influencers On Instagram
6. The Future Of Instagram Influencer Marketing

1. Instagram Influencer Marketing: In A Nutshell

People who have built a large and engaged following on Instagram are known as ‘influencers’, due to the fact that their followers idolise them and respect their opinions. They may have acquired a loyal following due to their lifestyle, their job or hobby, the clothes they wear or the stories they tell.

The pool of influencers is vast and diverse, meaning almost any brand has the potential to utilise Instagram influencer marketing for their industry and target demographic. 

The emergence of Instagram influencers opened up huge opportunities for businesses looking to authentically market their products to their target audience, and thus the ‘paid post’ phenomenon was born.

In the early days, it might have been enough for a brand to send an influencer one of their products as a gift, in return for them posting about it on their profile. But this changed with the rapid growth of the space, as influencers realised they could not only gain free products, but actually charge brands for grid real estate on their profile.

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2. Why Instagram Influencer Marketing Works

Influencer marketing allows brands to reach their target audience in a way that feels far more genuine than traditional advertising.

Rather than businesses selling directly to consumers, they are building relationships with influencers who can sell for them. Instagram influencers have a strong and loyal relationship with their followers, as they share many aspects of their lives with them. This leads us to feel like we know them personally, so when an influencer we like recommends something, we listen as we would if it were a friend.

For example, if you follow a travel blogger for their beautiful photos or funny captions, and they post about an airplane pillow that gave them the best night’s sleep on a long haul flight, you’re more inclined to remember the brand and buy it for your next holiday because you like and trust them. Makes sense, right?

With 800 million active users, Instagram has become the platform of choice for influencer marketing. 72% of users said they have made fashion, beauty or style-related purchases after seeing something on the app, proving its power in the digital marketing landscape of 2020. 

72% of Instagram users said they have made fashion, beauty or style-related purchases after seeing something on the app, proving its power in the digital marketing landscape of 2020. By @Nicola_HHQ
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3. How Much Do Instagram Influencers Cost?

To give an idea of numbers in the Instagram influencer marketing world, Hopper HQ’s annual Instagram Rich List disclosed just how much money the top influencers and celebrities can earn from a single post.

Kylie Jenner bagged the top spot, charging over $1 million for a product-related post on her Instagram profile. Considering the 21 year old wiped out $1.3 billion of Snapchat’s market value with a single tweet earlier last year, her influence — and that of her whole family — is certainly not to be underestimated.

The amount an influencer can charge per post will vary depending on a number of factors, including follow number, engagement rate, and industry.

Elle Cuthbert-Edkins, our Customer Success Manager here at Hopper HQ, spoke on the BBC about the current state of Instagram influencer marketing. She emphasised the importance of engagement over follower number, explaining that “we’re typically seeing brands work exclusively with influencers who have a 10-20% engagement rate”, ensuring that the followers are truly interested in what the influencer is posting.

Engagement rate = no. of likes and comments ÷ no. of followers

'We’re typically seeing brands work exclusively with influencers who have a 10-20% engagement rate' @Elle_HopperHQ on influencer marketing
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From our Rich List methodology and data, we found that many collaboration deals are worked out by 100,000 followers. For example, the beauty industry charges on average £162 per 100,000 followers for a single post. For many influencers that have followers in the millions, this level of sponsorship enables them to make a living from Instagram.

Check out the Hopper HQ 2023 Instagram Rich List to see which celebrities and influencers topped the charts across all industries

4. What Makes An Instagram Influencer?

There’s no strict criteria for being classed as an Instagram influencer. Any user who has a fairly high, engaged following — of people who actually care about what they do — will have an influence over their audience and is a valuable marketing proposition for brands.

If you’re a social media manager looking to start Instagram influencer marketing, do your research to ensure:

1. Their follower demographic is well matched to your target audience
2. Their following and engagement is genuine

Due to the existence of bots giving out likes and comments on users’ behalves, as well as the ability to buy followers, some Instagram accounts may look like influencers, but actually don’t have a loyal following or any real influence at all — we call them ‘ghost followers’.

Generic comments such as ‘’ or ‘Awesome shot!’ are likely to be from accounts using an engagement bot, so if these are the only kinds of interactions on an influencer’s posts, it’s likely that they don’t actually have the influence they’re making out.

NOTE: these bots will comment on posts of users in a chosen target demographic or using certain hashtags in order to increase brand awareness and get more followers. It makes sense, however they have become very easy to spot and don’t actually start genuine conversations! 

Another important indicator of a good influencer is that they are responsible with their partnership choices, truly taking into consideration their followers’ interests and ensuring they only do sponsored posts with brands they believe their audience would be likely to engage with.

Going hand in hand with this is that the influencers make their own content for a brand, hence why it’s often referred to as a ‘partnership’ or a ‘collaboration’, rather than them simply posting a photo the brand sends them.

Building an engaged following is hard work, and a good influencer will not want to post anything that looks alien to their audience or their feed. When strategising an influencer marketing campaign, it’s therefore important to make sure your brand image complements the influencer you’re looking to reach out to!

5. How To Work With Influencers On Instagram

If you decide that Instagram influencer marketing is the right step for your business, the first thing to do is set your budget. It’s an expensive game, and with influencers charging per post and for Stories, a whole campaign can set you back a long way.

With a smaller budget, you will be looking for micro influencers to promote your brand. These are influencers with a relatively smaller following (1,000 – 10,000) but who have a high engagement rate on their posts.

It is a far more cost effective option for smaller businesses, and micro influencers can have a great deal of influence over a specific audience. On a larger budget, you can think about bigger influencers, but try not to be fooled by vanity metrics such as number of followers and focus predominantly on engagement rate.

Once you’ve found people you think could be perfect, do your research as we mentioned above. Ensure they have a genuine following and a trusted, loyal community. See if they’ve worked on influencer campaigns in the past and look at the kinds of products or brands they promote, this will help to inform if they would be a good fit for your company.

As well as this, take a read of their comments to see if your target demographic are engaging with their content. And finally, check out which type of posts they’re excelling at (i.e Stories, video, gallery posts) to help inform your campaign. 

Then reach out to them! Micro influencers are likely to manage themselves, so contact them through the email on their profile or send them a direct message within Instagram. If you’re looking at a larger influencer, they will probably have an agency who manage their campaign requests – this is typically listed in their bio.

When approaching agencies, ask for the influencer’s rate card and explain your brand and the campaign brief you have in mind. Go into as much detail as possible (i.e budget, how many posts, the type of content etc) in order to best manage expectations on both side of the collaboration.

If you’re looking for inspiration, check out this report of the best performing brands in influencer marketing last year!

 Importantly, treat your working relationships with Instagram influencers as partnerships. Remember that they know what their followers engage with best, and to trust them in the content creation process!

6. The Future Of Instagram Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing has had its fair share of criticism in recent years. Consumers have felt misled as a result of being unaware somebody they follow was getting paid to recommend certain products.

This has led to a huge push for transparency among influencers. Hashtags such as #ad and #spon have become standard in a paid post caption, in order to distinguish the sponsorship deals from ‘genuine’ recommendations. Instagram also created their official ‘Paid partnership’ tag, which sits above a post to inform users that a brand is collaborating with that influencer.

While on some levels this takes away from the authenticity that made Instagram influencer marketing so successful, influencers also feel a loyalty to let their followers know they’ve earned money from a post. 

At one of our events last year, ‘The Power Of Influencer Marketing in 2018’, our panelist Harry Hugo, Co-Founder of The Goat Agency commented on the problematic nature of these CMA regulations, due to the fact that it’s not universal across other advertising channels or promotional sponsorship deals.

He gave the example of Neymar walking on to the football pitch wearing Nike boots as a result of his multi-million dollar sponsorship deal. A notice does not appear on our television screens to tell us the boots are being marketed to us, and the suggestion of such would seem ludicrous.

Therefore it’s one rule for traditional methods of advertising, and another for Instagram influencer marketing, and it will be interesting to see how the regulations change as the space develops.

Read the other top takeaway from our influencer event here

At Hopper HQ we work with hundreds of influencers all over the world, and always encourage them to only accept partnerships with brands and products they truly like and would use themselves. False promotion eventually becomes obvious, meaning the influence the person actually has shrinks.

As a digital population we are developing ‘ad blindness’, meaning we’re essentially becoming immune to marketing. The fact that we click ‘Skip Ad’ on YouTube the second it becomes available, and even pay for the privilege of not being sold to with services like Spotify Premium highlights this.

Consumers are becoming more and more savvy when it comes to advertising, and it’s no different with Instagram influencer marketing. As the industry gets more and more concentrated, brands and influencers will need to think outside of the box to keep creating highly engaging marketing campaigns, and we can’t wait to see them!

Is there any other areas of influencer marketing you’d like to know more about? Let us know in the comments!

Hopper HQ is a social media scheduling and management platform that frees up time for the fun creative stuff! Named in the Top 5 Most Popular Social Media Marketing Software list 2018. Start your 14-day trial today.

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Instagram Stories are full of amazing features that drive engagement and offer a direct line of communication with stories reactions and DM replies, they’re also a great way to show off your brand personality and leave a lasting impression.

The downside? It’s hard to stand out and get more eyes on your content.

Instagram has recently shut down bots generating fake views, followers, likes, and comments; The fake accounts generated exposure and drove engagement. Influencers, brands, and businesses saw a drop in their Instagram story views when the bots were eliminated.

But does this mean the end of your brand presence on Instagram stories?

Thankfully, no. There are several ways to cut through the noise and increase your Instagram Story views organically.

In this blog post, we’ll look at possible reasons why your Instagram Story views dropped and how to increase them.

What are Instagram Story Views?

Simply put, Instagram Story views show you the number of people that have viewed your Instagram Story. Essentially, each impression of the Story counts as a single view.

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How to Check Instagram Story Views?

There are 2 ways to check your Instagram story views depending on whether your story is still up or has disappeared after 24 hours.

Before the 24 hour window:

1. Open the Instagram app on your mobile
2. Tap on the Story icon in the upper left corner of your screen
3. In the lower-left corner, you’ll see multiple circles with Instagram profile pictures
4. Tap on that icon to see the number of views and who viewed your Instagram story

After the 24-hour window:

Instagram stories disappear after 24 hours of posting them, and while you can’t view profiles who have viewed your stories after 24 hours, you can still check your story impressions and reach from your Instagram story insights.

Reach refers to the number of individual users who viewed your Instagram story, while Impressions express the number of times your Instagram story is viewed. Impressions are sometimes higher than reach as it counts multiple views by the same user if they view your story more than once.

How to see Instagram story insights

1. Open your Instagram account and go to your profile
2. Tap the three horizontal lines on the top right corner
3. Tap insights from the list
4. You’ll see a section titled “Content You Shared“, tap “See All“
5. Filter to see insights for Stories
6. You will see a page with individual stories and impressions
7. Tap on any individual story to see its detailed insights

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5 Reasons Why Instagram Story Views Drop

Bots are not the only factor responsible for your Instagram Story views going down.

Here are other possible reasons that may contribute to your Instagram Story views dropping and strategies to get more Instagram Story views:

1) Your Content is Stale

Instagram users like fresh content. If your content is unoriginal or doesn’t offer any value, it won’t get engagement.

You need to optimize your creative strategy to create content that resonates with your followers. 

That’s why it’s critical that you head to the Explore page on Instagram to find trending topics and create story content around them. You can also look at what other brands in your niche are posting to get an idea of where to start.

Once you’ve found a topic, create a Story around it and publish it. Considering the topic is trending, your Story is likely to gain traction.

For instance, note how McDonald’s UAE got creative and used the FIFA World Cup 2022 trend on its story. 

Solution: Publish Diverse & Trending Content

Your audience expects new and engaging content from your brand. Therefore, it is up to you to generate diverse content for your Stories that matches their preferences.

Tip: Use your Instagram analytics to gain insight into what content your audience prefers for Stories. Then, tailor your content to meet those needs by highlighting the product or service features they like most.

You can also leverage digital marketing tools or content marketing platforms to ensure that your audience gets meaningful content. These platforms will help you plan, produce, and optimize your Instagram Stories.

Use high-quality Story formats, including photos, shoppable videos, and boomerangs. According to Hubspot, people are more likely to tap the following types of Instagram stories to the end:

• Short narrative stories with photos, videos, or text
• Stories with quizzes or polls
• A mix of all these elements put together
• Demos and tutorials
• Behind the scenes
• Stories with open-ended question stickers
• Testimonials
• Documentary-style stories

Use content to tell your brand story, share customer stories, sell your products, or communicate brand offers. This brings better engagement.

The History Channel is an excellent example of a brand maximising Instagram stories for engagement. It posts regularly, utilises user-generated content, and includes hashtags to pique interest.

2) You’re Not Using Hashtags Right

Using relevant hashtags allows audiences to discover your Stories, even if they don’t follow you. This helps you get more views on your Instagram Stories.

The improper use of hashtags, or no use at all, can have the opposite effect and be the reason for fewer Story views.

Solution: Use Hashtags in Stories

Find hashtags relevant to your content and business by conducting hashtag research. Then, select the hashtag sticker and search for a hashtag related to your content, combine it with branded hashtags, and use them on your Stories. Incorporate popular or niche hashtags for better targeting. 

Here’s an example of a hashtag sticker in a Story.

To find the right set of hashtags, you can use the Hopper HQ Hashtag Explorer to search for hashtags and get a list of similar hashtags, find trending hashtags, or choose from preset hashtag categories. You can then compare them based on various metrics, such as post count, competition, likes, comments, and more. 

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With such in-depth data on hashtags, you can make data-driven decisions to select the best-performing hashtags for your Stories and help them gain traction.

3) You’re Posting at the Wrong Times

Are you posting when your audience is most active? This is one of the questions that should guide your Instagram content strategy and when you post Instagram stories.

Finding out which days and times your audience is most active on Instagram is essential, especially because Stories only last for 24 hours.

If you end up posting them at the wrong time, they might not garner enough views. 

Solution: Use Analytics to Improve Your Strategy

After analysing millions of posts, Hopper HQ found that the best time to post on Instagram varies depending on the day of the week.

But this is a general guideline. To understand the right timing for your audience, it’s best to start looking at your Instagram analytics. 

Check out our detailed guide on the best time to post on Instagram.

With analytics, you’ll be able to figure out when your audience is the most active during a particular day. You’ll also discover the days when they’re the most active. These are the days you should target. 

But that’s not all that you can find using Instagram analytics.

You can also use analytics to establish why your Story views have dropped. To view your Instagram Story analytics:

1. Open your Instagram account
2. Click on the “Insights” button on your Story Highlights
3. Scroll down to “Content you shared” and expand on shared stories.

The impressions figure indicates the number of Instagram Story views. At the same time, the reach shows you the number of accounts you’ve reached through your Stories.

Using this data, you can determine which content performed best and fine-tune your content strategy accordingly.

What’s more?

You can also bring your small business CRM into the mix. One of the many advantages of CRMs is that it holds a lot of customer data. With this data, you can figure out their likes and dislikes, which, in turn, can help you create more compelling Stories for them and get more views. 

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4) You’re Not Very Active on Instagram

If you want the audience to engage with your Stories, you must do the same. Instagram’s algorithm assesses your history of interaction with others to determine the level of engagement your content will get.

If you rarely reciprocate community interests, your content will likely be buried. That makes it essential to connect with your audience through comments and messages. 

At the same time, if you don’t create enough content, you’ll come across as inactive. In fact, according to a recent study, you need to post up to five Stories a day to maintain an engagement rate of over 70%.

Solution: Add Reels to Stories

Producing a lot of original content takes time and effort. So, how do you create numerous Stories without burning a hole in your pocket?

The answer lies in Reels.

According to an analysis, Reels drive about 35% more engagement than other content types like videos, images, and carousels. So, creating Reels and sharing them through your Stories is a great way to increase your views for both Reels and Stories. 

However, not just any Reel will generate engagement.

You need to craft captivating Reels that can stop your audience from swiping to the next Story. 

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For instance, you can share a short testimonial video as a Reel. When you share it on your Stories, you can combine it with stickers to have users offer their thoughts.

It is also essential to add trending music in videos before sharing them as Reels. When a user recognises a song or a clip on your Reels shared in Stories, they will likely stop scrolling and watch it. They might also react, like, or message you due to it.

Here’s an example of Daniel Wellington sharing a Reel through their Stories.

Related: How to Add Music to Instagram Stories 

5) Previous Story Views Were Bot-Generated

One of the greatest mistakes you can make is purchasing Story views. It serves little purpose and doesn’t do you any good in the long run. It does work well as a vanity metric though for a short time, but don’t expect it to have long-lasting effects. 

But even if you haven’t done anything like that, there’s also a possibility that bots generated your previous Story views.

When Instagram eliminated these bots, the number of inauthentic accounts engaging with your account reduces, leading to a drop in Instagram Story views.

Solution: Employ Tactics to Increase Story Views

Not opting for fake views is an obvious point to start. But how do you push your organic views up?

Tips on how to boost your organic views

1. Run Contests & Giveaways

Accounts that run Instagram contests or giveaways grow 70% faster than those that don’t. Running contests, therefore, is one of the best ways to use Instagram Stories.

You can, for example, ask followers to reply to your Stories and win a reward. Or you can ask them to share your Story with their friends and also share the contest on their Stories.

Basically, if you offer a lucrative reward, people will happily perform all the engagement-boosting steps you want them to take.

Running contests at regular intervals with effective reactions to messages will drive engagement and increase your Instagram Story views. 

To boost your contest Story views further, you can leverage paid promotions. Reporting tools will provide you with valuable insights into your potential audience, and this can go a long way in helping you craft more compelling Story content for them.

Here’s how Hankki used a Reel to invite people to its giveaway.

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A post shared by Hankki (@hankkicanada)

2. Run an Influencer Takeover

Instagram influencer takeovers can be a great strategy for driving up your Story views as they bring in the influencer’s fans to your account. This creates a better immersive experience, something 80% of audiences desire.

As the influencer’s fans run to your page, your Instagram activity will increase, boosting Story views.

For example, if you are running a campaign for your skincare products, you can find skincare Instagram influencers or partners and get them to take over your Stories for the day.  

This will bring the respective influencer’s followers to your account, thus increasing Story views and engagement.

For instance, note how Glamping Canyon Lands took over Go Cherish Tours Instagram page for a day.

3. Add Stickers

Adding stickers to your Instagram Stories is a great way to increase their views and engagement. For instance, polls are excellent for social media, particularly when soliciting customer feedback. They are fun, easy to create, and highly engaging. In fact, they allow for two-way communication between you and your customers.

Here’s an example of how Fenty Beauty used a poll feature with a slider to engage its audience.

While at it, include emojis, time, weather, GIFs, and other stickers on your Stories. You can also use quizzes, Q&A, and countdown timers to boost engagement.

Here is an example of how you can use the question sticker on Instagram Stories:

4. Use Location Tags

Similarly, location tags increase the chances of audiences finding you when searching for location-specific posts; there’s a special spot for Stories related to that location on the location search result page. 

Conclusion

So your Instagram Story views have dropped. Does this translate to poor sales? Not really.

You now have a perfect idea of where you’re failing and solutions to remedy the situation. Using the above tips can help you boost Story views organically.

Remember, adopting a quality content strategy is better than trying to beat the Instagram algorithm. Master this, and you can enhance your brand presence sustainably.

Looking for more Instagram Story tips and strategies for driving engagement?

Check out this ultimate guide to using Instagram Stories for valuable insights.

The post Why Are My Instagram Story Views So Low & How Can I Increase Them? appeared first on Hopper HQ.

Looking to connect with Gen Z and turn them into raving fans? Check out these 11 tips for leveraging video content to market to Gen Z. From creating a community to celebrating individuality, you’ll reach Gen Z where they are and create content that resonates.

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As the first generation to come of age in the era of social media, Gen Z is a particularly tough group to market to. They’re savvy, skeptical, and more likely than any other generation to ignore traditional advertising.

But there’s one medium that still has their attention: video content.

Engaging and relatable video content on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and Youtube allows you to connect with Gen Zers on a personal level, build brand trust, and create a community of loyal fans.

In this blog post, we’ll discuss 11 ways you can use video content to turn Gen Z into your raving fans.

Why does marketing to Gen Z matter?

Generation Z is the new kid on the block—and they’re here to shake things up. Born between 1997 and 2012, Gen Z is the most diverse, connected, and entrepreneurial generation in history.

They’re also a major force to be reckoned with: In 2020, they made up 32% of the global population and accounted for $360 billion in spending power.

Marketing to Gen Z

As digital natives, Gen Z has always been comfortable with technology—and that’s reflected in their spending habits. They’re more likely than any other generation to research a product online before making a purchase, and they’re not afraid to shop around for the best deals.

But don’t mistake their frugality for a lack of spending power:

• 64% prefer to pay more for eco-friendly products.
• 73% only shop for products from the brands they believe in.
• 97% of Gen Zers use social media to research the things they want to buy.

Gen Z also values:

• Authentic and transparent brands
• Connection and community
• Experiences over things
• Making a difference
• Security

Why is video content important for Gen Z?

It’s no secret that Gen Z is a highly digitised generation. They are the first generation to grow up with smartphones and social media, and as a result, they have shorter attention spans and prefer bite-sized content that is easily digestible.

Enter videos

Video content is the perfect format for Gen Zers because:

• It is highly engaging and can be consumed quickly on the go.
• Platforms like Instagram and TikTok are extremely popular with this demographic, and video content suits these platforms well.
• Videos are also highly shareable, which is essential for reaching Gen Z.
• With their tech-savvy nature, Gen Z can easily create videos with built-in video editors on Instagram and TikTok or use video editing software to grab users’ attention and keep them hooked with their creative and entertaining videos.

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11 Marketing strategies to win Gen Z using videos

Now that we’ve seen why video content works best for Gen Z, let’s see how you can leverage it. We’ll also analyse plenty of examples along the way, so keep reading below:

1. Emphasise your brand’s mission

When marketing to Gen Z, it is important to emphasise your brand’s mission. This generation is highly idealistic and wants to know that the brands they support share their values.

Emphasising your brand’s mission will make Gen Zers feel like they’ve become part and parcel of that mission. That’s how you can create a loyal brand community around your mission and shared values.

And this community will purchase your products.

Levi’s Buy Better, Live Longer campaign proves this point. The company highlights its numerous sustainability practices, leveraging Gen Z’s intrinsic care for our planet’s faith.

The brand partnered with six activists to drive its point across. And they’re all archetypes of the Z generation:

• Xiye Bastida: Mexican-Chilean activist with indigenous origins, leader of the Re-Earth Initiative
• Marcus Rashford: Gen Z football player and advocator against child hunger and homelessness
• Melati Wijsen: Indonesian climate activist
• Jaden Smith: 501cTHREE founder and Just Water co-founder
• Xiuhtezcatl: Indigenous climate activist
• Emma Chamberlain: High-profile Gen Z influencer

2. Use interactive content

Interactive content is a good strategy because Gen Z love to be involved and interact with the world around them.

Tactics include:

• Interactive video content: You can create quizzes, polls, and other types of interactive elements that will encourage Gen Zers to participate.
• Allowing Gen Zers to contribute their ideas and creations. You can do this by hosting competitions or challenges that enable them to show off their creativity.
• Using Augmented Reality (AR): This is a great way to make your video content more interactive and engaging, and incorporating an AI Video generator can further enrich this experience. Gen Zers love AR experiences and are more likely to share them with their friends.

For example, JD, a sports retailer in the UK, partnered with Nike to create an AR-based campaign promoting the launch of Nike Air VaporMax.

@sriracha.el #ad Shuffling my way around Edinburgh @jdofficial #JDVaporMaxShuffle ♬ V Shuffle – Loud Parade ft. Morrisson and OXi

TikTokers can try their Nikes using augmented reality. They can also post their videos using the #JDVaporMaxShuffle branded hashtag, thus giving the campaign momentum with user-generated content. This #JDVaporMaxShuffle hashtag campaign got over 3.2 billion views on TikTok.

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3. Use a hook

Using a hook allows you to create relatable, shareable content that can go viral. To do this, leverage controversy, your audience’s values, and their interests.

You can also pack your message leveraging the current challenges and trends on TikTok.

Remember to:

• Not be too salesy
• Provide value
• Include a clear CTA
• Choose a good thumbnail to generate more clicks

Nike offers another good example with its “Ask Athletes” series. These TikToks:

• Feature explicit thumbnails with the “Ask Athletes” banner; that’s what motivates people to click on them
• Are catchy and fast-paced
• Provide value because they’re motivational and inspiring
• Do not have explicit written CTAs, but every athlete in these clips is wearing Nike clothing, thus offering an implicit CTA

@nike Reply to @jaden.the.runner You asked, here are the answers #askathletes ♬ Storytelling – Adriel

4. Use the right channels

Studies show that Gen Z uses these channels predominantly:

• TikTok
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Snapchat

Why?

Video content is highly versatile. You can listen to it without pictures while going on with your daily life, or you can watch it with no sound while watching a B-rated Netflix movie with your friends.

Mogo.ca offers a good example in this department, with Carter Sullivan as their spokesperson. Carter discusses the mobile app’s advantages on YouTube, detailing how the app helped her manage her finances.

This authentic, detailed video aims to convince more people in her generation to try Mogo. The strategy works because Gen Z is very interested in their finances.

5. Incorporate UGC

The point of incorporating user-generated content in your strategy is to turn Gen Z fans into your own brand’s creators. You can encourage UGC by:

• Working with influencers
• Creating a specific campaign with a clear hashtag that helps you track the user-generated content created
• Giving your followers clear guidelines regarding the content they have to create
• Using incentives that can range from discounts to the chance of winning a prize or even recognition

Laura Mercier’s #readySETgo challenge is a good example because:

• It gives TikTokers the chance to show their transformation using Laura Mercier products and creates more brand awareness.
• The campaign brings people together as they celebrate specific values like inner beauty.
• TikTokers get the chance to be creative and thus gain appreciation in their community.
• The campaign is scalable; One influencer encouraged TikTok users to recreate the #readySETgo tutorial for a chance to win $1000 worth of Laura Mercier products.

The campaign’s soundtrack went viral. In the example below, CharqueryGrills got over 15k likes using the #readySETgo audio as a basis for this recipe inspo:

6. Leverage influencer-created content

Influencer-created content is similar to UGC because the influencers:

• Have creative freedom
• Can give their honest opinion on your brand

The differences (read, advantages) are that:

• You may have an agreement outlining the number of posts, the type of content they are allowed to publish, and the frequency.
• Influencers know how to produce more professional-looking videos.
• You have access to a larger audience who trusts that influencer.

In exchange, you can either offer the influencers a free product (product seeding), pay them per post, or on the number of sales their posts generate.

Pro tip: To avoid legal issues or being duped by fake influencers, partner with a TikTok influencer agency. The best agencies give you access to a database of trustworthy, professional influencers and can assist you with your TikTok strategy.

One good example is Dr Wallace Nozile, MD, showcasing the iWALKFree Hands-Free Crutches.

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A post shared by Dr. Wallace R. Nozile, MD (@skindoctor_md)

The video shows him testing these crutches in his home, and you can notice the absence of special effects. That, along with the personal disclosures on the right-side text, generates increased authenticity.

That authenticity:

• Makes the video and product memorable.
• Fosters trust in the iWalkFree crutches.

And those are essential ingredients to boost awareness and increase sales.

7. Leverage the power of video in marketing e-mails

Using video in your email newsletters has several advantages:

• It can improve click-through rates by 65%.
• 64% of shoppers are more likely to purchase your products.
• The cost per lead drops by 19%.

One example is Spotify’s incorporating video in their marketing e-mail to explain how their Framer X works. This e-mail brings relevant help to Spotify users, responding to one of their poignant needs.

8. Tap into Gen Z FOMO with time-sensitive posts

You can use FOMO (fear of missing out) to your advantage by creating time-sensitive content.

This kind of content:

• Builds a sense of urgency
• Encourages social sharing
• Creates a “ripple effect” that gets more people interested in your brand

Guess’s #InMyDenim challenge offers a good example because the campaign lasted only six days. Therefore, TikTokers had a limited interval to show their beautiful transformations using Guess jeans.

The results are astounding:

• 5,500 UGC videos
• 10.5 million views
• 14.3% engagement rate
• 12,000 new TikTok followers

@ourfire Don’t you wish getting ready was this easy? #inmydenim #sponsored @guess ♬ #inmydenim I’m a Mess – Bebe Rexha

9. Leverage #hashtags

Leveraging hashtags helps you track your brand mentions and expose your content to new audiences.

Pro tip: Use relevant and popular hashtags, as well as branded hashtags unique to your business. These hashtags have to be short, memorable, and relevant.

For example, Laura Mercier’s #ReadySetGo hashtag Implies that people can get ready with these products immediately, and suggests the fast-paced video format.

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10. Don’t be afraid to show off that sense of humour

Why is it important to use humour when marketing to Gen Z? It’s easy: funny videos are more likely to go viral.

But that’s not the only reason:

• Humour can make your brand more relatable, which helps you connect with potential customers on a deeper level.
• It can help you stand out from the competition.
• People are more likely to remember your brand if you make them laugh.

Washington Post does a great job of using humour even if it’s a serious publication:

@washingtonpost In climate change news: this map shows where extreme heat records were broken across the United States during summer 2022. #climateanxiety #climatechange2022 #climatecrisis #newsreporterlady ♬ original sound – Mark Humphries

The TikTok video above tackles climate change, which is an essential issue for Gen Z. The humour stems from different aspects:

• The inherent human instinct to eventually see the amusing side of the things we cannot control
• The little dance associated with the presenter’s serious face
• The voice-over

And you can think of even more reasons why this video is funny.

But the real question is, why present an important issue for Gen Z in an amusing way?

How does this convince them to purchase a Washington Post subscription?

The clip humanises the publication, which helps create a connection with potential readers. It also shows that The Washington Post is not afraid to have a little fun, even if it means breaking the mould of traditional news media.

And Gen Z is all about challenging patterns.

Here’s another great example of the Washington Post using humor in covering the Brazilian presidential elections:

@washingtonpost Lula won on pledges to defend democracy, save the Amazon rainforest and bring social justice to Latin America’s largest nation. #brazil #sweetvictory #spongebob ♬ original sound – FanDuel

11. Highlight your brand’s beliefs and values

This strategy works because:

• It attracts like-minded people to your brand
• It helps you build a strong community around your products or services
• It sets you apart from the competition

A good example is WNRS (We’re Not Really Strangers), a card game that has been created to empower meaningful connections with others.

That’s what the brand sells: not a card game but the promise of finding that spark or connection with others.

Why does it work?

• Gen Z believes that people are interconnected. The generation craves hyperconnectivity and, as such, sees it everywhere in the Universe.
• The WNRS clips show universal truths that anyone can relate to.

As a result, people want to be part of this community that speaks the truths they feel.

Best Gen Z marketing campaigns

In addition to the examples above, let’s discuss five of the best Gen Z marketing campaigns:

1. #ChipotleLidFlip Challenge

The campaign went viral extremely fast because young people wanted to show off their skills. Gen Z-ers crave to be part of a community and appreciate laidback, fun challenges.

Pro tip: Notice the memorable branded hashtag which differentiates the campaign and offers clear instruction to the audience.

@daviddobrik #ChipotleLidFlip @chipotle #ad ♬ Flip – Future

2. Guess’s #InMyDenim

This campaign deserves a second mention because it was extremely well orchestrated. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have gotten so many views, new followers, and UGC posts in just six days.

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3. Netflix “Guess the Show” Series

The series encompasses all the features a campaign should have, especially one with a Gen Z audience that unfolds on TikTok.

Therefore, we’re looking at:

• A challenge to guess popular shows that Gen Z-ers watch
• The chance to connect with a community of fans
• The fun of “getting it” and being right
• A spot-on hashtag that catches people’s attention, telling them what they’re in for and what to do in just three simple words

Here’s an example promoting Netflix’s “Locke and Key” show:

@netflix no hints from me #guesstheshow #netflix ♬ original sound – Netflix

4. #ThousandDollarCrocs

This Crocs campaign offers another good example because:

• It unleashes people’s creativity as they customise their $1,000 Crocs.
• It connects with an intrinsic value: the need for authenticity. The campaign description specifically says it embodies the “Come As You Are mentality.”
• People participating in this campaign aim to show the world “IM GONNA BE whatever I want,” as per the original description. As such, the campaign:
  • Creates a community of people who appreciate connection and diversity.
  • Specifically targets Gen Zers who have adopted these two guiding values.

@rayann_prophet Ready for Christmas @crocs #ThousandDollarCrocs #christmas #crocs #foryou #famous ♬ Underneath the Tree – Kelly Clarkson

5. Instagram “We Make Today”

Instagram celebrates creativity, individuality, and self-expression; that’s this campaign’s message. The platform wants to let its users know they matter and are beautiful regardless of how they choose to present themselves to the world.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Benito Skinner (@bennydrama7)

Leveraging significant values like community, inclusion, individuality, and self-expression is a powerful nudge to Gen Z because they share the same principles.

Through this campaign, Instagram aims to become:

• Relatable
• Authentic
• Trustworthy

And considering Ogilvy orchestrated the whole thing, it’s no wonder it achieved its goals.

Are you marketing to Gen Z?

Video is one of the most powerful tools you have at your disposal when it comes to marketing to Gen Z. It allows you to connect with them on a personal level, show them who you are as a brand, and create a community of raving fans.

So, what are you waiting for? Start creating video content that will turn Gen Z into your biggest fans today!

Use platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels to reach Gen Zers on their turf. And don’t forget to employ hashtags, challenges, and influencers to amplify your reach even further.

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 Related content:

– The Best Time to Post on TikTok
– How to Link Instagram to TikTok
– How to Get More Views on TikTok
– How to Remove The TikTok Watermark in 7 Easy Ways

David Morneau

David Morneau is the co-founder and CEO of inBeat, a hybrid micro-influencer marketing SAAS/agency that helps brands scale their marketing efforts. He has helped over 200 DTC brands to date.

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The post Marketing to Gen Z: 11 Strategies to Win Over Gen Z with Video Content appeared first on Hopper HQ.

Enter Instagram Reels marketing

Instagram Reels are short videos on Instagram where you can express your creativity and bring your brand to the limelight. With an average of 500 million users spending hours on Instagram daily, Instagram Reels are the perfect way to go beyond the usual photo posting to share fascinating videos with your audience. 

In this article, we’ll look at creative Instagram reels ideas for you to explore and build your dream brand.

Let’s get into it!

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1. Create how-to videos

Creating tutorials and how-to videos is a fantastic way to use Instagram Reels marketing for your brand. After making detailed videos explaining your brand’s product, these relevant tutorials and guides can get your followers further interested in your brand with the possibility of bringing them to your checkout. How-to videos can help build your audience and drive engagement. Well-tailored content gives your brand an aspect of reliability and trust — values customers looking to connect with a brand want.

This strategy also works with influencer marketing. When you collaborate with influencers to educate your audience, you project honesty and also spread your brand’s information through influencers. 

For example, Athleta shows its potential customers how to style the Brooklyn Ankle Pants in different ways. 

They managed to do all of the above in about twelve seconds with quick camera cuts and nice edits to keep their viewers glued.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Athleta (@athleta)

2. Make creative behind-the-scene videos

To improve your Instagram Reels marketing strategy, you need something captivating to attract your potential customers. That’s where behind-the-scenes videos should come in. 

They give insights and humanise your brand. Your target audience can see the quirks and traits that make up your brand. 

The ideas are limitless. So use seamless transitions to show the processes your brand undergoes. Let’s look at how luxury purse brand Anima Iris uses behind-the-scenes videos for their Instagram Reels to give followers a peek at their product.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ANIMA IRIS (@anima.iris)

Think of Reel content that lets your audience feel connected with you. That could be how you create your content or package your products. 

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3. Leverage user-generated content

User-generated content (UGC) comes in different formats like short-form videos and pictures. It allows customers to generate new interests and discover your products through social proof. 

Some ways to collate UGC for Instagram Reels marketing are; 

• Creating brand hashtag contests
• Posting with a cause
• Following trend-worthy events
• Resharing customer reviews and testimonials or
• Collaborating with content creators

Leveraging UGC for Instagram Reels can help boost audience engagement and facilitate audience conversion. 

Thus, incorporating UGC in your marketing funnel makes your content relevant and social media strategy effective. 

Jot shares a customer review video via Instagram Reels to advertise its brand.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jot (@jot)

You can run a successful UGC campaign via Reels by engaging with customers that leave a comment on your videos or reshares them on their stories. These engagements create genuine connections that increase loyalty. 

4. Repurpose your old content

Knowing how to alter your content is a game-changer in social media strategy — especially when you love to get creative with pictures and videos.

However, you must customise these previous clips to align with your Instagram audience and update the content before posting your content. 

Some things you can do are:

• Pull great lines from videos or interviews you’ve previously done. 
• Compile UGC you’ve previously shared on your feed and place it in a new format using creative video techniques. 
• Share existing Reels to Instagram Stories and use hashtags to get featured on Instagram Explore.

You can also repurpose a great piece of content on multiple platforms, whether a valuable blog post or video clip, into Instagram Reels.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by SCOUT Aviation (@scoutaviation)

Check out this example from Scout Aviation, which repurposed its FAQ section into a Reel. This is a good way to capture the attention of people who are frequent Instagram users. Those who don’t love reading long posts can turn to your Instagram Reel instead. 

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5. Get inspired by trends

Using trending IG Reels puts your brand in the limelight. Here you have the opportunity to go viral, which can boost your audience dramatically. 

Trends can vary by songs, effects, or even filters. So you must pay attention to what is popular in your brand niche and create your content when it’s still in trend. 

You can search for trends with hashtags and audio clips or find them on your Instagram Explore pages. 

Another way to hop on trends is to create Instagram Reels that are aligned with the seasons or important events. Think of videos with the hashtags like #summer,  #mothersday or #halloween, which typically go viral.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Adobe (@adobe)

Check out the example above from Adobe, which posted this Instagram Reel on National Pizza Day. Just make sure you post your videos on the dates these special events actually happen. If you post them even just a day later, people might no longer be interested in your material since it may be deemed no longer relevant.

6. Create listicles

Like a bucket list, you can spice up your marketing campaigns with listicles.

Listicles have a tendency to go viral when you delight customers with fun, entertaining content or share easy-to-digest valuable content. 

You can create a listicle Reel by clipping together pictures or short-form content of your brand products and services. It keeps your audience interested in your next Reel post. 

See how travel blogger, Kirsten, uses listicles to inspire her followers below:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kirsten // Canadian Travel (@kirstenwendlandt)

Once you have an exciting idea for your post, what’s the next step?

Begin with outlining your listicle points. After, note the relevant content based on your audience engagement and what’s ranking well on search engines. You can then create 15-second clips to demonstrate your list extensively. 

Get creative and send recurring emails for updates to your loyal customers. This way, you can inform them whenever you update your list or create content they may be interested in. 

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7. Tell your story

Aside from using user-generated content, sharing stories keeps your brand in the minds of your followers. To cut through mediocre content, you need good and consistent visual Instagram stories. 

Remember that you want to grab your audience’s attention. So get creative with how you share your ideas and tell your brand story. Try showcasing different products and compellingly telling a backstory or highlighting your customers saying how your brand solved their problems. 

Using Instagram Reels, visualise the importance of some of the previous things you’ve done or challenges you’ve faced. Then proceed to use these videos as regular feed posts for higher engagements.

For example, the influencer and brand owner, Negin Mirsalehi, displayed a Reel that details her brand and how she came about it. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Negin Mirsalehi (@negin_mirsalehi)

Create your brand story Reels by experimenting with video editors that allow you to cut and join different clips for a seamless video. You can also overlay music and add link buttons for users who like your Instagram Reels to engage through likes, comments, and shares.

8. Look at your comments and DMs for ideas

When you make intriguing Instagram Reels, you’d expect your audience to leave likes and comments.

But the truth is, you must encourage your followers to get the engagement you want. Otherwise, you’d leave them to only liking your feed post and scrolling onto others. 

To get your followers to comment, be direct. Include call-to-actions in your IG Reels caption and encourage your followers to leave their reactions. Eventually, you can use these commentaries as a guide to creating your next Reel post to engage your audience continuously. 

Furthermore, ask your loyal customers for reviews regarding your brand. The feedback and opinions are a great way to guide your product development and where you need to improve. 

The odds of your target audience having objections are very high. Perhaps, they aren’t satisfied with the benefits or have pending questions. You may be clueless about this until you create engaging ways to make them react. That’s why you need to prompt your followers to talk about their objections or positive news about your brand that will guide you in finding solutions. 

9. Highlight your company or employees

You must go beyond posting similar-style content to spice up your brand’s social media posts. You can use Instagram Reels marketing to showcase your brand’s employees and their respective roles. That acknowledges their efforts and motivates them for better performance. 

Instagram Reels can build your brand’s affinity and show — not just tell — your audience what your brand is about. 

Instagram Reels provide a simple and effective way to humanize your brand and express your brand personality in a fun way. 

An excellent Reel content idea is using pictures of your employees from your company’s events like workshops and conferences. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by S A S S Y W O O F (@sassywoof)

The video above shows how Sassywoof introduced its staff with humourous content.

By making this Reel content, you can successfully craft an authentic tone of voice that resonates with your audience. Your audience begins to see that there are people they can rely on behind your brand, not just chatbots.

10. Showcase your products

There are many brands out there with similar products as yours. With Instagram Reels, you can promote your product videos, highlight services, special offers, and even your dishes, if you’re using Instagram for restaurant marketing. 

Instagram Reels are a fun way to show off what makes your product stand out and drive authentic engagement. 

See how Sephora shows off their new lip gloss products below:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sephora (@sephora)

Showcasing your products increases audience engagement and allows them to be more inclined to purchase from you instead of your competitors. 

11. Create sneak peek videos

Showing sneak peek videos or teasers leave your audience curious and captivated. 

Do you have a new upcoming project? Give your followers sneak peek videos on Instagram Reels to get them excited about what’s coming. 

The sneak peek video can be of your product or service. For better results and engagements, make these Instagram Reels with influencers. With their huge following, you’re assured that they’d drive sales by sharing Instagram stories and Reels that highlight your product. 

Here’s another Reel example from Sephora. The brand uses Instagram Reels to introduce new products and give sneak peeks.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sephora (@sephora)

Your brand can also create sneak-peek Instagram Reels for giveaways. This way, you’d get your target audience to interact with your brand in hopes of winning. 

That will help generate hype before your release and give your target audience a reason to follow you. 

12. Make “a day in the life” videos

Film snippets of your daily lifestyle when it comes to your brand. You can show your followers insights into what it looks like to run your brand daily. 

Even better, you can narrate your video clips with a voiceover feature on IG Reels and explain the different parts of the vlog. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Negin Mirsalehi (@negin_mirsalehi)

This video shows how “world bee day” was celebrated by brand owner Negin Mirsalehi. It’s an appealing method to use for events your audience might not get to see or experience. 

Creating something new regularly keeps you on your creative toes. It allows you to introduce new concepts and challenges for yourself and also uniquely deliver your message to your audience. 

Takeaways

It’s up to you to choose the content you want to create. But eventually, how you leverage it matters. Instagram Reels marketing makes it easy to create content and saves you from strenuous activities — but you must post appropriate content to drive engagement. 

Begin by educating people about your brand. Answer questions your audience is likely to ask and provide the answers immediately. Create a bond by humanising your brand. It creates a sense of trust between you and your followers and makes room for engaging conversations.

Post your content regularly and hop on trends as much as you can. That allows you to become viral and promotes your brand on the Instagram explore pages. 

Give details of events and prompt your followers to engage you with calls to action. 

All of these might be time-consuming, but eventually, you get to pitch your brand to a broader audience and keep it in the loop. 

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David Campbell

David Campbell is a digital marketing specialist at Ramp Ventures. He helps manage the content marketing team at Right Inbox. When he’s not working, he enjoys travelling and trying to learn Spanish.

The post 12 Creative Instagram Reels Ideas to Grow Your Brand appeared first on Hopper HQ.

Don’t fret; this article is all about how to repost on Instagram, a place for media consumption and social connection. People post tons of photos and videos on Instagram in the form of stories, reels, posts, etc.

But how to repost on Instagram as a brand is a question most business owners and marketers ask, and most importantly, does it make sense to repost someone else’s content on your channel?

In case you’re looking for how you can repost content from other social channels to Instagram, you should give Hopper HQ a try for free. It makes cross-posting so much easier!

How does reposting on Instagram help brands?

Using the repost feature on Instagram can be advantageous for brands in several ways. Reposting Instagram posts saves you time, about 52% of marketers feel that time is a challenge when it comes to social media content creation. Over 72% of marketers seek opportunities to save time on creative content creation.

Here are three other relatable reasons why you should consider utilizing it on Instagram:

Showcasing User-Generated Content (UGC):

Reposting user-generated content is an effective way to build trust and authenticity. When your customers or followers create content related to your brand or products and you share it on your profile, it demonstrates real-world endorsements. This not only strengthens your brand’s credibility but also encourages others to engage and contribute their content.

UGC can also highlight diverse use cases and perspectives, offering a more comprehensive view of your brand’s impact. When you share other people’s posts, your audience sees them as authentic, unlike promotional posts. This authenticity attracts engagement.

Fostering Community Engagement:

Reposting content from influencers, industry experts, or other brands can help build mutually beneficial relationships. When you share someone else’s content, especially if you tag or mention them, it often leads to increased visibility and engagement. It’s a way of acknowledging and appreciating their content, which can foster goodwill within your industry or niche.

Content Variation and Inspiration:

Reposting relevant and timely content can help your brand stay current and informed about industry trends, news, and events. It allows you to participate in conversations and discussions that are relevant to your audience, demonstrating your brand’s awareness and engagement within your niche.

Additionally, it can serve as a source of inspiration for your own content creation. Brands can adapt and build upon user-generated content ideas to create their own posts, which can be especially useful during creative dry spells or when looking for new ways to connect with your audience.

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Can you repost content on Instagram?

Yes. However, before you repost someone else’s content on your Instagram handle, make sure you have permission from the original poster to repost their work.

You can seek approval in the following ways:

• Send a direct message to the original poster on their Instagram. If they’re Instagram influencers or celebrities, they probably won’t respond to your message. In this case, try the next one.
• Comment on the post, it’ll create a reason to start a conversation. You can seek permission here.
• Connect with the original publisher via email. It’s a more professional approach that’ll improve the chances of approval.

If the original poster has tagged you in the post, there is no need to seek their permission, and you can move forward with sharing the post on your feed or stories.

Two ways on how to repost on Instagram

Instagram doesn’t provide the option to repost Reels, Stories, or posts on the Feed.

But it’s possible to post on your Instagram Feed using two methods:

• Screenshot
• A third-party app

1)The screenshot method

To use the screenshot method, take these steps:

1. Take a screenshot of the photo you’re interested in.
2. In your Instagram account, tap on the “New Post” button
3. You’ll get several content format options—Post, Story, Reel, Live—choose “Post”.
4. Select the image from your files.
5. Crop the image, add filters, and edit the image to your liking.
6. Give credit to the original poster of the image using a caption. It’s also important to tag them.
7. Share the post.

3) Third-party apps

If you choose to use a third-party app, here are some reliable options you can use:

• Repost: For Instagram
• Repost for Instagram (by Sepia Software LLC)
• Reposta
• Repost for Instagram – Regrann

How to Repost a Story on Instagram

Most people will want to share other people’s Instagram stories if they’re tagged in them. Now, if you want to share a Story in which you aren’t mentioned, you need to use third-party apps. Third-party apps let you repost almost any post on Instagram as long as they’re public.

When someone you follow tags your brand in their Instagram Story, you’ll get a notification in your Direct Messages.

If someone whom you don’t follow tags you in their Story, you’ll get a notification in your message request section.

One important thing to note here is that you cannot prevent people from mentioning you unless you specify your preference in the “Allow mentions from” in your settings. You can either allow mentions from everyone, people you follow, or no one. If you’re mentioned in a story and want it to be taken down, you need to report it to Instagram.

Reposting a Story you were tagged in

When you repost the Story in which you’ve been mentioned, Instagram auto-mentions the person who has posted the Story originally.

However, the mention sharing will only work when the original poster’s Story, as well as the account, is public.

1) Launch the Instagram app on your mobile device.

Ensure you are logged into the account where you want to repost the story.

2) Check notifications if someone has tagged you in their story.

Tap on the notification or go to your Direct Messages by clicking on the paper aeroplane icon at the top right corner of your home feed.

3) View the Mentioned Story

In the Direct Messages section, you’ll see a message indicating that you’ve been mentioned in someone’s story. Tap on the message to view the story.

4) Repost the Story using the share icon

To repost the story, you’ll usually see an option called “Add This to Your Story” or “Share to Your Story” at the bottom of the screen. Tap on this option. It may also appear as a direct message with the story attached.

5) Edit and Share your content

Once you tap to add the story to your own, you can customize it. You can add stickers, text, drawings, or other creative elements to make it your own. You can also choose to share it as-is. When you’re ready, click “Your Story” or “Share” to publish it to your own story.

6) Optional: Tag the Original Poster (Optional)

While editing the story, you have the option to tag the original poster by using the “@” symbol followed by their username. This is a nice way to give credit to the person who tagged you.

7) View Your Story to ensure proper publishing

You can view your own story by tapping on your profile picture in the top left corner of the home feed. Your reposted story will be visible there for 24 hours, just like any other story.

How to Repost a post on Instagram Stories

Like other content on Instagram, you can only repost images and videos from other accounts if their account is set to public.

If the publisher of the post you want to repost has their account private, you cannot share their content. However, you can always ask them to send you the content, and you can make minor adjustments to it to suit your purpose. 

For instance, if it’s a video, you can transcribe it to make it more accessible to your audience, customize it and then, you can post it via your Instagram account and tag the original publisher.

If you want to repost a post from a public profile:

1. Open the Instagram app on your phone.

2. Go to the Instagram story that you want to repost

3. Tap on the share icon by the like and comment icons

4. On the Story editing page, you can add stickers and other creatives

5. Select the option “Add to Story”

In addition to posting Stories, you can also repost every other type of content on Instagram. It is a great way of sharing content while promoting the account whose content you’re reposting.

One feature we didn’t discuss is showing or hiding captions with the post.

How to repost a Reel on Instagram Stories

You can also repost a Reel from an account that’s set to public.

1. Open the full-view Reel of the profile that caught your interest
2. Tap on the paper aeroplane symbol on the Reel
3. A pop-up menu will give you the option to post the Reel in your Instagram Story.
4. Edit the Reel and post it

That’s it, you’ve successfully posted someone’s Reel on your Instagram Stories.

How to make reposting part of your Instagram strategy

You now know how to repost on Instagram. Here is how you can include reposting as a part of your content strategy:

1. Monitor brand mentions, hashtags, and tags

Every time someone mentions or tags your brand in an Instagram post or story, you get notified in the direct messages or notification centre.

Follow your brand hashtags on Instagram to stay tuned with the activities. Here is how you can do that:

1. Search for your brand hashtags, such as “#jkjuices,”
2. Tap on the hashtag you want to follow,
3. Tap “follow,” and you’ll get all the posts that use this hashtag in your feed.

2. Share user-generated content from events

Business events, meetups, and industry-level talks create avenues for people to tag your brand in their Instagram content.

This is a great opportunity to humanise your brand and repost the content.

If you’re running your own event or someone from your team is giving a speech at an event, it’s a golden opportunity to repost the content on Instagram and showcase the people behind your organisation.

3. Repost content from the community

Let’s be honest. We all love to be acknowledged for the content we post, and an appreciation can be the cherry on the top.

For brands on Instagram, reaching out to their audiences/customers, appreciating their content, and requesting permission to repost can prove to be a next-level strategy to discover new brand ambassadors.

You can add live stream shopping links in the reposted Instagram content. Use relevant hashtags to boost your brand awareness and sales growth.

Start reposting on Instagram

Reposting on Instagram is a simple technique that increases the frequency of your Instagram posts and generates more engagement.

However, don’t forget to seek permission from the original poster before you repost the content on Instagram.

Also, why not try out Hopper HQ for free and leverage its planning and scheduling features, making you save time while still being consistent on all your favorite social media channels?

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Gaurav Sharma

Gaurav Sharma is the founder and CEO of Attrock, a results-driven digital marketing company. Grew an agency from 5-figure to 7-figure revenue in just two years | 10X leads | 2.8X conversions |  300K organic monthly traffic. He also contributes to top publications like HuffPost, Adweek, Business 2 Community, TechCrunch, and more.

The post How to Repost on Instagram (Posts, Stories, Reels) appeared first on Hopper HQ.

According to research by Statista, Instagram ranks among the top 10  most visited websites globally, with over 2.9 billion monthly visits. Instagram boasts 1.3 million daily active global users coming in 4th after Facebook, Youtube and WhatsApp.

In Q4 2021, Instagram ranked as the most downloaded app, which comes as no surprise as Instagram presents businesses with great opportunities for customer engagement, sales and huge returns on investment (ROI). 

Adding Instagram to your social media strategy presents enormous prospects for your brand. However, to get the most of the opportunities for engagement on Instagram, you cannot ignore Instagram carousels. 

Instagram has various features and types of posts. You can publish videos, reels, stories, or single images. However, Carousel posts have the highest engagement rate per single impression on Instagram. Social media managers are yet to maximise this opportunity as 75% of brand posts are single-image posts.

Keep reading to learn how to create, schedule, and use Instagram carousel posts to drive audience engagement for your brand on Instagram. 

What is an Instagram carousel post?

An Instagram carousel is a type of Instagram post with multiple photos or videos that you can share as a single post and view by swiping left. You can add up to 10 images or videos to a single carousel post on Instagram. 

With Instagram carousels, you can build intrigue and unveil a surprise. It’s a great way to be more creative with your content. Instagram carousel posts keep viewers engaged and swiping left till the last image; by creatively and carefully selecting images and videos, your brand can provide step-by-step information to your audience.

Instagram carousel post size requirements

• Portrait – 1080 x 1350 pixels
• Square – 1080 x 1080 pixels
• Landscape – 1080 x 566 pixels
• Aspect ratio – landscape (1.91:1), square (1:1), vertical (4:5)

Instagram carousel posts allow you to share up to 10 individual photos or videos. Instagram recommends post images be at least 1080 × 1080 pixels with a 1:1 ratio, but any size of your choice is allowed.  

Photos should either be in JPEG or PNG format and not exceed 30MB in size. Videos should be less than 60 seconds long in MP4 format with a maximum size of 4GB. 

Images and videos of Instagram carousel posts can be portrait, square, or landscape. All images in the Carousel should be the same size.

The Instagram algorithm shows your post more than once to your online followers when you use carousels. So, if a follower comes across your carousel post and skips it without swiping through, the next time they see it in their feed, it will display the second slide.

How to create an Instagram carousel post

Before jumping into the steps of creating a carousel post, here are some things to keep in mind before you get started:

• Think about the multiple-image carousel post. Why did you choose a carousel instead of a video or a single image?
• How do you want to arrange the images in your carousel? Come up with a concept before selecting the pictures on Instagram. Do you want to create a seamless and panoramic picture that blends from one image to the next? Do you want to tell a story, drive a point home or share insightful statistics?
• If you want to create a unique design for your carousels, consider using Canva to make your designs
• Write out the text that will be on your images
• Add the images for your carousel to your gallery.

There are multiple ways to create and post an Instagram carousel. We’ll walk you through the different options:

1. Using the Instagram App

• Download and sign up to Instagram, or sign in if you already have an account
• Open the Instagram app and click on the + icon on your home screen
• Click on the double-layered squares below the post preview

• Select the photos from your gallery. The photos will appear in the same order that you select them.
• Select each image to use filters like ‘Moon’, ‘Lark’, and ‘Crema’ to alter the look and feel of your images.
• Tap on ‘Edit’ to change the brightness, contrast, saturation, highlight and other features of the images. Then select the ‘blue tick’ icon to save the changes. Repeat this step for each of the images.

• Click the blue arrow -> icon on the top right corner of your screen to move to the next step
• Here you can write a caption which will show under the carousel. You can also tag people, and add a location, hashtags, and choose to share your carousels on your Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr accounts. 
• Note that any links posted in the caption will not be hyperlinked. However, you can redirect your viewers to your bio and link to your website.
• Select the ‘blue tick’ icon to share it.

Voila! Your carousel post is posted!

2. Using Hopper HQ

You can use social media tools like Hopper HQ to create, schedule, and auto-post your carousels from a single dashboard.

Here’s how to create and schedule Instagram carousel posts with Hopper HQ:

• Log in to your Hopper HQ account or create an account here. You can start a free trial without being charged to test out the tool
• To create a new carousel post, start by clicking ‘Create’, then choose the ‘[+] New Post’ and upload your first image or video
• You can bulk upload multiple photos you want to include in your carousel post all at once

Note: You can also upload a single image, hit the ‘Create Gallery Post’ icon on the top right corner of your image and upload additional images or videos.

• Want to reorder the images in your carousel? Reordering is simple! Just drag and drop to rearrange the order of the images in the way you want. The first image will be the cover photo
• You can edit and crop your images and videos within the Hopper HQ desktop app to get your carousel Instagram-ready
• Once your images are ready, add your caption, location, first comment, and hashtags
• Your carousel post is now ready to be published; you can either choose the “Post Now” option or schedule your post for a later time,
• Click ‘Save Post’, and Hopper HQ will auto-post your carousel for you. 

Hopper HQ Tip

Want to split a single image into multiple images to use as a carousel post?

Go to https://pinetools.com/split-image
Upload your image>> select ‘horizontal split’>> split by the quantity of blocks>> select ‘Split image.’

You now have multiple equal width images to upload onto Instagram as a carousel post! Get to posting!

Create Instagram Carousels Using Canva

Canva is great for creating carousels because it offers many creative and easily customisable template designs. You can also use Canva on your phone and your laptop.

Here’s a quick how-to on using Canva on your laptop:

• First, visit Canva.com to create your Canva account.  
• Select the template icon on your Canva dashboard.  You will see several types of design templates, including flyers, regular Instagram posts, social media ads, website banners, book covers and much more.
• Type ‘carousel Instagram post’ in the search box 

• You will see carousel templates. These templates have between 2 to 10 images that you can click on and customise.
• Canva allows you to customise the text,  colour, pictures, themes and video on its dashboard. You can also use elements to create unique designs. 
• Some of Canva’s features are free. Other features on Canva are only available for Pro users.
• When you finish designing on Canva, you can export your designs as JPEG or PNG images. 

Note: JPEGs contain less data than PNGs due to their different compression processes, making JPEGs smaller in size, but PNGs support transparent backgrounds (unlike JPEGs), making them preferred for graphic design.

Hopper HQ Tip

Think about how your carousel post will appear on the homepage of your Instagram profile. Does it compliment your Instagram aesthetic?
You can maintain consistency while exploring your creativity with Hopper HQ’s Grid Planner. Preview how posts will look on your profile before they’re posted and easily drag and drop to rearrange and maintain a beautiful Instagram aesthetic.

8 Creative ways to use Instagram carousel posts

1. Behind-the-scenes content

Once in a while, it’s great to share your workspace and the scenes behind your products or business together with the finished product. This helps you engage with your viewers in real life. They get to see your creativity through in the process.

2. Engagement motivators

Your audience needs to be motivated to keep their thumb swiping left through your carousel post. Reminders like “swipe for a surprise”, “the 10th slide says it all”, and “comment on your best slide” are just a few ideas to encourage them to swipe until the end. 

For example, a hairstylist might group photos of different ways to style your natural hair on an Instagram carousel post and engage viewers to slide and comment on their best photo.

Keep scrolling for inspiring examples of brands using carousel posts

3. How-to content

With Instagram carousels, you can easily and visually communicate how-to content with your followers.  For example, a food brand can share a step-by-step process of how to create a recipe while linking that post to a blog with a more detailed description of the step-by-step recipe. 

People want to know how to do something they are interested in, but oftentimes the procedure of learning the how can be lengthy and discouraging. With Instagram carousel posts, you can organise the process into photos and short videos that summarise the process and encourage viewers to learn more.

4. Storytelling

You can tell a story with videos, photos and short text using a carousel post. Be clear in your illustrations. 

Using Carousels to tell stories also gives you an opportunity to share pictures of the pain points of your ideal customers and connect with them deeply. You can also show how your product or service solves their problems. 

Storytelling is a powerful tool for customer engagement and creating me-too moments. 

One way to easily curate stories for your Instagram handle is by creating user-generated content.  Ask your audience questions connected to your service product or brand and get them to tell their stories. Remember that every follower is a person, and every person has a story. 

5. Repurposing your content

You may have had great content published on your blog previously that brought so much engagement, and you want to repurpose it or get more engagement. Instagram Carousels can help you achieve that through text images, quotes, multi-image series and illustrations. 

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6. Display products

Creatively display different products in one post using an Instagram carousel.  Your audience can see up to 10 different images of your products, and you can link this post to your Instagram shop or your eCommerce sites. 

A Facebook study revealed that 83% of Instagram users find new products on the app. 81% research products and services on it, and a whopping 80% decide whether to buy a product or service. 

Instagram is a great place to put images of your products and drive sales.  

Another way to display more than 10 products is to create short videos displaying different products on your Instagram Carousel post. We suggest mixing up videos and images. Limit the number to what your audience can view in 60 seconds or less. 

7. Before & afters

Before and afters are great for showing the transformation your service or product brings to the lives of your customers.  You can create a carousel of before and after pictures or videos. What were your customers struggling with before purchasing your products and services?  How did your products and services change their lives?

For example, suppose a customer is struggling to lose a little weight, and you offer services or products to help with weight loss. In that case, you can share the before and after pictures while telling their story using text, images, and video in an Instagram carousel.  

8. Reviews

The last time you made an online purchase, what did you do? You might have gone through the reviews and comments of customers before purchasing.

People always want to know how satisfied your customers are before deciding to purchase your product. Ask your customers to provide feedback on your products or services. With their permission, you can share videos and images of reviews. Creatively group these reviews and display them using an Instagram carousel post. 

8 Inspiring Instagram carousel examples

1. Washington Post

Washington post excels at using carousels for digital storytelling. 

This carousel post features winners of the apple macro photography competition and invites viewers to click on the link in the bio. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Washington Post (@washingtonpost)

Hopper HQ Tip
Invite your audience to click on a link to your website or landing pages on your Instagram bio.   Include a CTA on your carousel posts to help engaged customers learn more about your service, products or events.

2. Forbes

Forbes shares interesting photographs from its Forbes under 30 summit with its audience. Their purple theme design makes the different pictures consistent with the brand colours of the event. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Forbes (@forbes)

Hopper HQ Tip
Use Hashtags Like Forbes did here; share hashtags connected to your events or post using carousels.  Interested viewers click on the hashtag to see more posts from your brand.

3. 1x.com

1x.com photo creation community shares user-generated content on their Instagram.  User-generated content encourages your audience to participate and show off their pictures to their own followers on social media.  It’s one of the ways to easily create content and put them in front of new eyes.   

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 1x.com • Arts Movement (@1x)

Hopper HQ Tip
You can mention members of your audience when sharing user-generated content.  It’s a great way to celebrate your followers on Instagram and get more impressions and engagement on your carousels. 

4. Mesmerize design

In this carousel, Mesmerize design shares 10 stunning glass designs and invites their followers to share their thoughts on their products and tag other design lovers. It offers you an opportunity to show your products and display different shades of your creativity all in one post. The product icon at the lower right corner of the pictures links to a catalogue on their Instagram shop.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by MesmerizeD (@mesmerized_design)

Hopper HQ Tip
Carousels are an effective way to display products from your shop catalogue and get customers to scroll through and by.

5. Tiffany and Co

Tiffany and co show off the behind-the-scenes pictures of how they produced the Larry O’Brien championship trophy awarded to the winners of the NBA finals.  

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tiffany & Co. (@tiffanyandco)

Hopper HQ Tip

Carousels are a great way to share behind-the-scenes pictures of your Brand.

6. Wellfact

Wellfact uses pictures to share the social impact of its brand in an Instagram Carousel post.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Welfact (@welfact)

Hopper HQ Tip

Use carousels to attract people who care about the work you do by showing the impact of your work. 

7. Clean Food Crush

Carousels offer food brands and opportunity to share recipes with their audience using different pictures and showing the step-by-step process for a meal. Clean Food Crush’s carousel post on taco stuffed avocados’ yummy recipe is a great example. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rachel’s Cleanfoodcrush® (@cleanfoodcrush)

8. NikeBasketball

NikeBasketball shows off their new product to an audience of basketball lovers. Likewise, the comment section is teeming with followers who can’t wait for the Lebron XIX ‘Royal Fortress’ to be out.  

Carousels allow you to show different angles of your products and give the customers a  detailed view of what they are buying.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Nike Basketball (@nikebasketball)

Types of carousel posts on social media platforms

Carousel posts are not just limited to Instagram. You can also create carousels on different social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Facebook carousel posts

Facebook Carousels come in the form of campaign ads; they have features like an Instagram carousel but differ in cost. Carousels on Instagram have both free (organic) and paid formats, while Facebook has only paid formats. Just like Instagram, Facebook Carousels also allow you to combine up to 10 photos or videos. Facebook ad carousels also have more reach than usual Facebook ads.

Twitter carousel posts

Twitter carousels are just like Facebook. You can also create organic (free or unpromoted) or also paid Twitter carousels. 

Carousels on Twitter support up to 6 swipeable, edge-to-edge images or videos in a single Tweet. They can be square or landscape. Twitter carousals also serve clickable space with links displayed below the images or videos; this helps you drive even more traffic to your website.

You don’t want the 660-piece @Lego_Group set featuring the #FordGT Heritage Edition and the #FordBronco R.

You need it.

— Ford Motor Company (@Ford) July 29, 2021

Linkedin carousel Posts

Linkedin offers both carousel ads and carousel posts. 

Linkedin carousel ads allow your brand to tell a story and inspire your target audience to take action. 

A LinkedIn carousel post, however, is a document sharing feature launched in 2018 that enables users to share slides and documents on their news feed. This allows your followers and connections to scroll through your document without leaving LinkedIn.

 Here’s a great LinkedIn carousel post example by Dennis Brown talking about 9 Lessons on How to Grow a Profitable Business.

To sum up

Social media carousel posts present your ideas and images in an engaging and powerful way.  You can use Instagram carousels to increase brand awareness, drive sales and meet other social media goals.

Schedule your carousels in advance, along with other Instagram posts with Hopper HQ. What are your favourite carousel posts on Instagram? Tell us in the comments. We’d love to know!

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The post Your Ultimate Guide to Instagram Carousel Posts appeared first on Hopper HQ.

In a world where we instinctually reject a lot of advertising (‘Skip Ad’ on YouTube) and even pay to not be marketed to (Spotify Premium) — Instagram Stories offer a saving grace.

It’s like a conveyor belt of consumption: you get on it by innocently clicking on a photo of your friend’s dinner. Before you know it you’ve tapped through 30 people’s Instagram Stories, watched 5 adverts, swiped up to see links from influencers’ wardrobes, and you’re not sure where the last 20 minutes of your life went.

Once you’re on the conveyor belt, it’s hard to get off.

The addictive design of Instagram Stories has us stuck viewing them for longer than we ever plan to. We don’t know what’s coming up next, and it’s easy to keep clicking through rather than exiting.

I’m not basing this on my personal experience alone. Instagram Business insights show you how many people clicked forward on to the next Story from yours, and how many left the conveyor belt. Looking at Hopper HQ’s account, on average 80% of users ‘Forward Tap’ through Instagram Stories rather than ‘Exit’, proving that people like to stay on for the ride.

Instagram Stories therefore lock users into watching things they didn’t even know they wanted to, which is why it’s the perfect place for businesses to be. Don’t believe us? Check out this infographic for 30 amazing business case studies!

Without further ado, here are 14 things you can start doing on Instagram Stories now to raise your brand’s profile, grow engagement and convert more customers!

Instagram Stories lock users into watching things they didn’t even know they wanted to, which is why it’s the perfect place for businesses to be!
Click To Tweet

P.S for more tips for your business Instagram account, check out:
 How To Create A Winning Instagram Marketing Strategy 

Contents:
1. Announcements
2. Collaborations 
3. Highlights 
4. Polls 
5. Questions 
6. Reaction Slider 
7. Countdown 
8. Links 
9. Templates 
10. Location Stickers 
11. Hashtag Stickers #⃣
12. ‘New Post’ 
13. Contests 
14. Live 

1) Announcements

Due to the instant nature of Instagram Stories, they’re a great way to share company announcements such as new products, new staff members and general updates!

These moments are a brilliant opportunity to post behind-the-scenes footage of the company that wouldn’t necessarily earn a spot on your main profile. Your followers will feel like they’re privy to the latest info, as well as getting to know you and the business. You can add multiple photos to your Instagram Story to make it more engaging for your followers.

These personal insights could be anything from packaging a new product to playing a prank on a colleague. They will help convey the human side of your company, and consequently boost brand awareness and engagement!

            
We used an Instagram Story to announce the arrival of Analytics. Click here to start your free trial today!

2) Collaborations

Instagram Stories offer a great way for brands and influencers to collaborate!

You can team up with a relevant business you think your followers could benefit from getting to know, or perhaps a customer who happens to be an influencer. I’ll give you an example…

Content curators Quuu are a start-up operating in a fully remote team, and so their Instagram account concentrates on all aspects of remote work and co-working!

During the month of February, Hopper HQ were working remotely from Thailand, and we saw a great opportunity for a collaboration. We prepared ‘A Day In The Life Of A Remote Team’ to feature on their profile, and their team put together a series of video tips for staying productive while working remotely, which we posted on our Story.

This gave both businesses some new exposure, and was generally a lot of fun to produce! Similarly, we could’ve posted a Q&A interview with Quuu, or mutually shouted out/promoted one another.

Just a heads up, some of these kinds of collaborations might be paid for, particularly if they involve influencers! Even so, there’s loads of different ways you could collaborate over Instagram Story, so think about how your business could benefit from it.

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3) Story Highlights

Instagram Story Highlights have been a game changer since they were released in December 2017.

For regular users they act as a personal show reel of ‘best bits’. But for brands, being able to pin Stories to the top of your profile essentially acts as an extension of your bio.

As a business you can utilise highlights to tell people that land on your page who you are, what you do and why you do it, as well as displaying your product or service! Create Stories for the purpose of being Highlights, with an eye catching cover they’ll transform your Instagram page into a brochure!

These are both great examples of companies utilising Highlights in their Instagram marketing! They have attention grabbing covers, and provide so much more content for users to look through, ultimately keeping people on their page for longer.

4) Polls

Gone are the days of boring customer questionnaires, get your answers with just a tap!

Using polls in your Instagram Stories is a great way to drive interaction with your followers. You can use them for market research, customer feedback, or just to get to know your audience and have a bit of fun!

The possibilities with polls are endless, and it’s possible to think of highly relevant creative campaigns specific to your brand or target demographic!

For example, Swell (whose Instagram game is fantastic – check them out) have used polls to share important information with their audience in the form of a quiz:

We think brand client interaction on Stories is a trend that will only get bigger! As Instagram keep releasing features to encourage real conversation and brand loyalty. Bringing us on to our next suggestion…

5) Questions

The questions sticker made it possible for brands to invite their audience to ask them any burning questions, as well as ask their audience questions themselves!

This is such a great feature for building a community and encouraging customer interaction. By showing they care about their customers opinion, and also that they’re present to answer questions positions a brand as reliable, human, and kind — which in turn engenders customer loyalty!

Here are two different examples of how to use the questions sticker on Stories, either open forum, or specific feedback:

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6) Reaction Slider

A fun addition to Instagram Stories, allowing users to respond to the content of your Stories. ]

Interactions on Instagram Stories all feed back to the algorithm about how good content is and how engaged users are with it. It’s therefore a good tactic for brands to use reaction sliders to boost their engagement rate!

Most of the time, brands use this feature with heart eyes, to gage how much their audience like a product. However, there are many creative ways to utilise the slider on your Instagram Stories, check out the example below from Colour Pop Cosmetics:

7) Countdown

A recent addition to Instagram Stories, the countdown sticker is a great feature for brands to promote competitions, sales, and announcements.

Users can set reminders for the countdown deadline, and brands receive this data so they know exactly how many (and which) of their audience are most engaged!

This data is another great feature for helping build community, and we can see Instagram continuing to develop these kinds of features in 2022.

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8) Links

 Sadly, this feature is currently only available for accounts with 10k followers or more.

If you belong to that lucky group of businesses, then you get to include external links in your Instagram Stories!

As we all know, Instagram doesn’t allow functioning links anywhere but the bio (they’re trying to keep us on their app, and it’s working) so to have them in Stories is a serious bonus. The link will redirect users to a browser within Instagram, meaning when you cross off you’ll pick up right where you left off.

Make the most of this feature by including clear call to actions in your Stories: ‘SHOP SALE NOW’, ‘START FREE TRIAL’, ‘BOOK TODAY’ so people know where they’re heading when they ‘Swipe Up’.

9) Story Templates

You might have noticed an emergence of Story Templates being used by influencers and on-trend brands on Instagram Stories last year. These are nicely designed templates that can be screenshotted and completed by users, predominantly so their followers can get to know them. For example:

As you can see, these templates are branded by the influencer who designed them. When their followers screenshot them and fill them in on their own Instagram Stories, they are essentially doing their marketing for them.

There is a great opportunity for brands to get involved here! Think about your target audience and the things that they engage with. Then make a Story Template in your company branding for them to complete and share. Fill it in yourself too, as it’s a great way to give your followers some more information about your business or company culture.

 Anyone who makes a template off the back of this blog, I’d love to see them! Drop me a tweet (@Nicola_HHQ) or send them direct to @hopper_hq on Instagram!

10) Location Stickers

Instagram is all about community and bringing people together over shared interests. Increase the discoverability of your Instagram Stories by always tagging locations!

They will be added to that location’s official Story, and therefore people that don’t follow you will be able to watch them. Such a quick and simple trick that will get you far more impressions on your Stories.

11) Hashtag Stickers #⃣

Similarly, hashtags in Instagram Stories work to the same effect, meaning that your Story will be added to a larger Story compiling every Story using that hashtag (that was a mouthful).

Do your research on which hashtags are most used by your target audience and your competitors and include these in your Stories! Check out our All In One Guide To Instagram Hashtags for more info on hashtag strategy!

Instagram is all about bringing people together over a shared interest
Click To Tweet

12) ‘New Post’

Due to the current workings of the Instagram Algorithm, it matters how fast your Instagram posts get engagement (read more here). As a result, more and more users have begun promoting their most recent post on their Instagram Stories, usually blocking out the thumbnail to entice people to click on to their profile to see it.

Those with over 10k followers can link to the post with a CTA to ‘Swipe Up To Like’, encouraging higher and faster engagement. This trick must be working from the huge amount of accounts doing it right now, so go give it a try on your business Instagram!

            

13) Contests

Got a great product or service to give away? Create a bit of buzz by hosting a contest on your brand’s Instagram Story!

The good thing with hosting competitions over Stories is that there’s only 24 hours to enter, creating a sense of urgency for your followers. Photograph or video the prize and include rules for entering, i.e ‘reply to this Story with your email address to enter’. You can then collate all the data to randomly pick a winner after the competition has ended!

You can also use Instagram Stories to promote a competition being run on your main profile! As a result of the current algorithm, many of your followers might not see a post announcing a giveaway.

Use Stories to tell your followers and push them in the right direction to enter! Using hashtags such as #giveaway,  #contest and #competition will make your Story discoverable to people that don’t follow you, and therefore increase your reach!

14) Live

Instagram Live offers a great way for businesses to drive engagement! Prepare for it in advance so you can let your followers know it will be happening and promote it elsewhere.

The more viewers and engagement your Live video gets, the more likely it is to be featured in ‘Top live’ on the Explore page, so it’s good to try and get as many people tuned in as possible. This will also give you and your colleagues time to plan what you’ll be doing and saying during the live stream!

If you’re wondering what kinds of things your business could use Live for, the possibilities are endless! Many brands use Live to unveil new products or features, document events, film interviews, hold Q&As with their followers or offer limited-time discounts.

Instagram are trying to push Live to become the next big thing, so they help promote it by notifying your followers that you’ve started a live stream. Live videos also hold pride of place at the top of the Stories bar! This means your video will be the first thing people see when they get on the Story conveyor belt.

Parting Words

With over 300 million people on the Instagram Story conveyor belt every day, it’s a no-brainer to include in your social media marketing strategy. Utilise the temporary and laid-back nature of Stories to show off how awesome your company and product/service is!

Happy posting

 Do you use Stories in any other ways? I’d love to hear about what works for your business! Leave a comment or tweet me @Nicola_HHQ!

Utilise the temporary and laid-back nature of Instagram Stories to share how awesome your company is!
Click To Tweet

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Grow Your Audience With #Hashtags

Discover better hashtags to reach the more people, grow your follower count and get more engagement on your posts.

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What is a hashtag?

Even if you are new to social media networking, you have probably seen the hashtag symbol #  on social media sites. Hashes are also called the pound or number sign. 

The word, hashtag, combines “Hash” and “tag.”  

However, you write a hashtag without spaces starting with the hash(#) sign and then the keyword or phrase. Then, they can be added at the end of a post, embedded in your story, or the bio too. 

In your posts, you can click on hashtags. Hashtags link to content on social media. Moreover, these can be text, images, or videos. Using hashtags, you can search for related topics.

Instagram users can search for related content using hashtags like #love or #NewYear. They are also often used as acronyms, such as #lol or #tbt.

Nowadays, you can regularly hear about challenges, discussions, or mass movements under a particular hashtag, such as #BlackLivesMatter.

With Instagram hashtags, users can express themselves, show their emotional state, or promote their content.

It’s beneficial not only for finding relevant content to share but also for giving your audience easy access to your content. Further, organizing it into categories and themes for easy searching. Further, it gives you greater visibility and opportunities to grow your audience. Thus, by using hashtags, you are reaching and engaging more people. 

In a breeze:

• A hashtag is a compound word: “hash” and “tag.”
• They work like hyperlinks that group related posts under a keyword/topic.
• You can write them in your posts, stories, or bio.
• They organize your content into categories and themes for easy searching.

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How long have hashtags been around?

Social media networks like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn have popularized hashtags over the years.

You may not know this, but hashtags were first used in 2007 by a Twitter user named Chris Messina.

The primary purpose was to group related posts under a keyword. But their value for marketing and building social media presence has grown dramatically since then.

Why do I need to use hashtags on my Instagram?

Most people will add a hashtag if they see it in a post. Adding one or more relevant hashtags to your content reaches 71% of your audience on average. 

People constantly search for hashtags to learn something new, feel a connection with the topic, and be part of a community. 

So whether you create custom hashtags or research trending ones, hashtags will make it easier for you to sort out data and engage more people with your content.

If you are considering marketing your business, you can:

• Research trending topics and reach more of your target audience
• Use relevant hashtags to give context and add value to your content
• Reuse hashtags across different platforms to reach more audiences
• Avoid making mistakes by learning from others and using social media analytics tools

If you want to know more, stick around to the end for a quick overview of what you need to know for hashtag research on Instagram.

In a breeze:

• Hashtag use can boost your content engagement to 71% on average
• Twitter was a pioneer in hashtag usage
• The primary purpose of hashtags was to group related posts
• Hashtag research and analytics tools are a must to reach a larger audience.

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What does hashtag research mean?

What does hashtag research mean? Researching hashtags essentially means analyzing the data gathered from a specific hashtag. This data can assist you in estimating niche hashtags and popular hashtags to increase engagement and reach more people. 

According to studies, there are many ways to apply hashtag analysis to practical purposes, such as strategic marketing and management. Thus, social media marketing can benefit from this finding. 

An article that studied 1,382 Instagram posts tagged with the same hashtag found that women used emotional hashtags more than men. In addition, there was a strong relationship between hashtags and likes. The authors concluded that hashtags could measure user satisfaction and feedback.

Several tools are available for predicting trends and increasing your audience using hashtag research for your business. Read on to know more.  

See Instagram’s 2023 Trend Report for predictions on beauty and style, social justice, food, and more.

In a breeze:

• Researching hashtags is analyzing the data gathered from a specific hashtag.
• Social media marketing can benefit from Hashtag Research
• Hashtags can measure user satisfaction and feedback

How to use Hashtags for your business?

You can use various types of hashtags to promote your business on Instagram. You can reach different communities by using a variety of hashtags. Listed below are 9. 

• Hashtags to identify your product, e.g., #Shoes or #Bakery
• Hashtags that indicate your niche in your industry, e.g., #WeddingPlanner or #InteriorDesigner
• Hashtags you can use to find Instagram communities in your field, e.g., #bakersofinstagram or #foodiesofinstagram
• Hashtags for special occasions, e.g. #foolsday or #nationaldonutday as
• Location-specific hashtags, such as #pizzanyc, #madeinDR, and #sydneysweets.
• Daily hashtags like #mondayworkout, #fridaytip, and #wellnesswednesday.
• Hashtags related to what you do, such as #thinkcreatively or #animallove.
• Hashtags with acronyms, like #qotd (quote of the day) or #ootd (outfit of the day).
• Hashtags with emojis, like #shoes or #.

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How to track your relevant hashtags?

You can use different types of hashtags on social media. The kind of hashtag you use will depend on your purpose. You can use content, branded, trending, campaign, or ad hashtags.

• Content hashtags. These are the keywords you tag at the end of your posts.
• Branded hashtags. You create this hashtag, so people can tag the company directly. Furthermore, tracking this one will give you an idea of how many people are talking about your specific business.
• Trending hashtags. On Instagram, you can quickly search the top section where top posts appear on trending hashtags to show you some popular posts tagged with that hashtag.
• Event hashtags. Big and small events are a great way to increase your company’s reach. So, make sure to incorporate your event’s hashtag in all the content you share related to the event, and encourage employees and the audience to do the same.
• Campaign/ad hashtags. This hashtag promotes a product, campaign, launch, or advertising. Equally important, It generates interest around what your company is doing and its latest posts.

Tools can speed up the process and make it easier, but you must carefully discern how to utilize them. 

In a breeze: 

• What hashtags to track will depend on your goal
• A brand or campaign hashtag attracts customers and promotes products
• Trending and event hashtags can boost your popularity

What Hashtag metrics should I track?

Hashtags are helpful, but how would you determine whether they are successful?

 Here are some top metrics to get you started: 

• Look at trends. Choose hashtags that are frequently used or searched. Hence, you’ll have a better chance of reaching more people. Otherwise, your posts will be buried quickly by all the new content.
• Consider the range. You can decide whether to include a hashtag based on the number of people using it.
• Engagement is key. It is not just about people seeing your content, but getting them to share and post.
• Your Audience. Who is your audience? Is your audience getting your message? For this purpose, make your content strategy based on the people interested in your services. That way, you won’t just copy random popular hashtags, instead, those that your clients may use but make sense to your business.

In a breeze:

• Focus your hashtag research on metrics.
• Select popular hashtags.
• Create engaging content
• Tailor hashtags to your target audience.

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Best Instagram analytics tools for Hashtags

Which hashtag research tool is best for Instagram? Great question! Keep in mind that the most reliable hashtag research tool is the platform you are using, Hence, in this context, Instagram.

As you type a keyword into Instagram’s search engine, it ranks the most relevant hashtags. Then, It is up to you to pick the ones that make sense to use in your case.

A hashtag is one of the most powerful organic social media strategies. Still, the best way to maximize its performance is to track it. In any case, hashtags are easier to find on Instagram if the appropriate tools are available.

Instagram has a search bar that allows you to browse hashtags for your content, but they may not always give you the information you want.

Here are some Instagram analytics tools you can use. 

• Brand 24
• Digimind
• YouScan

Brand 24

You can track hashtags and find influencers with Brand24. You can measure hashtag campaign effects, such as Reach and Engagement.

Further, Its user-friendly interface provides you with hashtag metrics to measure the number of mentions.

There are also ways to sort through the noise for the posts that matter. They offer a free 14-day trial with no hidden fees and no credit card needed.

 Key features

• Track and analyze contests. Additionally to campaigns based on hashtags.
• Hashtag popularity and performance
• Quick Reports in Excel / Data Export and customized PDFs
• Hashtag analytics
• Find influential social media profiles.
• Estimate Social Media Reach

Pros

• App version available
• Excellent customer service
• Simple dashboard

Cons

• Costly for small businesses or personal use.
• App needs improvement
• It may not have all functions in all languages.

Digimind

Digimind provides social listening and marketing intelligence services. It includes intelligent social media monitoring apps to listen, engage, analyze, and report.  

Key features

• Unlimited social media & web coverage
• Personalized tags and Re-tagging
• Automatic translation
• Real-time analysis
• Top influencers and Trending topics
• Personalized dashboard
• Daily/weekly/monthly reports in Multiple formats: pdf, ppt, Xls, jpg
• Presentation-ready reports and Custom templates
• Reach measurement and Social statistics
• Online reputation management
• Top search concepts, results, and domains

Pros

• Powerful monitoring tool
• An excellent sentiment analysis
• The interface that is easy to use
• Several report types to choose from

Cons

• Time-consuming to set up searches
• Complicated features
• Poor customer support

YouScan

The visual analysis included in YouScan‘s social intelligence platform makes it stand out. Additionally, you can collect all your brand mentions by keywords, logos, and text on images from thousands of media sources in real-time.

Key features

• Visual analysis
• Real-time consumer insights
• Monitored topic with spam filtering
• AI-powered automated data segmentation
• Find influencers and brand ambassadors
• Collaborate with a team
• Logo recognition

Pros

• Learning tools & features
• Image recognition
• Friendly interface
• Unlimited multiple access levels for users

Cons

• API limitations
• Multi-brand/multi-category businesses not supported
• Some glitches
• Pricey

Best Instagram hashtag generator tools

However, beneficial hashtags are, gimmicky ones can be harmful. In general, If you use spammy hashtags, your brand image will be less appealing.

You can find relevant hashtags to popular hashtags with these hashtag analytics tools. Generally, they offer hashtag finder functions, making it easier for you to choose the correct hashtags. 

Let’s review these today:

• All-Hashtag
• Ritetag
• HashtagsForLikes

All-Hashtag

The All-Hashtag generates relevant hashtags that you can copy and paste into your social media posts. The tool is simple, cost-free, and easy to use.

Key features

• Generate 30 hashtags for one post
• Create your Hashtags
• Analyze Hashtags with charts
• Find top Hashtags
• Hashtags counter
• All services and hashtag tools are 100% for free

Pros

• Easy to use for hashtag beginners
• No app or software needed

Cons

• Hashtags generated aren’t always relevant.

Ritetag

If you don’t have an idea for a hashtag to use, this tool can help. For this purpose, Ritetag helps you curate hashtags for desktop and mobile images and texts. 

Key features

• Real-time hashtag engagement
• Hashtag Suggestions for Texts and Images
• Tag Sets
• Group hashtags to easily compare them
• Integrations

Pros

• Google Chrome extension
• Boosts social media engagement
• Automate tweets and posts.
• Low cost

Cons

• May not identify less popular hashtags
• Looks outdated
• Limited insight into potential viral hashtags

HashtagsForLikes

What can HashtagsForLikes offer you? You can search hashtags while viewing difficulty scores. You can also curate hashtag campaigns to grow your reach organically. Lastly, it keeps your account safe!

So, to make better business decisions, you can track, measure, and even get insights into your competitors using their profile analyzer. Also, less time is wasted. 

Key Features:

• Live Instagram stats
• Audience Demographics
• Fraud Detection
• Brand Affinity
• TikTok Hashtags
• Research & create hashtag campaigns

Pros:

• Ensures relevant hashtags for business
• Find most responsive hashtags
• Easy to use
• Good customer support

Cons:

• No free version

Tips for your Instagram Research hashtag strategy

Do your research

Make sure you do not rely solely on hashtag generator tools to create hashtags for you. Equally important, check out what the competition uses to get an idea of what works.

You will then have a better idea of what hashtag strategy works for others in your industry. You may discover hashtags to add to your plan or come up with original ones.

Use hashtags your audience is using

What if your target audience is already using a hashtag? so, why not give it a try? Just type a keyword into the Instagram search tool. Then, you will get a list of popular hashtags associated with it.

Just make sure that the content tagged with the hashtag is relevant to your brand or business. It would also be good to see what hashtags your followers are using.

Use Instagram’s features

There will be a list of related hashtags on any hashtag page that can be swiped through by swiping left from the top and recent tabs. Using this method, you can quickly identify niche hashtags more relevant to your search than the generic keywords you were trying to find.

It means a more relevant audience with less competition for the exact key phrase. Furthermore, brands looking to connect with passionate communities can use these hashtags to their advantage.

Brand your hashtag

Creating your own hashtag may be the most effective way to promote your brand. Besides, a branded hashtag is simply tagging your brand or campaign. However, keep in mind the hashtags shouldn’t be too long or too complicated to remember. 

Your audience can then learn about your hashtag by including it in your Instagram bio and highlighting it in your Instagram Stories. In addition, you can run a contest with a branded hashtag to generate content while also popularizing it.

Final Thoughts about Instagram Hashtags work

In conclusion, when it comes to hashtags, there is no one-size-fits-all strategy. On Instagram, for example, you can share up to 30 hashtags within a single post, but the trend is to use just 1-3 hashtags per post.

Using as many hashtags as you can, is a good idea, but the use of repeated hashtags is penalized. Most people utilize 11 hashtags when posting.

Hashtags can contain numbers, but spaces and special characters won’t work.

Why Instagram, then? First, it’s free, but also, Instagram allows you to share photos and videos with users on iOS and Android devices and from the PC as well.

According to employees, globally, Instagram has more than 2 billion monthly active users (CNBC).

Thus, Instagram is ideal for gaining followers who can view, comment, share, like, and comment on your posts.

Finally, you can also connect Instagram to Facebook and get an automatic monthly report of your account activity, reach, and engagement. 

In a breeze:

• One post may contain up to 30 hashtags
• Repeated hashtags are penalized and may appear spammy
• Special characters are not allowed
• Instagram is free and accessible
• More than 2 billion users as of December 2021

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