SNAP & SHARE
Tips to Create a Meaningful Instagram Presence
TALKING SOCIAL MEDIA
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by MADDIE MICHALIK, assistant editor A PICTURE USED TO BE WORTH A thousand words, but now, it’s worth thousands of followers and likes. Gone are the days when social media was just a weird experiment. Now, we’re more familiar with it, we’re learning the benefits, and we’re all expected to be better at it. Instagram, the Facebook-owned platform with photos as the focus of sharing, is more relevant than ever before. Today, Instagram has more than 400 million users worldwide, even beating out Twitter, which has 320 million monthly active users. To put that into perspective, that’s more users than if every single person in the U.S. had an account, and then tens of millions more. There have been many changes to Instagram since its inception six years ago, including a fresh look, a move away from posting only square photos, a multi-account feature, and the launch of companion apps. In the coming months, users are going to see a gradual shift in their timelines from a reverse chronological order to one based on relationships and engagement. To make the most of everything Instagram has to offer, follow these tips to create an account everyone will double-tap for.
KNOW YOUR BRAND IDENTITY Like any form of social media, the most effective place to start is with your biograpy. Make sure your profile photo is something that is recognizable to consumers, such as a logo or a product shot. You only have 150 characters for your bio, so use a sentence or two that best describes what your brand is all about. Don’t be afraid to use emojis, and definitely include a hashtag to give users a way to further explore your brand. Be sure to include a URL to your brand’s website, which is not part of the character limit.
POST VISUAL CONTENT Although this seems self explanatory, make sure to post eye-catching content. In an ideal world, every user would see every post, but users miss about 70 percent of content on their timelines, according to Instagram. Think: What would make you stop while
quickly scrolling through your feed? You don’t have to be a professional photographer to have an amazing Instagram page, but make sure to put some care into the photos that you post. The Instagram app has its own suite of editing features and filters, but there are plenty of other third-party apps that you can also use, such as Afterlight or VSCO Cam. Don’t feel as though you have to limit yourself to just photos—post graphics and videos, too! Videos on Instagram must be at least three seconds long, must not exceed 15 seconds, and will repeat on a loop on users’ timelines. Use other apps to help you create engaging videos. Instagram’s Boomerang app will take photos and stitch them together in a mini video that will, as the name suggests, play forward and backward. While Instagram doesn’t support a repost feature, such as retweeting on Twitter, there are plenty of third party apps that will let you repost content with a watermark, such as Repost for Instagram. Not only does this let you share additional content, but it will also keep your followers engaged.
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE If you notice a shift in your audience, then embrace it and change your style. For example, if you’re just starting out on social media as a toy brand, you would naturally think that parents are your target audience—gift-givers are the ones who are going to do the buying after all, aren’t they? However, if you see that over time mostly kids are engaging with your content, then modify it. This will get you more followers. Kids will relate more to a post about the struggles of getting up for school than a post about desperately needing coffee before starting a workday.
ENGAGE WITH FOLLOWERS
USE YOUR #HASHTAGS WISELY Make sure to make the most of your captions. Although there is no character limit on captions, Instagram recently rolled out a “read more” feature that will cut your caption off after 250 characters (and then users can tap to read the rest). Although you are essentially limitless, try your best to constrain your captions to these 250 characters—nobody wants to read paragraphs. The most important part about your captions is the hashtag. Make sure to tag relevant topics on every single post, and even tag emojis! You can post up to 30 hashtags in a single post before it is considered spam, but don’t go over 5 to 7 to harness the focus on your posts. You should always try to direct users to links to a landing page, products, or another specific part of your website. However, the only place you can use a hyperlink is in the website section of your bio. So, do not post links in your captions, but definitely direct users to the link in your bio.
Your followers want to see that you are engaging with them. Users love when brands comment or like their photos. For example, if you’re a toy company and someone asks for a photo of a specific product—go for it! Give sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes looks at things coming up to excite followers. Also, host giveaways to get your followers involved, and gain new followers. In addition, spend time going through hashtags that are in your posts. Giving other users’ posts a simple like will get people excited and looking through your profile— and those people will engage and probably follow you back. Use a web browser to easily sift through content, including hashtags for your brand and liking photos. Use direct messaging for giveaways. Lastly, make sure to connect all of your social media channels together. When you’re about to post a photo, there is an option to share to other platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and more. Keep your feed full of fun, sharable content, and your followers will begin to soar! » Maddie Michalik is an assistant editor at Adventure Publishing Group, where she contributes to The Toy Book and The Licensing Book. She also reports on trends and news, and writes weekly product reviews for The Toy Insider.
TOYBOOK.COM | March/April 2016 | THE TOY BOOK 9