A new decade just started and it’s all under the rule of Instagram. Recent studies have confirmed that in 2022 Instagram baked the cake and took a seat on top of it.
Instagram is officially the king of social media engagement, outperforming Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest by as much as 40% in the time spent by users on the platform.
Influencers, global brands, local businesses and professionals are competing for attention and making an impact on this most visual social network. So, what helps Instagram gain traction and attention? Here are a few tested tips to start your Instagram decade on the right foot.
1. Join the Carousel – it’s the best post format
Carousel might be the cause or the effect (or both) of the extra time people are spending on Instagram. Either way, it’s the best-performing type of post across the board, no matter if you’re a huge brand or an Instagram debutant.
Carousel posts (several images bundled in a single post) get 5% more engagement than any other post type (be it a single image, a video or even IGTV).
To use that to your advantage, consider using a series of complementary images to highlight a specific topic or event or use completely different images to reflect diverse perspectives or a given subject. Our search filters can help you find just the right combination of stock photos for your next carousel post.
Here’s a quick example to start you off on collecting likes: monochrome January (because some would say January is the Monday of the year).
2. Photos first, captions later
Instagram is the best place to share visual ideas and moods with its 800M users. Most of them are there to consume images, not text. That is why, according to research and statistics from 2019, you should aim to use less than 10 words, but more than 20 emojis, in your post captions.
Short messages attract more engagement (+2.5% for single image posts, +3.13% for carousel posts), which means your Instagram growth depends on one thing: photography.
Depending on your Instagram account’s style, you should focus on publishing images that are both high quality (you want wow! and likes ❤️) and consistent with your style (more on this below).
The easiest way to make sure you keep a good rhythm on both quality and posting frequency is to use a stock photo library. It’s guaranteed to give you access to quality images, whenever and for whatever topic you need them.
3. Build a recognizable Instagram profile
With so much content on Instagram and a rather short attention span from its users, attracting new traffic (visits) for your posts and profile is an achievement. But you should also keep in mind the ultimate goal: building a stable base of followers.
Even if you are not selling a product or service, you are most likely posting there for a specific end goal. Maybe you’re building a portfolio to share with future employers or working to establish yourself as a pro in your area of expertise.
Either way, your profile should act as a part of your brand.
What that means is that you should choose a few elements – think colour themes, filters, photo topics and ratio, and fonts – and post content aligned with these. That makes it easier for users who come across your posts to understand your brand and to recognize your content wherever they encounter it. How do you achieve that? By always choosing photos, illustrations or videos which correspond to your brand description.
Consistency also helps you keep up with your followers’ expectations and build a stronger, long-term community. Which spells out as S-U-C-C-E-S-S.
4. Everybody likes a good Story
Instagram Stories are on the rise and proved to be particularly effective content for smaller accounts (under 100k followers). In their case, Stories reach up to 10% of their fans and that’s not an opportunity you want to miss.
Out of the two formats supported by Stories (photo and video), videos tend to attract more attention and keep users watching for most of the 15 seconds limit. Make sure, when considering content for video Stories, to keep a few things in mind:
● Ratio – Users will see your content in a vertical position so always choose videos with a 9:16 aspect ratio.
● Length – Instagram limits Story videos to 15 seconds and will cut any video longer than this into 15 seconds parts. Focus your main message in these 15 seconds to get the best results.
● Interface – Refrain from adding text at the top or bottom of your story as they will overlap the video and reduce visibility.
● Engage – Interactive stories get the best results so consider ways in which your viewers can get involved. Maybe ask a simple yes/no question, add a rating bar for users to review something you are showing (a car, a dessert, a dress, etc.) or drop a quick quiz.
And most of all, keep the quality of your Story images and video high. It’s worth using stock photo resources to build a profile to which users will want to come back again and again.
Found our tips useful? Share your Instagram profile in a comment and let us know how you plan to improve it this new year.
Guest blog written by Viorel Dudau
Instagram, Stock Photography