Post stories as frequently as you can. Stories don't have to be well-thought out or planned awhile in advance. They can be more casual and random.
"Half a billion Instagram accounts use Stories every day, and 45% of the most-viewed stories are from businesses."
"According to Instagram, one in three stories results in a direct message."
That alone should be enough to convince you to start utilizing stories!
How to post to your Instagram story:
Here is a how-to for posting a photo or video to your Instagram story.
Use Story Highlights
Treat Story Highlights as a way to introduce your company.
You can save helpful and important info about your brand/company to your story highlights. You can also create cover photos for your highlights! Take the time to create on-brand and aesthetically pleasing cover photos for your highlights. You can do so easily through apps such as Canva.
How to create a new Highlight on your Instagram profile.
Go to your profile and tap the + button.
Hit Story Highlight
Select the stories that you would like to add to a highlight
Tap Next
Type in a name for the highlight and hit Edit Cover to choose your highlight cover
If you would like to add a cover that you created, then you simply post it to your story and then you can select it as the cover
Hashtag specifics for Instagram
Don't forget to add hashtags to every post you create on Instagram.
You can include up to 30 hashtags in an Instagram post, but hashtags are often more effective based on quality rather than quantity. Do some experimenting to learn how many hashtags work best for your particular account.
A good place to start might be 10-15. There is a little hashtag hack that works well for Instagram. If you don't want to spam your caption with hashtags then comment on your photo right after it is posted with a stream of hashtags of your choosing.
It would be a waste to post something to Instagram without using hashtags. They are what makes your content discoverable. So, don't skip this simple step! Posts that include at least one hashtag already receive more engagement than posts that don't feature any.
Complete your Instagram profile to the fullest
Don't leave any part of your profile blank.
As Instagram is mostly just pictures, there are only a few opportunities to clearly explain who you are and what you do. So, don't let those opportunities slip away.
Treat your bio as a first introduction to a potential follower. They should fully grasp what your company does after reading. Make the most of the 150 characters in your bio. Your bio should accurately convey your brand identity.
Your username and name on Instagram are the only keywords that a fellow Instagram user can search your page by, so make sure your username and name are as clear, informative and easily searchable as possible
Run an Instagram contest
Just as you can run Facebook giveaways, you can also do so on Instagram.
Instagram contests are just as effective in getting your company out there to a larger audience as Facebook contests are.
One common option is to host a contest featuring products from multiple companies.
Contests on Instagram can help you get more followers if your entry process involves asking people to follow you and comment on one of your photos by tagging a friend.
Embed Instagram posts in your blog
Any time you’re sharing visual content like photos, charts, or infographics in your blog, there’s an opportunity to embed an Instagram post with that content instead.
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