The New Best Practices for Instagram
Heads-up. Social media—especially Instagram—is evolving fast, and as a small business owner, you may not have much time to keep pace with the latest updates.
Instagram is one of the most popular social media channels, with 2 billion monthly active users worldwide, according to Statista. It’s also one of the most popular for small businesses—60% of SMBs post to this channel once a day.
As this channel continues to grow, several updates and new features were released to help users find unique content and help small businesses connect with their customers, build brand awareness, and drive sales.
But don’t panic if you can’t keep up with constant updates and changing user preferences. Below is a brief list of the new best practices to help you engage your community and broaden your reach.
Use Instagram Stories More
Stories have become one of the most effective ways to reach your audience compared to traditional Instagram posts. Even though they’re ephemeral, they’re placed at the top of users’ feeds, which makes them more likely to be seen.
Additionally, your followers have a better chance of seeing your story since they now stay active for 24 hours.
You have various options for creating a compelling story, including using photos, videos, and text. Instagram stories are an ideal post type for your small businesses when you want to reach your community and widen your audience.
Don’t Be Afraid to Post More Often
The days of posting once a week and hoping that would be enough to drive engagement are over. Conversely, you don’t want to spam your audience and create fatigue.
What’s the happy medium? The new best practice is to post at least twice a day or at least three times per week to stay discoverable in your followers' feeds.
You should diversify your content and include stories, reels, and posts in your weekly cadence. In fact, it’s recommended that you post one to two stories a day to improve your visibility and reach.
Add (Good) Music to Your Posts
Your audience wants to engage with interesting content, and music (read: good music) can provide a better experience.
In fact, posts with music outperform other posts because they provide a more fun and shareable experience for users.
Think about it: When you see a post that has a trending song or one of your favorite tunes, it will evoke a memory or emotion and help you connect to the story the account is trying to tell.
What’s more, music can bring more vibrancy to your feed and is more appealing than text-based posts. As a result, posts with music are more likely to be viewed, liked, and shared.
Use Carousels to Drive More Engagement
Instagram just updated the number of photos you can share in a carousel. Now, you can share up to 20 photos or videos in a single post, which is ideal for promoting your business, products, or services.
According to Social Pilot, carousels receive higher engagement rates than regular posts because they allow users to interact with content more effectively.
By incorporating carousels into your Instagram strategy, you can increase your reach, boost engagement, and reach your marketing goals.
Jump in the Comments
This is not new, but engaging in the comments is still a best practice. When you engage with your followers’ comments – including responding to their statements and answering questions – you significantly drive engagement on your Instagram channel.
Participating in the comments will show that you value your audience and are willing to build a relationship and credibility with them.
Conversely, this will encourage your followers to keep interacting with your content and increase your reach.
Change is Constant
This list represents the tip of the iceberg for Instagram best practices. We haven’t seen the last updates to Instagram’s algorithm or functionality.
However, consistently creating engaging content that is relevant to your audience will always be the underpinning for increasing connections and furthering your reach.
Reach out to the Origin Story team for more information about social media best practices or to inquire about how we can help you create a winning social media strategy for your business.