While a recent Pew Research study confirmed that Facebook is still the most utilized social media platform for adults, Instagram is moving up the ranks as a top engagement platform for people between 18-49. This is great news if your target audience consists of Instagram users and you’re strategically posting on the platform. However, you may need to fix your Instagram feed if you’re just posting content and not looking at the user experience of your profile.
Here are five quick tips to fix your Instagram feed and elevate your Instagram game
Keyword Rich Bio
Instagram now uses keywords to search through posts and pages for the best content to share when someone searches. Fix your feed by making sure your Instagram bio is keyword rich! Brittany Herzberg does a nice job with this. While you’re at it, check out my guest spot on the Basic B Podcast!
Utilize the Highlights
Highlights are a great place to post content specific to your products, services, or offers. Use highlights strategically to add important links and information to the top of your Instagram page. BUT! Don’t drown each Instagram highlight with 55 random stories posted over time – use 1-5 key posts that guide or inform your customer. These are like bookmarks on your Instagram profile. Emma O’Brian does this really well!
Use Pinned Instagram Posts Strategically
Pinning three Instagram posts to the top of your feed keeps important information front and center when people visit your Instagram profile. Think about these the top three posts as strategic things you want visitors to know/click/do. Level up your strategy by making these three Instagram posts contiguous so they spread across the top as a banner. I learned this from Sophia Parra and she uses them to sell her latest offering.
Consider Building an Instagram 9-Grid
If updating Instagram regularly feels overwhelming, you might consider creating an informative Instagram page rather than a feed. This takes the pinned post idea a bit farther and creates a cohesive visual grid, sometimes referred to as a “9-Grid“, that visitors can use to find key information and calls to action. If you use this method, you’ll want to post any fresh content as stories, so you don’t muddy up your static page. Heather Simpson recently started doing this for Her Connection Hub.
Chill Out on the Hashtags
This may be an unpopular opinion but piles of Instagram hashtags are unnecessary. Instagram is more like a search engine than a hashtag aggregator these days. Create quality post captions and engaging content that is keyword rich. If you’re really into hashtags, the sweet spot is currently between 3-8 hashtags. But make sure they are relevant and not overly general or spammy.
Want More Social Media Strategy?
We’ve a couple other articles on the blog with some tips and resources for creating social media strategy that converts and deciding if you should continue using organic social media as a marketing tactic.
