Brooke B. Sellas — September 6, 2017 — September 6, 2017
Looking for Instagram hacks? Look no further than the big boys on the block.
It’s always smart to keep an eye on your competitors and even smarter to watch big brands innovate … and then emulate.
We’re covering 5 plus not-often-known Instagram hacks for you to try.
Hashtag Your Story Link
Instagram rolled out more than 20 new features within Instagram Stories over the past year.
Hack: Add your custom hashtag to your Instagram story link to have it searchable for users.
When users watch your story, they’ll be able to click your custom hashtag (or the hashtag you use) to see other posts using the same hashtag.
Pro-tip: Use your own custom hashtag, like Balmain did in the example below, to get users to see — and possibly engage with — your other branded content.
Since this is a good way to entice new users to follow your brand on Instagram, be sure you pick stunning visuals for this hack to ensure you’re really putting your best foot forward.
Slideshow Stunners
Of course, you can use the slideshow in Instagram to post multiple pics, but there are also multiple ways you can get creative!
Hack: Use the slideshow feature for more than just posting multiple photos!
Here are a few Instagram hacks to test with the slideshow feature:
- Create Before & After photos showcasing the experience of using your products or services (you can add text to label photos as “before”, “during”, and “after”)
- Get click-throughs with a surprise reveal (see how Cosmopolitan Magazine did that on this Instagram post)
- Showcase customer testimonials by sharing their UGC (user-generated content), such as a picture of themselves with your product, a product shot, and their testimonial as a text-only image with your branding
- Use slideshows for storytelling
There are more creative ways you can use the slideshow feature — the hardest part is choosing which one to go with!
Using IG UGC In Email Marketing
Hack: Extend the life of user-generated content (UGC) from Instagram in your email marketing efforts.
An article by AdWeek this year shared a successful UGC story from Lululemon.
“In yoga clothier Lululemon’s #TheSweatLife campaign, the brand asked people to share images of them “getting their sweat on.” This resulted in 250,000 uses of the hashtag, more than 7,000 photo submissions through Twitter and Instagram, over 40,000 unique visitors to the microsite created for the campaign and a massive boost in conversions.”
Furthermore, one way to get non-Instagram users to perhaps engage with, and follow, Lululemon on Instagram would be to highlight this campaign in their newsletter.
By embedding these Instagram posts in the newsletter, users could click through to see content from peers and connect with the brand on another channel.
Adding ‘New Post’ To Your Instagram Story
Okay, so this one is a bit spammy, but it’s something to consider for more click-throughs on your content.
Hack: Alert users of a new blog post by using your Instagram Story to promote it.
In the example above, you can see how Alexa B. used her Instagram Story to promote her post highlighting a new blog post.
Again, it could be seen as a bit too much by some of your users but this seems to be a growing trend with brands on Instagram.
Shopping In Stories
*This is only available to business accounts on Instagram with 10,000 or more followers.
Hack: Use Instagram Stories to provide clickable links where users can purchase from you.
The Foundr example above shows how their brand is using Instagram Stories so users can swipe up to see more. Once swiped, users are taken to a clickable link on Instagram (yes, you read that right!).
Too bad it’s only available to accounts with 10,000 or more followers (or verified accounts as directed by Instagram).
Our friend Jenn Herman wrote more about this new feature on Social Media Examiner’s blog.
My Personal Instagram Hacks
Here are a few of my personal Instagram hacks … for every person or brand, big or small!
#1 – Peruse in Peace.
If you like to secretly stalk Instagram profiles but are totally paranoid about accidentally liking a pic, this one is for you.
- Go to the desired Instagram account and let their feed load
- Once loaded, go to your phone’s settings and switch to airplane mode
- When you get to the end of the loaded feed/pics, repeat the process
A little clunky but it works!
#2 – Hide Annoying Ads.
I’m all for ads … when they’re relevant!
When they’re not, do yourself (and the Instagram algorithm) a favor and hide them; you should also report feedback to make for a better advertising experience on Instagram.
When you see an ad, simply click the three little dots next to the photo ( … ) and then click “Hide Ad”.
The visuals below show you the entire process.
What Instagram hacks are you ready to share? Let us know in the comments section below!
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