A Beginner’s Guide [Expert Insights + New Data]

I absolutely admit I’m terminally uncool. However as a marketer, I can’t let my lack of swag (rizz? drip?) be an excuse for being behind the occasions and never understanding use Instagram. With almost 2 billion users, I’ve gotta be.

Fortunately, I’m surrounded by veteran entrepreneurs and social media specialists who can educate me — and I’m going to pay it ahead by sharing their insights with you.

First, we’ll cowl the fundamentals: what Instagram is and what its objective is. Then, we’ll discover get began. Alongside the best way, I’ll share professional quotes and data-backed suggestions that can have you ever posting like a professional.

However I will not be offended should you bounce straight to the half you want:

Desk of Contents

Since then, Instagram has turn out to be a full-fledged visible platform with a heavier emphasis on video and interactive components through Stickers. (And “Do it for the ‘gram” has apparently fallen out of favor.)

In the event you‘re not a part of the one billion customers on Instagram, you would possibly need to rethink. As a shopper, the app provides a fantastic likelihood to remain part of buddies’ lives. Plus, you’ll be able to observe your favourite celebrities, influencers, or public figures to see candid images of their on a regular basis lives.

For manufacturers, it is a phenomenal platform for connecting with their viewers. As an example, Taco Bell makes use of Instagram Stories to advertise new menu objects you will not discover wherever else.

You may enroll and begin posting content material with nothing greater than an e-mail handle. Options like verification badges and ads, nonetheless, do include a price ticket.

Can you utilize Instagram on desktop?

Initially, Instagram was solely a cell app. You might solely entry the platform from a cell gadget, however lately, it launched a surprisingly full web site that may be accessed by any net browser, together with from a desktop.

(There is no such thing as a desktop app at the moment.)

At first, customers might solely view content material from the desktop model of Instagram, however in the present day, they’ll view, edit, and create content material and have interaction by feedback, likes, and messages.

There are nonetheless some limitations, akin to not having the ability to work together with Stickers in Tales, but when you end up with out a telephone or pill (or perhaps simply need to sneak in a scroll throughout work or college hours), the desktop is greater than sufficient.

What gadgets work with Instagram?

Along with a browser, the Instagram app will work on any gadget with iOS, Android, or Home windows 10.

What’s an Instagram deal with?

An Instagram deal with is your username. For companies, this must be straight associated to your model title so your prospects can discover you. For instance, HubSpot’s deal with is just @hubspot, whereas mine is @curt.delp.

What’s an influencer?

An influencer is anybody with an viewers. Similar to you’ll belief a good friend’s suggestions, influencers can affect others’ opinions by their established relationship.

In actual fact, according to Aspire, 63% of entrepreneurs say influencer-generated content material performs higher than different model content material.

The bigger their viewers, the extra useful an influencer will be to a advertising and marketing marketing campaign.

Study extra about that in our article, “Influencer Marketing Strategy: How to Build a Plan Creators & Customers Will Love [+ Templates].” The time period “influencer” can also be usually interchanged with “content creator” as of late.

What’s an Instagram Reel?

A Reel is a brief video shared on Instagram, sometimes between 15-90 seconds.

Learn: How To Make Instagram Reels and Use Them to Your Advantage

What’s an Instagram Story?

An Instagram Story is a photograph or quick video that disappears after 24 hours. Folks should have an Instagram account to view your story, and Tales will be saved to your profile completely through “Highlights.”

Learn: Instagram Stories: What They Are and How to Make One Like a Pro

“Personally, I take advantage of it to share choose updates about my life with family and friends, share memes, and discover inspiration for the whole lot from recipes to vogue to journey,” says Emily Kearns, HubSpot’s Senior Supervisor of Model Social.

Emily’s a part of the workforce that blew up HubSpot’s LinkedIn presence by 84% in simply six months, so I belief her phrase.

“It’s additionally more and more used as a spot to get information, find out about present occasions, and observe alongside in real-time for issues like crimson carpets,” she provides.

For manufacturers and entrepreneurs, the aim is to get in entrance of thousands and thousands of extremely engaged viewers.

“Instagram presences are used to construct and talk a model narrative and to attach with lovers of the model,” Kearns says. “It may be used for lots of issues from driving consciousness of a brand new product to driving conversions with particular focused placements.”

However don’t consider it as merely blasting adverts to passive viewers. Sensible manufacturers are creating legions of loyal followers who unfold that love.

“There was an enormous shift just lately the place manufacturers are focusing extra on constructing a group by relatable and entertaining content material,” says Reece Callaway, Social Media Strategist and Content material Operations Lead on that very same social dream workforce.

HubSpot’s Principal Advertising Supervisor and fellow blogger Ramona Sukhraj recommends utilizing a transparent, high-quality image of your face (like influencer Ali Abdaal) or a emblem (like Slack) should you’re a enterprise.

“You need individuals to simply acknowledge and establish you once they come throughout your posts, even when they aren’t in your profile,” she explains.

Add a Bio

1. Click on your profile image on the left to go to your profile.
2. Click on “Edit Profile” on the high of the display screen, then click on the textual content field subsequent to “Bio.”
3. Write your bio.
4. Click on “Submit” to avoid wasting your adjustments.

Sukhraj continues, “Instagram solely provides you 150 characters in your bio. Use them to inform individuals why they need to observe you. Embody who you might be and what you do, but in addition a touch of persona.”

Add a Web site

Including your on-line presence to your Instagram web page, like your website or blog, can considerably increase your model’s visibility and engagement.

1. Faucet the profile image or image within the backside proper to go to your profile.
2. Faucet “Edit Profile” on the high of the display screen.
3. Faucet “Hyperlinks,” then faucet “Add exterior hyperlink” so as to add the URL in your web site.
4. Faucet “Carried out.” You can too take away a hyperlink by tapping on the hyperlink after which tapping “Take away Hyperlink.”
5. Faucet “Again” (<), then faucet “Carried out” to avoid wasting your adjustments.

Professional tip: You may add as much as 5 hyperlinks to your Instagram profile, however Sukhraj recommends utilizing LinkTree to bypass the restrict. You need to use LinkTree to information individuals to your web site and different platforms, content material, provides — something actually.

Try this text for more tips on how to optimize your Instagram profile.

To get a style of various methods, Callaway recommends trying out the accounts for Pretty Little Marketer, McLaren Racing, and Aesop skincare.

“All of them perceive their model and what the customers need from them,” he explains. “They nail it with each put up in their very own distinctive means.”

You can too get extra concepts from the place these got here from in our article, “How to Get More Followers on Instagram: 17 Ways to Your First (or Next) 1000.”)

Instagram Navigation

Every time you open the Instagram app, you’ll be offered with a feed of content material from the accounts you observe. On the underside of your display screen, you’ll discover the principle menu bar. Right here’s what every of the icons means and use them.

Dwelling: The house button takes you to your predominant feed. It’s positioned on the far left, and you may click on it from wherever within the app.

Discover (or Search): Urgent this magnifying glass button takes you to Instagram’s Discover web page, the place you’ll be able to seek for accounts and hashtags. You can too browse content material from accounts you don’t observe however have been urged based mostly in your present likes and comparable content material you’ve considered.

New Put up: Urgent the “ + “ image within the middle of the menu, you’ll be able to create a brand new put up, story, reel, or go reside.

Reels: This clapperboard image is the Reels icon. Whenever you click on it, you’ll be taken to the Reels web page to observe short-form content material.

Profile: This icon on the far proper must be a small circle along with your profile picture. Hitting this button directs you to your predominant profile web page, the place you’ll be able to see your entire posts, follower info, and Reels.

Within the higher proper nook, you’ll additionally see two extra choices:

Coronary heart: The guts brings you to your notifications. Right here, you’ll get a heads-up about who’s interacting along with your content material or account. We’ll get deeper into that just a little later.

Messenger: The phrase bubble with a lightning bolt takes you to the messenger app. Right here you’ll be able to ship messages, pics, and movies on to different customers. (In the event you’ve heard the phrase “sliding into DMs,” that is the place you do this.)

Now that you simply perceive the app‘s interface higher let’s have a look at create an Instagram profile.

Professional tip for entrepreneurs: In the event you don’t need to sift by a jillion notifications a day, a social media management tool (just like the one in Advertising Hub) will cease you from wanting to tug your hair out.

And, as an added bonus, the key phrase monitoring characteristic means you’ll by no means miss a point out— even when it doesn’t hit your notifications.

To customise which notifications you obtain, observe these steps:

1. Open up the Instagram app in your telephone.

First, open the Instagram app in your cell gadget. (You can too entry Instagram on the desktop should you favor.)

Navigate to your profile by clicking your profile image.

2. Entry “Settings.”

After you arrive at your profile, hit the “hamburger menu” with three horizontal strains within the higher proper nook.

3. Faucet “Notifications.”

On the subsequent display screen, click on “Notifications.”

4. Examine off the notifications you need to obtain.

Right here, you’ll be able to change the notification settings for each class in that massive laundry record from above. You can also pause all notifications by toggling the Pause All possibility up high.

The choices will range relying on the class.

Now, for crucial a part of Instagram, how do you upload and post an image?

Earlier than leaping in: In the event you’re already accustomed to Fb or X (previously Twitter), you need to know that Instagram has very totally different habits and etiquette.

On Fb, you’ll be able to put up 100 images on an album. On Instagram, you’ll want to be choosier about which images you put up.

There are just a few causes for this — first, you don‘t need to put up greater than as soon as a day (sometimes). And second, you don’t need to put up too many comparable images.

As an example, posting fifty images from the identical seashore trip on IG could be odd. As a substitute, you would possibly select the perfect 5 or 6 and embrace all of them in the identical put up.

(These are referred to as carousel posts, and so they will let you share a number of images or movies in a single put up. Carousel posts are superior for posting comparable or associated photos in a single package deal whereas retaining your total profile aesthetic numerous.)

Interested in creating an aesthetic? To be taught extra about Instagram account themes and get inspiration, check out these Instagram themes.

If you wish to embark on a deep dive, you’ll be able to take HubSpot’s Instagram Marketing Course. You may even use HubSpot’s Breeze to assist expedite your content material creation with AI.

Now that we‘ve coated that, let’s discover add, edit, and put up a picture.

1. Click on the “+” icon within the menu on the backside of the display screen.

Whenever you faucet the “+” icon, you’ll be prompted to decide on the kind of put up you need to share. Since we need to publish a put up straight on our profile feed, faucet “Put up.”

2. Select your media file.

Right here, you’ve got three choices. You may look by your Images library in your telephone, take a brand new image from proper inside Instagram, or take a brand new video.

For our functions, I regarded by my Images library and located an image of Boston I needed to make use of. Then, I clicked “Subsequent” within the high proper.

3. Add filters if desired.

There are two classes you should utilize to edit your picture — “Filter” and “Edit”. Instagram robotically exhibits you filters first. You may scroll by the carousel and click on any of the filters to use it to your picture.

Moreover, if you wish to use a filter however you need to tone it down, double faucet the filter and transfer the cursor to the left to minimize the depth of the filter.

4. Edit your picture if desired.

Subsequent, click on “Edit”. Right here, you’ll be able to alter distinction, brightness, construction, heat, and extra. Whenever you‘re comfortable along with your edited picture, or should you don’t need to edit it in any respect, click on “Subsequent” within the high proper.

5. Write a caption and toggle sharing settings.

Now, you’ll be able to add a caption, tag individuals (you’ll be able to solely tag somebody if additionally they have an Instagram account), and add a location.

Moreover, click on the button beside Fb or one other linked social media account to share your picture on that platform, as effectively.

Whenever you’re able to publish, click on “Share” within the high proper.

Social media captions are a fantastic use case for artificial intelligence. In actual fact, 46% of marketers use them to put in writing social media posts.

In the event you don’t need to use your app to put up on Instagram, it’s also possible to achieve this out of your pc. Learn how to post to Instagram from a Mac or PC here.

To learn how to upload an image or video to your Stories, observe these steps:

1. Faucet your profile image within the higher left-hand nook.

Alternatively, swipe proper in your feed or faucet the “+” button within the high navigation bar.

2. Seize or add your media.

When you‘re throughout the Tales characteristic, you’ll be able to take an image or video proper from throughout the app. Alternatively, if in case you have a picture saved to your telephone that you simply’d like to make use of, you’ll be able to select it out of your media library.

3. Add stickers or filters.

On the left-hand aspect, you’ve got just a few totally different enhancing options.

The “Create” button permits you to add a location, hashtag, time, date, and different enjoyable photos or emojis to your image.

The “Boomerang” possibility means that you can create a looping video. And the “Aa” icon is your textual content button. When you click on “Aa”, you’ve got the choice to vary your font.

In the event you click on the smiley face icon, you‘ll see the next display screen. Merely click on on one of many icons so as to add them to your picture. In the event you don’t prefer it, drag it to the underside, and a trash can will seem so you’ll be able to delete it.

As an example, I clicked the smiley face icon so as to add a ballot to my picture. You can too swipe to the left or proper so as to add filters to your picture or video.

4. Publish your Story.

When you’re comfortable along with your content material, you’ll be able to both click on the white arrow icon within the backside proper, which lets you share your Story with everybody who follows you, or choose “Shut Buddies” first in order that solely your shut buddies see it.

You then’re achieved! Your Story is instantly reside.

Notice: You can too schedule each video and picture content material upfront straight throughout the Instagram app or with quite a lot of third-party tools, including HubSpot.

I immediately fell in love with Dog.Derp.of.the.Day, in order that was my second observe (after my spouse.)

To observe somebody, observe these three simple steps.

1. Click on on the search icon on the backside of your display screen.

It seems to be like a magnifying glass and might be subsequent to the “Dwelling” button.

2. Subsequent, kind in an individual, model, or subject.

For this instance, as a result of I really like derpy canine, I searched the subject “canine derps.”

Instagram means that you can both search all posts that comprise combos of these phrases, or “See all outcomes” and see tags and locations.

3. Faucet the account you’re all for following.

When you‘re on another person’s account, you may see a blue “Comply with” button on the high.

For public profiles, you’ll be able to click on and instantly start following that account. Nonetheless, if the profile is personal, you might want to attend for them to just accept you first.

Listed here are 4 suggestions from a recent HubSpot Blog survey of almost 700 international Instagram entrepreneurs:

1. Be strategic along with your scheduling.

Over 50% of entrepreneurs say Friday is the best day for engagement. After all, each viewers is totally different, however this can be a strong benchmark to start out experimenting with.

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2. Pop these tags.

The vast majority of entrepreneurs used 10-15 hashtags on a given put up. Make sure to select tags which are related to your product but in addition more likely to be searched (like PandaDoc).

3. Flaunt it should you received it.

36.9% of entrepreneurs report that showcasing services will get probably the most engagement out of their posts. Don’t be afraid to advertise your merchandise like Samsung.

4. Don’t sleep on static photos.

Whereas entrepreneurs overwhelmingly selected movies because the format that will get probably the most views and likes, it was commonplace picture posts that received probably the most shares and feedback.

And given the excessive effort of creating high-quality movies, 26% of entrepreneurs pointed to photographs as having the very best ROI.

Learn: How to Plan Your Instagram Posts [+22 Free Instagram Planning Templates]

If you wish to develop each professionally and personally, then utilizing Instagram is extra vital than ever. You can begin by observing first and studying about Instagram’s algorithm, then start posting as you be taught your means across the person interface.

With over one billion customers, Instagram is an especially worthwhile social media platform to hitch — and it’s solely set to continue to grow as time goes on.

Editor’s observe: This put up was initially revealed in November 2018 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness.