10 Brilliant Instagram Hacks

You already know it if you’re nailing Instagram. You’ve got a steady upward stream of new followers, hundreds of comments and countless features all around Insta-universe. But even if you have millions of Instagram followers, there is still always a room for improvement. With all the new updates, features and apps, there are always a few new tips and tricks that’ll make using Instagram so much easier!

So here’s my top 10 Instagram hacks for making the most out of this app:

1. Post regularly.

Instagram feeds move fast. If you don’t post for 48 hours, let alone 1 week, it will be very hard to get back on track. Instagrammers have very shorty memory.

2. Clean up your feed.

There’s that brilliant photo of your pet that you really like but it appears your followers think differently because there’s not many likes. Why? Doesn’t matter, just delete it!

3. Be epic.

It’s easy to say and well, it’s easier than you think to do! Just think epic, act epic and show your epic skills to the world! The more you practice being epic the more epic you will become. Self fulfilling epicness!

4. Say no to S4S, F4F.

If I see one more self-proclaimed ‘Instagram guru’ advising to their unfortunate readers to use s4s or f4f… (insert slowly growing fury here). Seriously, asking or doing ‘share for share’, ‘follow for follow’, ‘like for like’, ‘comment for comment’ is not epic, it’s grovelling annoying and unprofessional. It does not help build meaningful relationships with your followers or make friends. Please refer to this post to learn how to get more followers on instagram, there are 10 brilliant tips and ‘do s4s‘ is certainly not one of them.

5. Optimise your bio.

Spend some time writing your bio, it’s your introduction to the world. What do you want to say about yourself? How do you want the world should know you? If you’re selling something, be upfront and direct about it. The clearer your bio is the better.

6. Edit and delete comments.

Whether you’ve made a typo or someone’s left an offensive comment on a photo, there’s a quick solution! Delete. Unfortunately how to do that on Instagram is not very clear. If you haven’t yet figured out how to delete and edit your comments, here’s step-by-step guide so you can keep your comments clear of all those s4s and f4f.

7. Invent your own hashtags.

This helps you to be epic and there’s also a few practical reasons. For example, it’s easier to find your content in the vast Insta-universe. I have the #sonailicious hashtag for our community to showcase their work and #sonailiciousdesign as a gallery of my own creations.

8. Add hashtags to photos in the comments.

Instagram hashtags are powerful if you use them wisely. Putting more than 3 hashtags in your caption makes it difficult to read. If you really want to add more hashtags, add them as a comment. Like this. Here’s more useful tips for Instagram hashtags.

9. Use an app to manage your tags.

As my friend and a fellow nail artist Lindsey suggests “…use an app to manage your hashtags and then these copy automatically and open in Instagram. You can create your own custom hashtag lists! I use Tags For Likes and Tags For Likes Pro“. Another great app for hashtags – Instag.

10. Skip Instagram filters and go pro with VSCOcam.

I’ve recommended VSCO Cam a few times before and will recommend it once again. Because VSCOcam filters are seriously amazing! They can transform the most average photo  into a piece of art. Plus, you can use this photo editing app for all your smartphone photos to use for other social media. Go try it, it’s free.

Have you been using any of the Instagram hacks above?  Anything to add to this list?

Come on, sharing is caring, would love to know your best tips and tricks!

– Maria, xx

* More about our Social Media For Business seminars – next week on SoNailicious.

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