Frequently asked questions
about Instagram growth & marketing

However, there are still some confusing things that need attention. Here’s a list of the most frequently asked questions we get about Instagram. If you have any questions that did not get covered on this page or have any suggestions/ideas, feel free to email me or DM me on social media!

So, without further ado, let’s get started!

NOTE** Some answers for the questions are coming soon!

Content

• How-to-get-famous questions
• General Instagram questions
• Instagram feed and content questions
• Instagram story questions
• Instagram Bio questions
• Questions about deleting
• Questions about Instagram ads
• Good apps/softwares (editing, automation, followers etc)
• Questions about hashtags
• Cool things and ideas you didn’t know you can do on Instagram

How-to-get-famous questions

How to become famous on Instagram?

1. Your account must provide value – it’s inspirational, educational and/or entertaining
2. Get more followers by doing what you love and are passionate about – best results guaranteed!
3. Develop your own hashtag to become #instafamous
4. Use a large variety of hashtags
5. Track your exposure with different hashtags
6. Do what your successful competitors and idols do
7. Make a bio that grabs instant attention and interest
8. Set your theme – stick to a certain color pallet or photo style
9. Tell a story, engage with your followers
10. Create a stunning feed
11. Be consistent
12. Find the best time to post
13. Curate your tagged photos – you want to be in charge of the impression you’re making
14. Get local exposure – use geo tags and interact with similar accounts nearby
15. Use Call-to-Action when posting
16. Buying followers have both negative and positive effects – can get boosted, can get banned
17. Do shoutouts and mention people
18. Get featured – if you’re sharing real value don’t be afraid to reach out to media publications
19. Join engagement groups
20. Engage with your audience!
21. Create ads, promotions and campaigns

If you want to know more in depth or something needs to be explained better, then head over to my article dedicated to “How to become famous on Instagram“.

How to become an influencer on Instagram?

How to earn money on Instagram?

1. Do sponsored posts for brands – #ad
2. Become an affiliate and make a commission selling brands’ products
3. Become a brand ambassador (close to becoming an affiliate)
4. Create and sell your own product or service
5. Sell licenses for your photography or videos

If you want to learn in depth and get detailed step-by-step information how to exactly start getting brand deals and money from it, then head over to my recently published one of the biggest and most requested article “How to Make Money on Instagram?”.

How to get brand deals on Instagram?

How many followers do I need to start getting brand deals?

The more the better.

Brands usually start to reach out to people who have, yes, some followers (usually 1000 to 10 000 followers), have a great connection with their followers and are posting constantly quality content that people engage with.

You don’t need to have tens and hundreds of thousands followers to be “good enough” for sponsorship, actually, many brands are starting to see that people with less followers than hundreds of thousands and millions have much better engagement and prefer them more.

Think about it that way, you trust your friends advice over a celebrity’s. And you probably trust more those influencers who engage with their followers (for example an influencer who asks his/her followers’ advice, shares his/her life updates, tips and is like a friend with the followers).

How to get more engagement on Instagram?

How to take your own pictures for Instagram?

1. You need a camera. You can either use your phone or a digital camera. The best cameras for taking pictures of yourself would be with a flip-screen.
2. Good lighting! Take photos outside (many love the golden hour light), take them by the window, use lamps. Natural lighting has a very nice effect.
3. Camera placement – use a tripod, place the camera somewhere. If you have somebody who can take pictures of yourself, use their help or ask a stranger.
4. Use selfiestick. If you are taking a selfie, make sure to hold your camera as far away as your hand reaches or simply use a slefiestick.
5. Nice background – choose the background that you like. For example walls, streets, parking lots, cafes, doors, shop windows, forest, beach, parks etc.
6. Check the background! Of course you can edit things out, but sometimes it is also easier to check it first.
7. Composition – like where are you on the photo, what do you want to include there, colors, objects and subjects etc
8. Use a timer or wireless remotes. That way when you have found your pose you don’t have to change it to press “take photo”.
9. OR… record a video and choose the frame you like the most for a photo
10. Use a mirror. Either you are using your phone back camera or a camera without flip-screen, you can see the reflection what’s happening on the screen, are you focused, are you inside the frames etc. Also, it can be helpful to find the pose you are looking for.
11. Edit your photos. Use filters, edit lighting, contrast, shadows etc. Here’s a list of good apps to use.

General Instagram questions

Instagram business or private account?

1. Make sure are you using Instagram for business purposes or for personal use
2. If you use Instagram only for a personal use, then I suggest sticking to a personal account. Why? Because then you don’t need the extra baggage that comes with a business account, like analytics, ads etc.
3. Personal account let’s you choose to be either private or public, and you can link to many Facebook pages
4. If you use Instagram for business purposes, then you should switch to a business account. Why? Because it has many beneficial features for businesses.
5. With business account you have an overview of your followers (demographics, amount etc), when are they on Instagram, when is the best posting time for you, how your posts have done (reach, likes, saves, forwards etc) and so on. It’s called the analytics.
6. Business account can create ads and promote your posts
7. Business account has also a contact button. It can be an email or a phone number.
8. Business account let’s you add links to your Instagram Story
9. Business account must have a Facebook page (only one can be), account is always public

How to convert personal Instagram account to a business account?

1. NB! Your profile have to be Public. Private accounts can’t switch to Business Accounts.
2. Go to your profile and tap the gear icon for Settings
3. Tap Switch to Business Profile
4. Tap Switch to Business Profile and select the Facebook Page you’d like to associate with your Business Profile on Instagram
5. On the Set Up Your Business Profile page, look over your contact information, make any changes
6. Tap Done

How to create an Instagram business account?

Option 1:

1. Download the app from Apple iOS, Google Play or Windows app stores.
2. Create an account
   1. Sign up with your email address or phone number, and then enter a username
   2. You can log in with your already existing Facebook account and link the accounts
3. Connect to Facebook (firstly you will create a personal account by default, but you can switch it to a business account. Then you need to associate your Instagram profile with one Facebook page.)
4. On the Set Up Your Business Profile page, enter an email, phone number, and address for your business. If you’re done, tap Done.

Option 2:

1. Convert your personal account to business account. Here’s how to do it.

How can I see my Instagram analytics/insights?

Instagram analytics are only available for business accounts. In order to start seeing the analytics, you need to convert your personal account to business profile. Instagram analytics are free to use as is the business account.

1. To find Instagram Insights, go to your Instagram profile on your phone
2. In the top right-hand corner of the screen, you’ll see 3 horizontal lines. Tap on it.
3. Then you’ll see 3 vertical bars of varying sizes. Click this icon to access Instagram Insights.
4. You’ll see a 7-day view of your account. On the top you’ll see 3 buttons/topics that tell you a lot about your insights. They are called Content (your activity, posts this week etc), Activity (actions taken on your account, reach etc) and Audience (information about your followers).

How can I benefit from Instagram Insights?

Instagram Insights/analytics are available only for the business accounts. So, if your account is an online store, you are an influencer, or Instagram is basically your blog, then the analytics can help you to understand how your account is doing. You will be able to see how many people are visiting your account, which are the most liked and commented posts, who are your followers (the demographics – age, country etc). Thanks to the analytics you can optimize your account, when should you post, what people like the most and overall, how you are doing.

When is the best time to post on Instagram?

• See it from your statistics
• Post when most of your followers are active. It differs for everybody. You can see the analytics about your audience when you have a business account:
  1. Go to your profile
  2. Click on Menu (3 horizontal lines)
  3. Select Insights
  4. Select Audience

How can I use Instagram to promote a business?

What is the best strategy for Instagram marketing?

What is IGTV?

IGTV is a new app for watching long vertical videos.

You can also watch from within the Instagram app your favorite creators longer videos. The idea came that statistically younger people watch television lesser than their parents and grandparents, they prefer to watch videos on the Internet from their favorite creators.

Also, people like to use their phones to watch videos, since they always carry it with them. It’s much more convenient to see videos that fit the phones’ screen vertically, for example, YouTube videos are horizontal and so not that comfortable to watch.

Instagram says on their page:” Just like turning on the TV, IGTV starts playing as soon as you open the app. You don’t have to search to start watching content from people you already follow on Instagram and others you might like based on your interests. You can swipe up to discover more — switch between “For You,” “Following,” “Popular” and “Continue Watching.” You can also like, comment and send videos to friends in Direct.”

What are the requirements for the IGTV videos?

• IGTV Length: Videos must be between 15 seconds and 10 minutes long. Bigger and/or verified accounts can upload up to 60 minutes long videos from the computer.
• IGTV Ratio: Vertical videos with an aspect ratio of 9:16.
• IGTV Size: Maximum file size for 10 minutes videos or less is 650MB. Maximum file size for videos up to 60 minutes is 3.6GB.
• IGTV Frame rate and pixels: Videos should have a minimum frame rate of 30 FPS (frames per second) and minimum resolution of 720 pixels
• IGTV Video File Type: MP4 file format.
• IGTV Cover Photo Size: The recommended size for the cover photo is 420px by 654px (or 1:1.55 ratio). Once you’ve uploaded the cover photo, you can’t edit it.

How to create a channel on IGTV?

In order to post videos to IGTV you need to have a channel.

Option 1: From the Instagram app

1. Open your Instagram app
2. Tap the IGTV logo (like a little TV) in the top right of your Feed
3. Tap the gear icon for Settings
4. Tap Create Channel
5. You’ll see 3 steps what you can do on IGTV, if you tap Next till the end, you’re done! Now you can start uploading videos.

Option 2: From the IGTV app

1. Download and open the IGTV app (download for iOS, download for Android)
2. If you already have an IG account, you can simply continue with that account, you can switch the account etc
3. Tap the gear icon for Settings
4. Tap Create Channel
5. Follow the on-screen instructions

Option 3: On the web at Instagram.com

1. Open your web browser and go to Instagram.com
2. Go to your profile and click IGTV logo (like a little TV)
3. Click Get Started and follow the on-screen instructions

How to post on IGTV?

Option 1 and 2: From the Instagram app or IGTV app

1. Open your Instagram app or your IGTV app
2. If you opened Instagram app**, Tap IGTV logo in the top right of your Feed
3. To view your channel, tap your profile photo
4. Tap the cross icon and choose a video from your phone files
5. Tap Next
6. Add a title and description
7. Optional step**: You can also share a preview of your IGTV video to Instagram Feed and your profile and/or share your video to a Facebook Page
8. Tap Post, and you’re done!

Option 3: On the web at Instagram.com

Note! Videos between 10 to 60 minutes must be uploaded from the computer!

• Open your web browser and go to Instagram.com
• Go to your profile and click IGTV
• Click Upload
• Click the cross icon and choose a video, or drag and drop a video file
• Add a title and description
• Optional step**: You can also share a preview of your IGTV video to Instagram Feed and your profile and/or share your video to a Facebook Page
• Click Post

What is Instagram Name Tag?

Instagram Name Tag is similar to for example Snapchat snapcode. It’s like a small image or a QR code, by scanning it, your soon-to-be follower is directed to your IG page, where she/he can follow you. It allows quickly to follow people you’re meeting in person. When someone wants to follow you or the other way around, then you or he/she can simply scan the Name Tag with the camera on Instagram. Tag can also be customized with additional designs, colors, and stickers.

How to create a Name Tag?

1. Open your Instagram app and go to your profile
2. Tap Name Tag icon on the top right
3. **If you can’t see the Name Tag icon on your profile, then 1) you have to update the app or 2) Tap Menu (3 horizontal lines) and choose Name Tag from there
4. You’ll see your Name Tag
5. From this Name Tag screen you can do 3 things:

• Create your Name Tag
• Save your Name Tag to your camera roll or send it to someone
• Scan someone else’s Name Tag to go to their Instagram profile

How to design a Name Tag?

To change the design, just press on the box on top of your screen. In the box, there’s either written “color”, “emoji” or “selfie”.

1. Color: Tap anywhere on the background and the color will change
2. Emoji: Tap anywhere on the background and the emoji selection screen appears
3. Selfie: Take a selfie with a fun sticker – Sunglasses (default), Heart eyes, Glasses, Mustache, Unicorn. After you take a selfie with a sticker, this selfie will cover the whole background of your Name Tag.

How to use Instagram Name Tag?

1. How to display your own code: Open your IG app > go to your profile > tap Menu (3 horizontal lines) on the top right > select Name Tag.
2. When you want to scan someone else’s code: Open your IG app > swipe right into the camera > focus on the tag and hold your finger down on the screen on the tag.

Why to share your Instagram Name Tag?

An amazing marketing opportunity for your business. If you are an influencer, share your nametag so people would find you and you can grow. If you have a business, then add your nametag to your website (e.g. about page, contact etc), on your blog (like in the side bar), to your email, to a shop window, on your product package etc. Go wild!

How to share your Instagram Name Tag?

1. Open your Instagram app
2. Go to your profile
3. open your Name Tag screen
4. Tap Share icon (top right corner)
5. Save your Name Tag to your camera roll
6. Share your Name Tag when – and wherever you want (YouTube, Facebook) and/or send it to anyone via text, email etc

How to create an additional new Instagram account?

1. Go to the IG app and open your current Instagram account
2. Go to your profile
3. Tap the icon with 3 horizontal lines at top right
4. Tap the gear icon at the bottom for Settings
5. Scroll to the bottom. Tap Add Account.
6. At the bottom of the page, tap Sign up
7. You’ll see an option to use Facebook for sign-up. If you’re already using Facebook for your primary account, choose Sign Up With Phone or Email.
8. If you choose Email, you’ll confirm your new account later. Open the email from Instagram and select Confirm your email address.
   If you choose Phone, you’ll need to enter the verification number sent to your phone. Once you’ve entered the verification code, tap Next.
9. Add your Instagram profile photo (you can also skip that), Name, and Password
10. Create your username. You can include numbers, symbols etc.
11. And you’re done! If you want to switch accounts then simply go to your profile. Tap your username at the top left corner and choose your other account.
12. If you want to covert the new added account to business account, click here

How to get Instagram account verified?

NB! Submitting a request for verification does not guarantee that your account will be verified.

1. Go to the Instagram app and open your current Instagram account
2. Go to your profile
3. Tap the icon with 3 horizontal lines at top right
4. Tap the gear icon at the bottom for Settings
5. Scroll down till you find Account. Click on it.
6. Find Request Verification
7. Fill in the form and attach a photo of your ID
8. That’s it. Now you have APPLIED, it doesn’t mean you’ll get verified.

Instagram will let you know once they’ve reviewed your request. Once they have gotten your application, it takes few days for them to respond. If your account is “Authentic,” “Unique,” have a “Complete” profile, and is “Notable” enough, then you’re good! If not, don’t worry. Improve what needs to be improved and try again!

Instagram feed and content questions

How often should I post on Instagram?

It depends on your brand, audience and goals. Many bigger brands post 1-3 times a day, on average 1,5 times per day then. It is proven that the more you post the more engagement you get (it’s also obvious, because the more posts the more people will see them). But, statistics aside, the best amount of posts for your account is the number you can keep up with consistently.

Quantity over quality?

In the last question-answer I explained how often you should post on IG. While many successful brands averagely post 1,5 posts per day, then you should stick to as many posts as you can constantly keep up with.

About quality vs quantity. It’s better to post fewer but higher quality content than post a lot of content with poor quality. People enjoy your content so much more, even if you post only few times a week, when it’s beautiful, HD-quality, great lighting, good story, inspiring etc.

So, post as many times as you can constantly keep up with and post only quality posts, a lot of poor posts do not work that great.

How does the Instagram algorithm work?

How to post on Instagram from a desktop?

Instagram post sizes:

1. Square image: 1080 x 1080 px, max resolution is 2048 x 2048 px.
2. Vertical image/portrait: 1080 x 1350 px (will appear as 600 x 749 px)
3. Horizontal image/landscape: 600 x 400 px to 1080 x 556 px.
4. Video: 640 x 640 px, 3 to 60 seconds
5. Instagram Story image: 750 x 1334 px
6. Instagram Story video: 750 x 1334 px, 1 story is max 10 seconds
7. Instagram ads: 1080 x 1080 px (will appear as 640 x 640 px)

How to download pictures and videos from Instagram?

You can’t download a video or picture within the Instagram app, you need to use a third party application for that. Some options to do that:

1. Take a screenshot and crop the unnecessary from the picture
2. Pin it and then download from Pinterest
3. Use a special tool to download pictures or videos, e.g. https://smmrank.net/instagram-photo-and-video-downloader/

How to repost pictures and videos on Instagram?

To repost someone else’s Instagram post, you first have to obtain that person’s permission to re-use their content. You can ask their permission for example via commenting or direct message. To repost you have to use external sources. You can download special apps from Google Play Store for an Android or from iTunes store for an iOS. Some apps and a webpage to use: Repost (for Android, for iOS), Instarepost (for Android, for iOS) and/or DownloadGram.

If you don’t want to download an app or use special webpages, you can also simply take a screenshot, crop out the excessive information, write a cpation and post it. Also, when reposting, you should always give credit to the original author by for example tagging.

How to add link to a post?

You can’t add an active link to your post, however, Instagram allows you to add one link to you bio. So, when you post and want people to visit your page for more information etc, then you can for example say:” Link in bio”. Also, if you have over 10,000 followers, you can add a direct link to your Instagram Story, then your page etc is only one swipe away.

How to edit pictures for Instagram?

There are many great apps, tools and softwares that you can use to enhance your pictures and fortunately many are free to use. Here’s a list of some really good apps, tools, softwares.

Overall, when you edit your pictures, then the purpose is obviously to make them look better. You can increase-decrease brightness/shadows/contrast, erase, crop, add saturation, use filters. Do what you like the most!

How to edit videos for Instagram?

There’s a lot of great video editing softwares and apps. Here’s a list of some really good ones, many are free to use and for some you need to pay. Overall, you can use filters, slow motions, add music, play with brightness etc. Have fun! Video should be 3 to 60 seconds long!

How to create a stunning Instagram feed?

It depends on your taste. There’s numerous ways how to create a stunning Instagram feed. If you want to know more about it in depth then check out my blog post specifically written about that!

Here’s some basics:

1. Pick your theme and stick to it – is it about food, fitness, makeup, memes, travelling etc
2. Improve your shooting and editing skills – you need to take and produce quality content
3. Choose your color palette – your feed is cold or warm toned, the feed represents one color like red, it’s two colored etc
4. Consistent posting – never stop!
5. Retouch, edit and improve your pics/vids
6. Schedule your posts – here’s a list of some great scheduling programs
7. Know your followers and what they want see
8. Follow and engage with your ideal follower
9. Use special effects – mosaic tile, line in the middle, checkerboard etc
10. Think of your account as a whole

Instagram Story questions

How to create an Instagram Story?

1. Open your Instagram app
2. Tap on the camera icon or your profile with a blue plus icon (it’s called Your Story) under the camera icon on the top left of your Feed
3. Now you have many options what you can do at the bottom of the screen. If you choose something at the bottom, the you are creating a Story on spot. You can also upload a picture or a video from your phone files: tap on a square like icon (first icon on top of the bottom row) or swipe up anywhere on the screen, and your recent pic/vid files come up. Tap on a file you’d like to share in a Story.
4. When you have decided what you’re going to post (pic/vid shooted on spot or uploaded file) you can add filters by swiping left or right, stickers, texts, gifs, polls, date, time etc (tap second icon in the top row and option screen pops up).
5. Before posting your Story, you can also save it. Tap Save icon (arrow pointing down).
6. If you don’t like the Story, you can delete it by taping on a cross on the top left of the screen and take another pic.
7. If you like how everything looks, then post your Story by taping on an icon Your Story (loading circle with a plus sign inside).

What to post in Instagram Stories?

I created a long long post about Instagram stories and suggested 33 great Instagram story ideas! If you’re interested in depth list and explanation then read more here!
Here’s 10 great ideas what you should post in IG stories:

1. Teasers/sneak peaks – great if you plan a new product, course etc
2. Shoutouts – mention nice accounts you follow or even your followers account, why not?
3. Location – you’re on vacation, it’s nice weather, great restaurant, beautiful buildings etc
4. Swipe-up story – Only applies to accounts with over 10,000 followers.
5. Promote your latest post
6. Post quotes
7. Post success stories – for example you got a great positive feedback on your product
8. Before & Afters – new haircut, makeovers etc
9. Promote your other channels
10. Go live

How to add stickers, gifs etc in Instagram Story?

1. You have taken a photo/shot a video or uploaded the media.
2. To add fun elements to your Story, simply tap on the second icon of the top row on the screen (happy face with one corner folded)
3. A little screen pops up with many options > choose what you’d like to add (location, mention somebody, hashtag, time, poll, gif, questions, countdown, slider, temperature etc)
4. When finished, tap anywhere on the screen

How to mention somebody in Instagram Story?

1. You have taken a photo/shot a video or uploaded the media.
2. Tap anywhere on the screen and start to mention by writing “@” before the persons’ username
3. When finished, tap anywhere on the screen

Or..

1. Tap on the second icon of the top row on the screen (happy face with one corner folded
2. A little screen pops up with many options
3. Choose the second option called @MENTION
4. Start writing the persons’ username you want to mention
5. When finished, tap anywhere on the screen

How to add a Hashtag in Instagram Story?

1. You have taken a photo/shot a video or uploaded the media
2. Tap anywhere on the screen and type “#” before the tag word
3. When finished typing, tap anywhere on the screen

Or…

1. Tap on the second icon of the top row on the screen (happy face with one corner folded)
2. A little screen pops up with many options
3. Choose the third option called #HASHTAG
4. Start writing the the word you want to tag
5. When finished, tap anywhere on the screen

How to create a questionnaire (poll, sliders, questions) in Instagram Story?

1. You have taken a photo/shot a video or uploaded the media
2. Tap on the second icon of the top row on the screen (happy face with one corner folded)
3. A little screen pops up with many options
4. Choose a questionnaire form you like the most
5. Start writing your question or text you have in mind
6. When finished, tap anywhere on the screen

How to to add locations in Instagram Story?

1. You have taken a photo/shot a video or uploaded the media
2. Tap on the second icon of the top row on the screen (happy face with one corner folded)
3. A little screen pops up with many options
4. Choose LOCATION and start writing the location
5. When finished, tap anywhere on the screen

How to add filters in Instagram Story?

1. You have taken a photo/shot a video or uploaded the media
2. Now, if you want to add a filter, simply swipe left or right on the screen. Swipe till you find the filter you like.

How to add different sizes, colors and font texts in Instagram Story?

You have taken a photo/shot a video or uploaded the media. To add a text to your Story, simply:

1. a) Tap anywhere on the screen and start writing, or b) Click on the icon Aa on the top right corner
2. To change font style tap on the box on the top
3. To change text color choose and tap colors given. You can slide right for more colors or for custom color tap on the pipette icon and tap anywhere on the photo for the wished color
4. For highlighting tap on the icon A in the square (top row)
5. For alignment tap on the icon top left corner with uneven horizontal lines
6. When finished, click Done or tap anywhere on the screen.

How to delete elements (gifs, texts, time etc) in the Story?

To remove elements like text or a sticker etc, drag and drop it on trash bin icon at the bottom of the screen.

How to add a link to an Instagram Story?

You can add a link to your Story only when you have a verified account or have 10k+ followers.

1. Take a photo/shoot a video or upload one to your Instagram Story
2. Tap on the chain icon at the top right
3. Choose +URL to add a link to a web page, YouTube video etc
4. **You can also link your Story to your IGTV video, then choose + IGTV Video
5. Type the URL into the text box
6. Click Done in the top right
7. Tap on the +Story button at the bottom right of your Story
8. Now your Story has a feature “See More” by swiping up

How to do live on Instagram?

How to save live?

How long one Story can be?

Can I upload a picture or a video to a Story and how to do it?

Yes, you can upload previously shooted/took and edited video or photo.

1. Open your IG app
2. Tap on the camera icon in the top left corner or swipe right from anywhere in Feed
3. Swipe up anywhere on the screen to choose a photo/video from your phone’s library or gallery
4. Add some fun elements (**optional)
5. When you’re ready to share, tap Your Story in the bottom left (loading circle with a “+” sign inside)

How to create a new Instagram Story highlight?

1. You have created a Story
2. Go to your profile and tap Story Highights below your username and bio
3. Tap on the “+” sign
4. Choose the Story or Stories you want to add to highlights
5. Tap Next
6. Choose a cover photo and write a Story Name for your highlight
7. Tap Add (iOS) or Done (Android)

When you create a Story highlight, then it will stay up in your highlights even when the original Story is disappeared. You can add more stories to your highlight by tapping Edit Highlight.

What to post to Story highlights?

• Post a list of frequently asked question (FAQ) and answers to them
• Post your equipment. If you are doing great content and have a strong network, people are interested about the “behind the scenes” topic. Also, if you videos or pictures have great quality, then this kind of story would be very helpful for your audience, who’d also like to create content. So, post what camera are you using, what lenses, lighting, background, monitor etc.
• Post what programs are you using to edit your pics/vids, maybe also how to use them
• Post sneak peaks. If you are working on a project, you can give some hints and build excitement. When you finally come out with what you were working on, it gets more attention and engagement.
• Post your final finished project. It could be, let’s say a makeup look you have been working on, a DIY project, a collaboration, giveaway notification, your product etc.
• Post mini courses. For example very quick tutorial on how to do whatever you are good at. These are interesting and easy to watch, since they are so short, yet contain great information.
• Post your discount codes. If you have promotion codes provided by a brand for your followers, you can share them (discount for what brand, what’s the code and how much discount).
• Post your favorite memories, works etc. They can be those, you enjoyed to do or create the most, that came out the nicest etc.
• Do shoutouts: This is like more of a giving-credit kind of posts.
• If you’re working with clients, let’s say you are a makeup artist, then post makeup looks you have done on a client/friend. This shows, how good you are and how happy your customers are with your work.
• Post your favorite products/places/services. For example your favorite salong, coffee place, ecommerce, skin care etc.
• Post your own products and how they make lives easier, look great, happy customers etc.

How to create Story highlight covers?

Instagram Bio questions

How to choose the best profile picture?

1. Your profile picture should be a photo, preferably, of your face or your brand name, logo or something that presents your brand/business the best
2. High quality picture
3. Flattering angle of you – your profile pic is like your business card, make people wanting to click on it and seeing more
4. Frame yourself – not too close, not too far photo
5. Use colors – you are more noticeable when you differ
6. Be happy, smile – according to various studies, accounts with smiling profile pic are doing better on social media
7. Get a bit of your brand into your photo – be you! For example, if you are a makeup account, show off your skills, if you are a food blogger, have something delicious on the photo with you.
8. Use your friend or somebody to take a pic of yourself

How to write a great bio?

For more in depth information about how to write a winning Bio, go download my FREE 7-day Instagram course!

1. Your name – If you have a personal account, write your name. If you have a business account, instead of your brand name, you could write keywords that your ideal followers might be searching for.
2. Your bio – For well-known brands I suggest “less is more” technique. For beginners I suggest trying to keep the focus of the bio on one certain theme. Add some emojis if it’s appropriate for your brand.
3. Your profile picture/avatar – For a personal account (and influencers’ account) choose an attractive avatar so people would click on your account and follow you. For a business account choose your brands’ logo, name etc.
4. Link in the bio – Available only for business accounts, it helps to drive people to your webpage/blog etc.
5. Story highlights – They give a quick overview of your account. Use your best stories as highlights.

How long can be my Instagram bio?

150 characters.

How to change a bio font?

If you want to spice things up, then customizing your own bio font is a great way to start! It’s ridiculously easy, here:

1. Go to a page https://igfonts.io/ (there’s many other web pages who also offer wide range of fonts)
2. Write your bio text
3. Choose your favorite font
4. Copy and paste it to your Insta bio

How to center bio on Instagram?

1. Go to your profile and click Edit bio
2. Add about 9 spaces, so your text is in the center. The first row don’t “see” regular spaces.
3. For the first row copy-paste those special nonbinding spaces (exclude the brackets): [⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀]
4. If you have sentences or text strings of different lengths, then you will need to offset the centering so that they come out even. To do this, go back into the editor and remove and add spaces from the various lines so that sentences are evenly distributed along the midpoint of the screen.
5. When finished, click the “check” icon in the phone or Submit on a desktop computer

Instagram bio ideas

How to add a link to a bio?

Can I add more than one link to a bio?

No, you can add only one link to your bio.

How to add contact bar (email, phone number) into a bio?

Should I add emojis and hashtags to a bio?

Yes, you should add relevant emojis and hashtags to your bio if it’s appropriate for your brand. Emojis make the bio more interesting and visually easier to follow, hashtags serve a similar purpose. You can also create your own hashtags, which is a great idea for promotion purposes.

What is different for Business and Personal Account bio layouts?

Questions about deleting

How to delete an Instagram account?

How to delete posts on Instagram?

How to delete Instagram Stories?

How to delete Instagram Story highlights?

How to delete followers on Instagram?

You can’t delete or remove your followers. If you have a personal account, you can decide if you accept the follow request or not. But, you can block them:

1. Go to your profile
2. Click Followers to see a list of people following you
3. Tap on the follower you want to block (basically delete)
4. Click the arrow icon on the top right of the follower’s profile screen
5. Tap Block User
6. Tap Yes I’m Sure to confirm you want to block the user
7. Tap dismiss to finish the process

How to delete messages on Instagram?

How to delete comments on Instagram?

Questions about Instagram ads

NB! Only Instagram business accounts can create and run ads. If you want to know how to create or switch to a business account, click here.

How to promote an Instagram account?

1. Create and run ads
2. Create your own hashtag
3. Collaborate with other accounts
4. Do giveaways
5. Do and get shout-outs

How to create an ad on Instagram?

Types of Instagram ads

1. Stories Ads – Stories take the full mobile screen for the ad, offering businesses a beautiful, large and instagrammers’ full focus on canvas. You can upload or shoot/photograph your ad. They’re the easiest to set up and tend to perform quite well.

Supported Call-to-Action Buttons:

• Apply Now
• Book Now
• Contact Us
• Call Now (video only)
• Download

2. Photo Ads – Photos can be in square or landscape format. You can simply promote already existing photo on your account.

Supported Call-to-Action Buttons

• Apply Now
• Book Now
• Call Now
• Contact Us
• Get Directions
• Learn More
• Get Showtimes
• Download

3. Video Ads – You can share videos up to 60 seconds long in landscape or square format. You can simply promote already existing video on your account.

Supported Call-to-Action Buttons

• Apply Now
• Book Now
• Call Now
• Contact Us
• Download

4. Carousel Ads – People can swipe to view additional photos or videos in a single ad.

Supported Call-to-Action Buttons

• Apply Now
• Book Now
• Contact Us
• Call Now
• Download

5. Collection Ads – You can use Collection to inspire and help your audience discover, browse and purchase products.

Which ad type is the most efficient?

How to pay for an ad?

How to choose the right audience?

How long an ad will run?

You can choose it by yourself how long time do you want it to run.

How to promote for free? – use your own hashtag

How to create a successful Instagram ad? – Some ideas

How to cancel an ad?

Good apps/softwares (editing, automation, followers etc)

The list is still enclosing.

Photo/picture editing:

• PicsArt – basically, you can go beyond the filter and touch-ups, very creative. Many use it to for example easily change the background e.g. add clouds, sparkle, flames etc (free trial available).
• Canva – has a collection of designs, templates, photos, icons – create whatever you want – resume, Instagram Story, slides etc (free to use, some features cost if you don’t want a watermark on them)
• AfterLight 2 – has an extensive library of natural filters and powerful editing tools, one of the best photo editing software, awesome price quality ratio
• Photoshop – one of the best imaging and graphic design software – photos, videos, illustrations, 3D artwork, website and mobile apps’ design. Pretty advanced and might be difficult for a newbie (free trial available).
• Facetune 2 – photo editor that offers a collection of the best pro retouching features (“freemium” business model – free, but if you want to use all the features, you have to buy a lisence)
• VSCO – offers presets and editing tools on mobile to make beautiful photos and videos
• Preview – schedule, editing and hashtag tools, analytics. Can visually plan your Instagram feed with it (free version available).

Video editing:

• InShot – you can trim and cut video/movie, blur background and no crop, add music and video effects. Also offers collage and photo EditorWorks on mobile (free to use, but offers in-app purchases).
• Lumafusion (also LumaFX) – powerful video editing app on mobile, offers special effects, music, filters etc ($19.99 and offers in-app purchases)
• Boomerang from Instagram – create captivating mini videos that loop back and forth (like a GIF) on mobile. Free to use.

Automation:

• Buffer – you can plan and publish your content for Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn, all from one simple dashboard. It saves time and helps to schedule your uploads. Offers a free plan.
• Later – Similar to Buffer. You can visually plan, schedule and publish Instagram posts. Offers a free plan.
• Combin – helps to manage and grow your Instagram safely and organically. Has a free plan.

Questions about hashtags

How many hashtags can I use per post?

You can use up to 30 hashtags per post. If you are not yet that well-known, then I suggest using less popular hashtags in between 100 000 to 500 000 post shares and some more popular ones, like hashtags with 10+ mil post shares. Hashtags should also be relevant to your post.

Should I use all 30 hashtags?

If you are a new account or not that well-known, then you should use all of them. They will help to get noticed. If you are already a bigger account, then it’s not that important anymore.

What are good hashtags?

A list of good hashtags that would always suit for every account doesn’t exist, sadly. The only way to find good hashtags for your account is to do some research. Although, it’s always fool proof to use hashtags that are relevant to your post. Also, look which hashtags your “competitors” are using. It can give you a better idea and help to start searching best hashtags for you.

How to find relevant hashtags?

1. Look what your competitors and/or colleagues are using
2. If you’re still in baby shoes, use hashtags between 100k to 1M post shares, if you’re a bigger account, use hashtags between 1M to 999M post shares 😀
3. Google relevant hashtags: If you are, let’s say, a fitness account, then use hashtags that fitness lovers would search. Google some fitness related hashtags.
4. Use relevant hashtags for your specific post: If the post is about your delicious morning cappuccino, then use coffee, cappuccino, maybe also morning, breakfast and some #delicious kind of related hashtags.
5. Create your own hashtag: Especially great for brands
6. Use trending, topical and/or seasonal hashtags: for example use Christmas related hashtags during Christmas etc

Can I add hashtags to an Instagram Story?

Yes, you can! Read more here.

Can I tag hashtags on a picture?

Which hashtags are banned on Instagram?

Many hashtags are banned for their own reasons. Here’s some of them, you can’t believe are banned: #adultlife #alone #asia #attractive #beautyblogger #besties #books #babe #beyonce #desk #date #easter #followforfollow #girlsonly #happythanksgiving #mustfollow #newyears #newyearsday #single #valentinesday #woman #women etc

What happens if I use a banned hashtag?

If your post contains any of the banned hashtag, then you are hidden from hashtag searches (all your hashtags stop working, even though they are not banned) and explore pages – basically, your post doesn’t like exist. You might also get flagged for spam. Multiple flags could lead to shadowbanning, blocking or account removal. Instagram is banning hashtags to take action against hacking, spamming etc. Some seemingly harmless and common hashtags are banned for that reason.

What is shadowbanning?

You might get shadowbanned if you use banned hashtags when posting. Shadowbanning is somewhat secret – many won’t even know that it’s happening. If you notice your content is receiving fewer likes and comments, or aren’t appearing in hashtag searches at all, you might be shadowbanned.

How to not get shadowbanned?

Don’t use banned hashtags. If you did and are afraid, you are shadowbanned, then read the following question-answer.

How to remove shadowban?

1. Contact Instagram: Send an email at [email protected], or activate “Instagram Rage Shake” to report a problem, or go in the Instagram Settings
   > Click “Report a Problem” > Click “Something isn’t working”, or go on Facebook and search for Instagram (App page) and select “Send a Message”. AND DON’T SAY YOU’RE SHADOWBANNED (you also might not be, you don’t actually know that), just say your posts are not showing up (this is the real problem why you are contacting them).
2. Don’t post for a while: lay low for couple of days, it has worked for some people
3. Delete all your hashtags from recent posts: maybe you accidentally used a banned hashtag some days ago and the ban activated now
4. Put the hashtags in to the caption: this method has also worked. If you don’t like the look, just divide hashtags from the actual caption by using full stops or some other method. Some also recommend to use lesser hashtags.
5. Be a personal account: stay so or switch back to one, it has helped many

Cool things and ideas you didn’t know you can do on Instagram

• You can create quick responses (ready to go answers e.g. greeting etc) on Business account: go to your profile > click on Menu (3 horizontal lines top right corner) > select Business > select Quick Replies > tap New Quick Reply > type the message (can also create a shortcut) > when finished, tap the check mark in the top right corner of the screen.
• You can see a Story longer time when you press your finger down on the screen
• “Instagram Rage Shake” – If you have a problem you want to report, then you can simply: open the Instagram app > shake your phone > “Instagram Rage Shake” is activated > report your problem Note!!! It doesn’t work with all the phones.
• Watermark your work: It’s necessary when people share or reupload your content, so you won’t be the unknown and still get the credit. Now, be clever and put your watermark inside the picture. It means, when you put it in the corner or in the sides of your picture or video, it’s easy to crop it out and somebody might claim your work as theirs. It’s better to put your watermark somewhere where it can’t be cropped out, align it with your bodyparts or product, drawing etc. It’s already better, if your watermark is not horizontal or vertical, so it’s more difficult to cut out.