Important Instagram Insights and Best Practices for Success

The photo and video sharing social network has proven to be a force to be reckoned with. Not only does it have the photo-editing features people enjoy but has over 200 million active users (MAU). The parent company, Facebook, put all the eggs in the right basket when it acquired the company. Companies or brands have to adopt their own brand of marketing and identity on the platform while respecting the rules of engagement.

What certainly became an internet sensation for fans of Instagram was the addition of the video feature in 2013. This not only dazzled its user base, but marketers certainly found a useful way to present products and services to better target their messages to these masses.

As with any existing social media networking service there are a few strategies to consider and certain practices to stay away from. Whatever the hobby, activity or job-related venture you are currently in chances are you have a story that you can tell with Instagram’s phenomenal visual power.

Instagram milestones and trends in 2013

When the company was initially bought out by Facebook the transaction was met with plenty of skepticism and criticism. Since that time both companies financial status have proved wrong the critics.

According to Mashable Instagram not only looked like a billion dollar company yet it accomplished some impressive metrics in 2013. The 150 million-plus users share 55 million pictures through the app on a daily basis. Look for this activity to continue to grow in 2014 as well.

The top Instagram post goes of course to longtime social media celebrity Justin Bieber. Upon creating an account the young pop star sensation he immediately generate one million likes for his photo posted.

If you feel uncomfortable with using hashtags well get in the habit of using them if you want good organic exposure. The top performing Instagram hashtag was #love in 2013. Other notable categories hashtags to make the ranks included #tbt (throw back Thursday), #friends, #fashion, #food, and #selfie.

Tips and tricks to apply on Instagram

Bearing in mind getting familiarized with social media etiquette comes with moderating the activity and the types of posts you should steer away from. In social media marketing trends change from one year to the next radically so be mindful of the content you are going to share.

According to Thoughtcatalog.com these were the list of trends Instagram that came to mind that you must stop:

• No more than one sixth of your photos should be selfies
• Do not post more than twice a day
• Pictures of food should not exceed 50 percent of your posts
• Do not overuse the black and white filter
• Posting pics of your baby, pet or significant other
• Limit the reposts of inspirational quotes
• Stay away from using words like “bae” and “hipster”
• Do not post pictures from more than one app
• Use hashtags moderately

To succeed on the platform staying away from these practices will certainly give you solid and measurable results. Unlike any other time everyone now has unlimited and uncensored access to posting information about themselves, so balance your professional and personal life on social networks.

Takeaways or benefits of Instagram

Now that you have learned a bit the ropes on how to tackle this social networking service (SNS) there a couple of resources to consider. Each individual social media site has a set of requirements on how to get setup and what specs go into creating an account.

Infographics are all over the web these days, but Visual.ly for example provides plenty of useful cheat sheets for Instagram. Pay attention to this section as it will give you all the specs you need to create a beautifully designed profile.

Growing followers is no easy task unless you have some form of celebrity status or you just invented a revolutionary hack. Telling your own story is definitely start and being original too.

One other area that sometimes comes into debate is the strategy of buying Instagram followers. Even though the practice is heavily discouraged, why is there a category that quantifies how many followers each individual account has?

Each social platform has had their hands full with cracking down on fake accounts, comments or likes these days. But there are a few services out there and let’s face it for a company or brand to take your expertise into consideration the numbers will speak loads.

There is definitely nothing wrong about trying to get a lot of followers quickly. However, do not revolve your business as a scam because anything related to bad publicity travels extremely fast on the web. Find a balance is key if you are considering the purchase of followers.

Nevertheless, do not heavily depend on this method entirely because once you organize a campaign to action the little or no engagement will permanently taint your reputation as a professional. 

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