Recently I attended a social media online workshop and learned these 8 Instagram hacks you can start implementing today. These tactics have been tested and analyzed across several accounts in different industries and have been proven to be accurate.
1. Where should you put your hashtags on Instagram posts?
The way it works on Instagram, hashtags are not for your followers. Hashtags are for people that don’t follow you, so they can potentially find you and start following you. So you need to use relevant hashtags to your ideal client.
But where to add them?
Instagram hashtags in the original post will have 29.4% more reach and likes than adding them in the comments.
Many people don’t want to add them in the original caption because it looks ugly or may look like clutter to your audience. But the reality is, your followers don’t care about the hashtags. As long as your content is of good value. So feel free to add dots and move the hashtags lower to the bottom if that is more please to your eye.
And FYI, engagement on Instagram is based on the photo. And guess what? The photo doesn’t even have to be related to the caption, it just needs to be eye catching to your ideal client.
2. How many hashtags should you use on Instagram posts?
The million dollar question. If you read my recent blog post, Create a Hashtag Strategy to Expand Reach and Increase Engagement Organically, you’ll know that based on data from TrackMaven the ideal number of hashtags per Instagram post is 9 to receive the most engagement.
However, Social Media Lab tested amongst several accounts in different industries and found that 30 (the max allowed) is ideal. Even though it looks weird to have so many hashtags, in your original post of course, those that used all 30 hashtags received a lot more engagement.
Instagram posts that used 30 hashtags in the original post received 135% more likes compared to those who used less!
3. Do Instagram Story Ads Do Better Than Instagram Feed Ads?
Instagram Story ads receive 40% more reach, 23% higher conversion rate and 78% more clicks vs. Instagram Feed ads.
So definitely spend the money running your ads in stories!
4. Do Emojis on Instagram posts increase engagement?
Emojis were tested at the beginning of a post and received 1.7% more interaction than not using emojis. No big difference. So use them here or there for fun and maybe they’ll stop the scroll. But don’t expect for them to create increased interaction.
5. Is it best to post photos only, or add to photos?
Photos on Instagram with no text have a 14% higher reach, 40% more likes, and 2% more comments than photos with a text overlay.
I’ve been saying this for years to my clients, and now it has actually been tested.
6. Will resuscitating old Insta accounts be worth the time?
This is for those Instagram accounts that have been neglected. Maybe you haven’t posted in months. They tested old accounts and found that new posts reached a 22.3% higher reach and 28% more likes vs. old posts. So yes, it is completely OK to use resuscitate an old account.
7. Does the Instagram algorithm favor video vs. photos?
Instagram says the algorithm is powered by a machine that is constantly learning and changing.
The algorithm is based on each user. Therefore, video vs. photo is based on each separate account and what the user prefers. Instagram does not favor one over the other. Users feeds are customized to them.
Instagram also does not favor business vs. personal accounts. But with a business account you can see insights and create ads.
8. How does the Instagram algorithm react to comments?
According to Instagram, it also doesn’t matter if comments have 1, 2 or 3 words and engagement will not rank higher if they happen within 30 minutes of posts or later.
Which of these hacks are you most excited about and which will you start implementing today?