2020 is well underway, and with it being not only a new year but a new decade it’s a great time to bring some change to your life. And that includes your Instagram too! If you’re looking to make 2020 the year that you take your online presence to a new level a strong Instagram strategy is everything. It’s important that you establish what exactly your goals are before you being planning out your Instagram strategy so it delivers results. For those who’ve already been building their Instagram, there’s no denying that 2019 saw a lot of changes to the platform. And as always the algorithm has everyone playing catch-up, trying to figure out the latest way to crack it. We thought it was the perfect time to line up some of the most important Instagram strategy tips to help everyone start 2020 with a bang!
Instagram Strategy Tips for 2020
Tip #1: Be Active & Consistent
One of the Instagram strategy tips that never gets old is to be active and consistent with posting content. Since Instagram began opinions on this topic have changed thanks to the algorithms. But after analyzing content and profile reach over 2019, we suggest posting 1-2 times a day. From a pure metrics standpoint posting more often boosts your reach because you have more content on the platform to be seen. Think of it as having “more shots on goal.” On another note, Instagram is a platform that’s meant for content creators and rewards its loyal users with explore page pushes and feed views. And just as much as actively posting content on Instagram is important, so is being active in general by engaging with content helps a lot too.
Tip #2: Post Carousel Content
This lesser-known fact about Instagram is probably one of the more valuable Instagram strategy tips. Did you know that carousel posts get the highest number of likes and comments across all of Instagram? Data from the last year shows that carousel posts perform better than both video posts and single static posts. A great thing about carousel posts is that the photos later in the carousel never get lost. Instagram will show all of the images in your carousel to your followers so each photo is a new opportunity to snag a like or comment.
Tip #3: Consult Your Past For Future Success
The fact that Instagram gives it’s business and creator users insights and analytics on their accounts is an absolute blessing. And they shouldn’t be taken for granted. It would normally cost a ton of money to outsource the analytics that Instagram gives us for free. These analytics are the key to success. Look at your best performing posts. What was in the photo? How was it edited? What did the caption say? Which hashtags did you use? Analyzing your best-performing posts will give you a roadmap to success with your future posts.
Your analytics also tell you a great deal about your audience. You can tell what types of posts your followers respond to from likes and comments, but it also tells you when they’re most likely to respond. Consulting your insights dashboard will tell you what time(s) of day you should be posting in order to have the most success with your posts.
Tip #4: Hashtags Are The Way to Go
Hashtags haven gotten a lot of bad publicity, specifically surrounding that period of time in 2019 where shadow banning was a hot topic. We seriously urge you not to shy away from using hashtags on your photos, though. Despite how it may look, seem or has been rumored to be, hashtags help to get your posts more exposure. There are a lot of free hashtag analytics tools out there that will help you find the most beneficial combinations to use. Our personal favorite tool is from the Preview app, an app primarily meant for feed and post planning. To be transparent, most our own engagement and impressions come from hashtags, not views on home feeds. Take it from us, hashtags are your friend, not your enemy.
Tip #5: Talk With, Not At Your Followers
One of our strongest takeaways from Instagram in 2019 was that people on the app are craving a more “human” connection. Those who follow you want to hear you, hear your opinions, read about your life and your feelings. Impersonal captions void of personality aren’t cutting it anymore and leave followers feeling like they don’t really know you. Let your followers see the real you to cultivate a deeper, more loyal following on Instagram.
Tip #6: Dare We Say It? Venture Off The App
This might sound a little counter intuitive, but in 2020’s world, we suggest testing the waters with some other social media sites, namely TikTok, to boost your Instagram presence. TikTok may seem like a fad, or may seem like it’s not for certain types of creators, but let us tell you, top TikTok influencers currently boast MILLIONS of followers. Yes, you heard us right. We said millions. The younger generations on TikTok are incredibly active on social media and are the most generous when it comes to engagement. Lots of primarily-Instagram creators have turned to TikTok to help convert followers from there over to Instagram, and guess what. It works.
Tip #7: Engagement Still Matters
Tip #8: Try Writing Smarter Captions
We can’t even count how many times that we’ve liked or commented on a photo solely because of the caption. Snappy, funny and clever captions elicit responses from followers even when the photo itself might not. In 2020, try to view your captions as a second opportunity to grab a follower’s attention in the event that just the photo doesn’t garner a like.
Tip #9: Give IGTV The Go It Deserves
Did you guys know that IGTV content appears 4x larger than regular photos do on the Instagram explore page? Crazy, right? Video content, especially IGTV video content, shows up very big on the explore page, calling more attention to your content. Giving video a chance is also a good way to test out what kind of content your followers interact with. Who knows! They might love video content and respond strongly to it.
Tip #10: Post Re-Postable Content
Towards the middle to end of 2019, we saw a large amount of Instagram content being reposted on feeds. We’ve seen a huge trend on the platform where inspiration style photos have been circulating around. Creators are no longer afraid to post other people’s content. In fact, everyone is reposting photos and is more than happy to give the owners credit for it. Keep this in mind when planning out your content! If the right people see your posts, they might get an opportunity to be reposted on a feed that is not a brand’s.
Head to the Wolf Blog for a ton more tips, tricks and advice on improving your Instagram presence!
