How to use Instagram to Market your Blog!

As you guys read in my Awe-Inspired June post, I am all about Instagram these days. I credit it all to Jenna Kutcher and her course for this love affair. I had no idea that Instagram could really be anything other than a place to showcase your work. I really didn’t think of it as a marketing tool. Let me tell you right now, It’s pretty much right there next to Pinterest with driving visitors to my blog. 

I am so excited about it that I want to teach you guys some basics on exactly how to use Instagram for your blog.

Have an aesthetic

How does your feed make you feel when you look at it? Is there a theme? Are your pictures telling a story? 

Personally, I try to keep a mixture of high quality pictures of my personal life sprinkled with blogging and sponsored posts. People don’t want to see you trying to sell them something post after post. They are intrigued by your real life and its way easier to connect with people this way, too.

Your pictures should always be high quality and have generally the same aesthetic in each picture. That could mean that you use the same filter in each photo to create that aesthetic. I use the VSCO app to edit all of my pictures , it’s a free app and has tons of free filters and paid filters to choose from! 

Have a Plan

As Jenna teaches, your Instagram grid should be carefully curated. That means the overall look and feel of your grid should flow well. 

Once you’ve figured out what kind of vibe you want your feed to have start planning out your content. This has helped me SO MUCH!  I use Planoly to upload all of my edited photos to see how they are going to look in my grid before I actually upload it to Instagram. I also use it to write out my captions in advance. MAJOR TIME SAVER! 
 

This is Planoly. It is an app and website that will change your instagram life. I pay $8.99 a month and do not regret it one bit. It has truly helped my brand !

On the left you can see the photos I have posted as well as unscheduled photos. This helps you see exactly how your grid will look before you post, which is kind of why I LOVE it! You can easily move the photos around to see how they would work next to different pictures. On the right you can see the calendar of when I have posted and at what times. I try to post once a day at the time I get most engagement, which this website/app also helps you figure that out! 

Planoly can also help you figure out what your followers like, what are they commenting on and you can easily see the times you posted which helped with engagement. These are all great things to think about when planning your content! 

Best part: you can post everything right through Planoly. 

Engage

MAJOR KEY. Whatever, I’m listening to DJ Khaled as I write this. But, seriously engagement is major key. Not only is it important to have engagement on your posts, it’s also important to engage on others. Use the hashtags you use and go through them and find people you can relate to – like, comment and share their posts. I PROMISE you your engagement will sky-rocket in return. 

Also, anytime someone engages by leaving a comment on your post be sure to comment back with something thoughtful. Even if it’s just thanking them! 

On the left you can see each photo I have posted, the caption and how many comment/likes it has received. On the right you can see and REPLY to each comment very easily. This makes it a heck of a lot easier to comment back than trying to do it on your phone in the Insta app! Just like Instagram it pulls up their user name as you type it in!

Use the RIGHT hashtags

 Hashtags are the key to getting your pictures in front of the right people. Therefore, the hashtags you choose should be the best of the best and really tailored to the kind of followers or clients you are seeking.

For example, if I post a new DIY I want to tag it with hashtags that are trending but don’t have millions of people tagging to them. That means you want to avoid using the generic hashtags like #diy, #doityourself because your picture will likely get lost due to how many people use them. Instead you want to use something like #creativityfound or #studiodiy 

Now, both of those hashtags are in my arsenal and let me tell you why. Studio DIY is actually an instagram account I have been following for a while. She created that hashtag that went viral and if you use it, it gives you the opportunity to get in front of her followers.

Much like Studio DIY if there are brands you love use  their hashtags! This is often the best way to get noticed and possibly regrammed by that brand (along with tagging which we will talk about in a sec!). 

You WANT to be regrammed by others because it gets you in front of their followers which can potentially turn into your followers and/or clients!

*Start to use hashtag #ArrowsAndAweInspired for the chance to be regrammed by me! 

Tag! 

When you post pictures that are featuring certain brands, you should be tagging them in the picture! This also will help you be noticed by those brands. By tagging I’m not just saying to credit them in the comment, but also tag them on the picture itself! 

Use the URL space wisely

In your instagram bio you have a little space to add a URL. As you add pictures you should be updating your url to match what you are posting about in your pictures. 

For example, If you post a picture featuring your most recent DIY blog post, your caption should be directing people to your bio to click on that little link!

 

More Blogging Resources:

5 Ways to Drive Traffic to your Blog

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I hope you guys enjoyed this! If you would like to know anymore about Instagram or blogging in general, let me know in the comments below! 

 

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Office Pic : Style Me Pretty | Stats : Planoly