Social Media Instagram 1,140 1140 people found this article helpful 11 Instagram Tips for Beginners Follow these essential tips when getting started on Instagram by Elise Moreau Freelance Contributor Elise Moreau is a writer that has covered social media, texting, messaging, and streaming for Lifewire. Her work has appeared on Techvibes, SlashGear, Lifehack and others. our editorial process Facebook Twitter Elise Moreau Updated on April 12, 2020 reviewed by Lisa Mildon Lifewire Tech Review Board Member & Writer Lisa Mildon is a Lifewire writer and an IT professional with 30 years of experience. Her writing has appeared in Geekisphere and other publications. our review board Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Article reviewed on Aug 20, 2020 Lisa Mildon The Ultimate Guide to Instagram The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Introduction Instagram Basics How to Use Instagram Instagram Tips for Beginners Check Messages on Instagram Add or Change an Instagram Background Search Instagram for Tags and Users Add Music to Instagram Video Use Instagram Video Chat Try Instagram Shopping Get Verified on Instagram Clear Search History on Instagram Posting on Instagram The Best Time to Post Save a Draft of a Post Repost an Instagram Story See Previously Liked Posts Post a GIF to Instagram Add Multiple Photos to Stories Save Instagram Videos How to Quickly Repost Photos Saving Photos Deleting Photos and Videos View Saved Posts With Instagram Collections Working With Followers Mute Someone on Instagram See Who Unfollowed You on Instagram Block Someone On Instagram Unblock Someone on Instagram See Who Viewed You Great Tools to Track Comments Remove Followers on Instagram Tips to Get a Shoutout on Instagram Attract More Instagram Followers Delete 'Suggestions for You' IG Tips & Tricks Instagram Tips and Tricks to Try Add Highlights on Instagram Learn About Instagram Direct Use Instagram's Close Friends Feature How to Delete or Deactivate Your Account Reactivate Your Account Reset Your Password Get Started With Location Tagging How to Repost Shoot Videos with Instagram Video Understanding IG Privacy & Security Hide Your Story on Instagram Does IG Send Screenshot Notifications? Make Your Instagram Account Private See Who Saved Your Instagram Posts Download Everything IG Knows About You Manage Multiple Instagram Accounts Hiding Photos Rather Than Deleting Them How to View Private Instagram Accounts Engaging Users on Instagram Start an Instagram Live Video How to Sell on Instagram Use an Instagram Creator Account Make Money as an Instagram Influencer How to Get More Likes Things You Should Definitely Do Get on the Instagram Explore Page The Best Instagram Apps to Boost Engagement How to Make a Poll Instagram Extras: Captions & More Steal These: The Best Instagram Captions Discover the Best Instagram Filters Have Fun With Instagram Hashtags Use Emoji Hashtags on IG The Easy Way to Track IG Hashtags How to Use the IG Questions Sticker Using Instagram on Other Platforms Can You Get Instagram on Apple Watch? Use Instagram on a PC or Mac Get Instagram for iPad What is the Galaxy S10 Instagram Mode? View Instagram on the Web Online Connect Instagram to Facebook Tools for Posting From the Desktop Tweet Share Email Instagram is one of the most popular social networks. Besides being visually appealing and easy to access on the go, it's also pretty simple to learn how to use Instagram. The following tips can help you make the best out of your own Instagram experience so you can grow your followers and increase engagement. 01 of 11 Post Interesting, Colorful Photos and Videos Martine Feiereisen / EyeEm / Getty Images Instagram is all about providing value to your followers, especially if you want more engagement. In this case, your goal should be to post photos and videos that evoke some kind of emotion – happiness, humor, motivation, nostalgia, love, or anything else. High-quality photos with a lot of colors tend to get the most action on Instagram. How to Post on Instagram 02 of 11 Don't Overdo It With the Filter Effects Verity E. Milligan / Getty Images Instagram provides you with a bunch of filters you can apply to your photos to automatically enhance the look and style, but that trend seems to have already hit its peak. People want photos and videos that are colorful, but relatively natural-looking. Although filter effects may be tempting, try to limit your use of them to keep the color and contrast normal in most of your photos. The 10 Best Instagram Filters for 2021 03 of 11 Feel Free to Use Hashtags, But Use Them Sparingly Kristin Lee / Getty Images Using hashtags is a great way to increase you reach on Instagram, encourage more engagement and even attract new followers. Unfortunately, some people take it way too far. Their captions are often bloated with hashtags – many of which aren't even relevant to the topic of their photo. If you do decide to use hashtags, make sure to keep it to a minimum, and only use keywords that are relevant. 04 of 11 Use the Explore Tab (Popular Page) to Find Great New Content stefanamer / iStock The Explore tab on Instagram is where some of the most popular photos and videos get featured. The photos that are shown here are tailored to you according to the photos and videos that have been liked or commented on by people you follow. You can find new users to follow or engage with by checking out this tab regularly by tapping the magnifying glass icon in the bottom menu. 05 of 11 Post Often to Keep Followers Interested Artur Debat / Getty Images If you want to keep followers engaged, you need to post new content on a regular basis. That doesn't mean you need to be posting 10 photos a day. In fact, posting once a day – or at least once every other day – should be frequent enough to keep your current followers interested. If you go long periods of time without posting, don't be surprised if you lose a few followers. 06 of 11 Use Instagram Direct to Contact Specific Users Artur Debat / Getty Images Although it's a good idea to post frequently to keep your followers engaged, sometimes it's not always necessary to publicly post something to all your followers. Instead. you can target one or more specific users by privately direct messaging them a photo or video. Instagram Direct is a great way to connect with specific groups of users without needing to broadcast your content to everyone all at once. 07 of 11 Interact With Your Followers Magictorch / Getty Images Never ignore your most loyal followers who regularly like and comment on your photos! That's a surefire way to eventually drive people away. Instead, you want to make your followers feel valued. Reply to their comments or even go check out their account and like a few of their photos. You can use a third-party tool like Iconosquare (formerly Statigram) if you want, to track comments and see which users are interacting with you the most. 08 of 11 Don't Be Tempted to Purchase Followers Jerry Nelson / Illustration Works / Getty Images There's a lot of hype around buying Instagram followers. And it's true that you can get some big numbers for pretty cheap. The problem with buying them is that they're often mostly fake and inactive. Your account may look a little strange to users who see that you have 15,000 followers, but almost no likes or comments on your photos and videos. Stick to real engagement. It's not all about the numbers. 09 of 11 Experiment With Shoutouts Tara Moore / Getty Images Interacting with your current followers is always recommended, but the more people you reach out to, the better. Doing a shout out or s4s with another account in the same follower range is a very fast and effective way to reach more people. Two users basically agree to give the other a shoutout post on their own accounts. This is actually the main technique that many Instagram users have used to grow their accounts by the thousands. 10 of 11 Stay on Top of the Latest Instagram Trends Thomas Barwick / Getty Images Hashtags and shoutouts are great, but even trends like these will eventually have an expiry date. If Instagram is a major social networking platform for you, it's important to keep up with the latest trends to avoid getting left behind and putting yourself at risk of losing valuable followers. Check out these five big trends that are currently hot on Instagram. 11 of 11 Post Stories SiberianArt / Getty Images Stories are less permanent, more "in the moment" pieces of content that you can post for your followers to see. They come in the form both photos and videos, which automatically disappear after 24 hours. They can be viewed at the top of the feed (in the form of circular bubbles). Stories simply offer a more casual way to connect, share and interact with your followers. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up. Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit