Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Foolish Assumptions 2
Icons Used in This Book 2
Beyond the Book 3
Where to Go from Here 3
Part 1: Creating Your Profile 5
Chapter 1: Installing Instagram 7
Moving Instagram to the Launch Pad 8
Installing on a Computer 8
Installing on a Windows PC (sort of) 9
Installing on a Mac (sort of) 10
Installing on Instagram’s Native Platform 12
Installing on an iPhone 12
Installing on an iPad 13
Instagram Has Android Covered, Too 15
No App? No Problem: Instagram is on the Web 16
Starting to Gram Instantly 19
Starting Instagram on a computer 19
Starting Instagram on a mobile device 20
Chapter 2: Setting Up Your Profile 21
Professional Profile Practices 21
Choosing a name and username for your business 22
Choosing a profile photo that attracts customers 25
Writing a Bio That Draws in Followers 26
Deciding what information to include 26
Formatting your bio 28
Using a call to action to drive website traffic 29
Choosing a website link that encourages clicks 29
Taking Advantage of a Business Profile Upgrade 31
Connecting to a Facebook page 31
Navigating your business profile 33
Chapter 3: Hitting Your Target Audience 35
Organizing Your Marketing Goals and Roles 35
Assembling your Instagram team 36
Determining your brand voice 37
Envisioning your look 38
Gathering Post Ideas 40
Researching your competition 41
Determining post content 42
Creating a content calendar 43
Evaluating third-party scheduling and analytics platforms 45
Part 2: Creating Your Narrative 49
Chapter 4: Taking and Posting Great Photos 51
Taking Your Best Shot 52
Improving Your Best Shot 53
Applying a filter 54
Tweaking with the editing tools 56
Saving your changes (or not) 59
Enriching Your Photo 59
Describing your photo 60
It’s good to have options 60
Posting Your Photos: Ta Da! 63
Uploading Photos from Your Camera Roll 64
Uploading Multiple Photos to One Post 66
Selecting multiple photos 66
Applying filters and adding photos 67
Editing photos individually 68
Adding information and sharing your photos 68
Chapter 5: Recording and Posting Great Videos 69
Recording Your Day 70
Filming with a smartphone or tablet 70
Recording multiple video clips 72
Deleting video clips 72
Checking out your video 72
Improving Your Video 73
Applying a filter 73
Changing the cover frame 74
Adding details 74
Posting your video 74
Uploading a Stored Video 75
Uploading Multiple Videos 76
Part 3: Interacting with Others 79
Chapter 6: Finding People to Follow 81
Where Are My Peeps? 82
Finding your Facebook friends 82
Syncing your contact list 82
Finding New Friends 83
Exploring the Explore function 84
Searching the Search feature 85
Letting Instagram suggest users to you 86
Following Your Industry 86
Watching your competition 87
Getting noticed by big brands 88
Deciding Whom to Follow Back 89
Viewing and following your followers 90
Reciprocating a follow or not 90
Finding Your Insta-Tribe 92
Finding or creating a community you vibe with 92
Deciding whether Instagram pods are beneficial 93
Chapter 7: Sharing and Commenting on Posts 95
Before You Share, Stop and Think 96
Sharing on Other Social Media Sites 97
Copying and pasting a link to another social network 97
Embedding your photo or video on a web page 98
Garnering Comments 99
Including a caption 99
Mentioning your followers 100
Reviewing Your Comments 100
Deciding to respond or delete 101
Reporting Commenters When All Else Fails 104
Reporting a commenter 104
Blocking a commenter 105
Chapter 8: Direct Messaging with Ease 107
Starting a New Direct Message 108
Sending Photos and Videos Privately 110
Sharing GIFs 114
Using Voice Messages 115
Creating a New Group Message 116
Replying to a Direct Message 117
Using Live Chat in Direct Messages 118
Navigating Your Inbox 119
Getting Rid of Unwanted Messages 121
Chapter 9: Wielding the Power of the Hashtag 123
Investigating Hashtags 124
Following hashtag best practices 125
Storing hashtags for later 127
Tracking hashtag analytics 128
Researching the Right Hashtags 131
Checking out the competition 131
Picking up on similar hashtags 132
Discovering what the cool kids are doing (influencer hashtags) 133
Creating a Branded Hashtag 134
Hashtag your promotion or contest 135
Gathering user-generated content 135
Part 4: Extending Your Reach with Ads 137
Chapter 10: Planning a Winning Ad 139
Selecting the Right Ad Type 140
Photo ad 141
Video ad 142
Carousel ad 142
Stories ad 143
Collection ad 144
Using an Effective Ad Strategy 144
Design requirements 144
Selecting your target audience 145
Choosing ad images wisely 146
A caption can speak (less than) 1,000 words 148
Chapter 11: Creating an Effective Instagram Ad 151
Using the Instagram Mobile App to Create an Ad 152
Using Facebook to Create an Ad 153
Creating the campaign 153
Creating the ad set 155
Creating the ad 159
Running an Instagram Stories ad in Ads Manager 160
Monitoring your Instagram ad 162
A/B Testing 162
Measuring Your Ad Results 165
Viewing Insights via Instagram 166
Viewing Insights via Facebook Ads Manager 166
Chapter 12: Creating a Winning Contest 169
Exploring the Benefits of Hosting Instagram Contests 169
Following the Rules and Restrictions for Running Contests 170
Listing the official contest rules 171
Releasing Instagram of any involvement 172
Planning a Successful Contest 172
Stating your contest goals 173
Choosing a prize 173
Establishing entry requirements 174
Defining the rules or conditions 175
Determining the contest’s length 175
Figuring out the promotion schedule 175
Choosing a hashtag 175
Designing contest images 177
Crafting post captions for the contest 177
Deciding how winners will be chosen and notified 178
Outlining who will respond to contest engagement 179
Executing a Winning Contest 179
Following Up 180
Chapter 13: Connecting Your Marketing Dots 183
Incorporating Instagram in Your Marketing Mix 183
Connecting Instagram to Other Social Networks 184
Including Instagram on Your Website 186
Linking your website to your Instagram page 186
Allowing others to share your content via Instagram 187
Embedding your Instagram feed on your website 188
Promoting Instagram on Printed Materials 190
Incorporating Instagram into an Event or Promotion 191
Monitoring Your Instagram Stats 194
Using Instagram’s native analytics 194
Best third-party apps for Instagram analytics 196
Part 5: Using Instagram Stories as Another Avenue 199
Chapter 14: Sharing with Instagram Stories 201
Checking Out Instagram Stories 202
Getting Started 203
Creating an Instagram story in the app 203
Uploading a photo or video from your camera roll 205
Adding a Text Post 206
Saving Your Story 207
Using Direct Messages to Send a Story 208
Determining the Best Content to Share 210
Talking to your audience 210
Providing before-and-after and series shots 211
Peeking behind the scenes 212
Showing your travels 212
Advertising Your Story 213
Chapter 15: Making Your Story More Fun 215
Creating Graphics for Stories 215
Adding Text and Username Tags 218
Drawing on Your Story 220
Stickers and Tags 221
Adding a Link to Your Website 223
Making Funny Faces with Face Filters 224
Using Boomerang to Keep Fans Coming Back 225
Creating a Collage with Layout 226
Using SuperZoom for Drama 227
Using Hands-Free to Make Life Easier 228
Using Reels to Stand Out 228
Finding and watching reels 229
Creating a reel 230
What’s the catch? 232
Capitalizing on reels 233
Chapter 16: Sharing Your Stories in New Ways 235
Jazzing Up Your Story Post Using Stickers 235
Location, mention, and hashtag stickers for search and notifications 236
GIFs, sliders, emojis, and more 239
Questions, polls, quizzes, chats, and more 241
Use the countdown sticker to intrigue your followers 242
Picture in picture for the fun of it 243
Deleting stickers that don’t work 243
Personalizing Stories with Doodles 244
Saying More with Text 246
Changing your font option 247
Removing your text boxes 248
Chapter 17: Using Highlights to Keep Stories Longer 249
Getting Acquainted with Highlights 249
Creating a Highlight Gallery 250
Adding a highlight from your profile 250
Adding a highlight from an active story 251
Naming and customizing your highlight 252
Setting a cover image for your highlight 252
Creating a custom cover image 253
Adding Content to a Highlight 253
Sharing a current story 253
Finding an archived story 253
Deleting a story from a highlight 254
Coming Up with Fun Ideas for Highlights 255
Chapter 18: Going Live on Instagram 257
Getting Started with Live Videos 257
Knowing When to Go Live 260
Developing a Game Plan 260
Alerting Your Fans 261
Acknowledging Live Followers 262
Inviting a Guest onto the Live Broadcast 262
Saving Live Broadcasts and Sharing Them 263
Part 6: Creating Content on IGTV 265
Chapter 19: Learning How IGTV Works 267
Finding IGTV within Instagram 267
Finding IGTV in the IGTV App 269
Understanding How IGTV Videos Are Formatted 270
Tapping into Whose Videos You’re Seeing 271
Chapter 20: Claiming Your Stake on IGTV 273
Uploading Videos to IGTV 273
Using your mobile device to upload 273
Using your computer to upload 276
Creating Quality Content for IGTV 278
Making your videos shine 278
Using the video description to your advantage 279
Responding to Comments on Your Videos 280
Part 7: Why Isn’t This Working? 281
Chapter 21: Insta-Diagnosing Instagram 283
Installation Issues 283
Dealing with compatibility issues 284
Checking your space 284
Unfreezing an installation on your iPhone or iPad 287
Finding a missing app on your iPhone or iPad 288
Resolving issues on an Android device 288
Log-In Difficulties 288
Checking your username 288
Fixing password issues 289
Dealing with a disabled account 293
Finding Relief for Common Problems 293
Instagram won’t share 294
Getting Instagram to notify you 295
Nothing is Working Now What? 296
Getting Rid of Error Messages 297
Can’t add a comment 297
Can’t delete comments 297
Can’t refresh feed 298
Can’t follow anyone else 298
Chapter 22: Insta-Help is on the Way 299
Taking Advantage of Instagram’s Help 299
Accessing Help Center 300
Visiting Privacy and Safety Center 302
Viewing Instagram Business web pages 303
Tapping Social Media 304
Sending a message on Facebook 304
Tweeting and being tweeted 305
Reading the Instagram and Instagram for Business blogs 306
Visiting the Instagram Business blog 306
Joining a Community 308
Visiting Reddit and Quora 308
Part 8: The Part of Tens 311
Chapter 23: Ten Brands Killing It on Instagram 313
GoPro 313
Yellowillow 314
LeesFeedBoutique 315
RPMItalian 316
GymShark 317
TheLoveBombCo 318
The.Book.Report 319
LaJollaMom 320
TSA 321
GeneralElectric 322
Chapter 24: Ten Places to Find Inspiration 325
Investigate the Explore Page 325
Review Hashtag Searches Related to Your Brand 327
Spy on Your Competitors 329
Get Inspiration from Local Businesses 330
Check Out Your Favorite Products 330
Look to Photographers 331
Get Inspired by Bloggers 332
Find Big Brands That Are Being Creative 333
Learn from Instagram and Marketing Experts 334
Follow the Instagram for Business Account 335
Index 337
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