5 tips to use Instagram like a pro

Photo: StockSnap, Pixabay

Instagram offers so much potential to get your brand or your business brand out there. And here are five tips to Instagram like a pro.

1. Make your content exclusive

You can use the direct feature to share some content with only a few select users. You can share photos with fifteen users or less and they will be able to comment on the photos just like they would with a regular post. You can delete these photos and they will not show up in searches.

You can use this feature by choosing Direct when you get to the ‘Share To’ page. You can find this link by looking at the top of the page next to ‘Followers’. You can then select which users will see these photos by typing their username in the ‘To’ field. Click on Send and don’t forget to check your messages by clicking on the tray icon at the top of the homepage.

2. Don’t answer to all your messages

You might be tempted to block your friends who are always sharing pictures of their meals, selfies or pictures of sunsets. However, you can simply ignore these friends so that you do not offend them by blocking them.

You can ignore the direct posts from a specific user by clicking on the tray icon at the top of the Instagram homepage. You will see a horizontal button with three dots on the iPhone or a vertical button with these same three dots if you are using an Android phone. Select ‘Ignore all posts from this user’ to stop receiving their Direct posts.

3. Make tagged photos of you invisible

You can see the pictures you have been tagged in by checking the ‘Photos of You’ section available on your profile page. You can hide the pictures you want to keep private so they will not appear on your page. Increasing the number of views can really help, consider buying Instagram views to help play the algorithm and increase visibility.

All you have to do is tap on the photo you would like to hide. You will see your Instagram username appear. Tap on it and a menu will appear. There is a ‘Hide from my profile’ option you can select. If you don’t want to be tagged in this photo, you can access the ‘More Options’ menu and tap on ‘Remove Me from Photo’.

If removing all the photos you have been tagged in would take too much time, you can adjust your settings so that you have to approve photos you are tagged in. Tap on ‘Photos of You’, access the settings menu at the top right corner and choose the ‘Add Manually’ option.

4. Use filters even when you don’t post on Instagram

Instagram filters allow you to improve your photos. You don’t have to post pictures after using a filter. You can save filtered photos without posting them by using your phone’s airplane mode.

Select the airplane mode and go to Instagram just like you would post a picture. Tap ‘Share’ and you will see an error message since your phone cannot upload a picture while in airplane mode. You can then wipe off the photos that weren’t shared and they will still be saved to your phone gallery. If you took a picture without switching to airplane mode, minimize the Instagram app and turn on the airplane mode. Go back to Instagram and tap on ‘Share’.

5. Don’t use geotags

Instagram uses a geotag feature to display information about where pictures were taken. You can see your ‘Photo Map’ to see the different locations where you have been taking pictures. You can remove photos from your ‘Photo Map’. Go to the map and tap on ‘Edit’ in the top right corner. You can then select the photos for which you do not want to share geotags.

You cannot add a geotag after removing it. You can also choose to never use geotags so that your Photo Map does not show anything. This option is available during the review process.

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