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The SITS Girls

The Secret to Success is Support

Blogtober: Let’s Get Social With Instagram

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We had a lot of fun meeting you on Twitter yesterday. Y’all are tweeting rock stars. Today we are looking forward to seeing all of your smiling faces as we focus on Instagram.

Blogtober is a week-long event designed to give you helpful social media tips, and enable you to grow your following as you make new connections.

Blogtober: Instagram

Instagram is slowly becoming my most favorite social network. It’s easy to use, fast, and you can connect with so many bloggers! While it’s harder to get click throughs to your blog, since image captions are not hyperlinked, there are ways to make Instagram work for you. I’ve managed to get over three thousand followers this year, but it wasn’t easy.

Tips For Using Instagram

What’s your definition of success? Are you looking to share photos with friends and family, or do you want to brand yourself and your blog through your images? You can do both, but the best Instagram accounts keep it consistent.

  1. Hashtags: There are entire websites out there dedicated to helping you use the best and most efficient hashtags for every photo you post. Using hashtags strategically can make a difference. But if you are going to use them, save hashtags for the comments. Upload your photo as you normally would, and then add your hashtags later in the comments. It just looks neater.
  2. Clear and bright photos are key! I use Camera+ to take all of my photos and edit them within the app. I then use Pic Tap Go to brighten them or add a vignette. I try to not crop photos into squares if that means cutting out something in the photo. Pic Tap Go can turn your photographs into perfect squares, but so can an app like Squarefx.
  3. Instagram isn’t JUST for photos. Need to share a quote or a fun graphic? Try making it in A Beautiful Mess. There are backgrounds and many fonts to choose from.
  4. Other apps to try: Flipagram (turn photos into a video slideshow), Diptic for collages, and Repost to share photos from other people (it gives them a watermark so you can credit the original owner appropriately!).
  5. Don’t forget VIDEO! Many brands are looking for Instagram videos, so keep that in mind. At one point I had NO Instagram videos, and I needed to make a few in a hurry. I downloaded iMovie to my iPhone and edited video clips within the app. I was able to add music, take out the background noise, add fun transitions, and more. It’s worth the extra five minutes or so to learn how to use this app effectively.

To add longevity to your Instagram posts, feel free to embed them into your blog. You can add Instagram photos or videos to get more exposure.  Just go to Instagram on a computer and grab the embed code.

For more tips, check out all of our posts about Instagram.

Link Up To Grow Your Instagram Following

Link up your Instagram profile below, and follow at least five new people. But don’t just follow and run! Take the time to leave a comment, letting them know you found them through #SITSBlogging, and like one of their awesome pictures.

What is your best Instagram tip?
Share it with us in the comments, or on twitter using #SITSBlogging!

Did you miss the opening day of Blogtober? Don’t fret, there is still time to link up your Twitter handle, and find new friends.

About Krystal Butherus

Krystal is a full-time mom, wife, and blogger who just launched an accountability group for bloggers. She lives in Florida and shares a slice of her life on Krystal’s Kitsch, a Florida food and lifestyle blog. You can find her posting sunshine and palm trees on her Instagram. Cheers!

About Krystal Butherus

Krystal is a full-time mom, wife, and blogger who just launched an accountability group for bloggers. She lives in Florida and shares a slice of her life on Krystal’s Kitsch, a Florida food and lifestyle blog. You can find her posting sunshine and palm trees on her Instagram. Cheers!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. suzanne says

    Thanks so much for all these great tips! I shared your post on my Baltimore Mom blog, the day you published it – and then I used your tips to create a super-cute Instagram post, today. (See link, below.) It took a while to edit, add text, etc – but you’re right, it was really worth it and it’s already off to a great start (likes, comments, etc)
    I also usually post my Instagram pics to the fb fanpage and Twitter profile for my blog, too – so that gives my Instagram posts even more visibility, too. Thanks again for all of the great content you ladies post!
    Suzanne
    ps – Here is my Instagram photo:

  4. Tanisha G. says

    Thanks! I’m #359, looking forward to following some cool new accounts. 🙂 Followed 5 but I will also follow anyone that follows me back, just comment on one of my pictures with the hashtag #SITSblogging so I know where you’re from. 🙂

    • Krystal says

      I had a friend who created an Instagram account on someone’s tablet that she borrowed. She then used a tool on her computer to update it. There are ways around it, I don’t know if I recommend them, but she does it this way. If you Google it, you can find out what sites let you do that.

  6. Michelle @ Hey Love Designs says

    I’m a very visual person so I enjoy using Instagram. My only tip is to take the time to edit your photos. I can’t tell you how many crappy photos I’ve seen and the accounts that really stand out to me are the ones with bright and clear photos. It only takes a few minutes to brighten up a photo, adjust contrast and saturation, and crop when necessary. I absolutely love VSCO cam for their level of customization, but it looks like Instagram now has brightness, contrast, saturation, etc built in.

  8. Takisha Nesbitt says

    This is amazing and overwhelming at the same time! Lol. I am loving all the action and ideas. I hope to really connect with you special ladies.

    🙂

  13. Joanne says

    Thanks for hosting this! I followed five but I will also follow back anyone from this linkup. Im #304 on the list. 🙂

  14. Ruth A Stiles says

    How I use Instagram:
    Personally: I love snapping pictures of my family (hubby, kids, outings, trips to grocer, etc…) and just posting them. I tend to use Instagram this way as a photo journal. I also like to post random pictures of maybe #whatsfordinner or #favoritethings. I also follow three different daily link ups (haven’t been on top of this this month as I have for some reason been extremely busy!) which prompt me on a specific photo type and then give me a hashtag to use. You can find these link ups in the daily writing prompts link on the left side of my blog.

    Professionally: I use IG to promote my photoblog – Photographypoiema.wordpress.com

    • Ruth A Stiles says

      I apologize that for some reason my link up turned out funky….I am #346 – the “r”

      hahahaha sorry about that…my instagram name is ruthstiles

  16. Lauren The Outdoorsy Diva says

    I LOVE Instagram! The last blogger conference I went to I couldn’t believe how many bloggers weren’t using it! It has definitely gotten me a lot of genuine followers and I can’t tell you how many people have become my Instagram Buddies! It’s another good way to connect with brands when you tag your photos using their IG handles. It’s all about the hashtags!

  17. Davia Gorman says

    Don’t worry about the same photo over and over again…If you have too much dark background try holding a piece of white card stock to balance out the light

  18. Steph says

    Does anyone have trouble with hacks following when you use hastags? LIKE to follow and that nonsense with bare nakes booties? I’m sick of those! Any ideas or is that just expected w Instagram?

    • Lauren The Outdoorsy Diva says

      The hacks can be annoying but not too much. You can delete unwanted comments from your pictures. There are also great hashtags you can use that are less general and more specific to the subject of your pic and those can be great leads into people with similar interests who will actually follow you and like your pics all the time. Good luck!

          • Lauren Gay The Outdoorsy Diva says

            Steph,if you click as if you are going to add a new comment to the photo then you will be able to swipe to the left which will give you an option to delete it from the photo. As for the likes, you can’t delete those but I’m not sure why you’d want to. We live for likes on IG! You can’t necessarily tell where likes come from. More likes will bring you up more often in other people’s explore mode. Likes are our friends LOL Hope this helps! Let’s follow each other! I’m @outdoorsydiva

  21. Julianne says

    I’m so bummed I missed out on the Twitter action yesterday! I love Instagram and use it almost every day. I usually edit my photos with Afterlight or Fotograf (really dreamy filters and light leaks). Looking forward to ‘meeting’ everyone! 🙂

    XO, Julianne
    thewinkblog.net
    Instagram/Twitter: @juliannecronin

  25. melissa says

    This is definitely my favorite platform! I’m still catching up with everyone on twitter, and it was a blast meeting everyone… looking forward to meeting new Instagrammers!

  27. Lori says

    Thanks for these tips and for the link up! I’m finding some fun Instagram accounts to follow. I didn’t know about putting the hashtags in the comments instead, so I’m going to try that. I’ve seen a hashtag recently that is #ontheblog where we can promote a blog post. Do you recommend doing that as long as it’s not too often? Also, I was looking through your other Instagram articles for anything related to how to write a good profile for Instagram. Any tips on that? Thanks again!

    • Krystal Butherus says

      There’s no reason to NOT use #ontheblog! Use it every time if you want! You can use up to 30 hashtags on an Instagram photo. I definitely recommend using them in the comments.

    • Ruth A Stiles says

      I have used hashtags when I post to a meme or want to mention a topic that goes along with what I am posting. For example I follow @theidearoom and Amy hosts monthly photo-a-day. I use the hashtag to help share what I am posting and so others posting that day can more easily find my post!

  28. Montana Ross says

    I love Instagram! I’ve found that when I ask for comments or opinions I tend to get more interaction. I’m a very visual person, so I’m excited to see what everyone has posted!

  29. Keisha says

    These are great tips. I find Instagram success more perplexin than FB, Twitter or Pinterest. Sometimes it seems you need to post incessant selfies or half-naked pics to get interest (or be a cute cat or dog 😉 ).

    • Ruth A Stiles says

      Start with a day in the life. I know that is a big thing in the blogosphere. But seriously. Take random pictures of your day or your kids or whatever interests you…soon you will build your photos and even get followers. Or maybe you could pick a theme for the week and try to post a picture a day on that theme.

  31. Christin @ Blue Crab Martini says

    I LOVE Instagram 🙂 It’s such a great place to brand yourself (and your blog) through visual content- something that can’t be done on Twitter. I agree that using appropriate hashtags is key! Can’t wait to connect with some wonderful new people on IG today!

  36. Gina says

    I’ve had trouble keeping up with Instagram since there are SO. MANY. social media accounts to keep up with. One thing that has been working for me is just making the goal of posting once per day. It’s made me take more photos with my phone, and I’ve seen small growth in followers just by being consistent.

  37. Dagmara-Glamistahome says

    Instagram is one of my favorite social media applications. I love to look through the feed and photos people share of their passions or even every day life. I don’t have any videos in my feed either, so I better get on it and try to work with the hyperlapse option. Thank you for the great tips.

  42. xtine danielle says

    Yay! Loved all the #SITSblogging action on Twitter yesterday. Super excited to spread the love on Instagram. My second fave social network, behind Twitter!

    Let’s connect!

    – Christine @ xtinedanielle.com
    Instagram/Twitter: @xtineds