Best of Instagram 2018: Our Top 3 Posts

You all know by now that we love Instagram. It’s a vital tool for any business, whether bricks and mortar or online, as photo sharing and Stories features allow you to create a community around the globe.

Fun and user-friendly tools, appealing visuals and hashtags mean that you can quickly increase engagement, start conversations with your followers and, most importantly, be authentic.

Here at SoVerve, we like to do a little reflection at the end of the year, and of course, our social media is included in this. What attracted interest, promoted interaction and was saved for later? It’s a great way of knowing what is essential for our community so we can keep offering great advice and having conversations with you.

So here is an extended look at three posts on our Instagram account that received the most saves and engagement in 2018.

No 1: 3 Must-Know IG Story Hacks

The introduction of Instagram Stories was an absolute game-changer for Instagram business and marketing. These 10-second mini slideshows can include pictures, videos and graphics and are a fantastic way for your followers to get to know you. It humanizes your brand in a way that leads to more engagement.

We love how Instagram Stories gives you room to be creative and show your personality, and there are loads of cool features. However, we’re also aware that sometimes it can be tough to navigate all the Instagram Stories features, even when you’re pretty social media savvy. That’s why this post shared some easy-to-use hacks for IG Stories.

We love tagging people in Stories to maximize cross-channel engagement, and you can mention up to 10 people, but too many tags make posts look messy. Hack number one is that you can hide your tags behind GIFs or location stickers – or even change the color to match your background. This keeps your post sleek and clean!

Highlights are one of our favorite Instagram Stories features, but the old ones can get pushed out of view. If you add a story photo to a highlight, it will jump to the front of your highlights, so it’s the first one followers see. This is particularly good to keep special events or sales visible.

The third hack is for the creative among us – creating your own fun font by using the eraser tool. Just take a pic of a fun background, press and hold down on the pen tool to fill the whole screen with a new color, and then use the eraser to draw new text with your stylus. This way you know your Instagram Stories don’t look like everyone else’s!

No 2: Utilizing a Content Calendar

Each piece of content is a way of connecting with your audience and, when you’re feeling inspired, creating content is a dream. Of course, we all have moments where we struggle, and this Instagram post acknowledged this with a quick tip on how to utilize a content calendar.

The main takeaway is that what maximizes Instagram marketing is having a solid social media and content strategy. Once this is in place, Instagram posts should be simple to generate, as they’re merely the tactics you use to implement your strategy. Creating a content calendar ensures that all the content you put out there has value and is in line with your branding and mission.

Make a sample Instagram grid to help you with your inspiration. Decide how you’re going to put the focus on vital content pieces. Focus on eye-catching graphics and action words that link your Instagram posts together. Use photography that complements the message, whether that’s stock photos, behind-the-scenes shots or branded photos.

Once you have a roadmap in place, you’ll be amazed at how much content inspo you have again!

No 3: Elements Your Content Must Have

It looks like content was a popular topic for 2018! This post focused on three key elements your content must have to encourage community engagement and to share your message most effectively. Whenever you’re planning content, remember it should be curated, created and repurposed.

Curated content shows that you know your audience and are motivated to provide content that interests them. It’s not about generating endless content; it’s about quality, not quantity. Committing to quality content is what keeps your audience coming back because they know they’ll be rewarded. Plan your content to suit your community, and your engagement will soar.

It’s also important to remember that exciting content doesn’t just appear from nowhere; it needs to be created. This is the fun part, although it can also be challenging to find the inspiration. That’s why our post on utilizing a content calendar was so important, so you know you’re creating content that ties in seamlessly with your brand’s mission. Search engines also reward fresh content – in other words, content that has value.

So it’s not about copy-and-pasting, here! Remember your content is a way of telling a story, whether that’s through blog posts, Instagram for business or podcasts. Created content helps you make connections and generates much more engagement than mindless posting. Not to mention the fact that it’s more fun for you!

While we often talk about fresh content, there’s also a lot of value in repurposed content. This doesn’t mean exactly replicating the same thing over and over (of course!) but instead revisiting your previous content and giving it a bit of a makeover. We all love a good throwback, after all! Repurposing also ensures that your messaging is consistent over time. Having cohesive content encourages loyalty, as your audience know they can trust you.

This short checklist is a surefire way to keep your content interesting and engaging. If you don’t want to read your content, why would your audience?

These three posts are only highlights of the many tips, hacks, and inspiration we shared over the year. 2019, we’re ready for more!