Intro to Instagram

by Bethany Jett @BetJett

If you’re a writer, there’s a good chance your readers are women (even James Patterson says the majority of his thriller genre audience is female)[1], and there’s a great chance those women use Instagram.

Facebook owns Instagram, so while you’re not really diversifying your social media baskets in terms of ownership, Facebook and Instagram are two totally separate animals. What happens on Instagram does not necessarily matter on Facebook, and vice-versa, so don’t auto-push your content across platforms unless it works for both.

If you’re new to Instagram or want to kick up your “IG” game, let’s break down some tips and strategies for gorgeous “follow-me” feeds.

Username

It’s awesome if you can keep the same username across all your social media, but if you can’t, choose something fitting for your brand. Sadly, I wasn’t building a platform when I joined Instagram and deactivated my account. My perfect username was gone, so when I came back to the platform, I added a “2” at the end.

Bad form.

A few months ago, I decided to change my username and basically start over, building my followers from scratch. Learn from my mistake—pick a username you won’t want to change later.

Name
The “Name” slot is different than your username and shows up in bold letters before the bio begins. If your username is not your real name, you can enter your name in the “Name” slot. However, you can ninja-fy your feed by using that Name slot for your business name or job title. For example, my username is @bethanyjett, so instead of repeating my name, I put my job title: Lifestyle Blogger | CEO.

Bio

There is a strategy for creating a killer Instagram bio.

1. Tell what you do.
2. Tell a little about who you are.
3. Share what your followers can expect.
4. Offer something for free.

Some great examples are Lisa Bevere, Melyssa Griffin, and Hilary Rushford.

Privacy Settings

If you want to grow your platform, keep your account public so people can view your feeds and follow you easily. When someone follows me on Instagram, I’ll check out their account with the intent to follow them back, as long as they don’t appear spammy or completely crazy. However, if their account is private, it’s rare for me to follow them unless we’ve interacted a few times.

A private profile is like a locked door. If you want to have a feed that features your children or is just for family, create a second one and keep it private. If you want to reach your audience, open it up.

Website URL

Instagram has a “closed” system, so you can't link out within your posts. You get one shot at a URL, so make it a good one. You can put your website, which is a great choice, since we want social media pointing to your site like Hilary Rushford does.

Or you can create a landing page where someone can download a free PDF or register for a free webinar (like Melyssa Griffin). This is an awesome idea because you can collect emails and grow your list. By the way, Melyssa has great Pinterest training, which is her current opt-in.

Photos

With Instagram, your photo is everything.

Everything.

In her blog post “How to Have aCohesive Instagram Theme,” Marianna Hewitt says, “Don’t just post any image. If it’s grainy, blurry, or not looking 100% use some restraint and try not to post it. For photos that aren’t up to par, I share them on Facebook or Twitter.”

This diversifies her photo content across other platforms and keeps her Instagram feed beautiful.

Color Scheme

You can play with different color schemes by blocking them together, or you can have two-three colors that make up the majority of your feed. Rachel Parcell’s feed is beautiful. Her business is Pink Peonies so her color scheme features bright whites, grays, blacks, and soft pink for the majority of her photos.

Your color scheme can be “bright colors” if you tie them in well. Will Taylor’s feed (@brightbazaar) is full of colorful eye candy. As you scroll through his feed, you’ll notice that he uses various shades of blue to connect to uber-bright photos.

Filters & Editing

There are several great photo-editing apps for your phone. A best practice is to choose a few filters that you use consistently on your photos to create cohesiveness and an overall feel to your feed.

FaceTune is great for smoothing out skin tone, brightening eyes, and whitening teeth. Their newest version FaceTune 2 has a “glow” option that creates a lighting effect to brighten the shot.

WordSwag is perfect for adding awesome text to your photos. Lucinda SecrestMcDowell does an amazing job adding cool text to her photos. I love seeing them come across my feed.

Instagram has built-in filters, but the VSCO app takes filters to a new level. If you search on Pinterest for VSCO filters, you’ll find a ton of different filtered photos and the exact formula to use inside of VSCO. Pssst, I did a search for you. Clickhere to see how a VSCO filter can create a “feel” for your feed.

Next month we’ll talk about what to post, creating a Top Nine strategy, and how to use the Stories feature. In the meantime, play around with your feed and start experimenting with your audience! Oh…and let’s be friends on Instagram!

TWEETABLES

Kick up Intagram with some tips & strategies from #SocialMedia expert @BetJett (Click to Tweet)

Intro to Instagram for Authors - @BetJett on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Bethany Jett is a military wife and homeschool boy-mom who is addicted to suspense novels and all things girly. She is an award-winning author, speaker, ghostwriter, and founder of JETTsetter Ink. In her spare time, Bethany is working on her Master’s degree in Marketing: New Media and Communication.

Bethany blogs on becoming the CEO of your life at BethanyJett.com. Connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.

---

[1] In James Patterson’s Masterclass

Additional Posts in this series:
Intro to Instagram part 2
Intro to Instagram part 3