How To Use Instagram To It’s Full Potential

Instagram’s user base has grown rapidly over the past few years, from 1 million in 2012 to an expected 1 billion by 2022.

Here’s some help if you’re thinking about making an Instagram account, or if you’ve already made one but aren’t sure what to do with it. Here, you’ll find an introduction to the fundamentals of Instagram, the most popular social media platform for interaction today.

It’s almost impossible to think back to a time before Instagram. Once upon a time, the phrase “Do it for the ‘gram” was commonly used, meaning something along the lines of “Let’s do this so we can take a picture and put it on Instagram.”

Since then, Instagram’s focus has shifted increasingly toward videos. That’s why you don’t hear “Do it for the ‘gram” any more, but I bet there will be a second iteration of that phrase soon. Perhaps “Do it for reel”?

You should probably think twice before you don’t join Instagram’s other billion users. By using the app, you can interact with popular brands and keep tabs on your friends’ activities. Instead of visiting Facebook to see how my college friends are doing, I go straight to Instagram. You can also keep up with your favorite actors, musicians, and politicians to view behind-the-scenes photos of their daily lives.

It’s also a great place to see what other companies are up to; Nike, for one, uses Instagram Stories to share the stories of some of their most inspiring athletes.

Here are the measures to take if you want to join Instagram:

On a desktop, select “Log in with Facebook,” or enter your mobile number or email address, name, username, and password into the appropriate fields. Finally, select the ‘Sign up’ button.

If you’re using an Android device, go to the Play Store and search for “Sign Up With Email or Phone Number.”
To sign up using your iPhone, tap the ‘Sign Up’ button.

Select “Next” after entering your email address or phone number. Signing up via Facebook is another option.

After you input your username and password,

you will be prompted to complete your profile. Next, hit the ‘Done’ button.

If you want to sign up with Facebook, you’ll have to sign in first.

If you’re not already logged into Facebook, click here to do so.

How to Use Instagram

Due to the visual nature of Instagram, it is essential that business accounts maintain a steady stream of interesting posts. Exactly how do you utilize Instagram? Simply put, you follow accounts that you find interesting, and other users do the same in return.

Instagram users can ‘like’ content by tapping the heart icon in the post’s lower left corner, and leave comments by tapping the reply button.

When you launch the app, you’ll see a stream of updates from the accounts you’ve chosen to follow. The primary navigation bar will always be located at the bottom of your display. Learn the meanings of and instructions for using each icon below.

When you click “Home,” you’ll be brought to your primary news feed. You can always access it from anywhere in the app by clicking the button on the far left.

When you tap the search bar, Instagram’s explore page loads, where you can type in keywords to find specific accounts or hashtags. Content from accounts you don’t follow will be suggested to you based on your current likes and content you’ve already viewed that is similar to what you’ve already liked.

By selecting “New Post” from the main menu’s central “+” symbol, you can start a new entry, video, or broadcast.

The reels are represented by the clapperboard image. The link takes you to a page where you can watch clips of various lengths.

A profile picture should be displayed in the small circle icon on the far right. If you click this, you’ll be taken to your main profile page, where you can access all of your posts, follower data, and reels.

Now that you know your way around the Instagram app, we’ll go over the profile creation process.

How to Create an Instagram Account

Making a profile is the next step after installing the app and signing up.

Your profile is the central hub for all of your Instagram content, including posts, reels, stories, and videos. In this section, you can view your profile, edit your account settings, and see who is following you and who you are following.

Take or Replace Your Profile Pic

tap the image of yourself on the top left.
Click ‘Edit Profile.’
Click ‘Change profile photo.’

To import a photo,

go to the “Upload Photo” tab and pick the one you want to use.

Keep in mind that these steps may require some tweaking if you’re using an Android device.
Insert a Bio

click your image on the left.

Select “Edit Profile” from the menu bar, and then enter your bio information into the box provided.

Create your bio here:
/LI—–
When you are finished making edits, click the “Submit” button.

Put in a URL

To remove a link, tap on the link, and then tap “Remove Link.”
When you’re finished, tap “Done.”
To commit your changes, tap “Done” after tapping “Back” ().

If you want to attract new customers through Instagram, you should take advantage of the platform’s bio and website sections.

How Do Instagram Notifications Work?

When you first sign up for an account, you should modify your notification settings so you only get the messages that are relevant to you. You can customize the types of notifications you receive, such as whether you want to know about likes from everyone or just the people you’re following. Another option is to disable all like notifications.

Comments, Comment Likes, Likes and Comments on Photos of You, Follower Requests, Accepted Follow Requests, Friends on Instagram, Instagram Direct, Photos of You, Reminders, First Posts and Stories, Product Announcements, View Counts, Support Requests, Live Videos, Mentions in Bio, IGTV Video Updates, and Video Chats can all have their notifications toggled to “Off,” “From People I Follow,” or “From Everyone.”

I can sympathize if that long list is making your head spin; it does mine, too. Start with ‘From Everyone’ if you aren’t sure what kinds of notifications you want to receive; if some of them become annoying, you can always disable them.

Here’s how you can change which alerts you get:

1. Launch Instagram on your mobile device.

Launch Instagram on your mobile device first. Instagram is available for desktop use as well. Click your profile picture there, and you’ll be taken to your profile page.

2. Try clicking the “Settings” button.

When you get to your profile, go to the three vertical dots in the top right corner to access the menu.

A pull-down menu will appear. Click the gear icon.

3. Select “Notifications” from the menu.

Proceed to the next screen and select “Notifications.”

There, you can modify your notification preferences on a per-category basis. Some examples of these types are:

/LI—–
—LI—/LI—Instant Messages and Phone Calls
Live and On-Air Broadcasting
/LI—–
Fundraisers

This is an Instagram post, so —LI—/LI—
It’s possible to reach us via email and text message (SMS)

/LI—–
Shopping

You can also temporarily disable all alerts by toggling the Pause All switch.

4. Select the alerts that you would like to receive.

You can customize the types of alerts you receive by visiting each section separately. Examples of choices for ‘Posts, Stories, and Comments’ are as follows:

Options will change based on the selected category.

As for the rest, that’s it! Now that you know how to upload photos to Instagram, it’s time to learn how to link your other social media accounts to your Instagram profile.

Can you connect to Instagram to other social accounts?

Connecting Instagram to other social media platforms like Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook is possible, but users no longer access these options in the app’s Settings menu.

These days, you do it with each individual post.

You can manually cross-publish a post to Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter by going to the specific post you want to share and then sharing it from there.

How? Read on!

1. Launch the Instagram program.

2. To edit your profile, go to.

3. Select the update you’d like to share by tapping on it.

4. To expand this post’s options, select the three dots in its upper right corner.

5. Select “Share” from the menu that appears.

You shouldn’t tap ‘Share to,’ which would otherwise let you AirDrop or send the post to your friends.

6. Toggle the boxes next to the profiles you want to share the post on. You can sign up for an account within the Instagram app itself if you haven’t already.

Once you’ve linked your accounts for a single post, you won’t need to log in again to change the post’s sharing settings.

If you link your Instagram and Facebook accounts, your Stories will appear on both platforms. We elaborate on the process down below.

How to Connect Instagram to Facebook

Because Instagram and Facebook are both owned by Meta, it’s possible to link the two for a more unified experience. When you link your Instagram and Facebook profiles, you can do the following:

Connect your Instagram account with Facebook

Your name and profile picture will be synchronized between profiles

Use Facebook Payments on both iOS and Android.
You can view your purchase history from both accounts.

It is highly recommended that you link your new Instagram profile to your existing Facebook page if you are an active Facebook user. How? Read on!

1. Get the Instagram app up and running.

2. Just select your profile picture down in the right corner.

3. Choose an option from the three dots menu located in the top right corner.

4. Click the gear icon.

5. Look for the ‘Accounts Center’ button under the Meta logo.

6. Select the “Accounts Center” button.

7. If you want to access Facebook, just do as it says.

Done! There is now a link between your two accounts. What it will look like when you’re done is shown here:

I’ll demonstrate the usefulness of linked accounts in the following section.

Upload, Edit, and Post an Image

The next step in learning Instagram is learning how to post an image.

Instagram relies solely on visual content. Instagram’s sole purpose is to allow its users to share images or videos with their audience, as opposed to Facebook, which relies on both text and pictures, and Twitter, which relies on text only.

You could upload 100 pictures to an album on Facebook. You need to pick your Instagram photos more carefully. First, it’s not recommended to update more frequently than once per day. It’s also not a good idea to share a bunch of identical images.

It would be unusual, for instance, if you used fifty of your Instagram photos to showcase the same beach trip. Choose five or six instead, and use them all in the same thread.

(These are called carousel posts, and they allow you to share multiple photos in a single post; they’re great for sharing a set of photos that are visually similar without overwhelming your profile.)

Are you interested in developing a style? Examining these Instagram themes can teach you more about Instagram account themes and provide you with ideas for your own. In addition, HubSpot offers an Instagram marketing course for those who wish to delve even further.

Now that we’ve established that, let’s look into the specifics of image hosting.

1. To add something, select the plus sign in the upper right corner.

You can select the type of post you want to make by tapping the ‘+’ icon. To post something immediately to our profile feed, we’ll need to select the option to do so.

2. Pick the file you want to play.

There are three possible choices here. Instagram allows you to upload photos and videos taken either from the app itself or from your phone’s gallery. I decided to use a picture I had taken in Boston that I had stored in my Photos library for our needs. Then I went to the top right and pressed “Next.”

3. Filters can be added if needed.

‘Filter’ and ‘Edit’ are the two primary tabs available to you when working on an image. Instagram will always start with filter suggestions. Simply select a filter from the carousel and click it to apply it to your photo.

When using a filter, you can reduce its intensity by doubling-tapping the filter and dragging the cursor to the left.

4. You can alter your photo if you like.

Select “Edit” to continue. Contrast, brightness, structure, and warmth are just some of the features that can be tweaked here. Click “Next” in the upper right corner when you’re finished making adjustments to the image or if you decide not to make any changes at all.

5. Add a caption and choose how to share it.

You can now customize your Instagram posts with a caption, tag people (whom you know also use Instagram), and specify a location. You can also choose to share your image on Facebook or another connected social media platform by clicking the corresponding button. The ‘Share’ button in the upper right is where you should go when you’re ready to release your work.

You don’t have to use your phone’s app to upload photos to Instagram; you can also use a computer. Here you’ll find instructions for using Instagram on a computer.

Upload an Image or Video to Your Stories

The videos and photos you share on Instagram’s “Stories” disappear after 24 hours. Like Snapchat, Instagram’s Stories feature allows users to share short video clips and photos that give an intimate look into their daily lives.

You might, for instance, share a highly edited photo of you and your friends at a baseball game on your regular feed. You could, however, upload a more unscripted clip of the stadium performance of “Sweet Caroline” to your Story.

Here are the steps you need to take to add a photo or video to one of your Stories:

1. Select your image from the upper left corner.

You can also use the ‘+’ button in the menu bar at the top, or swipe right on your feed.

2. Take pictures or add music.

You can start recording a video or taking a picture from within the Stories section of the app. You can also use an image from your phone’s media library if you already have one you want to use.

3. Put in some stickers or a filter.

Some formatting tools are available on the left.

The ‘Create’ button allows you to customize your photo by including a location, hashtag, time, date, and various emoticons.

With the ‘Boomerang’ function, you can make a video that plays indefinitely. The ‘Aa’ symbol serves as the text input field. To select a different font style, just press the letter ‘Aa’.

To access this screen, select the happy face button. To incorporate an icon into your picture, just click on the one you want. Dragging it to the bottom will reveal a trash can from which you can remove it if necessary.

To give you an example, I used the happy face to insert a poll into my picture. To apply a filter to your photo or video, simply swipe left or right.

4. Put your tale out there.

Select ‘Close Friends’ first if you want only close friends to see your Story, or click the white arrow icon in the bottom right to share it with everyone who follows you.

Then it’s over with! We’ll publish your story right away.

How to Follow on Instagram

Finding and following users is a breeze. Instagram’s search function allows users to locate their favorite stars, companies, and pals. The ‘Tags’ and ‘Places’ search bars allow for further exploration. If you have an idea of the topic you’re interested in exploring but aren’t sure who regularly contributes to the conversation, “Tags” will come in handy.

If you look for “#familyrecipes” in the tags section, all images tagged with that term will appear in your search results. You can choose to follow a user whose posts you enjoy seeing in your feed if you come across such a user while browsing.

There are only three simple steps to following someone.

1. To conduct a search, hit the search button.

It’s next to the ‘Home’ button and resembles a magnifying glass.

2. Next, enter the name of a person, topic, or product.

I Googled “architecture” to use as an illustration here.

Instagram’s search features let you look for specific terms like “architecture” or “See all results” to examine hashtags and geographic locations.

3. Select the user you want to follow by tapping their profile.

A blue “Follow” button will appear at the top of a user’s profile once you’ve navigated to their page. If a profile is visible to the public, clicking it will cause your account to automatically start following it. But if the profile is protected, you might have to wait until they accept you.

As for the rest, that’s it! You’ve got some serious potential to excel at this. Using a variety of content ideas and premade templates, you can strategically plan your upcoming posts and take your account to the next level.

Using Instagram is Key for Growing Your Personal Brand

Using Instagram is more crucial than ever if you want to advance professionally and personally. You can learn Instagram’s algorithm and the interface by simply watching other users and reading their posts, and then you can jump right in and start posting. With over a billion monthly active users, Instagram is one of the most valuable social media platforms available today, and its popularity is only expected to grow.

This post was updated from its original November 2018 publication to provide the most recent information possible.

Joseph Hillary

I’m a passionate individual with a diverse range of interests encompassing reading, writing, blogging, technology, and games. 📚✍️🌐🎮 With a penchant for exploration and a constant hunger for knowledge, I immerse myself in these fields to continuously expand my horizons and hone my skills.