gramfeed

If you think words are necessary to connect your audience with your brand, think again. No amount of text can convey the eye-catching properties of a fascinating photo! Hashtags and user profiles are pretty much the only words you’ll find on Instagram, and that’s why people love it: It’s so simple.

Despite its seemingly restrictive nature, businesses are finding success connecting with Instagram users through the mere use of photos (and, more recently, videos).

So how can you get a piece of that pie?

Here are 10 great ways your brand can utilize Instagram to engage your audience:

1. Become familiar with Instagram for Business. Don’t feel your way around your marketing strategy. Get familiar with this social platform. Take full advantage of its features. You want your users to experience brand continuity, so figure out exactly what image you want to portray before your first post.

2. Pick your focus. You’re going to need a strategy before you start posting left and right. Who is your target audience? What kind of message do you want to convey to them? How will you accomplish this through images? Don’t forget to decide beforehand how often to post content.

3. Build the perfect profile.

4. Use hashtags. Your followers will see just about everything you post, but you want to do more than entertain your current followers: you want to grow the pool. By assigning hashtags to your posts, users will easily be able to find your content whenever they search for that particular term.

5. Cross post your photos on your other social media sites.

6. Upload videos. Instagram has announced it will soon allow users to upload videos up to 60 seconds long. Use this feature to introduce a quirky, fun employee or show a glimpse of what happens behind the scenes in your business. Expand your audience’s view of your company by capturing the company food drive. Bite-sized entertainment can be addictive!

7. Be fun. The content you post should definitely reflect your brand, but people aren’t interested in being sold to; they’re interested in being entertained. Post fun things to attract a larger following and give your business a personal feel.

8. Engage with others. You want people to view and like your content. So when you receive a comment, consider viewing their posts and leaving them a comment as well. Follow them, and perhaps they will follow you. And just like that, a relationship has been established.

9. Use third-party apps to enhance your experience. Sites like Gramfeed let you view Instagram posts on your computer browser instead of a phone, as well as offering a plethora of other features. Gramfeed also connects with Facebook and Pinterest, allowing users to “like” and “pin” photos.

10. Finally, take the focus off sales. Russ Meyer explains the mindset of successful

Instagram business accounts:

Having a distinctive view of the world

Cultivating a unique visual sense

Capturing things that are interesting to the brand and to the core target customer

Training your eye for what makes for a great, provocative, engaging image.

When in doubt, entrusting the work to someone in the organization that has the above!

Still not convinced Instagram is a good fit for your business? Look at this list of 20 brands that have experienced tremendous success with their Instagram marketing strategies. Why couldn’t you be on this list? Your business could bring a new flavor to one of the most popular social networking platforms in the world! All it takes is some time and creativity, and you’ll be on your way.

Guest post by Jonathon Ohayon 

Holi also known as “Festival of Color” is celebrated in India, where people color each other with colored powder and colored water.

Checkout all the photos by following these hashtags:

#holi

#holi2016

#holifestival

#happyholi

(Source: http://www.gramfeed.com/p/BDUvpUmpttD/)

(Source: http://www.gramfeed.com/p/BDUrl7yzLgw/)

Guest post by Bobbi Phelps

Millions of people use Instagram each day to keep updated with the latest trends and inspirational images. Boomerang is Instagram’s most recent creative standalone app. Any new social content tool helps brands showcase themselves in a new way. Adding Boomerang posts to your Instagram feed can show that your company is connected to the latest trends.

The app launched in October of 2015 and has helped many businesses boost their digital marketing efforts.

Checkout all the boomerang posts on Instagram: #boomerang

Boomerang is the perfect mix of photo and gif to create content that is both creative and engaging.  The app takes a burst of photos and stitches them together into a high-quality mini video that plays forward and backward in a one-second loop. Although Instagram created Boomerang, the app allows you to share your creation on other social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. So, how can Boomerang take your social media marketing to the next level?

Get noticed

Since Boomerang is still relatively new, people are very curious about the unfamiliar partial video, partial gif posts on Instagram. There are a ton of creative options when using Boomerang, and many companies have taken full advantage. Timberland showed someone flipping through the pages of its catalog, Purina shared a dancing dog for the app’s arrival, and Refinery29 created its logo out of glitter and brushed it out of the way using Boomerang to incorporate action into the post.

Purina: http://www.gramfeed.com/p/9J8nhMweLB/

Refinery29: http://www.gramfeed.com/p/9J_QMOMbpA/

The comments on these particular posts are flooded with comments such as “I can’t stop watching this!”, “I want to try to make one of these!” and “Love this idea!”. Many of the companies that are taking advantage of Boomerang encourage their audiences to make their own videos and tag them in the captions. The popularity and share ability of these posts makes them an excellent way to reach an audience that is always interested in the newest products and apps.

Sharing

Short videos and gifs are becoming more and more popular because they are fun, shareable, and interactive. This type of content is readily shared and saved by digital consumers. Brands should remember that although Boomerang posts are only a second long, that is still one second of branding. Since this type of content drives social engagement it is important to incorporate your company into the video in case the post does go viral.

If you are looking to engage younger audiences and get them more interested in your company Boomerang is a great option. You can effortlessly share your company’s personality by sharing videos of employees working, having fun in the office, or partaking in a discussion. Videos like this are a great way to involve the audience in your daily work life and show them how your company stands out. Let Boomerang help you share your company culture and personality in enjoyable and engaging ways!

Simplicity

Boomerang content is extremely simple to produce. Any user can easily create a remarkable clip for their Instagram feed in just seconds. You do not need to hire professional producers in order to create great content with Boomerang. The only thing you need to make a clip a success is a great idea that will excite your audience and encourage sharing.

Because Boomerang is so simple to use, your audience can easily create their own clips and share them with their favorite companies. This is an excellent way to incorporate contests or challenges into your brand. If your audience participates in these contents your brand could flourish. Contests and challenges always encourage people to participate with the brands they follow. Being tagged in posts made by your audience will increase traffic to your account, and the more people who like your posts, the more attention your brand will receive.

Guest post by Bobbi Phelps

Guest post by Daphne Lefran

Daphne Lefran has been writing about photography for many years and currently writes on behalf of cloud digital frame providers at Nixplay. In her spare time, she enjoys capturing moments through a camera lens, traveling to new places and cheering on the Florida State Seminoles. Follow her on Twitter @daphnelefran

Instagram has only been around for 5 years but has proven itself as a powerhouse social media network. With 300 million active monthly users and an average of 70 million photos shared per day, Instagram is proving that it is here to stay.

Instagram was the first mobile-only social network. Nowadays, camera phones have become the go-to camera; everyone with a smartphone can document their life, tell their story through images and share them with the world in an instant.

But among the millions of Instagram handles out there, there exist those few 'Instagram famous' accounts that appear to have the most perfect, photogenic lives. The question is, how does one separate themself (and their Instagram) from the rest of the crowd? How does one capture appealing images that boost the number of double-taps and Instagram followers? Here are some tips for taking your Instagram page to the next level.

Shoot pictures outside of the Instagram app.

Instagram allows you take a picture and edit it within the app itself. However, the iPhone’s native camera is much more useful. The native camera allows you to take multiple pictures at once, which ensures that you capture the perfect shot. It also has grid lines and a zoom feature to help set up the composition of a frame. Last, it allows you to take horizontal or vertical full-framed images. Afterwards, images can easily be imported into Instagram from the camera roll.

(Source: http://www.gramfeed.com/p/3Nd18bqmV9/)

Instagram displays photos that fit within a square, as well as landscape and portrait. Thus, iPhone cameras now have a feature that allows you take a photo within a square frame. Avoid using this option because it can constrain your photo and limit your editing process.

Underexpose your photos.

Photographer Chris Ozer recommends intentionally underexposing your photo when shooting. The iPhone camera tends to blow out highlights and shadows, which results in a loss of definition in photos. To fix this, tap the screen and hold your finger over the part of the frame that needs to be focused or darkened before snapping the photo. This locks the camera’s exposure while you compose the image however you wish.

An underexposed image will capture all the details and textures in your image while making the post-editing process much easier.

Edit your photos with different apps.

Skip Instagram’s built in options and edit with different editing apps. These apps can be used for cropping, adding filters and making major adjustments such as sharpness, temperature, exposure and contrast.

Many of these apps have features that save your favorite photo edits and adjustments. Whether you prefer a minimalist and airy feel or a saturated and crisp look to your photos, the edits to achieve these effects can be saved as presets.  This way you can easily create an Instagram page with a coherent and consistent style.  Some popular photo editing apps include VSCO Cam, Afterlight, Camera+ and PicTapGo.

Don’t be repetitive.

Mix up your shots within the theme of your Instagram. Play around with different types of angles and compositions. Experiment with cropping, symmetry and the rule of thirds to achieve a wide variety of perspectives.

(Source: http://www.gramfeed.com/p/-zRzkxqmSm/)

Also, change up the subject of your photos. Take pictures of beautiful scenery, food, people, architecture and even some selfies! Fun fact: When taking selfies, the duck-face selfies generate 1,112% more Instagram likes than traditional selfies. Long live the duck-face.

Lighting is everything.

Lighting can make or break your picture. Also lighter images can generate 24% more likes than dark images.

(Source: http://www.gramfeed.com/p/3PgrK9KmTI/ )

Natural soft light that shows the details in the highlights and shadows is ideal. The best time to take pictures is the hour right around sunrise and sunset when the sun is low and produces a warm soft glow. It is also recommended that the sun be directly behind the photographer and facing the subject.

Pair a unique photo with an interesting caption.

An interesting or informative caption can help drive a message home. Humor also works great too. A common misconception among many Instagram users is that shorter captions work better on Instagram since it’s essentially a visual network. However, a study by Simply Measured found there was no statistically significant correlation between caption length and audience engagement.

Therefore, don’t stress over your caption’s word count. Instead, make sure that your caption conveys your message adequately without distracting from the photo.

Hashtag and geo-tag.

Many Instagrammers skip the hashtags because they think they look tacky or spammy. However, posts with at least one hashtag get 12.6% more engagement on average. So add some relevant, unique and creative hashtags to your captions. If used correctly, hashtags can help reach your target audience. You can even come up with your own original hashtags that represents your brand image. Just don’t be that person that adds 30 hashtags to each photo and you’re good to go.

If hashtagging just isn’t your thing, another option is to geo-tag. Instagram posts tagged with a location receive 79% more engagement. Yes, you read that number right…79%. Tagging your location is another strategic way to get your content discovered. A simple tag of a local restaurant, a business or even your neighborhood can bring people to your Instagram page.

Photograph people.

Have you ever found yourself taking a picture of something such as a scenic sunset or a new jacket you just purchased, but choose to exclude people from being in the photo? Many people post pictures like this to maintain the focus on a specific subject, such as the scenery or a product.  However, a study done by Georgia Tech found that Instagram photos with faces get 38% more likes.

(Source: http://www.gramfeed.com/p/2RnPPXqmTO/)

We are naturally attracted to faces, so adding faces to photos can easily boost the amount of likes it gets. Also, featuring the faces of your loved ones in your photographs adds a personal element that is desired for displaying the photos in photo albums and digital picture frames in your home.

Nyepi is “Day of Silence” celebrated in Bali, Indonesia which is Balinese New Year. The day before Nyepi called “Pengrupukan” is celebrated by parading the demon “ogoh-ogoh”.

Follow these hashtags to see picture of the celebration from Indonesia:

#nyepi

#pengrupukan

#ogohogoh

Source: http://www.gramfeed.com/p/BCsrTulKZ5E/

Source: http://www.gramfeed.com/p/BCsqKVPoPcm/

Source: http://www.gramfeed.com/p/BCsst72KdJp/

March 2nd to 9th is Paris Fashion Week. Follow these hashtags to get all the photos from the event:

#ParisFashionWeek

#PFW

#PFW16

#FashionWeek

Source: http://www.gramfeed.com/p/BCiZGNkQg12/

Source: http://www.gramfeed.com/p/BCijxexFDCL/

Source: http://www.gramfeed.com/p/BCij1OhqRnL/

March 3rd was proclaimed to be the World Wildlife Day by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to protect the endangered species and wildlife around the world.

Below are photos shared by people around the world with hashtag #WorldWildlifeDay

Source: http://www.gramfeed.com/p/BCgELFvjqFV/

Source: http://www.gramfeed.com/p/BCf36m2DPwC/

Source: http://www.gramfeed.com/p/BCgEFoLKIrq/

March 3rd in Japan is Hinamatsuri, also known as Doll’s Day or Girl’s Day. The tradition involves displaying ornamental dolls on red carpet. Read more on wiki.

Below are photos of Hinamatsuri celebration from Japan:

#Hinamatsuri

Source: http://www.gramfeed.com/p/BCek2XPA9uA/

Source: http://www.gramfeed.com/p/BCee-a_jCZ6/

Source: http://www.gramfeed.com/p/BCeVI3evzlb/

March 1st 2016 is #SuperTuesday US Presidential Primary Election day when most number of states hold elections to pick nominee for US Presidential Elections 2016

Below are photos posted across United States of America:

#SuperTuesday

Source: http://www.gramfeed.com/p/BCa-AskS_L-/

Source: http://www.gramfeed.com/p/BCbAOvXrde5/

Source: http://www.gramfeed.com/p/BCbFqvRqbcj/

More photos here : #SuperTuesday

Here are instagram accounts of Presidential Candidates in #SuperTuesday:

Hillary Clinton (@hillaryclinton)

Bernie Sanders (@berniesanders)

Donald Trump (@realdonaldtrump)

Marco Rubio (@marcorubiofla)

Ted Cruz (@sentedcruz)

John Kasich (@johnkasich)

Checkout all the photos from the 88th Academy Awards from the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles.

Here are some hashtags you can follow to photos about the Oscars:

#oscars

#oscars2015

Also checkout photos taken/tagged at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.

Dolby Theater

From the red carpet

Inside

Guest post by Velma Gray

Velma Gray is a Senior Writer for OLWOMEN.com, an avid reader, fashion and make up enthusiast who simply lives to write and talk about all kinds of stuff.

Even before the hustle and bustle of wedding is over one question that every newlywed couple gets asked is where are you heading for your honeymoon? Choosing the perfect honeymoon spot can be quite daunting. There are so many exotic locations to choose from, with each of them offering something unique. But off course there are money and time constraints that one needs to keep in account.  Even though you have known your partner for quite some time this is the time when you get to know them in a new light. It is the vacation of a lifetime and everyone wants it to be the most relaxing, enjoyable and romantic time of their life.

To make things easier for you we went on Instagram and took out some of the most popular honeymoon destinations covered there for you, these ideas from Instagram will help you kick-start your romance for sure.

1. Bora Bora – The French Polynesia

Bora Bora was voted as the best choice by honeymooners in 2015, and it is without a doubt one of the world’s most romantic places. The islands have both black and white sand beaches and endless shorelines are covered with resorts, small lodgings and even guest houses to suit every budget. You can get a hut with a private beach which gives you the view of turquoise lagoons. You could also take helicopter ride to neighboring island or go scuba diving and snorkeling.

2. Bali, Indonesia

Bali has been one of the very popular honeymoon destinations for quite some time. The place is nicknamed “Isles of the god”, and once you get there you will know why. The pristine scenery with temples with backdrop of mountains and the place’s vivid lifestyle is enough to make you forget about everything. It is one of the most peaceful locations in the world and the most perfect place to discover your partner as you are away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

3. Sonoma County

One of the key relationship rules is to communicate, and give your partner your undivided attention.  If this is what you want on your honeymoon Sonoma County is the place to hit. The county has very diverse scenery consisting of vineyards, rivers, valleys, oceans and redwoods all in the same place. For accommodation you can choose a chic barn or a farmhouse inn which is romantic and cozy. Some inns even give you tours of vineries which may not be open to public.

4. Venice, Italy

This romantic honeymoon destination has been flocked by honeymooners since the early 18th century, when it was included in the “Grand Tour”. Though one might feel the city tends to get overcrowded at times, but if you are into history and culture Venice offers an unparalleled experience. It offers gondola tours, mesmerizing cityscape with the most unique architecture in the world and the city’s flowing music will sure put anyone in their most romantic mood.

5. Paris, France

Paris is synonymous with romance. The city’s architecture, fragrances, cuisine, museums, its history all gives Paris a mystical air. To date it remains one of the most popular honeymoon destinations in the world. For years lovers had been tying lock on the Pont des Art Bridge, but recently the authorities removed all the locks as the bridge could not take the weight of the locks, but you can still go there and tie a ribbon to symbolize your everlasting love for each other.

6. Harbor Islands, Bahamas

Bahamas is a favorite holiday spot for celebrities like Mick Jaggers and Ellie McPerson. His gateway to heaven has wide variety of offerings from its pink sand beaches to high end nightclubs where you can party all night long. The spas and resorts are the perfect place to unwind and relax with your sweetheart. The resorts offer private beaches, romantic dinning, couple massages and what not!

7. Cape Town, South Africa

If you want the buzz of a cosmopolitan with a touch of culture Cape Town is the place to be. It is the only place in the world which offers culture, scenic sunsets, wild safaris and some of the world’s finest vines all in one place. It is easy on the pocket and you will have access to the boulder beach as well, what more can you ask for?

8. Santorini, Greece

Santorini is without a doubt one of the most popular honeymoon destinations when it comes to Instagram. What makes Santorini a winner?  This Greek paradise has one of the world’s most striking sunsets and is a perfect fusion of exotic landscape and structural architecture. It offers beaches, local cuisine, fine wines and an unparalleled shopping experience as the shops here offer exotic local handicrafts and clothes.

9. Maldives

This Indian Ocean archipelago remains the most popular honeymoon destination for a number of reasons. Its hotels and resorts are made in such a way that despite it being such a popular destination most of the hotels have their private beaches. So at no point during your romantic getaway will you feel your privacy is being invaded. The white-sand beaches, crystal clear waters, underwater night club, exotic spas and coral nurseries are sure to give you memories to last a life-time.

10. Srilanka

Marco Polo defined Sri Lanka as one of the world’s finest islands of its sizes and this hidden treasure of Asia got into the spotlight just recently. If you and your sweetheart want serenity and peace with no crowds of tourist bothering you Sri Lanka is an ideal getaway for you. The island offers secluded beaches, rainforests, shrines and mellow villages. It is impossible to not be overwhelmed by the culture and atmosphere of the small island.

Gramfeed (now called Picodash) allows you to export and download Instagram users’ following and followers list in .csv format.

UPDATE: Visit https://www.picodash.com/export-instagram-data to export any user’s followers or hashtag posts metadata.

Search and open any Instagram user profile on picodash.com, click on following or followers to load user grid. Scroll until all users are loaded, then click on option to export and download spreadsheet.

If you have large amount of followers that needs to be exported, then scrolling and loading all will take a lot of time, you can also request export of all followers and an email will be sent to you when export is ready to download. Visit Picodash to export followers with one click.

The saved .csv file will have username, following/followers and date information in the file name so that it will be easy to sort.

The tool below helps you to generate iframe embed code for Instagram, you can specify ant dimension for the photo/video, caption display option and also set appropriate height so as to hide or show the like/comment bar.

The link below will allow you to enter any instagram url and generate iframe embed code:

http://www.gramfeed.com/instagram/embed#https://www.instagram.com/p/8_kRtJBsBq/

After Facebook’s purchase of Instagram, everyone knew that monetization was on the horizon, but no one knew exactly how they would do it. Some commentators even doubted it was possible to monetize the popular photo sharing service, guessing that users would not tolerate advertising on the platform.

It seems that Instagram will nevertheless forge ahead with bringing advertising to its users’ feeds: this month, it announced the launch of a new feature allowing advertisers to link to websites from Instagram posts. Previously, there was no way to embed links in Instagram posts, so they could only indirectly drive traffic. Brands are popular on Instagram, but until now have mostly used the service as a brand building extra, not a real driver of traffic and conversion.

The launch marks first major implementation of advertising into the photo sharing software. In a blog post that compared the feature to print media advertising, Instagram said that the new feature—dubbed “carousel ads”—would allow brands to show multiple images in a single post, enabling users to swipe through the images if they are interested. These can include videos as well as pictures.

It will also include a bit of data, with advertisers able to see not only statistics about likes and clicks, but also information about how many images the users swiped through or how long they watched a video.

The applications for certain industries are exciting. Fashion blogs could allow users to swipe left to break down the different items in a “look” featured in the first image of a carousel, with each picture including a link that leads to a purchase page for that item. The links could include a referral code that would give a kickpack to the blog owner. Car companies could allow users to swipe left to focus in on certain features or details on a vehicle.

This new feature should help brands begin to use Instagram as a real driver of traffic and conversion. Previously, despite its popularity with consumers, Instagram has been used almost as a vanity project—that is, a supplemental and somewhat peripheral part of a social media presence, used more for brand building and other intangibles than actual revenue generation.

Now, however, brands can use Instagram to drive traffic to directly to their websites—and their purchase funnels. This means that a time investment in Instagram can finally be associated with a real, definite RoI. This makes the new carousel ads feature not only a win for businesses, who stand to make money from purchases and traffic, but also a blessing for social media managers, who can now substantiate their brand contributions with real numbers and statistics

Instagram says it is still testing variations on the feature, and is rolling it out on a limited basis to selected brands. It’s a cautious, thoughtful move for a company that still says its number one priority is growth.

The bottom line is, any way you look at it, this is a big move for Instagram. With this feature, Instagram joins its owner Facebook, who has recently been pushing Facebook pages for businesses. And it seems like it’s a good move: if successfully implemented, Instagram advertising could mean big money for its owner Facebook.

Guest Post by Nick Rojas

Super Bowl XLIX is on February 1st, 2015 happening in University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale Arizona. Catch all the action live from the stadium using the University of Phoenix Stadium location page:

http://www.gramfeed.com/instagram/places/580427

Also follow the hashtag #superbowlXLIX

Here are official accounts of the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks:

New England Patriots @patriots​

Seattle Seahawks @seahawks 

All other official accounts of NFL teams are listed here:

Gramfeed has just added advanced search for Instagram Photos, you were able to search photos by hashtag, user and location, now you can further filter the results by a keyword or specify a date range for photos for all the search results.

The search results from hashtag search, map location search, places search and users photos will now have the option to filter by keyword and filter by date/time like shown below:

Filter by Keyword

This filter will help you to filter the displayed photos which have the searched keyword in the photo's caption or hashtags. It does not represent all the photos that have the keyword, but just the photos that are displayed will be filtered. You have to first scroll and load all the photos for a search and then use the filter by keyword to get the desired results.

Filter by date/time

This filter will help you to get results for a specified date range, the photos will be displayed in reverse chronological order,  you can select the latest date/time and earliest date/time to get results for a desired date range. It will still load about 20 photos at a time, you will have to scroll to get more results. 

If no date is specified then it will load all photos starting with the most recent. If only latest date/time is selected then it will load photos starting at that date going back to the earliest photos. If only earliest date/time is selected then it will load photos starting from the most recent until the date/time specified.

Guest Post by Dave Landry

Dave Landry Jr. is a professional business journalist in Southern California with a background in the financial industry. In addition to covering how B2B's can utilize today's social technologies, his writing also covers internal business processes, business communications, and VoIP technology. Connect with him on Twitter to find more of his writing. 

How to Use Instagram Marketing on a Budget

More than 75 million people are connecting on Instagram every day and this powerful social site isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. With the recent acquisition and continued backing from “The Almighty” Facebook, this photo swapping platform will only continue to grow.

After launching web profiles and online feeds, Instagram has recently made itself even more attractive to marketers. Their shared photos are now easier to find and benefit from an improved content amplification cycle. Sharing beautiful photos to develop a brand name and reputation is just the start of a successful visual marketing strategy aboard Instagram.

But since not all of us have Mr. Zuckerberg’s sizable wallet, let alone his enormous budget, are there affordable ways that we can market successfully on this platform without breaking the bank? How are companies best utilizing this photo-friendly site for effective marketing and gaining more relevant followers?

Promotion and leveraging (UGC -- User Generated Content)

Some companies are completely missing the boat when it comes to successfully launching an Instagram marketing campaign on the cheap. Before you leave the dock, consider having an online contest and grabbing some extra content on the sly.

Coffee giant Starbucks is engaging with an impressive 3.3 million followers on Instagram. Adding to their visually stunning boards, they recently held a contest asking their coffee customers to paint images on their plain, white cups and share them online. Using #WhiteCupContest, they received an impressive amount of UGC posted on both Instagram and Facebook.

What is interesting to note is that although their cups are mostly ivory, their logo is clearly showcased directly inside the user’s artistic additions. Pure branding genius.

When pushing your product

Still on the contest concept, you can engage with users and gain even more followers by showcasing your new product and offer one (or some) for free when associated with an event or contest. Post your picture of something that was recently added to your inventory and tell your audience that a few, fortunate, followers can win this valuable prize when liking your pic of this new item and sharing it with their friends.

If you are promoting an event, showcase your newest product that will be given to a portion of your attendees. Either way, you will attract some attention to your newest “thang” that will become all the rage on Instagram.

One man’s (or woman’s) trash is another man’s treasure

Years ago, I worked for a business that received a significant amount of inventory packed onto disposable, reusable, wooden pallets. Rather than pay for their removal or find a place to recycle them, we set them out on our busy street corner and consumers would come into our establishment and question whether or not they were available at no cost. These walk-in inquiries got more foot traffic into our business, increased our brand awareness and made way for happy, new, repeat customers. This concept can also be effectively utilized on Instagram.

If you have a waste item that could be recycled in some way, don’t throw it away or turn it in for reuse by another company, offer it to the public at large on Instagram. Take a photo of your “trash” and offer it free for the taking at your location. Although you won’t see a successful sale of your leftover “junk” as others have profited from on Instagram, you will get more followers and shares of your stuff, your brand and more importantly, your business.

One last tip, evaluate your results

Often overlooked, Instagram offers different ways to examine results from your campaign. They track the number of “likes” and comments given to your posts along with the volume of photos that were actually shared. This important data can influence how to successfully launch your next campaign.