For designers, Instagram isn’t just a platform to post your inspiration and beautiful pictures, but an opportunity for you to capitalize on so many other things to build your brand. As you navigate through the community, be sure to consider these tips to optimize your presence:
Explain what you are posting.
Visuals say a lot, but images alone don’t say it all. Explaining a photo is important because it adds context to an image. It doesn’t have to be a long story, and a few simple words will do as long as it is in your brand’s voice.
Engage with your community.
At its core, Instagram is a network. Not commenting, engaging with others or liking images means that you aren’t networking, which can be a missed opportunity in a ecosystem of discovery and viral buzz. So, be sure to not only post interesting content, be social!
Consistently Use Branded Hashtags.
Custom hashtags are a great way to establish your brand and also categorize photos by campaigns. If you’re going to use one or two, make it consistent and proprietary to your business. Also do this to gain insights about your customer and marketing efforts.
Give credit when you post photos from other brands or people.
Some photos are just too good to not use again. However, it’s important to give credit just like you would on a blog post or look book. Using words like #repost or #regram are a nice way to acknowledge that you are using a photo that is not yours. Another option is to use the Repost app.
Follow your community.
As a designer you need to build a community around the customers and professionals in your industry. For example, for fashion designers, this includes editors, retailers, stylists and bloggers. By directing your ‘instgramming’ efforts towards your industry, you’ll stay connected to your consumer’s world and hopefully, they will be immersed into yours.
