Let’s get straight into it.
Only read this post if you want to have fun with your Instagram account.
If you don’t want to stress out about it.
If you want to grow your Instagram account authentically.
If you want to stand out from the crowd.
Read this post if you’ve tried all the “Instagram strategies under the sun” but you’re not seeing a “difference” or you end up feeling overwhelmed.
Read this post if you’ve burned out because of Instagram before.
These are not going to be your common “Instagram tips and tricks”.
Yes these tips will help you “get more followers”, “increase your engagement”, “get more comments”. They will. Without a shadow of a doubt.
But they will mostly help you stay true to yourself.
Some of you might say:
“What the heck is she talking about…”
But give me just a few minutes to explain.
When you’re true to yourself, all the best post ideas will come to your mind.
When you’re true to yourself, you can get into your creative flow.
When you’re true to yourself, you stop letting the numbers of likes, comments and followers define your worth.
You start seeing your worth in the authentic posts you make, the products or services you create and the people you help and connect with.
You start creating posts you love and you’re proud of.
You are so worthy.
Your followers have no idea how lucky they are to follow you (or maybe they already do!).
When you’re true to yourself, you will start growing without even trying.
The right “followers” will follow you and stick with you.
Without further ado, here are 8 Instagram tips I truly wish more people talked about.
And I truly hope that they will guide you this year too.
Instagram tip #1. It’s ok to be you
This tip is for you if you’re trying to “be like everyone else”, or “post what everyone else is posting because everybody is doing it and it’s working so I have to do it too because I don’t know what else to post”.
Of course you can join trends.
But you can make the trend your own, with your own style and your own personality.
I want to say this SO loud:
It’s ok to be different.
It’s ok to post things that you haven’t seen other people post before.
It doesn’t mean you don’t have a good idea. On the contrary, it could be the best idea you ever have.
And you’re doing yourself and your followers a service. You’re expressing yourself. You’re bringing new ideas to the platform.
You’re experimenting with your creativity.
Wow. Be so proud of yourself for doing this!
Next time you have an idea and a thought like “oh… I’m not sure others will like it”, or “oh… I really want to say this but no one has really talked about it, this way before”.
Remember this:
No one can do it like you do. Even if there are other people in the world doing the same things as you: NO ONE CAN DO IT LIKE YOU DO.
You can bring your own perspective to everything you do.
You can bring your own unique personality to your own editing, captions, posts, Insta Stories or Reels.
It’s ok to be you.
Instagram tip #2. Trust your ideas
On that note, I would also like to say: “Trust your ideas”.
Yes you can get post ideas, caption ideas and inspiration from a lot of different places.
But you know what?
You already have so many amazing ideas.
You truly do.
Just like I said before: No one can do it like you do.
And if you have a business:
No one knows your business as much as you do. No one else has the same passion as you have for your business, for your products, for the services you create.
Let that passion of yours express itself in your Instagram posts.
Trust your ideas.
Whether that’s a photo idea, a video idea, a Reels idea, a caption idea.
Go for it!
Instagram tip #3. Go for it
I want you to remember this during the year:
Go for it.
You might start writing down a lot of post ideas.
And maybe, you might start doubting yourself.
Or you might get “lazy” to bring these posts to life.
This is your kick in the butt to go for it.
Post that post.
Don’t doubt its worth.
Commit.
Keep moving forward.
Instagram tip #4. One “bad” post is not the end of the world
A post didn’t perform as “well” as you thought?
Good.
Don’t destroy your day just because of one of a THOUSAND more posts you’re going to share.
Fun fact: Your followers are not going to remember this post.
Keep posting.
It’s not the end of the world.
And you know what? If you liked this post: you did amazing.
Be your number one follower.
Instagram tip #5. It’s ok not to have it all figured out right now
Oh boy… Can we put our hands up in the air for this one?
We’re all at different stages of our “Instagram journey” (and life journey to be honest).
I want you to know this truth:
It’s ok not to have it all figured out right now.
It’s ok if you’re not taking the best photos right now.
It’s ok if you don’t know how to design your feed right now.
It’s ok if you don’t know what your “brand colors” should be.
It’s ok if you’re still trying to figure out “what to post”.
It’s ok if you’re still trying to find your “Instagram routine”.
It’s ok if you’re not “growing a lot” right now.
It’s ok if you’re still trying to understand how to use hashtags right now.
You know what?
You’re learning right now.
You’re improving as we speak.
And to improve: you have to keep posting.
You’re going to learn so much by doing.
You will learn what you like to post about.
You will learn what your followers like to see from you.
You will learn how to design your feed.
You will learn.
“But other people won’t like it”.
“It could be so much better”.
Shhh…
Keep moving forward friend.
Keep learning.
Keep testing.
Keep trying.
At the end of the year, you will have improved SO much.
It’s ok if it takes time.
It’s ok if it takes one month, one year, 2 years and even more.
I’ve been creating Preview for 4 years now.
And I’m still learning.
I’m still changing our Instagram feed design.
I’m still experimenting.
And I’m finally ok with it.
Instagram tip #6. It’s ok to take a break
It’s ok to take a break too.
You control Instagram. Instagram doesn’t control you.
You control when you open the app.
You can switch off from Instagram on the weekend, on Sunday, or any other time if you want to.
It’s ok not to post for one day if you need that break.
You decide when you want to be on Instagram.
Taking a break can help you refresh your creativity.
So don’t you ever feel guilty of doing “nothing”.
And if you can’t help yourself feeling a bit guilty, tell yourself this:
From “nothing” will come new ideas.
And talking about new ideas:
You can take a break too if you ever want to try something different on your feed and need time to create new content.
It’s ok.
You can tell your followers in your Story or in an Instagram post: “I want to try something new on my account. I’ll be taking a few days off to have fun and create new content. See you again here very soon!”
Instagram tip #7. Create before you consume
This tip is for you if you have a habit of opening your Instagram app and checking what everyone else is doing. And if you start feeling like your posts are not “good enough” or “can’t be as good”.
This tip is for you if you are comparing yourself to other Instagrammers and you start feeling down.
If this ever happened to you:
Create before you consume.
Before you open any app: get into your own creative zone.
Do things like:
- Writing down post ideas.
- Writing down caption ideas (let your thoughts flow, tell a story).
- Planning your content for the next day or for the week.
- Taking a bunch of photos or videos for fun.
Take care of your content before you drain your energy by mindlessly scrolling for an hour.
Instagram tip #8. Stop looking at the numbers
And lastly, I’d like to share this tip if you ever start negatively obsessing over your numbers.
The number of likes, comments, engagement, followers and everything else in between.
As much as I love to share Instagram analytics tips and tricks with you, I’ve got to say:
If you’re starting to feel bad that “you’re not growing”: Give yourself a break from checking your analytics please.
Try this for one week: Stop looking at the numbers and create for the sake of creating.
That is all I’ve got to say. Save your sanity. Bring the fun back to creating.
Your “numbers” will start growing again without you even trying because people are following you for you, not for your analytics.
That is it for now!
I truly hope these tips helped you in some way.
Just to recap:
- It’s ok to be you
- Tryst your ideas
- Go for it
- One “bad” post is not the end of the world
- It’s ok not to have it all figured out now
- It’s ok to take a break
- Create before you consume
- Stop looking at the numbers for a while
And with that being said:
Have an amazing start of the year.
And until next time, see you on Instagram 🙂
– Alex
@preview.app
Thank youuu so much for this article ! That was exactly the moment when I needed to read this ! I prepared a lot of posts for christmas and the new year and then at the date I had to start : “oh I don’t like it, oh I am not good enough”, etc etc. And then during all winter holidays I just did nothing because of my fears for the business. With this article now, I know i will be fine and I’ll remember to have fun and create things because that is what I like the most.
Happy new year to everyone and thanks a lot again Alex !