Tried everything but still feeling stuck on Instagram?
From growth tactics to design tips — these Instagram hacks will help you work smarter, not harder.
Table Of Contents
Use saved replies for FAQs and client bookings
Using the saved replies feature on Instagram is going to save you so much of your time! Trust me, I now have to make almost half of the conversation I used to make earlier in the DMs.
Not that I don’t love having real meaningful conversations with people who DM me, irrespective of whether they’re a potential client or just someone who has some questions.
As you grow on the platform, you will realize that some questions get asked more often than others.
For instance, I’m a Product Photographer who teaches photography and Instagram growth tips. People mostly DM me asking the following questions:
- How did you grow your account on Instagram? Can you share some tips?
- What tripod would you suggest for flatlays?
- What gear do you shoot with?
- From where do you get your backdrops and props?
- How do we hire you as a Photographer?
How to add saved replies on your Instagram account
- Go to your profile and tap the three lines in the top-right corner of the screen.
- Click on settings and scroll down to the Business tab.
- Select “Saved Replies.”
- Tap the “+” button which you will see in the top-right corner to create a new saved reply. Type in your text and include a shortcut that will tell you what that saved reply is about.
- Tap the “Save” button.
When you want to use a saved reply, type the shortcut you created earlier. This should cause a blue button to appear in the message box.
When you tap the button, the reply message will automatically appear.
Check DMs on desktop
After the new updates on Instagram, you can check your DMs from your desktop too.
You no longer have to juggle between your phone and desktop to manage your Instagram profile.
Personally, I would recommend using Instagram on desktop whenever possible at home.
It is better than being glued to a smaller screen, curled up on the couch. Your spine will thank you!
Get creative on your stories by adding pictures from your gallery
Need to create a cool collage to post on Instagram stories?
You can do that in Instagram itself. No need of a third party app.
You can create this collage either on a solid colored background or on another picture as a background.
Let’s assume you want a solid colored background. Go to the page where you create a story and make a solid colored background.
Select a color of your choice and long-press anywhere on the screen to fill the screen up.
Go to Stickers and click on the icon that has a ‘+’ button over a rectangle. Select an image from your gallery.
You can tap on the added image to change its shape: circle, heart, star, square, and a rectangle with rounded edges.
You are free to be as creative as you want with the shapes of the images and the number of images you add to your story.
Put a background photo when sharing a feed post on the story (Works for both iOS & Android)
This Instagram hack has been around for quite some time but it didn’t always work for everyone.
The method in which you hold your post with a thumb and place the background image using two fingers of the other hand is a bit complicated.
Also, it is not easy to follow.
But don’t you worry, I’ve got you covered 🙂
Here are the steps:
- Take a screenshot of the post on your feed that you want to share on your stories. Crop the screenshot so that only your post is visible in it.
- Share the post to your stories
- Go to stickers > add image, like we did in the previous hack
- Select the image you want to use as the background
- Place the feed post in center of the story. Ideally, this should be where you want the people to tap to be able to see the post on your feed.
- Resize the background image you just added to cover the entire story. Your feed post will be hidden behind it. That’s okay.
- Go to stickers > add image again. This time, select the screenshot of the post you took in the beginning.
- Place it in the center, right above the area where your ‘actual feed post’ is hideen behind the background image.
- This screenshot image is now tap-able!
- Simply add a GIF over that says tap here to point it out to people.
Add automated subtitles on your Instagram stories
Adding subtitles to your stories has become super easy with the new captions sticker.
Simply go to stickers > captions and the audio in your Instagram story will be automatically captioned.
There are 4 text formats you can choose from.
This Instagram hack makes your story readable for a broader range of audience. Additionally, most people tap through stories on mute. So, by adding captions, your story will still make sense to them.
Using your brand colors in your Instagram stories
By using your brand colors in your stories, you can create a consistent look on them which will be easily recognisable.
Although you get a lot of color options in Instagram itself, it is not possible to select the exact same brand colors every time.
You can also use this hack to use particular color palettes that you love.
Search for color palettes on Pinterest and save the image whose colors you want to use.
When you posting a story, go to stickers and add that image of the color palette. Using the color picker tool, select the colors from the palette.
After using the colors, delete the palette image and you’re done!
Also Read: Add lyrics to Instagram reels
Cool effects using trending reel filters
You don’t have to rely on third-party apps to add interesting effects to your Instagram reels.
There are plenty of filters available for blurring out the background, adding an image to the video using a green-screen effect, AR-filters and so much more.
Try these out:
- “Presentation” by rendi_vendi
- “Background” by luisgilson_18
- “Greenscreen” by Instagram
- “iPhone Screen 1” by pvikinga
- “Presentation” by gulim.satekova
Make more attractive Instagram reels using this hack, starting today!
Cleaner, to-the-point captions are the way to go
Are you still adding hashtags to the captions in your posts?
This one is an Instagram hack for creating tidier captions without any clutter taking the focus off from the main topic.
Adding full stops or line breaks to push them to an end does the job but isn’t the best option.
If you keep your caption only about what you want to say about the picture/video just posted, add the hashtags in comments instead. It will make your captions look cleaner.
Don’t worry, putting the hashtags in the comments doesn’t affect your organic reach through hashtags.
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