Instagram for Designers: Key to Eye Catching Descriptions and Hashtags
Instagram has emerged as the most viral social media platform that predominantly dictates visual content to please audiences and users. Images and videos rule the timelines of Instagram users. This is why it has not only become a source of inspiration for many designers out there but also provides them with the drive to showcase their unique talents and artistic expressions.
Many designers nowadays are now using the platform to build authenticity around their work through their strong sense of style and distinctiveness.
According to a recent study by Oberlo, there are over 1 billion monthly active users on Instagram, with more than 500 million daily users.
Furthermore, the average post on Instagram contains 10.7 hashtags and 71% of all Instagram users under the age of 35 years old.
Moreover, Instagram users spend 53 minutes every day on the platform, and at least 71% of US businesses utilizing it for their promotional activities. Instagram sponsored content has grown by 133% from February 2018 to February 2019.
In light of this information, let’s take a quick look at how designers can get the most out of using hashtags on Instagram.
1. Number of Hashtags to Use
While Instagram allows you to use up to 30 hashtags in a single post, however, it is best advised to stick to no more than 11 hashtags. While hashtags make your content easy to find for relative audiences, using too many hashtags can dilute their effect. Many professionals would often consider using only one or three hashtags, considering that they are strong and reflect high engagement from targeted Instagram users.
It would help if you also considered using hashtags that speak your customer’s language, are community-specific, and related to your industry.
However, hashtags associated with brands take prominence due to their widespread support and fan following. The same goes for celebrities, public figures, popular events, and well-known places or locations.
2. Things to Consider
When it comes to your Instagram captions, there is ample space of 2,200 characters for you to play around with and make the best use of for your agenda.
However, it is recommended that you keep your copy brief, which makes the ideal post between 138 to 150 characters. Plus, it would help if you also built an audience persona as that will help your own brand tone and voice as well as help you stay on track.
You need to make sure that your captions are goal-oriented, relevant for your niche market, and address the pain points of your targeted customers. Always put the most important information first while also taking your time to write, re-write, and edit your captions. Here are some ways to make your Instagram captions more engaging:
Creating a Contest
A contest is a great way to spark interest in the audience, especially if it is backed with a tangible and noteworthy reward. Make sure you set the eligibility criteria and the rules clearly and in the simplest of words to avoid confusion. You can hold several types of competitions relating to typography, posters, best logo concept, even a Tee design for that matter.
Meaningful Content
Another thing you can do with your captions is to ensure that they offer value to your users. They could include news updates, information about local events that are about to happen, public gatherings, or any other important information associated with you and your work.
In fact, you can also create posts to educate your audiences and share them with some vital info that can help them make better choices, delivers the latest research or statistics, and provide meaningful elucidations.
Telling Your Brand Story
While many would request you to refrain from being too overly self-promoting on Instagram, I, on the other hand, consider that it is an absolute must for you to develop a connection with your audience.
In order to do that, you need to tell them all about yourself, where you started, your current projects, your upcoming work, and future objectives.
Create, for them, a powerful narrative about yourself and your brand that makes you unique and different from the rest so that they are able to distinguish you and recognize your efforts.
In fact, you can create a separate album or series of albums for them to know about your origins, personal work, apprenticeship years, and evolution into a professional designer.
3. Types of Instagram Hashtags
Coming back to hashtags, as a designer, you should know that there are different categories of hashtags at your disposal that you can use to amplify results and user engagement. Some of the popular varieties include:
- Brand Hashtags – related to your own or other brands, also allows you to be featured by a brand.
- Community Hashtags – your community will be that of designers on Instagram.
- Event Hashtags – related to events happening around the world or you.
- Industry Hashtags – general hashtags related to your commerce. Consider using one or two of them in your mix.
- Festive Hashtags – seasonal celebrations like Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc.
- High-Density Hashtags – many posts, lots of following, but heavy competition at the same time.
- Location Hashtags – make it easy for other people to find you. They boost your engagement tremendously.
- Low-Density Hashtags – lesser posts, little following, but lesser competition as well.
- Niche Hashtags – the more specific, the better, speciality related, and must be included in all your posts.
4. Writing Better Hashtags
There are tons of variations for you to try out now that you know about the various hashtags. Nowadays, even students looking for research paper writing services UK try out numerous variations of hashtags on their social media accounts. Here are some examples for you to get started:
- Location + Event + Niche = New York + Weddings + Invitation Card Designs
- Location + Festive + Niche = Washington + Christmas + Outdoor Poster Designs
As you go along, you can create your own iterations as well. Furthermore, you must also include a strong call to action. CTAs can be used both as a part of the caption in written text as well as hashtags too.
Including relevant emojis that add value to your messages are also a good practice but always refrain from overly using them or abusing their relevancy.
5. Using Popular Hashtags
There are several ways through which you can utilize popular hashtags in your post. Some viable tips include:
- Use those which you are interested in and related to your passion and inclinations the most.
- You can also use hashtags focused on building more followers, such as #followme or #f4f (#follow4follow).
- General use hashtags are also good for use, including #picoftheday, #bestoftheday, or #swag, etc.
- Include fashion and style in your hashtags such as #lifeisgood, #instastyle, #lookgoodfeelgood, etc.
- A lot of foodies are out there as well, so include #homemade, #goodeats, #foodporn, etc.
Conclusion
There are literally tons of variations available when it comes to using Instagram hashtags, and the best way to go about it is to understand your audience and niche market. Study it well, develop customer personas, and a unique brand voice for your account.
Since the majority of the demographic is young for Instagram users, it would be best that you stick to energetic and athletic vibes along with travel and adventure. For more questions, feel free to leave a mention of your query in the comment section below. Cheers, and all the best for your future endeavors!
Samantha Kaylee currently works as an Assistant Editor at Crowd Writer. This is where higher education students can requests professionals to do my assignment in order to acquire specialized assistance from experts. During her free time, she likes to play popular tunes on the banjo for family and loved ones.