With social media evolving daily, it is important to stay on top of the current trend. For us higher ed folks, Instagram can be a great tool to reach our current and prospective students since nearly half of its users are under the age of 25.
While many may think Instagram is as simple as “point and shoot,” it has revolutionized the way people are sharing photos across social media platforms. In an effort to keep YOU from falling behind, here are my 5 favorite ways to enhance your Instagram account.
1) Timely- Your content must be timely in nature. Posting an image of the here and now is much more effective than posting one of an event that happened weeks prior. For example, at Ole Miss we know that everyone looks forward to the first “Trash Can Friday” of the football season. With that in mind, we were able to post a picture of the newly placed trash cans on our Instagram feed and it was one of the most engaged posts for 2013.
2) Fliters- Using a simple filter with quickly change your photo form Mom and Dad’s Polaroid to Pulitzer Prize potential. The use of a filter is a way to quickly enhance the colors and the overall appearance of your photo. It will easily distinguish the image and you followers will enjoy the enhanced view. These same images are a great example of how you can take a great photo and make it even better with just one click.
3) Video- Posting a quick 15-second video can easily get a message out to your audience. We saw an opportunity to further educate our followers about the rules of The Grove at Ole Miss. What we thought was a one time video, turned into a series called “This Week In the Grove.” We shot and posted a video prior to each home game telling followers what color to wear, what Pinterst recipe to cook and many other interesting facts about the Grove.
4) Text- Drop in a few quick words over your image to further your message. While the use of text is not something that should be used with every post, there are certain instances in which it will help elevate your current content. This past fall, Ole Miss traveled to Texas to take on the Longhorns. This photo (which was taken in Austin by yours truly) would have instantly been a fan favorite, but by dropping this text over the top, it became our most liked post ever.
5) Contests- Everyone loves the opportunity to win something free! We used our already established video series “This Week in the Grove” to run a simple contest for our followers. In the video, we asked our followers to tell us how many trashcans they thought were present in the Grove by commenting on the post. By adding this section to our weekly series, we were able to engage our followers, and enter to win a free shirt.
I hope that the use of these 5 easy ways to enhance your Instagram account will help you engage your followers just as easily as it did for us.