Instagram Hacks and Tricks Small Business Owners Should Know

More and more small businesses are discovering the power of Instagram to help their business grow. What was once a platform to simply share photos has turned into a powerful social media marketing tool. Here are a few Instagram hacks and tricks small business owners should know to get the most out of the platform.

Reply to commonly asked questions or comments faster

A great hack exists for iOS users that will help you reply to common questions and comments quickly and efficiently. How to do it:

1. On your Instagram profile, tap the hamburger menu and then Settings.
2. Tap General and then Keyboard.
3. Tap Text Replacement.
4. Here, you’ll see a list of pre-populated keyboard shortcuts. Click the + sign in the upper right corner.
5. In the Phrase section, type the generic response you would like to create (e.g., “Hi! We’re closed on Sundays”).
6. In the Shortcut section, type a word or abbreviation that will represent that full phrase, like “Sundays”.
7. Anytime you want to use that specific comment, type out your shortcut and your phone will automatically populate the full phrase.

Adding and managing multiple Instagram accounts from your phone

 You can navigate between multiple Instagram accounts on your phone, making it easier to manage multiple profiles. How to do it:

1. Go to your profile and tap the hamburger menu.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Scroll to the bottom and tap Add Account.
4. Enter the username and password of the account you’d like to add.

To switch between accounts, you’ve added:

1. Go to your profile.
2. Tap your username at the top of the screen.
3. Tap the account you’d like to switch to.

Schedule posts in advance

You can schedule Instagram posts hours, days or weeks in advance through social media management tools like Hootsuite. Simply upload your image, add your content, and use the scheduler in Hootsuite to pick the day and time you’d like the post to go live. NOTE: You can only use the feature in conjunction with a Facebook business account.

Post to Instagram from your computer without a social media management tool

You may have noticed that while you can see your Instagram from your computer, you’re unable to add pictures…. until now! Here’s a quick hack that’s easier than it looks.

1. Log into your Instagram page from your computer
2. Right-click and select “inspect”
3. Go up to the search bar and hit the “refresh” to the left of the search bar

You’ll now see what looks like a phone on your desktop. Simply treat the screen like the screen on your phone and post your pictures! Here’s a great how-to video to follow step-by-step!

Follow hashtags

Want to get inspired by great content? Here’s how to follow hashtags to help your own content marketing efforts:

1. Select the magnifying glass icon to visit the Explore tab
2. Type in the hashtag you want to follow
3. On the hashtag page click the Follow button

Instagram can be a fantastic small business marketing tool. Using these hacks can make managing your social media presence just a little bit easier. Looking for more great Instagram hacks? Check out Hootsuite’s “Instagram Hacks: 68 Tricks and Features You Probably Didn’t Know About”.