Happy New Year 🎉

It's been rough couple of years, to say the least.

And I'd just like to take this time...

to welcome in 2022...

by saying...

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​Anyway...

This is Part 3 of 3 of our Instagram Deep Dive

It won't be the last time I'll talk about Instagram... that would be silly 🙃 This is just the last issue of this series.

At the rate IG is putting out updates, there will ALWAYS be more to discuss.
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Which brings me to a butt-ton of info I got for you today:

• how the algorithms work
• best practices for engagement
• the why and how of #hashtags
• the why and how of alt text
• getting the most from your DMs
• a roundup of new IG features

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how the algorithms work 🤔

In June of this year, Adam Mosseri (Head of IG) told us a bit about how their algorithms work — in this blog post and this video.

Basically, we should create content that our audience is more likely to engage with, so that they see our content more often.

And as they engage with us further, non-followers will start seeing more of our content too.

Later Media has put together an excellent breakdown on how the algorithms work and how to please the platform.

So you can finally know how to wine and dine the algos so they fall in love with you.
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Which brings us to the...
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best practices for engagement 🧐

🔵 Keep your content, branding, and scheduling consistent — This helps the algorithms and the users know, like, and trust you.
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🔵 Post content that your audience likes — Use analytics and the Unicorn Strategy from my previous email, “🦄 harness your unicorn” (which you can find in our newsletter archive.)
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🔵 Improve your captions — Tell interesting stories, show your personality, be creative. Learn to write attention-grabbing headlines and great calls-to-action.

Also, use emojis and line breaks to make captions easier to read. Test shorter and longer captions. And use relevant and niche-specific hashtags.
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🔵 Encourage more engagement — Do things that make people want to interact with you... use polls, quizzes, button stickers, open-ended questions, etc.
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🔵 Engage with your audience — To build engagement, you have to practice engagement. Reply to comments and DMs. Do Q&A in your IG Stories.
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🔵 Engage with similar accounts and their followers — Leverage other brands' audiences by striking up conversations with them or finding accounts/influencers to collaborate with.
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🔵 Provide insane value all the time — Keep providing as much value as possible without asking for anything.

Sure, you can sprinkle in some promotional messaging (and this depends on your goals, of course), but keep it mainly value-driven.
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🔵 Post when your audience is most active — Use analytics to figure out when your followers are online and engaging with your content.
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the why and how of #hashtags

Many people don't give hashtags enough thought, but they are still an important aspect of your Instagram strategy.
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WHY YOU SHOULD USE HASHTAGS:

🔵 They simplify the process — Searching a hashtag pulls results for each post containing that hashtag.

Hashtags also help you reach your target audience, and likewise make it easier for others to find your information.
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🔵 They evolve — Hashtags are being used by more and more platforms, impacting the amount of information put directly in front of social media users... even in Google search results.
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🔵 They reward the distinctive — Hashtags make finding information easier for social media users.

A unique and relevant hashtag makes your message stand out to the users who want to find that particular type of content.
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HOW TO USE HASHTAGS:

I wouldn't stress too much over how many hashtags to use, but if you're curious — Later analyzed 18 million posts to find the sweet spot.

As for best practices and a great list of the top hashtags — check out this ultimate guide from Hubspot also has a ton of great info.​
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the why and how of alt text

Alt text (alternative text) is a description of an image on the internet that appears if that image fails to load. It also allows search engines to better crawl and rank your site.
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WHY YOU SHOULD USE ALT TEXT:

🔵 It gives you more exposure to new audiences — IG tries to recognize what each photo is and who they should show it to.

Adding alt text increases the chances of your post showing up in the Explore page, so even your non-followers can see your content.
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🔵 It improves your SEO rankings — If you don't use alt text, Instagram will add its own text to your images.

But by writing your own alt text, you can make sure the right people see your posts and appear on more relevant Google Image Search results.
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🔵 It helps people with slow internet connections and even vision impairment — If an image doesn't load and there's no alt text, then the user won't see anything. Alt text is there to give context when an image fails to load.

Even if the image loads, a person with vision impairment can choose to have the alt text spoken out loud.
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HOW TO ADD ALT TEXT TO YOUR IG POSTS:

1. Upload your image and write your caption as usual.

2. Tap “Advanced Settings” button at the bottom of the screen.

3. Tap “Write Alt Text” and include your descriptive text. (Be sure to include a few keywords if it makes sense.)

4. Post as normal. DONE!

To add alt text to existing posts, simply tap the 3-dot menu in the top right corner of the post > click Edit > then click Edit Alt Text in the bottom right corner.
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getting the most from your DMs 📱

No matter if your B2B, B2C, or D2C...

Doing business means connecting with PEOPLE 🙋

Before social networks like Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter — the only way to connect with others was email, phone, and face-to-face interactions.

Now, with DMs, we have direct access to the people we want to connect with.

Check out this step-by-step guide from Gary Vaynerchuk on getting the most value from your IG direct messaging.

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a roundup of new IG features 🤩

We've seen a bunch of updates this year. Here are some good ones:

• A Professional Dashboard for business accounts
• ​Live Rooms for going live with three other people
• Goodbye Swipe-up, hello Link Stickers (for all users!)
• ​IGTV and feed videos get combined into a single format
• ​Remix on Reels, a TikTok Duets-like feature
• Reels can now be 60 seconds long​
• Co-author feed posts and Reels with the Collab feature​
• You can now hide like counts on posts
• Reels and Lives get new insights​
• ​'Take a Break' feature reminds you to stop scrolling
• IG is now (apparently) safer for young'uns​

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Thanks for reading (or skimming) this whole email...

I'd really love to hear your thoughts, so I can optimize this newsletter just for you.

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Thanks for any feedback you can offer. And if you write me, I'll get back to you 😉

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Stay fresh,
​Robert

P.S. If you're posting lots of stories on Instagram — you should check this out → 22 Instagram Stories Hacks That Will Blow Your Mind 🤯

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