How to Promote your Blog on Instagram
Instagram has become the hub for people to find what's trending and to look at visually appealing images. If your audience is using the Instagram platform, check out these simple and essential steps to promoting your blog on Instagram.
Instagram bio
If you plan to promote your blog on Instagram, the first thing you should do is provide a direct link in your bio description. There is a hyperlink option available for Instagram users to customize their direct link whenever they want.
The tricky thing about this feature is Instagram only allows you to use one link at a time, which means you can't have multiple links listed. The reasoning behind this is that Instagram WANTS you to change it all the time to keep you active. If you want to provide multiple links, you can use LINKTREE or MILKSHAKE to create one link that brings up a custom page with all of your links listed.
PRO TIP: People don't like doing a lot of work, and most of us have very low attention spans. The less clicking people have to do to get to where you want them to go, the better.
Creating an Instagram post
After changing the link in your bio to directly link to your blog post, now it's time to create a post that will show up on the feed. This is a good chance for you to share a couple of juicy facts about your blog that will make people want to read more. When you are planning out the text to promote your blog, it is important to have a strong call-to-action (CTA) at the end.
Include a call-to-action (CTA)
You will typically find the CTA in the last sentence of a post and encourages your audience/viewer to take the next step. This could be anything from clicking the link in your bio, tagging a friend, or simply comment on your favourite emoji.
For example, if your blog post is titled "6 Best Practices to Keep you House Plants Alive", you could share the first 2 points and then have your call to action tell them to follow the link in your bio to read more.
PRO TIP: You can create multiple posts to promote one blog. This is a good plan to have in your social media strategy to repurpose old content. Or if you run out of posting ideas, revisit an old blog post that didn't get the recognition it deserved and give it another share (as long as your content is still relevant)
Also read: Instagram bio link options
Utilize your Instagram stories
Now it's time to share your post on your IG story. A story is a fast and easy way to promote your post. All you have to do is select the small arrow that sits right under your post and then click "Save to story". It will then bring you to your story settings where you can add additional text, stickers, arrows, etc. Your IG story is where you can get creative!
Now, when people view that specific story, there will be a direct link that people can click that will lead them straight to your promoted post.
See the video below for an example on how to share your post to your story in a fun and creative way.
There are a variety of ways you can use the story feature!
There are so many things you can do with your story feature! This is the time for you to get creative. When you are ready to promote your blog, share something that relates to the topic, such as incorporating your lifestyle and process.
As an example, if your blog post is titled "Best Houseplants to Care for In a Tiny Apartment", you can share a picture or a boomerang of your own plants and have a call to action over top of your image telling people what they will find in your bio, or ask them to check out your latest post.
Create a video
Here is what you need to do to create a quick and easy video. I know the thought of video scares most of us, but just like most platforms, Instagram loves when you share videos, especially of yourself! Share a video of yourself talking about some exciting that they will read about in your blog post. Your CTA will be to let them know that they can read more if they follow the link in your bio.
Save it to your Highlights
If you haven't explored your highlights yet, you are missing out! Highlights are fun ways to archive your Instagram stories so they will last longer than 24 hours. You can find your Highlights between your bio and your feed. By utilizing Highlights, you can create categories for different events, topics, interests, etc. You can also customize the Highlight covers to match the colour scheme or vibe of your Instagram feed.
Here are examples of Highlight cover styles.
Now that you are familiar with the purpose of Highlights, the next step is to create a Highlight category for your blogs. Once you share and promote your blog on your stories, you can then save it in a Highlight for people to check out later.
PRO TIP #1 - Make sure your call to action doesn't say "follow link in bio" if you plan on changing the link consistently. Instead you could say, "follow the link in my bio and check out my blog page".
PRO TIP #2 - Once you reach 10,000 followers, you will have a' swipe up' feature that will allow you to apply a direct weblink to your stories. Once this happens, you will be able to promote a new link for each story without having to change the link in your bio each time. Another way to get this feature is to get your account verified.
Hashtags
Always include Hashtags when creating your content. Placing hashtags in your post will put you in that hashtag category for potential new followers to find you. Hashtags are typically quite simple and sometimes consist of one or two words. Choosing to include popular hashtags exposes your post to more people.
You also have the opportunity to create a custom hashtag that is specific to you, your business, and your blog. You can get creative with this, or you could keep it super simple. For example: #plantparentblog #davidtalkstoplants #laurasplantblog
By using a custom hashtag, this can give people another opportunity to find your content when searching and is also a fun way to get people to mention you or tag you in their content.
PRO TIP: Before settling on a specific hashtag, do your research and make sure nothing else is linked with that hashtag.
Remember that Instagram is a visual and fun platform. Get creative and don't be afraid to try out a new approach. Post, monitor your results and learn!
