We've made it to 2018. Every print shop at least has some social media presence these days. The website may be coming together, but the Facebook Page is up and you might have even discovered the beautiful world of Instagram. Let's back up real quick. The long and short of it is Facebook owns Instagram. Instagram has more daily users than Twitter and has become the leader in photo sharing. Okay, what's the difference? Facebook has videos and photo sharing, why in the world would I want to spend all this energy on Instagram? It's simple. Instagram takes photo sharing to a deeper and more personal level. More personal than Facebook? Yup, you heard it, more personal, more meaningful. Instagram is finding more and more daily users because it has not been oversaturated with ads and still uses a "follower" model that allows users to "opt-in" to view your page's photos and videos. Most users have their own personal Instagram and are interacting with others similar to the follower model in Twitter. Instagram also has the stories feature similar to that of Snapchat. The stories feature allows you to post expiring photos and videos. They're only on your stream for 24 hours. They can even be live. You can poll customers and post "insider" content. This creates avenues for your customers to check in with your business daily, interact, and ultimately engage with you. We are in the BEST industry for a business to have an Instagram page. You're not an ad agency selling laundry detergent, you are producing art, and delivering it to your customers. Everyone needs something custom made, so your possibilities are endless. Your designs are creative, watching ink through screens is visually stimulating, and what you have is the ability to engage with current and future customers regularly. Here are a few tips to take your Instagram to new levels. ----------- Try Printavo: https://www.printavo.com

1. You've Been Using
Instagram All Wrong
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2. Introduction
We've made it to 2018. Every print shop at least has some social
media presence these days. The website may be coming
together, but the Facebook Page is up and you might have even
discovered the beautiful world of Instagram.
Let's back up real quick. The long and short of it is Facebook
owns Instagram. Instagram has more daily users than Twitter and
has become the leader in photo sharing.
We are in the BEST industry for a business to have an Instagram
page. You're not an ad agency selling laundry detergent, you are
producing art, and delivering it to your customers. Everyone
needs something custom made, so your possibilities are endless.
Your designs are creative, watching ink through screens is
visually stimulating, and what you have is the ability to engage
with current and future customers regularly.
Here are a few tips to take your Instagram to new levels:

3. Follow Selectively
- Once you've set up your page, you have the ability to follow
everyone and their friends. Be careful. You do not want to be
spread too thin where you are following pages you don't have a
relationship with or are out of your scope.
- The purpose of following a page is so you can interact with
them by likes and comments. Some of the most followed pages
don't follow everyone. Your ratio matters. If you have 100
followers but you follow 10,000 users, that ratio may give
customers a negative connotation.

4. DON'T USE BOTS!
- Plain and simple. Yes, there is an app for that. But Instagram
has to be organic and natural. Bots are out there to quickly like
as many users per hour as you set it to in hopes they will follow
you back. Set that thing to overdrive and you can severely
damage your page because bots will attract bot pages doing
the same for click-bait.
- With that being said, avoid the auto comment/like tools as well.
You can create a stigma of not being genuine with your
customers as it definitely appears fake when your comments
are staged and generic. Customers catch onto these things, so
be careful to maintain integrity with your comments.

5. Post Genuinely - Don't Overdo it
- 1 post a day. Don't go crazy with posting otherwise customers
will feel smothered. Create engaging posts that are not the
same thing every day. Perhaps you do prints of the week every
Friday, but post a behind the scenes on Thursday. Maybe on
Monday, you post about a few specials going on or a shop
highlight.
- You can share these on Twitter and Facebook to keep things
simple as a start. Have a unified voice and message in your
content and make sure it aligns with the vision of your shop.
Have fun with it- it does not have to be formal.

6. Post Genuinely - Don't Overdo it
- Posts of a flyer for your business are nothing more than
billboards. A unique post about a customer's order will draw
more genuine and meaningful interactions.
- Your Instagram story (expiring content) needs to be in the
moment and unrehearsed. Most users are watching these on
mute so excessive talking and selfies-talking-to-the-camera will
get customers to click through and miss the good stuff. Your
story should be constantly adding new content so it filters to the
top of the story feed as you add content.

7. Use Direct Messages Over Time
- It sounds silly but Instagram is a "flirting" tool. You like and
comment on other users, they like and comment back, you
follow people- they follow you back. Eventually, you message
them.
- If you are actively working on your page you will begin to see
how customers are interacting with you and it will develop a fan
base. Interact with these customers and reach out to ask about
their printing needs or just say hello. Start a conversation in
hopes that they message back.
- That does NOT mean DMing every follower and like you have.
That seems salesy- not genuine.

8. Follow Hashtag and Create Smart Ones
- Instagram recently released a feature that allows you to follow
fixed hashtags. If users' photos are set to public, you can
search a hashtag and see all photos associated with that tag.
While you might think #screenprint #colors #blue #ink would be
great ones to follow and use, try getting very specific with
hashtags. For instance, if you are printing for an event, follow
the #hashtag of that event and interact with those users.
Following the hashtags of major customers can develop new
relationships. Keep your eyes on ways you can penetrate a
new market. They are at the moment- it's real.

9. Follow Hashtag and Create Smart Ones
- That being said, when you create them, don't create 100
generic hashtags or you'll seem desperate. Unless you are
trying to go viral. That's for another blog. Instead, create a few
that users may also be interacting with in hopes that they fall on
your post.