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Manychat is the world’s leading chat marketing platform that enables you to save time and increase conversion using your favorite marketing channels like Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Email (just to name a few ).

But what if you have an engaged following on a platform like Youtube, TikTok, or LinkedIn? These platforms don’t support chat marketing, but your customers are still there!

That’s where the Instagram Referral Url comes in!

With the Instagram Ref Url, you can use a special url to drive your audience directly into a conversation within your Instagram DMs. Now instead of sending them to a sales page and just crossing your fingers, you can turn your passive followers into active consumers who get to have a personalized conversation with your business.

By sending your traffic to a Ref Url, you can qualify them as leads, add them as contacts to your Manychat account, convert them into pay customers, and gain Instagram followers in the process!

Click this Ref Url below to experience it for yourself!

https://ig.me/m/manychat?ref=instagramreferralurl

Note!

1. At the moment, Ref URL works only for Instagram mobile app. Meta doesn’t support this functionality for the desktop version of Instagram.
2. You need to set up Conversation Starters for new users who have not communicated with your Instagram account before. If a user who hasn’t chatted with your business before clicks your Ref Url, they will have to click on your Conversation Starter to start the flow.

Why should I use a Ref Url?

Referral Urls have so many benefits, especially if your Instagram is vital to your business. You can find a list of benefits below.

• Engage your customers personally using Instagram Chat Marketing
  
• Deliver content and conversion opportunities within your Instagram DMs
  
• Earn the ability to follow up with your customers automatically within Instagram
  
• Access a higher response rate and click through rate than other more popular marketing channels like email.
  
• Drive more followers and engagement from other channels to your Instagram
  
• Gain subscribers for your Instagram DM List.

Adding a trigger

You can follow these instructions to add your own Ref Url to your account.

Open a New Flow and click “New Trigger.” Choose “User clicks a referral link” in the open modal.

Publish changes in the flow’s content and copy Instagram Ref URL. You can find the referral link by clicking the green box in the trigger section.

Customization of the URL address

Customization of the URL allows you to make the link look more attractive and identify your Ref URL link among your other links. To customize your URL, you can fill in the field, then Save changes.

Saving data to a Custom User Field

This option allows you to save data such as names and affiliate IDs in Custom User Fields.

Choose the existing Custom User Field where you want to store the information.

After you copied Ref Url, add data at the end of the link after the ‘–‘ symbols (as a result, you’ll have something like this: https://ig.me/m/AccName?ref=loyalty_program--DATA).

That’s it! Now Instagram users will receive your message every time they click on the link.

Where can I post a Ref Url?

In short, you can post this url anywhere where you can paste a link! You can read a few examples below:

1. Email

You can drive subscribers from your email list into a conversation through Instagram DMs!

2. YouTube

When you create a YouTube video, include your Instagram Ref URL. You can introduce it at the beginning and mention it again at the end of your video. You can also do this by pinning your Instagram Ref URL in a comment on each video. If you’re feeling ambitious, you could even include it in your About page (even though no one really goes there—you have nothing to lose).

Caveat: People will only click through in large numbers if you’re giving away something of value for free, so be sure you have a “hook” to incentivize them. 

3. Ads

This can be one of the most powerful ways to use your Ref URL. Whether you run ads through Google, Facebook, YouTube, Messenger, or other platforms, make sure you include your link. This way, whenever someone clicks on your lead magnet from the ad, they’ll end up in your Instagram flow. 

4. LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network, with upwards of 650 million users in over 200 countries. You probably even have a profile yourself. If you do, you can nudge your connections into your ManyChat bot in just a few steps. 

5. SMS

If you already have an SMS subscriber list with a third-party service, you can bring them over to Instagram as well. Instagram lets you send longer (and more) messages than SMS does and for a extremely low cost.

Turning SMS subscribers into Instagram contacts is as simple as including your link in a text. As we’ve mentioned before, don’t forget to provide an immediate incentive for them to click over. Flash sales, special discounts, free webinars, and free quotes are one of many ways to create urgency and encourage clicks.

The post Drive Traffic from ANY Channel to your Instagram DMs by using the IG Referral Url appeared first on Manychat Blog.

Create a digital version of one of the world’s biggest football (soccer) superstars, Kylian Mbappé.Nike Football partnered with advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam  and production company UNIT9 to build a custom-made, fully programmed Instagram DM Automation chatbot called Lil Mbappé, a digital avatar of French football star, Kylian Mbappé — all powered by Manychat.

Overview 

Launched in October 2022 on the @nikefootball Instagram account, the Engage Mbappé Mode campaign encouraged users to engage their “Mbappé mode”, go fast and get active, through a series of daily challenges over seven days, delivered by Lil Mbappé.

Lil Mbappé offered challenges, video messages, and banter through quizzes and mini-games, maximizing the Instagram Automation experience while making it feel as authentic and human as possible.

To make sure everyone knew about Lil Mbappé, advertising posters were placed in the streets of Paris and London. 

The posters showed the real-life (and full-size) Kylian Mbappé and Lil Mbappé appearing together, and directed people to DM Nike Football’s Instagram so they could join in on the challenges.

The challenge

The Engage Mbappé Mode campaign used the channels where kids already are, to encourage them to move and play.

“We set out to maximize the chatbot experience while also making it feel as human as possible,” says Romina Thaler, senior producer at UNIT9. “Our team designed the framework, created the flows, and built the fully programmed chatbot experience in English, French, and Spanish using Manychat.”

The goal

The campaign’s aim was to encourage teens to get moving and engage their inner Mbappé mode by completing the diverse challenges.

“The format of the campaign is made to be disruptive and creative, expanding the limits of how brands can communicate with their audiences and bring people’s favorite celebrities closer to them,” adds Romina.

It’s time to Engage Mbappé Mode

When users message Lil Mbappé on @nikefootball’s Instagram, a week’s worth of fast and fun challenges begins. Every day, Lil Mbappé sent them a new activity, quiz, or mini-game to engage with.

After the challenge, Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam and UNIT9 created moments of banter through quizzes and mini-games, even “proof of life” imagery of the Lil Mbappé animated character.

To re-engage users after the first interaction, the team used custom user fields and tags to send the next day’s challenge without breaking Facebook’s 24-hour rule. 

“We found the Flow Builder intuitive, easy to understand, and efficient in terms of the ability to scale flows, recreate them in multiple languages and transfer them over to the live account,” says Romina.

“We found that the best way to learn how the Flow Builder works was through testing it directly. We learned a lot about the platform by creating test flows using quick replies, Smart Delays, the Randomizer feature, rules, custom fields, bot fields, and tags.” 

The outcome

Between Nike Football’s 45+ million followers and Kylian’s 72+ million followers, Engage Mbappé Mode was popular on Instagram.“As massive football fans ourselves it was an honor to work with one of the greatest players in the world and give young fans the ability to chat with Lil Mbappé on his behalf anytime, anywhere,” adds Romina.

“We would definitely use Manychat in the future. The team was helpful in answering our questions and assisting with the custom analytics dashboard. We imagine Manychat could be used in the future for any social chatbot experience including campaigns that let us be as creative with the conversations as possible within the platform.”

Key takeaways

If you’re looking for ways to make your automation experience more human and reach a younger demographic, then take note of these three important things:

• Focus on cultivating the chatbot’s personality. When working with celebrities, sports stars, or influencers, your chatbot should have its own way of communicating and interacting with users that represents the public figure, but also makes it clear it’s a chatbot.
  
• Create a connection with your audience. By making your chatbot experience as human as possible and crafting meaningful conversations, using banter, humor, and multimedia, you’re creating a positive chatbot experience that makes people come back for more.
  
• Use challenges! Five- or seven-day challenges and short quizzes work great in chatbots. When you’re targeting a younger demographic, this is one of the ways you can reach them – and ensure they have fun.

By using Manychat, Nike Football, Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam, and UNIT9 were able to bring Lil Mbappé to life in an innovative way, and delight young soccer fans the world over in the process.

The post How Nike Football leveraged Manychat to bring the Engage Mbappé Mode campaign to life appeared first on Manychat Blog.

Benefits of social media polls

A smart brand knows how Instagram polls can help their business. Here are just some benefits:

• Increase real-time interaction with your audience
• Improve engagement rates with your posts
• Boost organic traffic and attract influencers
• Give feedback on your Instagram account and your company, products and services
• Provide better information about your current audience

How to create an Instagram poll

Adding a poll to your IG Story is easy!

1. After creating your post, select the Polls icon on the top right corner of your screen.
2. A sticker poll allows your audience to pick one answer on your interactive sticker. Or you can use emojis to create a slider poll that gives your followers the option of a more nuanced response.
3. Customize your poll by adding a question.
4. Customize your answers. If you don’t change it, the answers default to “Yes” or “No.”
5. Swipe up on your story to check your real-time results. This will let you know the number of Instagram users voting on your poll as well as the number of views of your post.
6. Share results to let your followers know which answer was the most popular.

Best practices for creating polls

Creating an Instagram Story poll is easy—but an effective one might take some creativity. First, you need to understand your target audience. Second, you have to come up with an interactive poll that is not only eye-catching to prevent your followers from scrolling on, but one that also sparks the curiosity of Instagram users in general. Here are some best practices for creating an Instagram poll:

• Including emojis can give your poll extra flair. You can replace “Yes” and “No” with smiling and frowning emojis to keep it interesting.
• Never position your poll in the upper left-hand corner or your avatar will block your poll question.
• Including a video explaining your poll is another way to stand out—but again, make sure to put it someplace other than the top left hand corner.
• To keep your poll going longer than the usual 24 hours, add your poll to your Story Highlight.
• Since you can see your poll results in real time, check them often and see how customer feedback can help you with future Instagram posts.

Types of engaging Instagram polls

Below are some types of polls that can generate great engagement with your brand and some examples of effective Instagram poll questions:

Binary polls

These are the simplest Instagram polls and often the most popular, because they don’t take time or effort. There are two basic types of binary Instagram polls:

Yes or No

This is the default Instagram Story poll, and often gets the best results, simply because it’s quick and easy to answer. As a result, this is a great idea for trivia questions related to your brand. You can also vary them with True/False questions. Try to jazz up the choices by using phrases or synonyms such as “Absolutely,” “Yes, please!” “Nah!” or “No way!” Moreover, one of the best ways to grow your email mailing list is by posting a poll asking your audience if they want a discount or freebie, then directing them to a place they can supply their emails.

Examples:

• Do you like pineapples on pizza?
• Did you want to be a parent?
• Have you traveled to another country in the past five years?
• Do you have any tattoos?
• How do you feel about foreign films?

This or That

This poll invites your audience to choose their favorite between the two choices you give—the more specific the better. For example, “Red or Blue” might not trigger your followers’ curiosity, but “Long Red Gown or Short Black Dress” might. This type of question is easy to answer and also gives you important details about your audience’s tastes.

Examples:

• Movies or a TV series?
• Coke or Pepsi?
• iPhone or Android?
• Cats or dogs?
• Wine or beer?

Follower input polls

Follower input is always useful data that can improve your account. With this kind of poll you can find out what type of content your audience wants to see on your account. Ask your followers what they want to know about you or your company, or let them choose the content of your future posts. This type of poll increases interaction between you and your target audience, letting them feel like they can influence your account.

 Examples:

• What would you change about this Instagram account?
• How much time do you spend on Instagram?
• What do you want the next post to be about?
• Which giveaway do you think we should have?
• Where should we open our next store?

Using Instagram polls for website promotion 

Setting up a “swipe up” on your Instagram poll can send Instagram users directly to your website and perhaps even to a specific product page. Adding a complementary website link to your poll will help increase traffic to your website.

Examples:

• Want to know how much of your salary you should be saving?
• Interested in discounted brand-name sneakers?
• Want to see more about this story?
• Find out why these brownies are healthy for you!

Showcasing products

This is similar to promoting your website. You can set up a link to a specific product after posting a poll about its usage or specifications. You can also ask Instagram users about how they use your product or what their biggest problem might be. Or you can post four of your products and ask your followers which is their favorite. And don’t forget to find out why they might have decided not to purchase your product—valuable information and great for your marketing strategy. Remember, this isn’t the place to sell your product: you can get great results with a high-definition photograph and quirky poll questions.

Examples:

• Which of these four products do you like best? 
• Which is a new feature we’ve added to our microwave ovens?
• What other colors would you like these sweaters in?
• What would prevent you from buying X product?

Taking a social stance 

These days, consumers often choose a brand with values they admire. This means that current events—politics, upcoming movies, etc.—can provide great ideas for Instagram polls. Polls like this are creative ways to educate your followers on important issues and engage their curiosity about current affairs. Furthermore, this kind of subtle promotion can convey your company’s beliefs and ideals to potential customers.

Examples:

• Which animal is on the endangered species list?
• Which of these items can be recycled?
• How many female senators are there in the Senate?
• When was the last time you voted?

Using a poll for customer feedback/market research

Every company can do with some real-time feedback, and Instagram polls are a great method of acquiring that kind of data. You can ask an open-ended question to discover customer pain points or find out their age, gender or where they live. An Instagram poll is also a great way to get feedback on a product, event or past posts. And it can be useful to find out more about your audience’s hobbies or interests. All this data can be used to tailor your marketing strategy and make your account and company more attractive to your target audience.

Examples:

• What part of the country do you live in?
• Which is your favorite way to exercise?
• Do you prefer email, text, snail mail or Instagram for communication?
• What time do you go to sleep on weekdays?

Quizzes

You can find the Quiz icon by the Polls icon by swiping up from your Story. Whether to test general knowledge, host a survey or simply set up a game for your audience, quizzes can significantly increase engagement with your account. Additionally, a fun quiz is a great way to educate your customers without appearing to, or make boring topics seem more fun. Setting up multiple choice answers and including a video and perhaps even a prize (a discount or sneak peek) will increase the amount of responses your quiz gets.

Examples:

• Which is the best season?
• What is the official language of Brazil?
• How long does it take to fly from San Francisco to Jakarta?
• What book did Tolstoy write after War and Peace?

Humorous Instagram polls

Never underestimate the power of humor—it’s enough to keep customers loyal to your brand through hard times. Whether it’s a funny quiz (“What kind of animal would you be?”) or an absurd proposition (“Which magic power would you like best?”), humor is a great way to make your Instagram poll more popular. In other words, engagement is your goal here—you can always convert the leads later. Social media users go to Instagram as a break from their everyday life. If they can laugh as well as learn, they will thank you for it. (Bonus tip: Sometimes all you need are humorous responses to ramp up the humor).

Examples:

• If I turned into a fish, I’d like to be a…
• Never Have I Ever…
• Would you rather be Superman or Batman?
• How many mistakes can you spot in this picture?

How can ManyChat automation supercharge your market research?

The post Ideas for Engaging Instagram Polls appeared first on Manychat Blog.

Best and Worst Days to Post on Instagram

Some days and times are better for posting on social media than others. If you take no other factors into account, 10 a.m.to 3 p.m. on weekdays is the peak time to reach the most followers. Weekdays are usually better than weekends and posting on Tuesday and Wednesday will likely get you the best Instagram engagement rates. For almost every industry, Sunday is usually considered the worst day to post. Here is a breakdown of the best—and the worst—times to post on Instagram on every day of the week.

Monday:

• Best time to post: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (peaking at noon)
• Worst time to post: Monday 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Tuesday (best day overall):

• Best time to post: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. (peaking at 9 a.m.)
• Worst time to post: 1 p.m.

Wednesday:

• Best time to post: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (peaking at 11 a.m.)
• Worst time to post: 10 a.m.

Thursday:

• Best time to post: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (peaking at 11 a.m.)
• Worst time to post: 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Friday:

• Best times to post: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. (peaking at 2 p.m.)
• Worst time to post: 9 a.m.

Saturday:

• Best time to post: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. (consistent engagement)
• Worst time to post: 8 p.m.

Sunday (worst day overall):

• Best time to post: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. (consistent engagement)
• Worst time to post: 4 p.m.

Why The Location of Your Audience Can Decide When to Post

The one key to getting the best engagement is to post when your target audience is most likely to read it. And the days and times listed above are not the best if most of your followers are in another country, fast asleep. Here are the best times to posting your Instagram content globally, depending on where in the world your audience is. (Note: The times below are in the Central Time zone, not local to the region).

• United States/Canada (Western): 12 a.m. to 6 a.m.
• United States/Canada (Central): 6 a.m. to 8 a.m.
• United States/Canada (Eastern): 4 a.m. to 9 a.m.
• South America: 4 a.m.
• United Kingdom: 4 a.m. to 6 a.m.
• Europe (Western): 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• Europe (Eastern): 5 a.m. to 7 a.m.
• Middle East: 3 a.m.
• Africa: 6 a.m.
• South Asia: 3 a.m.
• Southeast Asia/East Asia: 11 p.m. to 4 a.m.
• India: 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
• Australia: 11 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Best Instagram Posting Times By Industry

Because various industries will get different results on different times and days, where you work can determine when to post on Instagram Generally speaking, the best time for any industry to post is from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays, but there are certain days and times where each industry is most likely to get views, likes and comments on its content. The list below is based on a compilation of statistics on unique times and days for each industry to maximize engagement with its audience

Tech

Mondays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Retail

Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Health care

Mondays, Tuesdays from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., Tuesdays from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Education

Mondays at 8 a.m., Friday from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., Saturday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Non-profit

Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Media/Entertainment

Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Best Times to Post Various Types of Instagram Content

Reels

The overall best time to post Instagram Reels is in the mornings. Mondays from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. is the best posting time, but 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. also works well on both weekdays and weekends. Wednesday is often considered the worst day to post Reels can also do well in the afternoon on Fridays at 2 p.m. or Sunday at 3 p.m.. In the evening, Mondays at 9 p.m., Wednesdays at 10 p.m. and Saturdays at 7 p.m. are also peak times to post Instagram Reels. Try to post five to seven Reels a week, and make sure that you repost a Reel three to five days after you first put it up.

Video

Videos generate higher engagement during lunch hours (11:30 a.m.to 2 p.m.) and in the evening (7 p.m. and 9 p.m.), than any other times. This is because videos are either watched during longer lunch hours or in the evenings. The best days to post Instagram videos are Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Stories

Instagram Stories generate better engagement on weekdays rather than on weekends. The best times to post an Instagram story tends to be before work (5 a.m. to 7 a.m.), during lunch hours (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) or in the early afternoon (1 p.m. to 3 p.m.).

Live

Instagram Live is a great tool to help connect with your audience—so it’s important to go live only when they’re not preoccupied with other things. That means work hours are a bad time to post (though you might get a decent engagement rate after 4 p.m.). So is posting during dinner time (6 p.m. to 8 p.m.). The peak time to go live on Instagram is in the evening, after 8 p.m. up until 11 p.m.. You might also get good results posting during the lunch hour, with 12 p.m. being the optimal time.

Other Tips on When to Post on Instagram

Use Instagram Insights

Once you have more than 100 Instagram followers, you can use Instagram Insights to see the demographics of who interacts with your post. It will also let you know when your audience is most online and what your engagement rates are, both of which can tell you when to post on Instagram. While there might be statistics on the best time to post, Insights will work better to determine the best posting time for your brand and business. So make sure you monitor your Instagram analytics to set up a schedule and overall strategy for posting.

Different content works at different times

Science has shown that most people have high working memory in the morning and low working memory in the evening. What does that mean? Basically, this is when your cognitive skills and executive functions are at their highest. In other words, you think better in the morning and feel more in the afternoon. So post your more intellectual and thoughtful content in the morning, when Instagram users are at their sharpest. Your inspirational content, the posts that are designed to get a more emotional response, get maximum engagement in late afternoon and evening.

Post consistently

Trying to find the best times to post on social media s far less important than posting consistently. If you find a right time that works for you—when your post gets the best engagement—make sure to post at that time consistently. Posting on Instagram every day is important, though perhaps not as important on the weekends. And you’re more likely to grow your audience if you post multiple times a day. You don’t have to post at the same time everyday, but it works better if your followers start to expect your content on a regular basis. And nothing will stall your Instagram account faster than extended periods of silence. One thing that can help is scheduling social media content in advance and creating a calendar of when you want to post various types of content. 

Remember, finding the perfect time for each Instagram isn’t always possible. But knowing when your audience is most likely to be online and react to your content is one way to maximize engagement.

Find out how ManyChat automation can help you organize your Instagram post!

The post Best Times to Post on Instagram appeared first on Manychat Blog.

It might seem intimidating to produce great Instagram captions over and over again for each Instagram post. And it does take creativity and planning. But if you remember a few tips, your captions can help your Instagram posts turn Instagram users into Instagram followers—and perhaps convert them into potential customers and fans as well.

Here’s a checklist of strategies to follow to create effective Instagram captions for all your posts:

Follow a template for most of your Instagram captions

There are a few questions you should ask yourself before even starting to write:

What is the purpose of this post?

This is probably the most important aspect of writing an engaging Instagram caption—and of the image you’re putting up. Are you trying to showcase a product or share some information?

What’s the ideal caption length?

Instagram captions can be up to 2,200 characters in length. But while long-form Instagram captions have become more popular, it’s important to remember that longer doesn’t always mean better. Some topics might do better with short Instagram captions: a thoughtful quote or a cheery observation. But in other cases, a longer caption that resembles a blog post might be necessary to tell a story.

Does your caption reflect your brand voice?

Your caption should be written in a tone that harmonizes with your brand voice. And your brand voice is often determined by who your ideal customer is and what you want them to do. Whether light and quirky or insightful and academic, your brand voice should determine the tone of every Instagram caption.

How does your caption complement the image?

One commonality of better Instagram captions is that they all complement the image. Not only is the writing catchy and the subject interesting, but the caption sells the story behind the image and makes the post more than just a sum of its parts.

Make sure your caption starts strong

Nothing is more important than the first sentences of your Instagram caption. In fact, Instagram will cut your caption off after the first two or three lines. So a good caption needs to start with a strong hook: a factoid or statement that immediately captures the reader’s attention. This is not where you sell your product—that comes later. Instead, try to spark the reader’s curiosity about your Instagram post.

Here are some tips for your very first sentence:

1. Ask a question: Nothing complicated or too deep. A good question is often a great social media strategy—it will stop your reader and make them think about the answer.
2. Keep it short: Your first sentence should be short—it’s all about catching the eye.
3. Use a quote: Nothing too long, but preferably something thought-provoking.
4. Try an unusual statistic: Find one that’s not well known about a popular topic.
5. Be exciting: Whether your first line is a question or statement, your goal is to evoke strong emotions and anticipation.

The following sentences should be just as urgent, though they can be longer. This is where you lead your audience to the topic of your post—and tell them why the image matters. Your most important information should always be near the beginning of your caption.

Adjust your Instagram copy to increase engagement

Instagram would be just images if captions didn’t add value to the post. And value is what determines a post’s engagement. There are many different ways to provide value to your reader, whether it’s detailed information about an interesting topic or entertainment through humor or inspiration. But there are some specific ingredients for a great caption that generates engagement:

Include calls to action

Assuming your audience knows how to engage with you is a big mistake. Instead, midway or toward the end of your post, you should be asking the reader to do something specific. A call to action will provide a next step for your Instagram followers and can lead to conversions and sales. Ask your readers to double tap, to click on a link, to enter their email or to share a hashtag, and you’ve created an engagement with your audience that will continue beyond the post.

Mention influencers

While tags are included in images, mentions are included in captions. When you mention Instagram users who have a lot of followers and a strong social media presence, they will see your post and perhaps promote it. Even if they don’t, mentioning influencers will increase the reach of your post. Influencer marketing mentions will increase brand awareness with your target audience. And an Instagram influencer who likes your product might even become a brand ambassador.

User-generated content is always valuable

When it comes to creating brand loyalty, there are few things better than user-generated content. This is content created by other Instagram users, whether your followers, customers or even your employees. You can encourage user-generated content about your brand with contests that encourage Instagram users to respond to your posts, or by requesting reviews. You can then repost the best user-generated content—but make sure you ask for permission first and give credit when posting.

Provide savable information

When ranking your post, Instagram gives weight to the number of comments it generated—but also consider how many users have saved your post. So while you want comments, you can create a post that is savable (and therefore ranks higher in the Instagram algorithm) by including content that users save because they don’t want to forget it.

Be smart when including hashtags

If the first section of your caption is the hook—catchy sentences designed to arouse reader interest—and the middle section is valuable content designed to improve engagement, the last section of your Instagram caption should be hashtags. Instagram will allow you to add up to 20 hashtags, but few posts that should use that many. In fact, most Instagram posts use no more than seven, and too many hashtags might lead Instagram followers to categorize your post as spam. 

Some quick hashtag tips:

1. Use a mix of specific hashtags that are unique to your post and more general hashtags that are trending in popularity.
2. Create a branded hashtag that refers to your company directly and encourages readers to share your content.
3. You should have most of your hashtags together in your captions, preferably at the end of your caption.
4. Research, research, research! You can generate the right Instagram hashtags by:
   • Researching what your competitors are using
   • Using Instagram analytics and search to research which hashtags get the best results
   • Tailor your hashtags to appeal to your customers and support your company goals
   • Use hashtag suggestions tools to generate ideas
   • Remember that hashtags can be used in your responses to comments, in Instagram profiles, and in the image itself.

Plan your Instagram content ahead of time

Successful social media marketing depends on consistent posting. Your Instagram account should post one to two times a day, every day. It can be hard to generate new content unless you come up with an overarching content strategy and write your content well before you post. This will give you a chance to look at your post with fresh eyes when you make edits. You should also remember to post at the best time of the day—not to mention the best time of the week and the best time of the month. Creating captions in a hurry and posting fast is a strategy that rarely works, and usually results in unpolished and less-than-professional posts.

In summary, the best Instagram captions will make your target audience view your Instagram post as valuable content rather than just clickbait. With snappy opening lines, substantive content, and carefully selected hashtags, your caption can result not only in more likes, comments and shares, but can also start a meaningful interaction between your readers and your brand.

Find how ManyChat can help you improve your Instagram content!

The post How to Write Instagram Captions That Increase Engagement appeared first on Manychat Blog.

Reposting a post on Instagram can be tricky because Instagram wants you to focus on creating your own Instagram content. However, there are times when it might be helpful to repost. By reposting from brands and accounts that complement your business, you can set up partnerships that could be useful in the future. Meanwhile, reposting from influencers can help pass on valuable Instagram content to your followers and diversify your feed. In addition, this also help establish your brand and communicate your core values and mission to your followers.

Here are some other reasons to repost on Instagram:

• If you or your company is tagged in the post
• To cultivate a community of like-minded Instagram users
• To save time when you can’t create original content
• To highlight any user-generated content that applies to your business
• To promote hashtags related to your industry or your brand
• To use content that has already been proven to increase engagement

What to know before reposting

Before you repost on Instagram, there are some legal issues and etiquette considerations. First, Instagram’s terms of use clearly states: “You can’t post someone else’s private or confidential information without permission.” Second, Instagram’s TOS also makes it clear that each Instagram user is responsible for the content on their feed. What does this mean for reposting? Consequently, this means that the content creator who puts up an original post owns the copyright for that post, and that you cannot use photos or captions from a post from another account without permission. This includes accounts that provide stock photos and anything that you might find on Pinterest.

Here is a checklist of proper reposting etiquette:

1. First, contact the account of the post you’re interested in. Some people recommend a comment, while others say a direct message is better. Permission isn’t always required to repost, but having written permission will help you avoid any problems later. You should state which image you want, what the purpose is for and that you will give them credit.
2. Give credit! It’s extremely important that you give credit to the Instagram account of the original poster in your repost. You should tag the account in the caption and in the photo. Even if the photo is something related to your brand, the photo is original content from another account, so you should give them credit.
3. Add a #regram hashtag to make it clear to your followers that this content comes from another account.

Things to avoid when reposting on Instagram

• Never edit the photo or change the original caption. You can always add your own information if you have space.
• Never repost paid ads.
• Don’t use a repost to direct sell your product or business.
• Don’t fail to specify what you want to repost. For example, a lot of accounts will let you repost images but not their captions or their written content.
• Don’t plunder the same account for new content. Repost from a diversity of sources.

How do I repost on Instagram?

Here are several ways to repost on Instagram:

Photo to Feed

1. Screenshot your post.
2. Resize and edit the post.
3. Create a new post.
4. Find the screenshot.
5. Create a new caption.\
6. Give credit by tagging the creator of the image and original poster.

Photo, Video or Reel to Instagram Story

1. Tap on the paper airplane icon below the photo, video or Reel you want to repost to your story.
2. Select “Add post to your Story.”

Reel to Feed

1. Screen record the Reel.
2. Edit any black space on the screen.
3. Tap “New Post” and select “Reel.”
4. Edit the new post (filters, stickers, etc.) as necessary.
5. Credit the original poster of the video.

Story to Feed

1. If you’re tagged in the story, it should be in your direct messages.
2. If you’re not tagged in the Story you will need to use a third-party app.

Third-party Instagram apps to help with reposting

Here are some third-party apps that will help you repost an Instagram Story that you aren’t tagged in or to repost an Instagram Reel to your Instagram feed without recording it first.

• Repost for Instagram. You can access both Instagram and your own photos through the app, which will allow you to customize your post. It will automatically give credit to the original Instagram account. However, there are quite a few ads.
• Reposta. You can find this repost app on Google Play. Although it’s very simple to use, there aren’t many customization options for your repost.
• Regrann. This app allows you to save posts and download full size images to your Instagram feed, but you must upload them manually.
• Reposter for Instagram: Download and Save. With this app you search for posts and tags, then repost later. But, even though there are a lot of options to customize your posts, the constant subscription pop-ups can get annoying
• InstaRepost. You can repost photos and videos without a watermark and from other social media platforms, including Pinterest, Facebook and WhatsApp. You have to upgrade to get rid of the watermark though.

In summary, reposting on Instagram can be incredibly useful to your business–if it’s done right!

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The post How (And Why) You Should Repost on Instagram appeared first on Manychat Blog.