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ShopOnCloud Knowledge Center

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HomeHelpSocial Media MarketingHow to Set up an Instagram Account?
  • View Categories

    • Getting Started
      • How to Become a Shop Owner at ShopOnCloud
      • An Introduction to ShopOnCloud Admin Console
      • Add a Banner to your Shop On Cloud
      • Change the Display View of Your Shop
      • Add a Logo to Your Shop
      • Change the Default Display View of The Menu
      • Change the View of The Shopping Cart
      • How to Reset the Password of ShopOnCloud Admin Console
      • How to Change the Colour Settings of the Online Shop?
      • How to Delete a Shop Banner?
      • How to Activate an Online Shop?
      • Your Store URL
    • Billing
      • Plan Features
      • Free Plan
      • Advanced Plan
      • Billing Overview
    • Manage Products
      • How to Manage Categories?
      • How to Manage the Availability of Your Products?
      • Add Products to the Shop
      • Set Up Related Products
      • How to Resize Product Images?
      • Set Up Your Own Attributes
      • Set Up a Product with Attributes
      • How to Manage Tags?
      • Manage Tags for each Product
      • Select a Primary Image for a Product
      • How to Enable Out of Stock Products for Backordering?
      • How to Add Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price to Products?
      • How to Add a Featured Product?
      • Add Variant Attributes to your Online Store Settings
      • How to Add Products with Dedicated URLs?
      • How to Add Variants to Products
      • How to Hide or Display Product Attributes?
      • View the Change History of Product Stock
      • How to Arrange a Category Order
      • How to Update a Bulk of Existing Products?
      • How to Upload a Bulk of Products to Your Shop?
      • How to Adjust the Variant Order in the Variant Product
    • Manage Orders
      • How to Manage Your Orders
      • How to Prioritize Orders
      • Manage Users’ Order Information
      • How to Edit Order Information?
      • How to Download A Summarised List of Orders?
      • How to Download Order Details on ShopOnCloud?
      • How to Print Order Invoice?
      • Add Your Logo to Your Invoices
      • How to Set Up a Minimum Value for Orders in ShopOnCloud?
      • How to Change the Payment Status of an Order?
    • Offers & Discounts
      • How to Add Category Based Product Discounts?
      • Add Offers Based On Product ID
      • How to Assign Offers for a Customer Group
      • How to Add Cart Based Offer?
      • How to Create Discount Coupons
      • How to Create Cart Offers Based on Cart Values
      • Creating a Free Shipping Promo Code for a Limited Period
      • Create a Promo Code for the Total Cart Price
      • Creating Promo Codes for Selected Products
      • Adding Bigger Discounts
      • Assigning Discounts for Products
    • Payments
      • How to Set Up Offline Payment Methods?
      • How to Set Up Online Payment Methods?
      • How to Add Pre-Payment and Post-Payment Instructions for Manual Payment Methods?
    • Manage Delivery (Shipping)
      • How to Add a New Delivery Method?
      • How to Add DHL Delivery Service?
      • How to Enable GRASSHOPPER Delivery Service?
      • How to Add a Customized Shipping Service?
      • Offering Free Shipping & Delivery
      • How to Add a Buffer Time for Order Delivery?
      • How to Enable or Disable Delivery Time Picker of the Cart?
      • How to Add Custom Shipping Rates on ShopOnCloud?
      • How to Add a New Custom Rate to the Existing Custom Shipping Rates List?
      • How to Import the Custom Shipping Rates in a CSV file?
      • How to Enable Separate Billing and Delivery Address?
      • How to Change Billing and Delivery Address Format?
    • Manage Multiple Locations
      • Add Business Locations to Your Shop
      • How to Edit Location Opening Hours?
      • How to Edit the Location-based Open Days?
      • How to Add Location-based Special Open Days and Hours to your Online Shop?
      • How to Add Special Notes to Your Cart Page?
      • How to Enable or Disable the Delivery Date Picker of the Cart?
    • Advanced UI Customization
      • Manage the User Interface of your Online Shop
      • How to Change Labels of Your Online Shop?
      • Integrate the ShopOnCloud Online Shop with Any Website
    • Advanced Settings
      • Change the Default Console View
      • How to Add Instruction to the Shopping Cart
      • How to Create Variables?
      • How to Create a Custom Field in the Manage Forms Section
      • How to Manage Tax and Other Chargers in your Shop?
    • Manage customers
      • How to Manage Guest Checkout
      • Manage Customers and Customer Groups
      • How to Block Customers on your Online Store?
      • How to Add New Customers to the Online Store?
    • Manage Shop Staff
      • How to Add a New User to Your Console?
      • How to Change User Permission?
      • How to Delete a User in the Admin Console
    • Content Pages
      • How to Add Web Pages for your Shop
    • Improving SEO
      • How to Setup SEO Tags for Category Pages
      • How to Setup SEO Tags for Product Pages?
      • How to Manage Product Page SEO Settings
      • How to Manage Category Page SEO Settings
      • How to Manage Home Page SEO Settings
      • How to Add the Google Analytics Tracking Code?
      • How to Generate Sitemap For Your Shop
      • How to Setup Structured Data for your Shop
    • Mobile Marketing
      • SMS Marketing and SMS Packages
    • Social Media Marketing
      • How to Set Up a Facebook Page?
      • How to Set up an Instagram Account?
      • How to Setup Facebook Product Feed?
      • How Do You Add a Product Feed to Your Facebook Shop?
    • Supportive Tool
      • How to Check Bandwidth Usage
      • How to send SMS Notifications?
      • How to Clear the CDN Cache of your online shop?
      • CSV
    • Security
      • Free SSL certificate
  • How to Set up an Instagram Account?

    It’s no secret that Instagram has taken over the world by storm. Within a couple of years, the American photo and video sharing social media platform which was first launched in 2010 has completely transformed the way we think, communicate, interact, and do business. Instagram has demonstrated the sheer power of utilising visual media to drive interest, engagement, and sales. At present, it's one of the most popular social media networks worldwide. Demographics show that over 1 billion people use the platform every month, spending an average of 53 minutes per day posting, engaging, and double-tapping the like button confirming the pre-eminence of Instagram compared to other social media platforms.

    1. Download the App

    Instagram is predominantly a mobile-based social media platform because a majority of its activity takes place within the mobile app. Therefore, first, you need to download the Instagram app from Google Play Store (Android) or the App Store (iPhone).

    2. Create an Account

    Once done, launch the app, and create an account in one of these two ways.

    Option 1:
    Click Sign Up with Email Address or Phone Number (Android) or Create a new account (iPhone). Afterwards, enter your email address or phone number (which will require a confirmation code) and tap Next.

    Option 2:
    Since Instagram and Facebook are owned by the same company, you can also choose to Log in with Facebook to sign up with your Facebook account. If you have registered with your email address or phone number, you are required to create a username address and tap Next. If you have registered using your Facebook account, you would be requested to log into your Facebook account if you're currently logged out of it.

    If you already have an account, just sign in, and go straight to your profile page. You can have up to five different Instagram accounts, which you can switch between without logging out.

    3. Choose a Suitable Username

    Once you sign up, you will have to select a username. The Instagram username is the official name you use on Instagram to define your profile address, meaning that it is one of the most crucial elements of your Instagram account. Its function is to make it easier for people to find you through Instagram’s search function. It’s also the very first thing along with your bio that comes across to users and a good name will help you captivate them. Ideally, your username should be original, easy to remember, simple, and creative. The character limit is 30 characters, and you cannot exceed the character limit. The better your username, the more likely people are to connect with you.

    4. Write a Great Bio

    It might not sound fun, but writing a good Instagram bio makes all the difference to the growth of your account. Your bio gives your followers a solid first impression of who you are. So, be clever with your Instagram bio, and use it to attract new followers and potential customers.

    • Tip – If you have a website that goes with your business, you can simply add it to your bio. You can also incorporate emojis to space out the text in your Instagram bio!

    5. Add a Recognizable Profile Picture

    The Instagram profile picture is like your official representative. It allows you to be easily recognized and has an effect on the first impression that you give to your followers. If it’s your personal Instagram account, add a headshot of yourself because people are hard-wired to pay attention to and connect with faces. If your Instagram account is a business profile, ensure you use your company logo as your profile picture. This would reflect on what kind of company you are and comply with Instagram's guidelines.

    The perfect Instagram profile photo has to be 400 × 400 pixels. The minimum image size is 200 × 200 pixels. However, the size of your profile picture will vary depending on the end device used.

    6. Research

    Once you are done uploading your profile picture, it's highly recommended that you do a little research about the kind of content you should be uploading into your feed. Having a good understanding of the type of pictures others are posting ensures your content does well – especially if your Instagram page is a business account.

    7. Post Your First Photo

    Once you're done with your little research, you can finally post your first photo. There are several ways to upload a photo on Instagram. You can either take a photo by pressing the circle in the middle of the screen or click “library” on the bottom left to upload a photo you have snapped previously. You also have the option of uploading a video; the “video” option on the right enables you to take a video for up to a minute.

    Instagram is full of content, which means your visuals need to be great to grab a user’s attention while they’re scrolling their feed. One of the best ways to spruce up your photos is by using filters. Instagram has a huge collection of filters that allows you to edit photos with special effects. Here's how to look up Instagram filters:

    1. In the Instagram app, open the camera and swipe left through the icons at the bottom of the screen.
    2. Then tap on the magnifying glass (Browse Effects).
    3. Tap on one of the filters you see or swipe through the categories at the bottom of the app.
    4. When you tap on a filter, you'll see a preview. Tap on Try It or the down arrow to post the photo.

    8. Write a Compelling Caption

    Writing a good Instagram caption can be quite a tricky task. But if done correctly, a good Instagram caption can add context to your posts, entertain your audience and compel people to take action. Here are a few tips that will help you come up with great Instagram captions:

    • It's Alright to Write More

    Contrary to the popular notion "less is more", longer Instagram captions lead to more engagement compared to shorter captions. The length of Instagram captions has increased exponentially over the past five years. According to an Instagram caption experiment conducted by Hootsuite, captions between 400 and 705 characters received more engagement than similar posts with captions that had 65 characters or fewer.

    At present, the length of the average Instagram caption is usually around 65 to 70 words. Try adding more words to your Instagram captions and see how your followers respond. If you experience an increased engagement rate, keep making them long.

    • Incorporate Emojis

    Although it may seem like adding emojis may take away the seriousness of the post, research suggests that the more emojis you use, the higher your post’s engagement will be. Furthermore, data indicated that 92% of those using Instagram regularly uses emojis in their captions. You can experiment with adding a few emojis into your captions every time you post something.

    • Add Hashtags

    Hashtags may seem like a trendy habit that only Gen Z's follow, but it's an important strategy for social media success. By continuously using hashtags, you can harness the power of the Instagram algorithm to boost your account growth. Make sure you hashtag what is relevant. This will make your posts appear on the explore page, opening up the potential of new followers each day. You can add up to 30 hashtags to each caption.

    • Bring on the CTA's

    If you own a business account, incorporating call-to-actions (CTA's) is a guaranteed technique that would drive engagement and boost sales. Typically, they’re persuasive, emotion-evoking, and to the point. The right CTA can help you encourage users to move beyond Instagram engagement and to take a specific action.

    • Avoid Jargon

    Use words that people use in daily life. No one likes over-complicated language. Keep that in mind!

    • Tip – Avoid talking at people. Instead, practise talking to people.

    9. Get Social and Grow Your Audience

    Use Instagram’s search function to find people who share your passion and interests, follow them, and make new connections. Afterwards, like and comment on their posts because a key component of building a network on Instagram is engaging with the people who follow you. Similarly, if someone comments on your posts, make sure you like the comment and respond.

    • Tip – Post content with a consistent look and feel so that your profile becomes more recognisable.
  • ShopOnCloud is an easy-to-use, affordable and secure eCommerce solution for businesses in any industry. We have combined the latest eCommerce technologies and proven eCommerce insights from eBEYONDS, a leading eBusiness and Digital Marketing Solutions Company based in Sri Lanka with over a decade of experience and expertise in eCommerce.

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