What Is Instagram?

Stephen von Spiegelhauer, also known as the White Wizard, has turned the photo-sharing app Instagram into his marketing machine. Here he discusses some Instagram basics that will get you on your way to making Instagram work for you, too.

Okay, so you’ve heard of Instagram, but what is it? How can you use it and how can you get started?

Many years ago, the Polaroid instant camera appeared. Point, click, and you would get an instant photo. Even earlier was the telegram, a message delivered in written or printed form.

Soon some clever clogs decided to join them together:

 instant + telegram = Instagram

And thus Instagram was born, an instant way to share your message in photographic form.

See any similarities?

Now you may be asking why you should be on Instagram in the first place. Well for one, it makes you visible and reachable to more people.The social networking platform boasts 400 million monthly active users. Imagine the sheer number of potential clients you can connect to by being on Instagram!Second, because it has millions of users, Instagram offers you a great opportunity for marketing. Check out this awesome marketing tip that will tell you how Instagram can put you in front of thousands of potential clients effortlessly.So with that said, what do you need to do now to start using Instagram? Find out below.

1. Register

To get started, you need to download and install the Instagram app on your desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. Don’t worry—it’s free.

If you’re using a PC or an Android phone, you can download Instagram from the Google Play Store. If you’re using an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, you can get Instagram from the Apple App Store or iTunes.

Just type ‘Instagram’ in the search bar and hit Enter and you’ll see the app in the search result. Click ‘Install’ and that’s it, you’ll have Instagram on your device.

The next thing you have to do is set up your Instagram account. You’ll see a window similar to the one on the left. Enter your email address, choose a username and password, and upload a profile picture.

2. Get Notifications

Instagram will let you know when:

• someone likes or comments on one of your photos
• someone tags you in a photo
• your photo makes it to the Popular page
• a user @mentions you in a comment

For example, the orange box with a white heart shows up when someone likes your picture.

3. Connect to Other Social Media Accounts

You can easily share the pictures you post on Instagram to your accounts on other social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, and Flickr.

To do this, open your Instagram account, head to Profile, go to Tab, hit Edit Sharing Settings, and then choose the social media account where you want to post the photo.

4. Use Hashtags

A hashtag is a combination of a hash or pound sign and a word or phrase that allows search engines to find and categorise messages, keywords, and in the case of Instagram, pictures.

For example, if you type the hashtag #magic or #kidsmagic in one of your pictures, any user anywhere in the world looking for “magic” or “kidsmagic” will easily find your picture and other images using the same keyword.

For More Help

This is a fairly basic introduction to Instagram for children’s entertainers. For a more in-depth and detailed guide, you can go directly to Instagram’s help site by clicking on this link: https://help.instagram.com

You can also find a great Instagram cheat sheet here: https://www.cheatsheet.com/technology/how-to-use-instagram.html