How to use Instagram: Steps and Advantages for Visual Artists

Similar to Facebook, Instagram is the most widely used and popular social media platform. It's a great platform for artists to sell and promote art.

To get started, check out a few important things, this will help you improve your digital presence and attract more followers.

Your Instagram profile shows the images or videos that you post. Your posts will appear in the feeds of other people who have followed you and you'll also receive updates from users whose accounts you've chosen to follow. Like other social networks, Instagram allows you to engage with other users by following, commenting, tagging, and sending direct messages. You can also save the Instagram videos and images you view in your feed.

Creating an account on Instagram

Instagram can only be used when an account has been created. You can register using an email address or your current Facebook account. 

If your Instagram account is switched to private, only your approved followers will be able to see your photographs and videos on hashtag or location pages. If your account is set to public, anybody can view your Instagram profile and posts. 

You can keep Instagram private if you use it for personal purposes. However, if you plan to use Instagram to promote your artwork, make sure to make your account public.

It's important to ensure that your instagram page accurately represents you and your work at a glance as your Instagram profile is where users go to discover more about you and your work. Before creating an account, think about the information that you want to share through your instagram bio and feed. This will help you create a compelling profile.

How to set up your profile

In order to set up your profile, you must select a profile image because the first thing in your profile that draws the viewer's attention is your profile photo, thus it must be yours in order to complete setting up your Instagram profile. 

Choose a username It's important to make your Instagram username unique. Mention your real name, keeping it short and straightforward. Memorable usernames are more likely to be searched for, which has an immediate effect on your follower count and engagement rates. In order for visitors to learn more about you and your work, compose a brief and concise bio.

Caption

Be creative while writing the caption for your post, it will help viewers learn more about your artwork. Include all relevant information in the caption, like the painting's title, its size, its medium, etc.

Tag

Adding a tag while sharing a post will include another person in your post. This way your post will also be visible in the feed of the people you have tagged in your post.  

Mention

When mentioning someone, enter @ followed by their username right away (for instance, "great picture, @shuruart"). No space should be there between @ and the username. When you mention someone, they will be alerted via a notification in their Activity Feed.

Hashtags

Hashtags are a crucial tool for increasing your Instagram audience and reach. Your post will show up on the associated hashtag page you used in your post. Hashtags are no longer effective on instagram stories. You can use 30 hashtags in a post.

• Posts tagged by users with private profiles won't show up publicly on hashtag sites. 
• You can not include numbers in hashtags. 
• When a person adds a hashtag to their post, the social network can index it and make it accessible and discoverable by other users. 
• When choosing which hashtags to use, the most crucial thing to remember is to be strategic, – i.e., to select hashtags that your target audience is actively looking for and using.

Sharing mode

Instagram allows you to simultaneously share your content on multiple social media platforms. You can share a post to Facebook from the same screen where you add a caption if you link your accounts and let Facebook to see your Instagram.