Are there best practices for Instagram that we should be using as a Family? .famvin is on Instagram as social.famvin and we’ve adopted some.

Instagram is a free application for iPhone or Android that lets people take photos, apply filters to change the look of the photos and then share them. Users can share them on Instagram while also choosing to share them to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Foursquare. It was created in 2010 and purchased by Facebook in 2012. As of September, 2015, Instagram had 400 Million users. Best practices for Instagram are all over the place. Start here.

Do you need to grow your audience? This is adapted from our friends at Sprout Social again on:

How to Get Discovered

• Instagram’s explore features: One of the most popular features on Instagram is Explore. This helps people find users or posts their own followers liked, followed or commented on. This opens a floodgate of content and you should try to get there by being where your future audience expects you.

• Tag People Involved: If there are Vincentians or non-Vincentians who ought to know about what’s going on, make sure to tag them in your posts. Additionally, if you use other people’s content – if you pilfered from Facebook or Regranned or Reposted, give the person an appropriate shoutout. Using @mentions can actually double your engagement. This sparks a chain of events for friends of friends to notice your content.

• Use Hashtags Often: Instagram hashtags are your best friend. Hashtags help you get discovered, archive content and participate with other trending topics. Branded hashtags can do wonders for your marketing strategy.

• Use Geo Locations: Instagram users use geo locations to find content tagged at that specific location. Always use your geo-tag features from wherever you’re posting to boost your audience’s size. For example, if you were at World Youth Day and visited other places in Poland or Europe, search for the geo-tag.

Instagram has a couple of real benefits. It’s a great branding tool because it can engage audiences, create intimacy, and appeal to the emotions. It is superb for visual storytelling about your organization, its stakeholders, and results. Pictures do the talking. Follow social.famvin!

Here are a couple more helpful articles to help you employ Instagram more effectively.

Nonprofits and Instagram: The Ultimate Curated Collection of Best Practices, Examples, and Tips

Instagram for Nonprofits: 4 Tips to Get You Started

Start thinking now about what best practices for Instagram you will adopt. And let us know what you are doing!