How to Instagram Part 1 of MANY!!

Hi everyone and thank you for reading my blog.
In this series I am going to go over how you can use Instagram, Facebook and other social media services to help market your listing. Since the birth of Facebook in 2004, yes it is over 15 years old now, social media has grown exponentially. Initially, it was designed to be a place where college students could interact and meet peers. Over the years it has become a network where people all over the world that can share ideas, opinions, become friends as well as MARKET and SELL products and services. Social media has actually grown to be such a great marketing tool that there are many companies who's only purpose is Social Media Marketing. Understanding how it works, using it and successfully marketing through social media is the goal of this series of blog posts.
I am a photographer so Instagram (IG) is a no brainer for me to use to post my work and share with people all over the world. It did require me to learn how to utilize it in order to get the best results from sharing or marketing my work. I am now going to share some of those tips with you.
Before we dive into the hows, whys and what ifs of social media, lets do a simple Instagram photo or video post to get started.
Below are some screenshots and the steps I take to upload a photo, video or slideshow to my Instagram. I hope it's helpful to you.
On my next post I will talk about #Hashtags, what they are and how they can help you.
Enjoy!!

This is the video I used in the sample screen shots below. As you can see, it is 1920 x 1080 wide screen so it needed to be adjusted when I uploaded it to Instagram.

Step 1 Clicking the +Sign

Click the + (PLUS) Sign at the Bottom Center of you phone screen.
This will open your "Camera Roll" or the Photo & Video Gallery that is on your phone.

Step 2 Choose Your Photo or Video

Tap the photo or video that you would like to post to Instagram.
It will replace whatever image is currently selected and enlarged to the center of your screen. Don't click NEXT yet!

Step 3 Correcting the Image Size

Note the image is oversized for the screen. This is because Instagram and most phone apps are being made to show photos and videos in a Square 1:1 Ratio instead of the Wide 16:9 Ratio we are accustom to.
Click the button I circled and the image will be adjusted to fit the Square 1:1 Ratio.
Now you can click NEXT.
Ask your photographer or videographer to render or create images this way to maximize the real estate on the screen. Take a look at my Flash Format Slideshows.

 

Step 4 Choosing the Video to Trim

Instagram has openly acknowledged the short attention span that many have today. They do not allow any video to be more than 60 seconds.
To trim your video
1st tap the trip button
2nd tap the video you would like to trim.

Step 5 Trimming Videos & Slideshows

Once you've selected the clip to trim you can make it upto 60 seconds long. Slide the timeline to find the Segment you would like to use, put it between the brackets.
Click Done, then Click NEXT.

Step 6 #Hashtags & Publishing

When you get to this screen you are ready to type your message, add your #Hashtags and Publish. In the space they give you, type what you would like to say, this is not always seen or looked at. Then add your #Hashtags. When you type #(anything) a list of previously created or used #Hashtags will come up. Try is by typing #realestate. You can select from there or just type out your #hashtags. After you finish entering your message and #Hashtags Click OK in the top right of the screen. Then Click Share in the top right of your screen and your post will be published.
There are other options to explore after you click OK, but we will have to go over that in another blog.

These Slideshows are Formatted to Take Advantage of the Square 1:1 Ratio of Instagram & Facebook