10 Instagram Hacks for PR Professionals

Fellow marketers know how tricky and time-consuming it can be to keep track of all the latest social media updates across so many different platforms. So we’ve put together a list of our favorite tips and tricks to master one of the most powerful and versatile social platforms: Instagram.

Check out a few of our favorite hacks below:

1. Make your bio appear in more search results: Include more of your company’s keywords in the name field of your bio –– which is searchable–– to increase the likelihood that you show up in searches related to your industry.

1. Tap “Edit Profile” and select the “Name” section.

2. Revise the text to include your keywords and then tap “Done” to save your changes.

2. Add alt text for accessibility and SEO boost: Adding alt text tags to your Instagram posts makes them accessible for visually impaired users who rely on screen readers, and can also boost your SEO by making your images more easily searchable.

1. To add alt text to a new Instagram post, tap “Advanced Settings” at the bottom of the caption screen.

2. Scroll to the “Accessibility” heading and select “Write Alt Text.”

3. Users can also add alt text to published posts in the “Edit” feature by selecting “Edit” and tapping “Edit Alt Text” on the image.

3. Save Instagram Stories to your camera roll: You can save your published Stories to your phone’s camera roll in two ways:

Method 1: 

1. Open the Instagram Stories camera.

2. Choose a photo or video to post.

3. Tap the “save to camera roll” icon in the top right of the screen.

Method 2:

1. Open the Stories camera.

2. Tap the settings button.

3. Switch on “Auto Save Stories” to save all future Stories to your camera roll.

4. Turn off comments on a post: Prevent followers from commenting on certain posts.

1. Choose a photo or video to post as you normally would.

2. When you reach the caption editing screen, tap “Advanced Settings.”

3. Switch the “Turn Commenting Off” option on.

4. To turn off commenting on previously published posts, tap the edit button on your post and select “Turn Off Commenting.”

5. Add line breaks to long captions: Make your posts with longer captions more readable by adding line breaks.

1. While writing your caption, periodically add line breaks by using the “Return” key, which you can access on your device’s keyboard by tapping the “123” key. 

2. To add a larger white space between lines, simply tap return multiple times.

6. Add music to your Instagram Story with Instagram’s music library: Choose from thousands of songs to spice up your Stories!

1. Once you’ve started a new Stories post, tap the “Stickers” icon and select the “Music” sticker.

2. This opens Instagram’s music library, where you can search by song title, mood, genre, or what’s popular.

3. Tap the song you want to add to your post, then choose from the style options (scrolling lyrics, album cover, etc) and the length of the clip, up to 15 seconds.

7. Filter and block comments with specific keywords: Prevent unwanted comments and social media trolling by filtering and blocking comments that contain selected keywords.

1. Go to the “Settings” screen on your account.

2. Tap “Privacy.”

3. Tap “Comments.”

4. Switch on “Hide Offensive Comments” to automatically filter unwanted comments.

5. Switch on “Manual Filter.” 

6. Type in any works or phrases you want to filter out into the text box that appears below “Manual Filter.”

8. Record hands-free video for Instagram Stories:

1. Open the Instagram Stories camera.

2. Swipe through the camera options at the bottom of the screen and stop at the “Hands Free” option.

3. Press the capture button to start recording.

4. To stop recording, either press the capture button again or let the maximum time run out.

9. Cross-post Instagram Stories to Facebook: This is a great way to get started with posting Stories and to test content across both platforms. Linking your Instagram account to your Facebook page will give you access to this feature.

1. Once your accounts are linked, open  “Account Settings” and tap “Privacy” followed by “Story Controls.” 

2. Switch on “Share Your Story To Facebook.”

10. Hide hashtags to declutter your posts: Keep your captions clutter-free to keep readers focused and engaged.

Method 1:

1. Leave your hashtags out of your caption entirely and put them in a comment below your post instead. 

2. As soon as a second comment is posted, the hashtags will no longer be visible outside the comments section.

Method 2:

1. Separate your hashtags from the rest of the caption by adding several line breaks.

2. After you’ve written your caption, tap the “Return” button on your keyboard to enter a line break, followed by some kind of punctuation mark to indicate that there is more content couched below the line breaks.

3. Repeat this process at least three times, after which the hashtags are hidden by Instagram unless followers tap the “more” option.

Did we miss any of your favorites? Let us know in the comments below. Eager to craft your company’s social media marketing or public relations strategy? Contact our team to learn more.