Instagram – Lava Surf

Did you know that 42% of Instagram users check their accounts multiple times per day? Are you one of them? Hopefully scrolling through Instagram is a nice reprieve from your daily tasks. But for many people, it’s easy to get caught up in following accounts that leave you feeling inadequate and overwhelmed rather than relaxed. Seemingly perfect influencers and the onslaught of negative news bursting through your phone every day can feel like too much to handle sometimes.

Making a few tweaks to the kinds of accounts you follow can make all the difference between your feed sparking joy or frustration. That’s why we’ve compiled 6 accounts and hashtags you can follow to spice up your feed and hopefully lift your mood.

Photoshop: For a bit of fantasy.

You’ve heard of photoshop but maybe you’ve never actually used it before. Well, regardless of your graphic design skills their account is one worth following. The @photoshop account features some of the best (and often whimsical) photoshop projects artists have been working on each month.

They also include tutorials from time to time in the copy for those of you who are looking to expand your social media skill set.

Holly Fox: For a pop of color.

Did you know that different colors affect your mood? So why not brighten your mood each day with carefully crafted, colorful photos of cookies? The @hol_fox account is guaranteed to supply a series of colorful cookie creations to your feed.

After just a quick peek at a few of her posts you will see that she maintains a consistent and well branded feed so you know what you’re getting into when you hit that follow button. Whether it’s a Pacman themed post or football shaped cookies on Superbowl Sunday, this delicious art will be sure to spice up the color palette of your Instagram feed.

Charity Water: For a dose of hope.

The world has seen some dark days but you’ll still see a lot of positive changes happening if you keep your eyes open to them. The @charitywater account documents their effort to make clean water available to people in developing countries.

Each image is brimming with hope and paired with a caption that will inspire you, educate you, or both. Some captions share specific stories of areas of the world that are now benefiting from clean water as a result of their efforts. It’s also an uplifting reminder to be grateful for things we normally take for granted, like getting clean water from a tap.

Resilient Blog: For consistent motivation.

We could all use an extra dose of motivation and the @resilientblog can help with that! This account is the solution to your need for more positivity in your feed. When the Resilient Blog posts pop up in your feed you’ll want to slow your scrolling a bit to read the new uplifting message. A fresh well-designed message gets posted every other day.

Positive affirmations can be a helpful tool for boosting your mood and improving your mindset. Filling your social media feed with encouraging phrases helps you start a new habit of reading an affirmation every day by attaching it to your old habit of checking Instagram.

Weekly Fluff: For furry faces.

We all know the internet was invented so we could share cat videos with one another but it has since then expanded to make room for all of our favorite furry friends. Follow the hashtag #weeklyfluff if you are interested in seeing the day’s top photos of cats, dogs, rabbits, and the occasional exotic pet.

It’s been proven that interacting with dogs can increase your brain’s level of dopamine, oxytocin, and beta-endorphins. If interacting with a dog boosts your mood then looking at a photo of a pup once and a while is probably pretty good for you too! Enhancing your mood often enhances your efficiency so why not give it a try?

Opt Outdoors: For an adventure.

Maybe you’re craving adventure but unable to travel right now. Or maybe you are far away from your home by the ocean or mountains. Thanks to the internet and social media, there are still ways you can take in the beauty of the great outdoors.

Following #optoutdoors is a simple way to fill your feed with adventure-themed photos from all over the world. You might even find yourself saving a few posts to use for travel inspiration! It could also be the motivation you need to find a nearby trailhead and go for a relaxing nature walk. If you work from home, daily walks are a great way to “get out of the office” for a quick break.

Social media is a powerful tool for connecting with others and learning new things. With the challenging year we’ve had, it can be a good place to come together with other people who are facing the same challenges as you.

If you find yourself feeling worse about yourself and the world during your daily scroll, then it might be time to make some changes. Don’t be afraid to block accounts, hit that unfollow button, and start fresh in creating an online space that you enjoy being in.

The landscape of social media is constantly evolving. With new social channels, platforms, and features popping up left and right, how do you know which ones are worth investing your money and effort into? There are a lot of factors to take into consideration before jumping on the bandwagon for a new social feature but if you’re already utilizing Instagram as part of your social strategy, it might be worth it to utilize Instagram TV as well. Here are just a few ways that IGTV could benefit your business.

Increased Visibility

You have a lot of competition when it comes to capturing the attention of your online audience. Having content on multiple platforms will increase your organizations reach and make it easier for you to be seen by your desired audience. The great thing about IGTV is that if you already have an Instagram account with followers, then you already have a base audience for your IGTV content.

Instagram recently launched a feature that allows you to post a clip of your IGTV video to your Instagram feed. If a viewer likes what they see, they can watch the rest of your video on IGTV. This is important because just like any social platform you’re working with the platform’s algorithm. If your followers are interacting with your video, then it’s more likely to show up in the discover section of other Instagram users. You’ll also want to utilize keywords and relevant hashtags in your description.

Candid Communication

While brands such as Redbull set a high bar for content, IGTV viewers do not share the same expectations IGTV as they do for YouTube. It has proven itself to be a much more casual platform for connecting with your audience. Most of us have become accustomed to Youtubers creating videos in well-lit rooms with strategically organized backgrounds. Creating videos for Instagram TV is as easy as hitting the record button on your phone camera. No extra lighting or studio space necessary.

Some argue that the lower expectations for IGTV give off the feel of a second-hand youtube. However, brands can use the more causal platform to their advantage. Recent scandals involving social media slips ups and data breaches have left people hesitant to trust large corporations and online marketing. This means transparency within an organization is more important than ever. IGTV gives you the opportunity to create casual content that helps your audience feel more connected with your brand.

Because IGTV has a more casual feel to it than Youtube or Facebook, this is a great place for content that you wouldn’t traditionally post on your other social media channels. It’s an avenue for brands to explore themes that they wouldn’t traditionally focus on. Some examples of this could include a behind the scenes video, office events, or contests. These kinds of videos are often too long to fit well into a 15 second Instagram story or 60-second story.

Early Adopters See Higher High ROI

Early adopters of a new platform are often the ones who benefit the most from it. We all witnessed Instagram’s rapid growth from March 2014 to June 2018 in which monthly active users grew from 200 million to one billion. IGTV may not be the primary platform for video viewing at the moment but don’t underestimate it. IGTV was announced in June 2018 so it’s only a year old at this time. IGTV is in a way a hybrid of Instagram and Youtube, which are two incredibly successful platforms, so we can expect it’s population of viewers to skyrocket in the upcoming years.

The fact that IGTV already has over a billion potential viewers on Instagram means that it will grow even more rapidly than its parent platform. The amount of content for people to sift through on the internet is increasing by the day. Using a brand new feature or app can benefit you because there will not be as much similar content competing for the attention of your target audience.

Will IGTV become a major tool in your social strategy? That’s up to you and the needs of your business. But we do know that when utilized correctly, IGTV will increase your brand’s visibility and leave you more connected with your online audience than ever before.

Tag: Instagram

How about a solid case study?