I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… Instagram is one of my favorite social media sites (but I have seen some Instagram atrocities in my day.) Which, believe me, I think is kinda weird now that it is one of my favorites. If someone would have told me I would have gotten a couple clients from Instagram of all places… I would have looked at them like they had 4 heads.

Now, I think back and remember my first post. I was sitting at a Panera in a neighboring town and decided, “Why the heck not!?” So then and there I did it. I only had a couple of followers, but hey, that was better than none. I basically just invited my friends from my personal Instagram account and then texted some of them thanking them for liking my page and letting them know that was my company they were following.

Over time, my Instagram page has grown from a couple followers (who basically followed anyone, but I didn’t care) to over 2000 followers. You can learn how I grew my Instagram followers with one of my previous blog posts.

So now I’ve been on Instagram for a while through my business and have learned a couple of things. I’ve seen a lot of amazing pages and a lot of pages that I question. So here is my list of Instagram Atrocities, things you don’t want to commit:

• Instagram Atrocity 1: Not using enough hashtags. There is no magic number when it comes to hashtags, however a study done by SuperSpicyMedia shows that the sweet spot is between 5-10, but I read another article recently that said 11 was the magic number. 
• Instagram Atrocity 2. Your hashtags aren’t relatable to your picture. This is a big one. If you’re posting about your company, an AC company, don’t use hashtags about puppies. When I’m posting about my marketing company, I don’t post hashtags about clowns. It just doesn’t fit.
• Instagram Atrocity 3. You don’t credit people for using their photos. This one really irks me. Make sure you always credit people within your description of your photo by tagging them with the @ symbol. This helps their exposure, they’re appreciative and you look amazing because you gave someone else credit.
• Instagram Atrocity 4. Not utilizing your description. The description is a snippet of information for those who come to your page. I’ve seen some people not even utilize it. When I click on a page which a sweet title, then they don’t tell me what they do and there are a bunch of random photos, do you think I am going to follow them? No.
• Instagram Atrocity 5. Not using hashtags around your location. When you post a photo you should ALWAYS use hashtags around your location because people search through hashtags. My marketing agency is in Orlando, so I always use the hashtags, #Orlando, #CentralFlorida, #ThorntonPark, #DowntownOrlando, #WinterPark, #Altamonte, #Mailtand and so on. This way, if someone is searching those hashtags, I will come up.

Bonus Tip: Use quotes. Quote photos are one of the most liked and shared peices of content on Instagram. Try using one about Mondays on Monday and inspirational ones throughout the week.

These Instagram atrocities are just scratching the surface but I think it’s a great start for you to look over, especially if you’re a business on Instagram. Have you seen any other Instagram atrocities? Let me know through Twitter.

For more information on Instagram atricities, see our Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and Instagram pages or contact us here.