There's SO much Instagram news right now it's literally C R A Z Y. Boomerangs are getting revamped. Layouts are being brought to Stories. The Story Camera is changing. So much more! Instagram's Product Team probably doesn't sleep. 1. Instagram is revamping Boomerangs, including different modes like Classic (the one we know and
Guys. I've gotten so many messages about this. It's not real. Just using Instagram at all gives them permission to use your pictures (not that they would). I covered this in-depth on my show today, with this quote from @charlesporch, Head of Global Partnerships at Instagram. Instagram's Brand Communication Manager, Stephanie Otway, confirmed it's not
I have whiskey and I'm sitting on a throne, which means I keep breaking down Instagram into small, understandable pieces for you. Over the past few days on my #alexa show, I've been going super deep into Instagram's "Close Friends" feature based on a @verge interview of @Robby. Robby Stein is Product Manager at Instagram
Today I'm going to do a deep dive into Instagram's "Close Friends" feature based on a @verge interview of @Robby. Robby Stein is Product Manager at Instagram in charge of the consumer product team across Stories, Feed, Messaging, Camera, and Profile (OMG that's so much!!) This is really important if: 👨‍💼 You want to keep
Today's topic: FREE information to get as many likes as possible. It's called Instagram Insights. Here's the background info - the Instagram algorithm rewards posts that get a lot of likes and comments very quickly after being posted. If your post gets rewarded by the algorithm, it will show your post to more and more
HUGEÂ INSTAGRAMÂ NEWS! If you have a Creator Account, @instagram has added the ability to schedule Feed posts and IGTV posts using Facebook Creator Studio! If you're the kind of person who plans out their content in advance, or if you're scheduling posts using an app like @latermedia or @planoly, this gives a free alternative
Yesterday @tailwindapp had a great blog post - "Instagram Creator Accounts - Should I Switch?", which I featured on my show today. I've had the Creator account for nearly 2 weeks now (and I finally got the Music sticker! Are these things related?!?) Let's get deep on the different kinds of Instagram accounts so you
Today's the day I'm at the Voice Summit in Newark, NJ talking about the difference between Podcasting and Micro-Casting. My Micro-cast is available every day on Amazon Alexa (with an Echo or via the Alexa app) when you say "Alexa, tell me the news”. Based on the what I've created (12,000 subscribers!) I'll be answering
Today's the 3rd part of the series I've been doing based off an interview from @verge about Instagram's Direct Messaging, featuring Connor Hayes, Instgram's head of Product for Messaging. If you missed the last 2 parts, check out my previous posts. Last October Mark Zuckerberg said a growing number of users are shifting from posting
Today I go deeper into the highlights of @verge's interview with Instagram's head of Product for Messaging, Connor Hayes, all about Direct Messages. He explained that "when we do go talk to people in research, we know that younger people, especially, tend to use a lot of different messaging apps and spread out their conversations
It's easy to underestimate the power of Instagram Direct Messaging. @verge did an interview with Instagram's head of Product for Instagram Messaging, Connor Hayes, specifically about Direct Messaging and how it's used. It's a long interview with a ton of very valuable insights, so I'm going to break it up into a few posts with
Sarah Wallace helps coaches and consultants launch their businesses using Instagram. She's been helping brands on Instagram over the past 5 years in health and wellness industry, but recently pivoted to helping individuals. Do you get caught up in building your logo, your website domain name, your website design, or all the other millions of
From now on, I'm going to try and post more quick content tips. Ready? If you want a bigger audience, post images and videos that are so great, your followers feel compelled to share them by tagging other people. How do you do that? Post content that's either: 1. funny. 2. entertaining. 3. extremely interesting,
Last night Business Insider had a great article - "Instagram is Gen Z's go-to source of political news — and it's already having an impact on the 2020 election”. I covered this in-depth on my Alexa show but there are 2 points I wanted to highlight. 1. Where Generation Z gets its news - 59%
Have you not gotten the results you've wanted from Instagram? There's a reason. And you might not be doing anything wrong. Jenn is the author of Instagram for Business for Dummies plus the Director of Marketing and Communications at an Aerospace company in San Diego. On the side, she's been speaking about Instagram for the
What's going to be the next "BIG THING"? What's going to be the next "Instagram"? What's going to be the next platform everyone is on? I think about this all the time. Here's what I know. Take EVERYTHING you've learned from Instagram because it will apply to the next BIG THING - whatever that is.
Back story that you need to know first: the top 3 biggest people on Instagram are @cristiano (Cristiano Ronaldo), @arianagrande and @selenagomez. This week, Selena Gomez said in an interview that she doesn't have the Instagram app on her phone, and only uses a friend's phone periodically to check in on her account. I talked
Instagram has so many new features they've announced that all feature the word "Creator". The newest option Instagram is now offering are Creator Accounts. This is confusing because Instagram uses the word "Creator" to describe the new scroll wheel of options in the Stories camera (called "Create Mode") AND the Creator Studio within Facebook
Alex Branning owns a digital marketing agency and hosts a podcast giving advice about marketing to entrepreneurs. Alex is very focused on Instagram Ads directly on Stories, and teaches his clients 2 things - first, how to grow their audience and then to monetize that audience.  He teaches his clients that video quality needs to
If you want to sell a product or service on Instagram, you can't just start by posting pictures of your product or service. You need to give value, because Instagram does not exist just so you have a platform to sell your product or service on. Mats David Awesome Goldberg is the owner of The
Did you ever think of niching as a marketing tool? Being incredibly specific is the best way, because it lets you weed out the potential clients who are not a good fit, and gets your ideal customer excited. Megan Van Groll gained her experience in social media by volunteering at a local non-profit, joined the
Malvika is the founder and digital content creator behind the platform "Style by Malvika", focused on creating content in the luxury fashion world. According to Malvika, the key to Instagram is finding the balance between aspirational and relatable. Those can be contradictory, so it's important to meet somewhere in the middle. Small business owners can
Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Alexa Conference in Tennessee! Everyone was super nice, and I learned a ton. Here are my key takeways: Keynote on the Future of Voice: 1. Smart speaker devices are being purchased faster than any other device in history. It took smartphones 5 years to reach 50%
Aaron Render hosts a podcast called "Uncontained" where he interviews people in the entertainment industry - actors, musicians, comedians - about their roots, what advice they'd give, how they promote themselves, and what's kept them going when others tell them they won't succeed. In this episode, we talk about how Aaron can use Instagram to
Josh Klemons is a digital storyteller and strategist. He helps brands find, hone, and tell their stories online. Josh works with brands on Instagram Stories, and shares the reasons businesses should be using Stories, which are pieces of content that are only visible for 24 hours. He calls them "ethereal" - which means "characterized by
Michael Sherman has a digital marketing firm called "The Interactive Imprint," a full service South Florida interactive marketing consulting company focused on social media and influencer marketing. He recommends companies focus their social media efforts on being original and showing what's behind-the-scenes from a human perspective. It's not a sales tool like other platforms are
Lauren Davis helps organizations improve their branding, social marketing, and public relations. She's a small business owner of a brick-and-mortar store, and has ingrained herself in the local community in her city. Want Lauren's key strategies to using social media wisely as a small business owner? Lauren teaches her clients the importance of creating an
A few weeks ago, I joined a Facebook group to help me find guests for my Instagram themed podcast, called “The Instagram Stories”. I posted my request for guests who were versed on building a following, then checked back later to see this response from a random person: “Daniel, I’ve had a few friends recently
Beverley is a Social Media Strategist from Canada. Her title is "Your Favorite Social Media Strategist", which is one of the greatest titles I've ever heard. She gave some great information on this episode, including: 1. Start building a content database of striking images. Take pictures wherever you are and wherever you go. 2. You're
To have guests on my podcast, I'd email them asking if they'd be interested in coming on, they'd respond saying they'd love to, then I'd send over some times/dates that would work, then they would respond with some other times/dates that would work for them, then we'd agree on one, but then something would change,
Q&A continues to be one of my favorite things. Here's more Instagram Q&A! Q: What are Stories? A: Stories are short, disposable posts that last for 24 hours. You can add photos or videos to your story, and people watch and tap through them like television. Viewers can reply to stories, and you’ll get
When I attend a conference or a talk, the Q&A section is always my favorite part. It’s one thing to prepare a talk, but it’s another to field questions from those who are trying to grasp this new information. Here's some Q&A geared toward to a small business owner or entrepreneur who is completely new
Overland Unlimited consists 3 guys - Shane, Neil, and Steve. They saw an under-served community, and wanted to do something about that. There are people who spend time going on multi-day outdoor trips, living out of their vehicles, so they decided to build an Instagram community based on other people's posts. Their goal is to
How to Use Instagram To Market Your Small Business Marisa from AllTheSocial is a self-starter. She's taken on a variety of roles that led to her owning her own small business, offering her social media experience to clients. She started on Instagram at the outset, when things were old school. How old school? She started
Headed to a conference, convention, or other event? Here’s how to use this opportunity to get more followers. (Caveat: the point is not just to get followers for the sake of followers, but actually find people who you can have meaningful relationships with. These relationships could be coaching, being mentored, sharing business opportunities, or working
Spencer and Sequoia are musicians with an extremely engaged following. I asked them how they got such an engaged following. Here's what they told me. To start with, everything has to be sincere, authentic and genuine. Here are the steps they took to build a community. First, separate things from your personal account, and tell
Alisa Meredith is obsessed with Pinterest advertising. She's the content marketing manager at Tailwind, a Pinterest and Instagram scheduling tool. Pinterest is based on images that you "pin" or save, and it's built to give people ideas, and then do them. MIND SHIFT: Instagram is about projecting an image of yourself. Pinterest is about planning
JoJami and Lana of Ladies Roadmap have found an under served audience and are making content for them. They're starting a podcast for women over 50, going around the country in a motor home to meet women and inspire them. Here's some of the recommendations I gave them. On Instagram: People care about what you're
Tabitha Carro teaches small business owners and people working on their side hustles how to use their phones to create visual appealing graphics for social media. Are you a small business owner who doesn't have the time to learn all the social media platforms and tools? Tabitha recommends sticking to just one platform, and give
James Santos is a visual artist and designer. He's done work for major companies as an employee of a company, but now he's in the process of becoming a freelancer. He's proud of the experience he's gained working for larger clients but now he's looking to build up his own business. What's the best way
