For our final project in our Media Technologies class, my teammate and I put together an Instagram best practices guide. In this guide, we take a look at three popular Instagram accounts - one private, one non-profit, and one for profit - and we discuss what they do right and how others can follow their example when marketing on Instagram.

1. InstagramA How-To Guide

2. Instagram
What is Instagram?
Instagram describes itself as the following:
“Instagram is a fun and quirky way to share your life with friends through
a series of pictures. Snap a photo with your mobile phone, then choose a
filter to transform the image into a memory to keep around forever.
We’re building Instagram to allow you to experience moments in your
friends’ lives through pictures as the happen.”

3. Instagram
Founders
Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, Founders of Instagram.
• Kevin Systrom (CEO, Co-Founder)
• Graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. in
Management Science & Engineering
• Before Instagram, worked with the startup Odeo
as an intern (later became Twitter), worked for 2
years at Google
• Mike Krieger (Technical Lead, Co-Founder)
• Graduated from Stanford University with an MS in
Symbolic Systems
• Originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil
• Before Instagram, he worked at Meebo (engineer
& user experience designer), interned with
Microsoft

4. Instagram
The IdeaKevin & Mike always thought that you needed a bulky camera and years of art school to take great
photos. However, as camera phones got better and better they decided to challenge that assumption by
solving three problems:
1. Mobile pictures come out mediocre - so they fixed that with filters that make your photos look
professional!
2. It’s a pain to share your photo on each platform-with Instagram you can share to all of your favorite
platforms with one click. (Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare)
3. Uploading pictures can take forever, so Instagram works to be fast & efficient.

5. Instagram
Timeline
Oct. 6, 2010
Instagram
Launches
Dec. 12, 2010
1 million
users
Apr. 3, 2012
Launches on
Android
Apr. 9, 2012
Bought by
Facebook
Feb. 26, 2013
100 million
users
June 20, 2013
Instagram
Video
Oct. 24, 2013
Sponsored
Photos &
Videos
Dec. 12, 2013
Instagram
Direct
(a few key points from visual timeline by menford.com)

6. Instagram
Our Research
We examined 3 popular Instagram accounts
(one private, one non-profit, and one for-profit) to discover their best practices.

7. Instagram
• Posts: 3,011
• Followers: 2.9 mil.
• Following: 18
Humans of New York City, one story at a time.
Humans of New York is a blog that has over 8 million followers on social
media and was begun by Brandon Stanton in 2010. The Instagram account
features snippets of everyday New York people and their stories.

8. Instagram
1. Decide what you will be known for.
Best Practices
"What's the most romantic thing he's ever done
for you?" "You don't talk about those things!"
The key here is to focus on one main concept and be
excellent at it. For Stanton, that’s people and their stories.

9. Instagram
2. Create a strong sense of community
and encourage interaction.
Best Practices
Humans of New York is so strong that the
community interacts together daily through
the posts. Most photos have an average of
1,000 to 5,000 comments each!

10. Instagram
3. Take quality
professional photos
that tell a story.
Best Practices

11. Instagram
4. Be consistent with your
posting schedule.
Best Practices
Brandon of Humans of New York posts 2 to
3 times a day. His audience knows to expect
new content from him everyday.

12. Instagram
5. Be an inspiration.
Best Practices
Through one simple photo of a student and
then his principal, $700,000 was collected
for a group of school kids, as well as a
scholarship fund!

13. Instagram
• Posts: 1,293
• Followers: 245 K.
• Following: 1,899
We’re bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in need around the world.
Charity: Water is a non-profit organization, “a group of passionate and
determined creative problem-solvers who want to make a difference.” Their
mission is to provide clean water to people in the developing world.

14. Instagram
1. Use quality content
that is compelling.
Best Practices

15. Instagram
2. Post at least once a day so
your followers remember you!
3. Consistently give a call to
action in your captions.
Best Practices

16. Instagram
4. Interact with your
supporters and feature
them in your content.
Best Practices

17. Instagram
4. Interact with supporters (cont’d.)
Best Practices
Charity Water does this by regularly
showing those who support them, such as
Jennifer, who turns coffee sacks into tote
bags to raise money for clean water.

18. Instagram
5. Use hashtags and
events to develop
relevant content
that trends.
Best Practices

19. Instagram
Best Practices
6. Take and use
professional photos
from the field.

20. Instagram
7. Make strategic
partnerships and use
contests & giveaways.
Best Practices

21. Instagram
• Posts: 1,598
• Followers: 4.7 mil.
• Following: 347
Official GoPro Instagram. We make the World’s Most Versatile Camera.
Wear it. Mount it. Love it.
From incredibly versatile, powerful cameras, to mounts and accessories for
nearly any activity, to the GoPro App and software—GoPro makes it easier
than ever to capture and share your world like never before.

22. Instagram
1. Showcase the
lifestyle of your brand.
Best Practices

23. Instagram
Best Practices
2. Make use of widely
known, popular hashtag
trends in an authentic way.

24. Instagram
3. Show real people
engaging with your
product/brand.
Best Practices

25. Instagram
Best Practices
4. Use video creatively to
show things no one has
seen before.

26. Instagram
The Three Keys
1. High quality, professional photos.
2. A clear brand message/story.
3. Engagement with followers.