I’m always getting messages in the Hospitality Community Facebook Group asking how to use Instagram. To be honest, I have resisted writing about it because I am a firm believer that you need to focus on one platform, get good, and only then look at others.  Check out this blog post I wrote about Instagram algorithm a year ago.
Instagram is becoming more popular with every passing month.
However, for a lot of people, that one platform is fast becoming Instagram instead of Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube or Myspace (joke).
Instagram has always kept its lips sealed on what makes their platform work…until recently. These are the critical steps you need to take to make your Instagram posts stand out. Think of them using the acronym RiRi (not the Jamaican pop star).
1.Recency
How recently the post was shared, with prioritisation for timely posts over weeks-old ones.
2. Interest
How much Instagram predicts you’ll care about a post, with a higher ranking for what matters to you, determined by past behaviour on similar content and potentially machine vision analysing the actual content of the post.
3. Relationship
How close you are to the person who shared it, with a higher ranking for people you’ve interacted with a lot in the past on Instagram, such as by commenting on their posts or being tagged together in photos.
4. Instagram
The Instagram algorithm doesn’t give extra feed presence to personal accounts or business accounts so that switching won’t help your reach. In addition, one thing I have noticed is that if you keep your account as a personal one and you use stories, this will automatically update your Facebook stories page for your account on that platform.
Instagram TV or #IGTV
For those who have noticed, Instagram is taking on YouTube with their June 2018 announcement. In the past, Instagram limited video length to one minute. With the arrival of IGTV, you can post a video of up to an hour long!
Imagine uploading a video of your property to Instagram TV and getting more eyes on your hotel. The sky is the limit:
- Customer video testimonial
- Walkthrough of your property
- Staff Interviews
- Vlogs
- You can now showcase your property through Instagram's compelling new app.
Also, I made this video to show you how to get started:
