(Photo courtesy of @hugh_davio)
Since we joined Instagram in April, we’ve been enjoying sharing our favorite photos from around Ann Arbor and celebrating campus life, as well as sharing many photos taken by our community of students, alumni, and Wolverines around the globe.
Our team in the #UMSocial office got together to discuss our favorite parts about Instagram, and best practices for those looking to build their presence. Instagram is one of our favorite platforms, as it is rapidly growing and never short of visual content.
- Utilize #hashtags and location. Not only do hashtags lead us to other photos we can “re-gram” from our students and community members (with permission of course), this also leads users to our account. Same goes for locations; simply click on the location you have tagged and you will be led to any photo that was taken there. This is where we find a lot of our photos, and users that we follow from the Ann Arbor community. We frequently search the hashtags #UMSocial, #umicharts #umcampus, #uminstagram #blockMsighting #Michigan #UofMichigan #UniversityofMichigan #GoBlue #umich and #UofM, so if you use those we might find your photos. There are over 28,000 photos tagged #UofM!
(Photo courtesy of @visitannarbor)
- Engage with followers and community members. While many of our photos are regrams from our followers and community members tagging their locations and using various UMich hashtags, we always ask for permission by commenting on the users original photo. In addition, liking commenting on various photos of those we follow and follow us attracts more followers. People like to see the @uofmichigan account engaging with their friends and are more likely to click to our account if they see it often. We do spend time checking out the photos we are mentioned in, and often choose to repost these to our followers.
(photo courtesy of @shhecht)
- Post a range of photos. Our Instagram welcomes a wide range of followers, from future and current students to alumni, Ann Arbor community members, and avid UMich fans. We keep this in mind when posting our photos, and it’s great to shake up your content with photos from all aspects of life. We strive to always give our audience something new to look at.
(#TBT photo courtesy of @tyrellxavier)
- Remind your followers you exist, but don’t overwhelm them. One of the top ways users lose followers is by bombarding them with too many photos. Spread out your content, and experiment to see what resonates with your followers. We try to post no less than 2 hours apart. In the same vein, you don’t want to followers to forget about you. Try to post at least once a day. However, this is assuming you have content that your followers will want to see. No one wants to see 12 straight days of your bowl of Ramen noodles!
(Photo courtesy of @c_youtsey)
Be sure to follow us on Instagram @uofmichigan, and use the hashtags #UMSocial #BlockMSighting #UofM #Michigan #UMich #UMInstagram #UMarts #UMcampus #UofMichigan #GoBlue #university #student #campuslife, and more and you might see your photo on our page!
