There are a bunch of Instagram features, tools, and hacks that many people are unaware of. Therefore, in this latest Guide, we are going to talk you through 10 of the Instagram hacks that you probably didn’t know existed!
1. Recovering deleted stories or posts
To recover a deleted post, click on:
- Your profile
- The 3 lines in the top right-hand corner
- Select Your activity
- Scroll down and click on Recently Deleted
This is where you can recover deleted posts, stories, and Reels.
NOTE: Posts will stay here for 30 days only. If you do not recover them in 30 days, they will permanently be deleted from your profile.
2. Instagram Algorithm communicates directly to you
Did you know that Instagram will directly tell you their algorithm upfront? They are very transparent with why they’re showing you different posts.
How to activate it?
On your main feed, as you are scrolling, you will see a post thinking “why am I seeing this?” all you do is click the 3 dots on the posts and select Why you’re seeing this post. As soon as you click that, you will see why you have been recommended that post, and it will say something like:
Why you’re seeing this post
Posts are shown in your feed based on many things, including your activity on Instagram. Learn More
You follow ITPLive
You’ve followed ITPLive for 1 year
This post is liked more than others in your feed
You will find many reasons, and the text above is one example.
3. Auto-posting your Reels
Instagram has recently announced that they have released their API so that 3rd party platforms can now integrate this tool into their platforms. They can now create and schedule Reels! This way you can create content, schedule, and then post while you are sleeping or working – you don’t have to be live to post. This is a good option for anyone who needs the option!
Something to keep in mind when doing an auto-post is as of now, there isn’t a way to upload or add audio. The audio you use for your Reel will be completely your own.
4. Letting your stories expire
If you have noticed your story views drop with the more posts you upload, then stop posting stories, let them expire, let the algorithm get a little refresh and when you come back to post to your stories, then have one that shows your face, that is personable and interactive.
Use polls, questions, or captions too, something where something can interact directly with the story. All these features that are already on Instagram will help you skyrocket your views.
To see if it works, just experiment and test it then compare!
5. Turn Reel series in Guides
Guides are often overlooked and seen as a feature that people think is irrelevant. However, when you are creating a series with multiple videos, Guides can really help you organise and clean up your gram. It can also help get more views on older posts as people will scroll through your collection and see what is relevant to them rather than scrolling through different, random content on your feed.
Creating a Guide, is very simple:
- Click on the + sign in the top right-hand corner of your IG
- Select Guide
- Choose from either Places, Products, Posts
- If you click on Posts
- Choose Your posts at the bottom
From here, you can see which posts make sense to the Guide you would like to create, before creating a title, and personal description relevant to the Guide/topic.
6. Reels template
Talking of Reels, a new feature that Instagram just announced is the Reels template. This is very easy to use and creates for influencers and creators to use. All you need to do is:
- Click the Reels tab at the bottom of your profile
- Click the camera in the top right-hand corner
- At the bottom, you will see REEL and if you swipe left you will see TEMPLATE
- Click on the template and you will see pre-created templates that will help you time your videos to the audio
- Use the template to automatically edit the video to match the beat of your song
If you’re intimidated by Reels and editing scares you, then use the template to do the work for you!
7. Stories archive
If you go onto your profile, click on the 3 lines, and select Archive, you can select through Stories archive, Posts archive, or Live archive. If you don’t have that option to see your stories archive, it means you haven’t turned it on yet.
Using a calendar view is particularly helpful for influencers and creators who want to check what collaborations they have done if they are planning to work with a brand. You can then go back to the date, screenshot the insights and send them to the brand.
To do this:
- Swipe right as if you are about the post a story
- Click on the setting in the top right
- Select Story at the top
- Scroll down and make sure Save story to archive is switched on
If you don’t have this on, then switch it on now! If you are not ready for brand collaborations, what you can do starting now is organically talk about the brands you love in your stories and tag them. Use links if you have affiliate links and do that already on your stories to create that connection because you never know how helpful that story could lead to – a potential paid partnership.
8. Auto-generating a caption on Instagram
This is a feature that many of you don’t know exists, so let us educate!
- Do a story
- Click the sticker button in the top right
- Select captions and it will transcribe your audio to auto-generate for you
You can the text, background colours, and font. What is really good is you can correct the text as well if it has been auto-generated wrong. Just tap on the words again, and you can edit specific words by scrolling through them.
9. You can do a hands-free video countdown
Many of you know and have used the hands-free option on your phone. You go onto your stories, select the hands-free option click in the middle and you put your phone down into position to carry on with the video.
However, did you know that if you hold down your finger for longer on the middle button, Instagram will give you a countdown so you can put your phone in position beforehand rather than pressing it while it starts recording hands-free straight away?
10. Repurposing your content
If you upload a Reel, you can create a workflow or system to be able to re-post it on different social media avenues like TikTok. This can be paid, so do more research into this before buying but it is always good to repurpose your content having spent x amount of time on it.
If you found this helpful then please share the hacks with others that you think will help!
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