Transcend the plain Instagram greatest practices (like posting persistently, partaking your viewers, and prioritizing video) with these deep cuts to get essentially the most out of Instagram.
These Instagram greatest practices are actionable for every type of creators and organizations desirous to profit from Instagram’s new options.
Bonus: Obtain our free, customizable social media calendar template to simply plan and schedule all of your content material upfront.
17 basic Instagram greatest practices for 2025
1. Publish 1-2 Tales per day
Our Instagram Tales experiment discovered posting 1-2 Tales per day acquired higher engagement than posting 5 or extra per day.
Concentrate on making partaking content material, for Tales and elsewhere. Be genuine and development will comply with.
Supply: @homesalivepets on Instagram
Unsure what to share? 62% of social entrepreneurs are already utilizing social listening to align content material with their viewers’s pursuits.
As Natalie Barber, Social Media Specialist at Grand Canyon College, says, “Insights from listening assist us have a look at our scheduled content material with a brand new perspective.”
Try how Hootsuite’s easy-to-use social listening scans over two billion sources—together with web sites, podcasts, and extra—to energy your social development:
Who that is for: Everybody.
Do this technique
Add stickers: Promote engagement through the use of interactive components, like hyperlinks, notification reminders, or the brand new Reveal and Cutout stickers.
Use hashtags: Having a couple of hashtags in your Story will increase attain.
2. Use Instagram Story Notes
Supply: @wearejrg on Instagram
Story Notes is a brand new characteristic the place you’ll be able to put up a textual content observe as much as 60 characters lengthy to your Tales. This exhibits up on the high of inbox feeds and on high of your Instagram profile image. Like Tales, Notes disappear after 24 hours.
Anybody can reply to your Be aware, which is able to open a personal message dialog and improve engagement. Customers also can share your Be aware in a brand new put up or Reel.
Who that is for: Organizations who wish to enhance their engagement charge.
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Ask a query. Reply to everybody for genuine, relationship-building engagement.
3. Make the primary 3 seconds rely
“Hooking” folks within the first few seconds of a Reel will increase the probability they’ll watch the entire thing.
The Instagram algorithm is pushed by watch time. Instagram exhibits your Reel to a small group it thinks will prefer it. If it performs effectively—that means: watch time, likes, or shares—it’s proven to a wider group. If it continues to carry out effectively, its prominence within the Reels algorithm and Discover web page will increase for widespread attain.
Excessive-quality content material with a strong 3 second “hook” is your greatest software for Instagram Reels development in 2025.
Who that is for: Everybody.
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Earlier than filming a Reel, know what your hook shall be and construct the remainder of your script round it.
4. Publish at the most effective time
As a substitute of guessing when your viewers is on-line, depend on onerous knowledge with Hootsuite’s greatest time to publish. Hootsuite identifies when your viewers is more likely to see your content material based mostly in your Instagram analytics (and knowledge from different social networks). Then, auto-schedule content material at these prime occasions with one click on.
Whereas your personalised outcomes could also be completely different, our analysis exhibits the most effective time to put up on Instagram is 5 AM – 7 AM on Wednesdays.
The most effective time to put up is completely different by business. For instance, Wednesdays at 4am and Thursdays from 2 AM – 3 AM are the most effective occasions for retail manufacturers..
And Wednesdays between 8 AM – 10 AM for the monetary companies business, with a bonus hotspot on Fridays at 10 AM.
For a whole overview, learn our full analysis of the most effective occasions to put up on Instagram by format and business.
Who that is for: Organizations wanting to maximise attain and engagement.
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Experiment with posting days and occasions (or let Hootsuite deal with it).
5. Interact, have interaction, have interaction
Need the key hack to doubling your engagement charge? Reply to each remark and message = on the spot 100% engagement charge increase.
New for this 12 months: Story Notes, as mentioned earlier, and broadcast channel feedback—reply to these, too.
Meta is engaged on new methods to make partaking together with your viewers simpler and quicker, together with conversational AIs within the new Meta AI Studio. (At the moment solely out there to U.S. Instagram accounts.)
Supply: Meta
Who that is for: Organizations prioritizing engagement.
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Juggling a number of inboxes throughout social platforms? Use Hootsuite Inbox to reply feedback and messages throughout all of your profiles collectively.
6. Collab posts with influencers
Partnering with influencers expands your attain and model consciousness. With Instagram’s new collaborative posts, you’ll be able to add as much as two different companions to a put up or Reel. It exhibits up on the feeds and profiles of all collaborators, boosting the put up’s attain for everybody.
Supply: Vans on Instagram
Who that is for: Manufacturers of all sizes can discover success working with influencers.
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7. Tag your location
Should you’re a neighborhood enterprise, or selling a neighborhood occasion, tag your location. A location could be a avenue deal with or a metropolis. It’s the Instagram equal of native website positioning.
When folks seek for or discover a location, your put up will present up within the outcomes. In addition to your profile, if in case you have an energetic Instagram Story tagging a close-by location.
Who that is for: Whereas all customers can increase their attain with location tags, brick-and-mortar companies have essentially the most to achieve.
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8. Carousels with audio
You’ll be able to add music to carousels now. Why trouble? As a result of they seem within the Reels tab for extra attain. Woo!
Supply: @adventurehoundsnc on Instagram
Who that is for: Everybody, however particularly manufacturers not at present creating Reels who wish to profit from the Reels algorithm.
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Add trending audio to your subsequent carousel put up.
9. Layer audio in Reels
Now you can add as much as 20 audio tracks in a Reel. Function small clips of every audio monitor to create your personal distinctive “mashup.”
Supply: @creators on Instagram
Prior to now, you would have a voiceover and one music monitor. Many Instagram creators comply with a technique that typically works for TikTok creators: including a trending audio monitor and decreasing the quantity to 5-10%. The voiceover stays the main target however the Reel additionally will get enhanced attain from the trending audio’s feed.
Whereas this has but to be formally examined with Instagram Reels, experiment with layering a number of audio tracks in Reels and see if it will increase your attain.
Who that is for: Manufacturers comfy with creating Instagram content material round trending audio memes.
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Trending audio is nice, and layering a number of tracks appears even cooler, however be sure it suits your model. Genuine content material at all times wins.
10. Begin a broadcast channel
Now that your viewers can remark inside them, broadcast channels have grown right into a community-building software. Make sure you’re replying to feedback and inspiring participation to construct engagement.
Supply: @f1 on Instagram
Who that is for: Manufacturers desirous to create a group.
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Ask questions and use Instagram Polls to collect insightful suggestions out of your most V.I.P. viewers.
11. Touch upon creator posts
Manufacturers commenting on widespread creators’ Instagram posts is among the large developments unearthed in our Social Tendencies 2025 report. Manufacturers who touch upon others’ posts obtain 60% greater engagement when the creator replies.
Our analysis discovered 41% of manufacturers are already experimenting with proactive engagement methods. The hot button is commenting on the best kind of posts to draw your very best viewers.
For instance, on-line banking app EQ targets Canadians. Commenting on Canadian-themed memes like this make sense for the model (and earned them numerous engagement).
Supply: @oh.canaduh on Instagram
Who that is for: Manufacturers whose fundamental aim is viewers development.
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Use social listening instruments to seek out posts to touch upon. Spend 20 minutes per day leaving 5-10 (strategic!) feedback and verify metrics after 30 days to see the way it’s impacting development.
12. Use the Notify sticker in Tales
Launching one thing time-sensitive or wish to increase site visitors for an upcoming sale? Tease it in Instagram Tales with the Notify sticker. Followers who faucet it would obtain an in-app notification on the occasion time.
Who that is for: Promote any time-limited occasion.
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In a Reel or Instagram put up caption, direct customers to enroll in the notification in your Tales.
13. Lean into video developments
Who that is for: Manufacturers with a humorous or cheeky aspect.
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A part of figuring out what’s trending is to spend time watching Reels (or TikToks). Inform your boss we stated it’s okay, it’s for work!
14. Use Instagram pinned posts
Pinning a put up or Reel to the highest of your feed means folks see it first once they go to your Instagram web page. You’ll be able to pin as much as three high posts. Use it for a FAQ or tips put up or as an area to be taught extra about you.
Supply: @threeshipsbeauty on Instagram
Who that is for: All organizations can use pinned Instagram posts to additional their social media targets.
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Use a pinned put up as a suggestion field and encourage feedback and suggestions.
15. Get Meta verified
Whereas getting Instagram verified gained’t make or break your attain within the algorithm by itself, it does have two key advantages for manufacturers:
It protects your title and lets Instagram customers know you’re the true deal.
It could possibly kinda sorta improve your attain…
As photographer Eric Thurber factors out, feedback from verified accounts seem on the high, making it extra possible customers will click on to view your profile.
Supply: r/InstagramMarketing on Reddit
Who that is for: Manufacturers wishing to guard their identification and encourage belief.
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Pair this technique with commenting on widespread creators’ posts for max impact.
16. Save time repurposing with AI
Positive, you’ll be able to manually repurpose your high posts, however AI can do it in a single click on.
OwlyWriter AI, constructed into Hootsuite, saves time by grabbing your high posts. Click on one and bam, a brand new model is prepared so that you can edit or schedule—all proper inside your Hootsuite dashboard.
Who that is for: Individuals who like saving time.
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See every little thing OwlyWriter AI can automate for you, then strive it out your self with a free trial of Hootsuite.
17. Put hashtags within the first remark
We experimented and located having hashtags within the first remark elevated engagement by 60%.
Higher information? Now you can schedule that first remark upfront with Hootsuite.
Who that is for: Everybody.
Do this technique
4 Instagram promoting greatest practices for 2025
Lots of the Instagram greatest practices above additionally apply to advertisements, however listed here are a couple of particular methods for advertisements.
1. Reminder advertisements
Just like the Notify Tales sticker, Reminder advertisements let viewers opt-in to receiving in-app notifications at a particular time.
Supply: @peakdesign on Instagram
Who that is for: Manufacturers launching a promotion or different upcoming occasion.
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2. Autoboost advertisements with Hootsuite
Not solely are you able to handle all of your natural and paid social content material collectively in a single place with Hootsuite, however you may as well arrange autoboosting for Instagram advertisements.
Set computerized triggers to spice up a put up when it hits a sure variety of engagements or views, accommodates a key phrase, and extra. Select to autoboost solely Reels, Tales, or Instagram feed posts — or all three.
Who that is for: Manufacturers desirous to intelligently automate their Instagram advertisements technique.
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Attempt a marketing campaign to autoboost all posts with the key phrase “sale,” or these with over 1,000 views, or a particular hashtag to advertise user-generated content material advertisements.
3. Use Checkout on Instagram
Instagram customers can store your merchandise and pay proper contained in the app. At the moment, Checkout on Instagram is just out there to U.S. companies.
Supply: Instagram
Who that is for: U.S.-based ecommerce companies.
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Should you’re eligible, examine conversion outcomes of in-app checkout vs. your web site.
4. Experiment usually!
Final tip? Throw out all recommendation and run your personal experiments. Let your analytics instruments and social listening knowledge uncover methods to check your present social media advertising and marketing technique.
However Trish Riswick, Social Crew Lead at Hootsuite, advises conserving your content material technique in thoughts, even when experimenting with new codecs, advertisements, or matters:
“When creating, it helps to recollect which [content] pillar the piece of content material you’re making belongs to. This ensures that every little thing from the primary draft to the ultimate put up aligns with the targets of that pillar.”
– Trish Riswick, Social Crew Lead at Hootsuite
Supply: How one can create a social media calendar: Our staff’s POV
Who that is for: Experimentation is a crucial a part of each Instagram advertising and marketing technique.
Do this technique
Use social listening to find a query your target market has. Reply it in a number of codecs (e.g. carousel, Reel, and so forth). Take a look at the efficiency of every.
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