15 Instagram Tips and Secrets to Know in 2023

Instagram is the new sensation of the young generation, where they share engaging visual content with their friends, family and the community. It provides a comprehensive platform for creators and influencers even to make money.

As a result, Instagram now has millions of users. And there is a huge competition to be noticed. So, to help you stand out in the crowd, we are here to share with you 15 top Instagram hacks and secrets in 2023.

1- Schedule your Instagram Posts

It becomes really hectic if you have a lot of reels, stories, and pictures to post daily. But with a simple trick, you can schedule your Instagram posts even for a month. You just need to create an Instagram post with photos or videos, captions, and effects and click ‘Next’. Then, go to ‘Advanced Settings’ and ‘Schedule’ the date and time you want to post.

2- Use Hashtags Effectively

If you are an avid Instagram user, you must have used hashtags in your posts. Hashtags basically help you to be found by users and reach a large audience. So, this is an essential tool for creators, business owners or anyone making money through Instagram.

When you are using hashtags, keep a few things in mind. Always use relevant hashtags for your content. For example, if you are posting a sunset photo, use hashtags like #sunset, #sunrise, #nature etc.

3- Create a Close Friends List

Sometimes we only want to share our personal or joyous moments with those we love or trust. And Instagram has realized that and developed a ‘Close Friends’ feature. It allows you to select, add or even remove the people with whom you want to share your personal stories. You can easily customize the list, which also works with a Note or Reel.

Now how to do it? Tap on your profile and go to the ‘Menu’ option. Tap on ‘Close Friends’ and select the profiles you want to add to the list. And you are done!

4- Hidden Requests

If someone has sent you any offensive message on Instagram, that would not land directly in your chat box from now onwards. There is a hidden folder of DMs where all these messages would be saved that Instagram has marked as spam or offensive. Instagram has created its own list of offensive remarks, including emojis, words, and phrases that it can flag as spam. But you can also create your own list that you would not like to receive.

5- Vanish Mode

The ‘Vanish Mode’ feature is handy for those tensed about their privacy and security on Instagram. You just have to switch on the vanish mode if you want to engage with a particular user. As soon as the chat ends, all the text, emojis, memes, and videos will be erased forever. In case you feel unsafe at any moment, block the user and report a chat.

You just need to open the chat you want the Vanish mode to be on, swipe up to turn the mode on and do the same to turn it off.

6- Tackle Comments on Your Posts

This new Instagram feature helps you to tackle the troll, spam or bot comments on your account. It helps you to keep your comment section safe and clean from irrelevant or meaningless engagement and focus on your target audience engagement.

You need to move to your profile, click on the menu, select ‘Settings’, then ‘Privacy’ and ‘Hidden Words’ to filter out specific words and phrases.

7- Automatic Cropping

What if I tell you before posting photos on Instagram that you no longer have to crop them? Instagram will do it for you now. This new feature on Instagram automatically crops the image that does not align with the maximum aspect ratio.

Select the image you want to share and tap the ‘Expand’ option to adjust the picture. And your work is done!

8- Mute & Unmute Accounts

If you find any video or photo on your feed inappropriate or you receive messages from accounts you don’t know, this feature will allow you to mute that user quickly. When you have muted them, you will no longer receive any messages, see their photos or videos on your feed or even receive notifications.

Open the user’s profile and click the ‘Following’ drop-down menu. Then click ‘Mute’ and switch to the toggle for posts and stories. Do the vice versa to unmute.

9- Quick Share

Do you want to quickly share your story, reel or photo on your feed with your friends in a single tap? There you have it- Instagram’s Quick Share Menu. You can easily share an image, video, reel, or story in your feed with your friends and family with this feature. First, find the content you want to share, tap the ‘send’ icon, and select the profiles you want to share with.

10- Add Music to Your Story

Adding music to your Instagram story used to be a tedious and lengthy task. There was no direct way through which you could just do it in one go. But Instagram has now offered a ‘Music’ sticker, a single tap on which can help you add your desired music to your video, reel, story, or even picture. Just tap on the sticker, add music, and move the slide bar to explore more.

11- Use Instagram Insights

How excellent will it be to know how well your Instagram account is doing, like how many people are looking at your posts, how many people are following you, and how many people are interacting with your content?

All your worries are gone with the Instagram Insights feature! For example, if your posts aren’t getting as much engagement as you’d like, you can try posting at different times of the day or experimenting with different types of content. Tracking your performance over time allows you to learn what works best for your account and audience and make changes accordingly.

To use Instagram Insights, you must have a business account on Instagram. Once you have a business account, you can access Insights by going to your profile and tapping the three horizontal lines in the top right corner. From there, select “Insights” to see all the data related to your account.

12- Instagram TV

Often we struggle to post your longer videos on Instagram as it has specified a time limitation for regular videos of 60 seconds. But with Instagram TV, there is no such restriction anymore! You can now post longer videos up to 60 minutes long (for larger accounts) and 10 minutes long (for smaller accounts).

Once you open the app, you can create your IGTV video. To do this, tap the “+” icon in the top right corner of the screen. From there, you can choose a video from your camera roll or record a new video directly in the app.

13- Use the Swipe-Up Feature

The Swipe-Up feature can work wonders for you if you have a business or an online store. To use this, you just need to have a significant number of followers and are good to go! With this, you can easily add website links to your Instagram stories.

This allows the user to explore the external links you have put without leaving the Instagram app itself. It will help you to generate organic traffic to your website and increase your sales.

14- Post Consistently

It’s advised to post at least once a day to keep your audience engaged. However, it varies from user to user as it has many deciding factors like the content you create, your niche etc. For example, if you’re a fashion designer, you may want to post more frequently to showcase your designs and creations. On the other hand, if you’re a photographer, you may post less frequently but with more high-quality images.

15- Use Instagram Stories Polls

You can use Instagram Stories Polls to connect with your audience organically. You can ask for your followers’ opinions, choices, feedback and more. This will you to produce more engaging content and improve your audience base. And most importantly, you will get to know what your audience is interested in.

Wrapping up,

So, you have it! These are the top 15 Instagram tips and tricks you can use to expand your audience reach, increase your sales, drive organic traffic to your website and many more. Take advantage of these valuable tips, as many users don’t know about them. If you use any other hacks for Instagram, let us know in the comments section below.