Brian Meert's Blog, page 112

How to Make a Catchy Slogan in One Week or Less

July 17, 2018
Anna Hubbel

How to Make a Catchy Slogan in One Week or Less. #business #marketing #businesstips
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It’s easy to envy the popular companies that have those simple but memorable slogans everyone recognizes. Creating a catchy slogan for your brand is one of your biggest challenges as a marketer. The slogan has to be easy to remember and understand, all while accurately and fully conveying the purpose and drive of your business.

Slogans are everywhere. If you need some inspiration, here are some popular and effective ones you’ve probably heard of:

“I’m Lovin’ It” – McDonald’s
“15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance” – GEICO
“Taste the Rainbow” – Skittles
“He/She Went to Jared” – Jared (Jewelry)
“America Runs on Dunkin’” – Dunkin’ Donuts

This is a short list of many other famous slogans. Seems easy, right?

But when you sit down with your pen and paper, you struggle with writer’s block. You can’t think of a clever, memorable way to word your slogan.

Although it can be an extremely frustrating process, it doesn’t have to be. If you have a defined guideline to help you through it, you can create the catchiest slogan of your dreams in as little as one week. There are five simple steps to creating your dream slogan.

Step 1: Have a Slogan Team

It always helps to have a group of people with whom you share ideas. Although something may sound good in your head, you may discover otherwise after saying it out loud to an audience that can critique you objectively. While you, who worked hard on your slogan, feeling a bit attached to it, may be biased towards your creation, your team is not. It’s important to have a team who can critique, give suggestions, and steer you in the right direction.

Your team should include

A small number of senior staff members familiar with the company culture
A few C-suite executives familiar with business goals
Gifted and skilled copywriters
Marketing team members

However, you don’t want too many people on this team because there is such a thing as too many ideas, lengthening the process of finding one solid idea.

Step 2: Clearly Define What Makes Your Brand Different

What’s your brand’s purpose? What does it stand for? It’s important to communicate your brand’s essence and what it stands for on your slogan.

For the second step, each member of your slogan team participates. Each member writes what they believe your brand stands for on a whiteboard. At this point, nothing needs to be perfect because it is still the brainstorming stage.

After your team writes all of their ideas on the board, each member must vote on the idea that most accurately defines what your brand stands for. Write down the three definitions with the most votes.

Step 3: Determine the Emotion You Want to Evoke

A slogan really hits home if it evokes an emotion. Why? Because it’s more likely to stick with people after they’ve heard it.

With the three definitions from Step 2, each team member writes all the emotions they feel for each definition. After each member finishes, do another round of voting, but this time, vote on the emotions that most accurately fit the emotions customers must feel when they hear your slogan.

Capterra provides a useful example of slogans and the emotions they elicit.

Step 4: Workshop Slogan Ideas

This step is the hardest of them all. Take the outcomes from the two votes in the previous steps and work them into possible slogans. Your team should divide into smaller groups, each incorporating the ideas on what your brand stands for and the defined emotions you want to elicit into the slogans. No idea is wrong at this point. Both good and bad ideas should be presented.

Once each group has a list of possible slogans, each idea should be consolidated into one list. The list should then be passed around so each team member can vote for their favorite slogan. The top two slogans can move on to the last step.

Step 5: Test Your Slogan

A/B test your top two slogans, comparing the performance of each to see which delivers the best results. You can test them by sharing them with your entire company, with people on your email list, and participants of a paid survey. Next, present one slogan idea to one half of your target population and the other slogan to the second half. Whichever slogan performs best out of the two tests is the winner!

Depending on your testing method, the number of A/B tests you conduct and the length of each test will vary.

Copywriting Considerations

When writing a slogan, there are some copywriting factors you should keep in mind:

It shouldn’t be too long or too short. It needs to be both easy to remember and fully expressive.
It should be sustainable. If your slogan won’t be applicable one, five, or even 50 years from now, it’s not going to work.
It should be consistent. Once you’ve settled on a catchy slogan for your brand, you should incorporate it into all marketing and advertising copy going forward.

The most challenging part of creating the perfect slogan is knowing where to start. Now that you know where to start (and finish), you no longer envy those other guys. It’s your turn to stand in the limelight!

The post How to Make a Catchy Slogan in One Week or Less appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

Twitter Now Testing Promoted Trend Spotlight Ads

July 16, 2018
Anna Hubbel

Twitter Now Testing Promoted Trend Spotlight Ads. #twitter #twitterads #digitaladvertising
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Without looking, what was the last Twitter ad you saw? Hard to remember, isn’t it? That’s because Twitter, as a predominantly news and trending topic platform, isn’t the first place that comes to mind when it comes to visual ads. Now, however, it appears that Twitter is changing that.

The platform is now testing Promoted Trend Spotlight ads, which come in the form of a big visual banner displayed with tweet text on top of either a GIF or static image background. When users click the banner, they are directed to a feed of tweets with the ad’s headline and a relevant tweet by the advertiser at the top. Promoted Trend Spotlight ads appear in Explore for users’ first two visits in a given day before resorting back to Twitter’s typical Trend’s feed.

With this new ad format, Twitter aims to make its platform more useful to brands. A Twitter spokesperson told Tech Crunch, “We are continuing to explore new ways to enhance our takeover offerings and give brands more high-impact opportunities to drive conversation and brand awareness on our platform.”

Apparently, it’s working. In a statement given to Tech Crunch, Anthy Price, Disney’s executive vice president for Media, said, “The Promoted Trend Spotlight on Twitter allowed us to prominently highlight Winnie the Pooh and celebrate the launch of ticket sales for Christopher Robin while four of the characters took over major Disney handles on the platform to engage with fans.”

Disney is the first to test Twitter’s new ad format.

Although Twitter is a leading platform that’s predominantly successful when it comes to post engagement, it hasn’t been a show-stopper when it comes to ads. Perhaps this new format is just what the doctor ordered for better monetization.

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How to Cultivate Customer Loyalty to Your Brand

It’s so exciting when you acquire a new customer. It opens the door to new possibilities, perhaps an ongoing relationship in which the customer returns to your brand, again and again. Loyal customers who consistently return are the path to success. But how can you make that happen?

Making customers loyal to your brand takes time and dedication, as all relationships typically do. While there are various ways to build that loyalty, there are seven primary ways to do it:

Provide low prices, sales, and benefits
Have a mobile-optimized online store
Be diverse and inclusive
Showcase intelligence in advertising
Hire influencers
Be ethical
Provide easy return policies

Let’s explore each of these ways in greater detail.

Provide Low Prices, Sales, and Benefits

Solid relationships are about give and take. To build that understanding and encourage customers to buy from your brand, you must first offer them an incentive. Low prices, sales or special offers, and benefits are great ways to make customers feel like they’re getting something out of the relationship.

In a study of US teen Internet users, findings revealed that low prices, sales, and discounts influenced shoppers’ buying decisions. Additionally, two-thirds of the study’s participants said a great price made them more loyal to certain brands, with exclusive benefits also a big factor.

Have a Mobile-Optimized Online Store

Gen Zs, the age demographic consisting of teens aged 13 to 17, are the largest and most influential generation in the United States. For this generation, mobile is an integral part of their every day routine and plays a significant role in their purchase decisions. According to Emarketer, 56 percent of teens use their mobile devices to shop online. Additionally, a February 2017 survey found that Gen Zs even use their smartphones to shop in-store. Optimize your online store for mobile and create a seamless experience for young consumers.

Be Diverse and Inclusive

Gen Zs have a very diverse makeup. By 2020, 50 percent of Gen Zs will be part of a minority race or ethnic group. To establish a relationship with this generation, your communication with them (i.e. advertisements) should feature diversity and inclusivity. For example, you can feature more people of different ethnicities, genders, and sexual orientations in your ads. When your brand shows diversity and inclusivity, Gen Zs will be more responsive and more loyal.

Showcase Intelligence in Advertising

Consumers today place more value on intelligence than beauty. Ads that feel superficial no longer make the cut. Sixty-five percent of young consumers would rather have a great mind than a great body. To make sure consumers aren’t scrolling passed your ad because it pushes glamour and beauty too much, use a clever and intelligent angle instead. Think glasses and books rather than sex and bikinis.

Hire Influencers

To establish brand loyalty you must establish trust. Consumers tend to trust influencers more than brands. If an influencer is showcasing your brand, consumers are more likely to buy it. Look for popular influencers with social media behaviors that would be relevant to your brand. You also want to look for influencers who are genuine, unique, and innovative. This will add to the value consumers will receive by being loyal to your brand.

Be Ethical

If a consumer feels like your brand violates their ethical standards, there is no foundation of trust, no brand loyalty. How can consumers expect to trust a brand that has no moral compass? Consumers admire brands that have ethical standards because those standards show commitment beyond making money. Be consistently ethical across all of your brand’s behaviors. Doing so will make your brand more admirable and trustworthy to consumers.

Provide Easy Return Policies

If a consumer is on the fence about making a purchase, a complicated return policy could be the ultimate dealbreaker. It could also prevent a consumer from shopping with your brand in the first place. According to Emarketer, more than half of US Internet users avoid shopping with stores that have strict return policies. Additionally, 37.9 percent of in-store shoppers said their most important concern regarding returns is getting a full refund, with no complicated store credit or exchange alternatives. Create a return policy that’s easy to understand and that puts customer convenience first.

Every relationship requires attention and reasons to commit. Show your customers that you’re committed to making them happy, using the ways discussed in this article, and you will be rewarded with loyalty in return.

The post How to Cultivate Customer Loyalty to Your Brand appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

How to Format Your Blog Post for SEO

July 13, 2018
Anna Hubbel

How to Format Your Blog Post for SEO
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You have something to say, and you want to share it online. Awesome! That’s the best way to reach a large audience. But there’s a little something called search engine optimization, otherwise known as SEO, that is needed to boost your blog to the top of Google’s search feed. The better your SEO, the higher your blog will appear on the feed, and the higher your chances of attracting readers. But how does SEO work? The short answer is keywords.

Keywords are words you should use throughout your post that are relevant to the meat or essence of your blog. For example, if your blog is about Facebook advertising, you’d want to use the keyword “Facebook advertising” throughout your blog to improve SEO. Google’s system then reads those keywords and matches them with searches users conduct that contain the phrase “Facebook advertising.” In simpler terms, Google interprets how you prioritize certain keywords and uses that information to determine your credibility and expertise on the topic to deliver the search results most valuable to users. Here are the essential steps to take when writing a blog post to make sure it has excellent SEO.

Step 1: Think of SEO Keywords before You Write

As eager as you are to start typing, first brainstorm keywords you want to rank high for in Google Search. Do some research and find the keywords your audience uses on Google. Using the Facebook advertising example again, here are some example keywords you’d want a blog post to contain to rank high in search results:

Facebook advertising
Digital advertising
Social media advertising
Facebook ads
Facebook creative

Keep your list handy and decide which keywords are the most important. It helps to order them according to priority.

Step 2: Add High-Rank SEO Keywords to Your Blog Post Title

Once you have your list of keywords, determine which ones you specifically want to rank high for and then add it to the title of your blog post. Your title is the master heading of your blog post, so the keywords you add to it will be interpreted as most important in comparison to other words you use. For example, the title of this blog post contains three high-rank keywords:

Optimize
Blog post
SEO

Step 3: Add SEO Keywords to Headings

Blog post platforms such as WordPress offer different heading options: Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3, and so forth. You should incorporate headings into your blog post and include any keywords you want to rank high for in those headings. Keep in mind that Heading 1 will have more effect than Heading 2, Heading 2 will have more effect than Heading 3, and so forth.

For example, the first heading within this blog post contains the target keyword “SEO.” By including it in our heading, we are communicating to Google that we want to rank high for this particular keyword.

Step 4: Link the Web Page to Target SEO Keywords

If “Facebook advertising” is our target keyword, we should attach a link to it that directs readers to the web page we want to rank high for. If your post is about hiking gear, for example, and that is your target keyword, you should include a link to your hiking gear product page. This is just another way to communicate to Google that you’re an expert on your topic and have additional, valuable information to offer your readers.

Step 5: Mention SEO Keywords 1 to 5 Times in Your Blog Post

To prove to Google that your blog post is about the keywords you claim, in addition to including them in your title and headings, you should mention keywords one to five times in the body paragraphs of your blog post. If you go over five, you will inadvertently keyword stuff, which involves using specific keywords far too much. Google does not like keyword stuffing. But you also want to make sure Google is accurately interpreting the importance of your desired keywords, hence the 1 to 5 range is ideal.

Step 6: Use Your Blog Title as the Title for Your Images

Google doesn’t like images that are titled generically, like “image 1” or “pic 1.” Use your blog title as the title for your images. For example “how-to-advertise-well-1” is far better than “pic 1.” When titling each image, use the same structure while changing the number. For example, “how-to-advertise-well-1,” “how-to-advertise-well-2,” and so forth. Google reads image titles when considering SEO, so this is an important step.

Step 7: Write 1,200 Words

Last but not least, it helps to have a post length of approximately 1,200 words. This length offers more value to the reader and makes it easy to spread out keywords for your SEO. It also builds Google’s confidence in your blog post as containing expert information.

That being said, don’t just add fluff words to your post for the sake of length. It should be well-written and edited for clarity. It doesn’t have to be exactly 1,200 every single time, as some content requires fewer or more words to both fully and succinctly cover the main topic. But set 1,200 words as the ideal goal because this will give you more wiggle room in either direction and will produce a great quality post in the end. A high-quality post is a widely read post, which is ultimately a high-ranking post in Google Search results.

To summarize, you should do the following to optimize your blog post for SEO:

Think of SEO Keywords before You Write
Add High-Rank Keywords to Your Blog Post Title
Add Keywords to Headings
Link the Web Page to Target Keywords
Mention Keywords 1 to 5 Times in Your Blog Post
Use Your Blog Title as the Title for Your Images
Write 1,200 Words

Now that you have your SEO guide handy, you can do what your fingers have been aching to do and write an awesome blog post.

If you want to do more with your blog on social media, you can also learn how to repurpose your blogs on Facebook.

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4 New Updates to Snapchat’s Ads Manager

July 12, 2018
Anna Hubbel

4 New Updates to Snapchat’s Ads Manager. #snapchat #socialmedia #digitaladvertising
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Who would have thought that just one year later, Snapchat, a platform previously opposed to advertising, would have a library of ad products? Snapchat first introduced Ads Manager in June 2017, and it has since rolled out on a consistent basis a slew of ad offerings. For example, you can now measure customer interactions with your ads through the Snap Pixel. Additionally, you can now target audiences based on location and context, use Deep Links for app install targeting, create Story Ads to appear in Discover, and much more.

To add even more sugar to the shake, Snap recently announced new updates to Ads Manager that include a suite of new tools for performance-driven campaigns. Specifically, Snap made four Ads Manager announcements.

You Can Now Drive Website Conversions

New bidding options now give you the ability to drive action with more efficiency. You will be able to reach users likely to complete a desired action, such as sign-ups, subscriptions, or purchases. With this newly added capability of Snap Pixel, your campaigns will be more successful.

Everyone Can Use Snap Pixel

Previously, Snap Pixel was only available to a select group of advertisers for an eight-month testing period. Now, the tracking tool is available to everyone. You can begin tracking your audience’s on-site activity in relation to your Snapchat campaign to your heart’s content.

Easily Measure Return on Ad Spend

Until now, you could only see the number of conversions your campaign delivers when using Snap Pixel. Now, you’ll also be able to see the value of those conversions. Easily measure your campaign’s return on ad spend, with a deeper understanding of the value of new or existing customers.

Assess Investment with Conversion Lift Capabilities

Ads Manager now allows you to assess investment with capabilities like holdouts and incrementality measurement for app and web conversions. In other words, you have a more granular conceptualization of the conversions (e.g. app installs or purchases on your website) obtained through your Snapchat campaign. Having these capabilities in greater detail gives you a more accurate assessment of what you’re getting out of Snapchat.

As Snapchat continues to evolve and transform the way we look at advertising, these latest updates are certainly not the last. It’s astounding to think that once upon a time, the Snapchat brand was struggling to make ends meet and kept holding the word “advertise” at bay. In any case, we enthusiastically welcome the change of heart.

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Upcoming Deadlines for Facebook App Review Submissions

July 11, 2018
Anna Hubbel

Deadlines for Facebook app review submissions are fast approaching. First, the deadline to re-request Facebook login permissions outside of email and default, as well as access to various API functionalities, is August 1, 2018. A bit further down the road, a deadline of February 1, 2019 is set for re-requesting access to Lead Ads Retrieval and Marketing APIs.

August 1, 2018 Deadline

By August 1, developers will need to request permissions to the following:

Facebook Login permissions outside of email and default (see the list)
Pages API
Groups API
Events API
Messenger API
Instagram API
Business Manager API

Developers can begin the app review process in their app’s dashboard.

Facebook says it’s reducing wait times in the review process, having Messenger bot reviews completed in three business days. Facebook Login, Pages API, and Groups API reviews take a little longer at an average of seven weeks. However, Facebook hopes to reduce that wait time.

Developers are encouraged to give Facebook clear, high-quality instructions and screencasts that make it easy to understand the experience. Doing so will ensure the submission isn’t rejected.

February 1, 2019 Deadline

For developers who use Facebook’s Marketing API or Lead Ads Retrieval API, Facebook must approve requests to use them, as well as grant any additional related permissions. Facebook offers blog posts with pertinent information about Marketing API, Lead Ads, and Retrieval API updates. Some permissions may also require Business verification and a contract.

In other news, Facebook announced a new permission for Live Video API called “publish_video.” This new permission will take the place of publish_actions, which Facebook has removed for new apps and plans to remove for existing apps come August 1.

Facebook offers additional information about the app review process and necessary permissions. Developers and any Facebook advertising company should stay informed about the app review process to learn about the latest updates Facebook has made to make the process more thorough.

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New Requirements for Facebook Custom Audience Targeting, a Timeline

July 11, 2018
Anna Hubbel

If you haven’t already noticed, Facebook has put into effect new requirements for Custom Audience as part of its effort to improve transparency and accountability. Custom Audience is a targeting option that allows you to upload a file containing customer information you’ve gathered from sign-ups and contact forms. The new requirements make it clearer to Facebook users how you’ve obtained that information.

July 2

Facebook requires all advertisers, whether an individual or a Facebook advertising company, to indicate precisely where their customer information originally came from. Whenever you upload a new audience, you must provide that information. There are three possibilities of data origin. Facebook will ask you to select the one that applies to you.

Directly from customers-You collected the information directly from your customers.
Customers and partners-You collected the information directly from your customers and sourced the information from your partners (i.e. agencies).
Directly from partners-You sourced the information directly from your partners (i.e. agencies or data providers).

Users will see the data origin information in the drop-down menu of your ad under the “Why am I seeing this?” section. They will also see whether you are able to contact them through phone number or email address.

July 2

Facebook mandates that you establish an audience-sharing relationship through Business Manager when sharing a Custom Audience file with an advertising agency or other entity. Both you and the entity you are sharing with must also agree to Facebook’s Custom Audience Terms.

Last, although your responsibility to have the necessary permission to use and share data remains the same, you will now be regularly reminded of that responsibility. You’ll receive detailed reminders about the importance of protecting users’ privacy before you run an ad. Also, everyone on an ad account, rather than just the admin, will be required to accept Facebook’s terms.

These new requirements allow you to continue using Custom Audiences while also making the ad experience better and more transparent for Facebook users.

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Brands Are Now Testing AR Ads in Facebook News Feed

July 10, 2018
Anna Hubbel

Brands Are Now Testing AR Ads in Facebook News Feed. #facebookads #facebookadvertising #augmentedreality
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Augmented reality ads are going to appear in News Feed. According to Tech Crunch, Facebook is testing AR ads that allow shoppers to virtually try products. If the testing goes well, this new advertising capability will revolutionize the Facebook shopping experience.

Facebook’s vice president of product marketing for global marketing solutions, Ty Ahmad-Taylor announced the test of AR ads in News Feed at a New York City event on Tuesday.

Back in May, Facebook announced at its F8 conference its plans to use AR to market products in Messenger. With AR ads in News Feed, advertisers will be able to offer virtual experiences to shoppers as they scroll and browse. It will be like shopping at the mall, where customers can socialize with friends while also checking out a store or two and trying things on.

The AR ads will appear as regular News Feed ads, but they will have a “Tap to try it on” capability, says Tech Crunch. When the shopper taps this option, they can “try on” the product and decide if they like what they see. If so, they can make the purchase. If not, they may choose to move on to the next AR experience.

A few brands are trying News Feed AR ads, including Michael Kors, Sephora, and NYX Professional Makeup.

Other announcements made at the event include the following:

A new Video Creation Kit-Advertisers will be able to use existing images in mobile video templates to easily create ads.
More support for shopping in Instagram Stories-Shopping tags will be available to all brands that use this feature in time for the holidays.
Instagram’s Collection Ad format-This feature will now be available to all advertisers.

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How to Create a Spotify Ad

July 10, 2018
Anna Hubbel

How to Create a Spotify Ad. #spotify #spotifyads #audioads
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Although most of us use visual creatives for advertising, which a Facebook advertising company does, there’s another option we should (but don’t often) try: audio ads. Just as effective, audio ads are especially impactful when they’re delivered through a popular digital music service like Spotify. Spotify gives music lovers access to millions of songs. Since people listen to music on Spotify on a daily basis, you can create audio ads that will play intermittently between songs. Fifteen or 30 seconds in length, these ads play naturally during a transition from one song to the next.

Why Advertise on Spotify?

People across the globe listen to Spotify. The platform allows them to listen to their favorite tunes wherever, whenever. Spotify boasts 90 million listeners, over two hours of daily streaming, and 24 percent lift in ad recall for audio ads. In addition to having access to such an expansive audience, Spotify advertising offers the following benefits:

Increased efficiency-You can plan, buy, and manage audio ad campaigns in a matter of minutes directly in the platform.
Budget flexibility-Run campaigns of any sized budget.
Free audio ad creation tool-When you don’t have pre-produced audio assets, you can use the platform to create audio ads for free.

How to Create a Spotify Ad

Spotify Ad Studio is the self-serve platform you can use to create audio ads for Spotify. You can either upload your own audio or write a script for which Spotify will provide a voiceover actor. Ad Studio also offers targeting settings that make sure your message is delivered to the most relevant audience at the right moment.

Step 1: Choose your objective and name your ad.

Step 2: Define your audience.

Step 3: Specify your budget and start and end dates.

Step 4: Create your ad. You can either upload audio you’ve already created with the “Upload Audio” option or a script you’ve written with the “Request Voiceover” option, which Spotify will give to a voiceover actor to read for you.

Step 5: Upload an image to display on listeners’ screens while your ad plays. Also, enter a headline for your ad and a companion link, which will direct users to where you want them to go after clicking the ad.

In no time at all, you have your audio ad. It takes only a matter of minutes to reach a worldwide audience. So if strictly visual ads aren’t cutting it for your campaign, try shifting gears and appealing to people’s sense of hearing. They’re already on Spotify to listen. Let them listen to what you have to say.

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A List of Instagram Stories Tricks You Need to Learn

July 9, 2018
Anna Hubbel

A List of Instagram Stories Tricks You Need to Learn. #instagram #instagramhacks #socialmedia
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Photo Courtesy of Instagram

“How’d they do that?!” If you find yourself asking this question about other users’ Instagram Stories, you’re not alone. A lot of us are still learning about all the latest features Instagram rolls out before we’ve even mastered the existing ones.

But don’t beat yourself up about it. Many features are not obvious. In fact it takes some exploring to find. To save you the time, here are 13 Instagram Stories tricks that you probably didn’t know about.

Trick #1: Add Even More Colors

If you own a brand, you likely have a specific color scheme you want customers to associate with your brand. If you don’t see your brand’s color scheme in Instagram’s color presets, never fear. There’s a trick for accessing every possible color.

Step 1: When editing your Story, at the upper-right corner of your screen, tap the pen icon or the “Aa” icon to open the brush or text tool.

Step 2: At the bottom of the screen, tap and long-hold one of the default color options to open the color slider. Select a custom color by swiping across the color slider.

Trick #2: Create a Drop Shadow Effect on Text

Text doesn’t have to look flat. Add some dimension by creating a drop shadow effect.

Step 1: Type out your message after tapping the “Aa” icon.

Step 2: Tap the “Aa” icon a second time. Type the exact same message but with a different color.

Step 3: Place the top layer of text slightly off-center from the bottom layer of text until it creates a drop shadow effect.

Trick #3: Record “Hands-Free”

Holding the record button when making a Story can be limiting. That’s why earlier this year, Instagram introduced a video feature that allows you to press the record button and let go. With this feature, you can easily switch between your front and rear camera without stopping recording.

Step 1: Open your Instagram Stories camera. At the bottom of the screen, swipe through the effect options (Live, Normal, Boomerang, Hands-Free). Choose the Hands-Free option.

Step 2: Begin recording by tapping the record button at the bottom of the screen. Record until the maximum video recording time runs out or tap the recording circle.

Trick #4: Create a Solid Background Color

If you want to get really creative without using photo or video in your Stories, you can create a solid background color. You can then share your message as text or drawings.

Step 1: Select a color by tapping the pen icon in the top-right corner of the screen.

Step 2: Tap and hold on the screen for one to three seconds. The screen will fill with your chosen solid color.

Trick #5: Create a Selfie Sticker

Ever heard of a selfie sticker? This fun feature allows you to make a sticker out of a selfie. You can then use the sticker in your Stories.

Step 1: At the top of your screen, tap the sticker button. Select the camera option.

Step 2: Take a selfie (pose as desired).

Step 3: Position the selfie sticker on the screen as desired. You can create a circular border around the sticker by tapping it. To remove the border, tap the sticker again.

Trick #6: Use One Finger to Zoom In and Out

Instead of pinch-zooming, you can zoom in and out in an Instagram Story with just one finger. It’s a lot easier this way because pinch-zooming can be sensitive or inaccurate.

Step 1: Open the Instagram Stories camera. Begin recording your video by holding the capture button. Slide up or down to zoom in or out.

Trick #7: Mention Other Accounts

Boost your Instagram connections by mentioning other accounts in your Story, whether it be other businesses or influencers you work with. Every time you mention someone, they will receive a notification of the tag and a direct message with the preview of your Story.

Step 1: Select the “Aa” icon to add text.

Step 2: Type the @ symbol and the account username. A pop-up menu will appear. Select the account you want to mention.

Trick #8: Upload Stories Older Than 24 Hours

Yes, there’s a way to upload a Story when you don’t have the time to do so right away.

Step 1: Take a photo or video from your phone’s camera outside of the Instagram app. Go to Stories and click the camera roll icon.

Step 2: Choose a photo or video from your gallery and upload.

Trick #9: Hide Your Stories from Specific Users

Every now and then, you want to share a Story, but you’re worried about a specific user seeing it. Guess what? You can hide it from them!

Step 1: Go to your Instagram profile and select the gear icon (on iOS) or the ellipsis icon (on Android) to open your settings.

Step 2: Select “Story Controls” located under “Privacy and Security.”

Step 3: Choose the “Hide My Story From” option.

Step 4: Choose the users from which to hide your Story. Tap “Done” and you’re done!

Trick #10: Hide Other Users’ Stories

Tired of watching Stories you don’t care about? Instagram’s got your back. Hide the Stories by other users when they start to clog up your feed.

Step 1: Load your Instagram feed. Go to where the Instagram Stories are.

Step 2: With your finger, press down on the picture of the user whose Stories you want to hide. Select “Mute” from the menu that appears.

Trick #11: Download Your Stories to Camera Roll

Although part of what makes Instagram Stories unique is their lifespan of just 24 hours, there are some moments you just want to hold on to forever. Instagram is generous and makes it possible to download Stories to your camera roll.

Step 1: Open the Story you want to save and swipe up. In the menu bar below your Story, tap the arrow icon that’s pointed down. And you’re done!

Now hurry up and master these tricks before Instagram starts rolling out even more awesome features to learn!

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