"The struggle I have with creating reels is the time it takes to create one."

Have you heard someone say this before? Perhaps you are the one who has said this and it's what's been stopping you from creating more reels and showing up on Instagram.

Yes, Instagram Reels take some time to make but there are so many great ways to create them with ease. We want to share a few quick tips on how can break down the process of creating reels where you can do pieces on different days instead of trying to do it all in one day.

1) Take 15 minutes to save audio -This is one part that people can easily get distracted and spend way too much time on. Set a timer and start. If you hear the same audio more than a couple of times as you are scrolling, go ahead and save it. This audio is most likely trending and if you know you can use within your niche don't miss out on using it.

2) Record Videos - Pick out a few outfits and just record. 

3) Topic Ideas - Now that you have saved your audios,...

Have you been using Instagram for your business but not seeing the engagement you were hoping for?

There are different ways to increase your engagement, but here are three strategies that can work for you.

1) Use interactive stickers in your Instagram stories - Stickers are a great way to get your audience interacting. Use the poll, question and quiz stickers to learn more about your followers or have them learn more about you and your business. Not only does this help get engagement but when someone interacts, that is your invitation to reply to them in the DM's and take the conversation a step further. To learn more about engagement in your IG Stories, grab our free guide here.

2) Use strong CTA's - Call to action are so important if you want to see engagement. You can't just post something and expect people to start a conversation. You need to be the conversation starter and give them direction on what you want them to do. Do you want them to answer a question? Do you want them...

With the new year and all the new changes happening and coming to Instagram, you may be asking yourself are hashtags working and are they effective?

Well to go off track a bit, the answer is this...

Instead of focusing so much on Instagram hashtags, it's time to focus on optimizing and how it can help you.  Here are 3 steps you can take today:

1. Use keywords and hashtags in your bio. This will help you show up more on people's feed when they are looking for those specific words, but it will also help IG know how to categorize you.

2. Use keywords in your captions. You can also use hashtags but again, don't focus and worry so much about them. By using keywords Instagram will be able to know what your post is about and who they should be sharing it to. 

3. Optimize your content. Use WORDS in everything you make to help Instagram know what category to put you under.

So answer to your question is, no hashtags are not dead... yet. You can continue to use them but stop worrying...