10 secret Instagram hacks (that top influencers never tell you)

Getting tired of hearing the same advice over and over again? Generic tips like “be consistent”, “follow a theme”, “engage with your audience”. We know. And we feel the same way. So we collected some of the best secret non-cliché Instagram hacks out there that we could find. Tricks that Instagram-savvy profiles are well aware of but never actually reveal. Curious? Keep on reading. 😎

Hack #1: Use your own fonts on Stories

When it comes to fonts, the options on Instagram are limited. Instagram only offers five fonts for Stories — Classic, Modern, Typewriter, Neon and Strong. Brands might want something more customized. While there’s no way to get more fonts in-app, there are tricks that can help you find fonts that are better for your brand or purpose.

How to do it:

1. Open a fonts tool. There are several free Instagram fonts tools that give you multiple options to choose from, for example Instagram Fonts or Fonts for Instagram.

2. Decide what you want to write and type it into the box in the fonts app that you’ve chosen.

3. Look through the available fonts and see how your text looks in the various styles. Select the font that fits your brand aesthetic.

4. When you have decided which font to use, copy the text and open the Instagram app again. Then paste it in your Stories, bio or caption.

Hack #2: Get extra colors from the color selection

Are you frustrated that your brand colors don’t match the ones available in Stories? A fact that perhaps not everyone knows is that you can actually use far more colors than the ones offered by default in the color selection tool.

How to do it:

1. Open Stories and tap the drawing pen icon.

2. Click on one of the colors at the bottom and (here’s the important part) hold your finger.

3. Ta-da, a palette of gradient colors will now appear and you can move your finger to select any color that you like.

You can also do this for text or anything you want to color. Just hold your finger on one of the colors and choose from the palette that appears.

Hack #3: Add several hashtags to Stories and make them invisible

Adding hashtags to your Instagram Stories is the best way to increase your organic reach and being discovered by new potential followers and customers. While you can use up to 30 hashtags for your feed posts, using more than one hashtag in your Stories can look a bit spammy. So what do you do? Simple, make your hashtags invisible!

How to do it:

1. Open Stories, and select the photo you want to share.

2. Write your first hashtag and move it to an area in your image that has a solid background.

3. Tap the pen icon and drag it across the photo until the hashtag has the same color as the background.

4. Et voilà! Your hashtag is invisible. Now you can repeat this process if you want to add more hashtags.

In our example below we’ve made the hashtag larger for practical purposes, but you can minimize to make it even more invisible. The more solid your background is, the better effect.

Hack #4: Change stickers by tapping on them

A simple but golden tip: Try tapping on the stickers in Stories to alter their looks, for example change their color. Although this is not a game-changing trick, remember that on social media, it’s the small details that count.

Hack #5: Share a preview of your Story

Instagram Stories are meant to be — well, stories. But if your first photo or video clip doesn’t capture your viewers, they will likely leave and not flip through the rest of your content. So how do you build up their curiosity? Share a sneak peak of your Story!

How to do it:

1. Open Stories and select a photo.
2. Again, tap the pen icon and select a color.
3. Click on your screen and hold for a few seconds. Your Stories screen will now be filled with this color.
4. Click the eraser icon in the top right corner.
5. Now erase with your finger by swiping the screen. The photo underneath will appear where you have “erased”.
6. Done! Add a caption or call to action and share.

Hack #6: Change the order of your filters

You can actually change the order of the Instagram feed post filters so that your most-used ones are up front. This will make posting a lot faster.

How to do it:

1. In the section where you craft and edit a regular feed post, go to Filter.
2. Scroll to the end of your filters, then click Manage to the right.
3. If you click and hold the three line icon to the left of each filter you can drag the filters around and rearrange the order of them.
4. To hide or unhide filters, check or uncheck the circles to the right of each filter.
5. Click Done when you’re happy and ready to save.

Hack #7: Create shortcuts for standard replies

This is one of our favorite hacks it’s especially useful for replying to comments on platforms like Instagram or Facebook. If your followers ask the same questions over and over again, you can create handy shortcuts for standard replies. This will save you a lot of time. In the example below we will explain how to do it on iOS, but you can also do it on Android.

How to do it (iOS):

1. Open your Iphone settings.
2. Go to General and then Keyboard.
3. Tap Text Replacement.
4. Click the + symbol in the upper right corner to create a new shortcut.
5. Under Phrase, type the response you want to create.
6. Type the abbreviation or word that you want to use for your response. Then click Save.
7. Now you can use the abbreviation anytime you want to use your response. When you type your shortcut your phone will automatically write out the full phrase. Handy, isn’t it?

Hack #8: Link to IGTV from your Stories

Need a simple way to boost your IGTV views? Then this one is for you. It’s not a secret really, yet many Instagram users aren’t aware of this trick.

How to do it:

1. In Stories, select the photo you want to share. In this case, it could be a screenshot from your IGTV video.
2. Click the link icon at the top.
3. Tap IGTV Video and then select the particular video you want to promote.
4. Tap Done when you’re done.

You won’t see the call-to-action from your admin view, but when your followers watch your story, they can swipe up to go to your IGTV video. A great way to cross-promote your content!

Hack #9: Save your own posts to collections

This isn’t actually a hidden feature but it’s a smart way to beat Instagram’s algorithm. On Instagram, you want to maximize your organic exposure. High engagement in terms of comments and likes generally will be in your favor and get your posts to be seen by more people. Other factors that will improve your ranking is recency, i.e. how recently the post was shared, and the relationship between you and the audience.

But something that is often overseen is the Save feature on Instagram. When someone saves your content, Instagram will interpret it as being relevant or important in some way, which will improve your ranking. And while you can’t force your followers to save your posts, you can always save your own posts.

If you own several accounts, for example several brand accounts and a personal account, take advantage of it and save your content from several profiles.

How to do it:

1. Find the image you want to save in your profile.
2. Tap the Save icon at the bottom right corner below your image, right above the caption.
3. Save it to your
4. Done! Now you can repeat this process if you’re an admin of several accounts.

Hack #10: Make your posts shoppable

Okay, okay, this isn’t an influencer hack but it’s such a great underrated feature that we think you should look into it if you aren’t already. If your business is selling physical goods, take the opportunity of selling through Instagram. There are certain steps you must follow to get started, but we promise it’s worth the hassle. In combination with a time-saving UGC tool it could boost your conversions and brand engagement significantly.

To get access to this feature the following criteria must be met:

1. You need to have an Instagram business account.

2. You must be located in one of these countries: United States, Canada, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, or Australia.

3. The goods that you sell must comply with Instagram’s merchant agreement and commerce policies.

4. Your Instagram account must be connected to a Facebook catalog (a file that contains a list of your products).

How to connect your product catalog to your Instagram account:

1. First, create a Facebook catalog. You can do this in Facebook Business Manager. Once you’ve created your catalog and your account has been approved for the shopping feature, you can continue with step 2 below.

2. Go to the Shopping section in your Instagram settings. Note that you’ll only see the Shopping link in your settings if your account has been approved for the shopping feature. It normally takes one or a few days to get approval, but the process can sometimes take longer. Be patient.

3. When you have clicked Shopping in your settings, go ahead and tap Products.

4. Tap Continue and select the product catalog that you want to connect to your profile

5. Tap Done when you’re finished.

Now you can upload photos as you normally would and tag any of your products the same way you tag people.

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