how to do instagram well Archives

How to Write for Instagram

A version of this story appeared in Total Annarchy, my fortnightly newsletter that helps you be a better writer, storyteller, marketer. Get it in your inbox; you’ll love it. * * * Last week, my girl Kerry Gorgone and I gave a talk at the Social Pulse Summit titled Blending the Personal and Professional on Instagram (Without Getting Into Trouble or Being a Jackhole). Kerry is the Amy Poehler to my Tina Fey. Kerry also has a JD, so her part was mostly about how Not to Get Into Trouble. I am not a lawyer. So my part was mostly about Avoiding Jackholish-ness. I shared about how I blend the personal and professional on the ‘gram—my favorite social network. Have you ever committed to something and then had immediate regrets? That was me with this talk. In that process, I moved through these stages: Seven Stages of a Creative Project […]

How Not to Ruin Instagram (Now That the Ad Floodgates Are Open)

“Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do.” —Steve Jobs The news broke last week that Instagram will expand its advertising service to all marketers, not just a chosen few (Disney, The Gap, Ben & Jerry’s) it’s been working with since first rolling out ads in the fall of 2013. That means the popular photo-sharing app is opening up to zillions of advertisers, who’ll be flocking there to take advantage of more ad styles and sophisticated targeting tools developed by Instagram’s Facebook sugar daddy. The marketer in me is psyched: The in-app purchasing features on Instagram’s new ad format is great news for companies that have struggled to convert followers into buyers, or have developed convoluted, inefficient workarounds. The Insta-Fan (InstagrAnn?) in me is less excited: Well, damn. Here comes everybody. Here comes the push. Here come the product-centric ads and the sponsored posts and

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