Instagram has changed the way we share photos. It has also changed the way businesses work as well as providing a new venue for wonderful opportunities. And with that, the photo-sharing app has been a key player in the social media field.

Two of the primary challenges in handling Instagram and utilizing it to reach out to your demographic for your business, or even for your personal account, is the technology’s continuous developments and the number of competitors you share the platform with.

As a business owner who uses Instagram to promote their services and cause, gain a larger market, and engage with their audience, it’s important that you find your unique voice in this crowded platform. So take out your smartphone, open your Instagram app and read on. Let’s give your feed a makeover.

Choose a theme

Choose a theme or ‘mood’ to curate your Instagram feed like so. Finding your theme is a great way to attract the demographic you market your services and offers to. It also helps in differentiating your business or yourself from others who share similar views. If you want to stand out from the crowd, find your own style and stick to it. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with trying out other styles but bear in mind to not steer too far from your own style.

Use hashtags to boost your engagement

Hashtags greatly help in marketing your brand. Users can simply type in #stuff to look for or find posts that’s related to it. It makes searching easier. If you want to reach more people, get more likes and engagements, and be discovered faster and easier, take advantage of the #hashtagging #every #keyword related to your brand.

Incorporate call-to-action captions

Yes, Instagram is a photo-sharing app but that doesn’t mean you can utilize it for call-to-action posts. You can write your goal in the caption of the post or create text on images for your post. You may ask your followers to share their thoughts on the comments or tag friends to share your message. This not only helps in letting your audience participate but also know how many people your platform is reaching.

Reach out and respond

Much like Facebook and Twitter, it’s important that you respond to comments so they’d know that your Instagram account is in fact managed by a human being. Also, let this opportunity show your audience how much you care about their thoughts and that you listen to them.

Schedule your posts at the right time

Scheduling your posts can help in time management and better engagement. The time where people are most likely browsing on the bio for Instagram is the perfect time to schedule a post. Chances are a higher number of people scrolls through IG are generally around 7-10AM and 5-7PM. Do keep track of your engagements to know when the best time to post is for your brand.

Take advantage of Instagram Stories

If you used to play with Snapchat, we bet you’ve already made the switch to Instagram Stories since its launch. This feature allows you to share more content that is unfiltered without messing up your feed and bombarding other people’s.

You can get creative with it. You can promote each and every item in your shop, your advocacies, from photos to short videos. You can also play with them—add text, filters, etc. Get more creative with your content and marketing.

Don’t forget to have fun

Whether it is a brand or business or your own personal Instagram account, more than curating a nice feed, don’t forget to have fun and share what you want others to see. Just get creative and engage with your audience.

About the author: When she couldn’t be found eating pizza or indulging on sweets, Chie writes for Zapals — a global shopping site that sells anything and everything you need under the sun—from home appliances to smartphones.