Get More Exposure By Using Instagram Tagging

Do you want more people to see your Instagram posts? Instagram tagging can help you grow your account when you use best practices.

Whether you’re @ mentioning in the comments or tagging a photo, strategically connecting with other people on Instagram is a great way to get your content in front of a new audience.

In this blog, we’ll show you the difference between @mentioning an account versus tagging an account and you’ll also learn how and when to use each of these strategies.

We’ll also discuss how to apply Instagram location tags and product tags to your posts. Finally, you’ll learn how to combine all of these tags to give your Instagram feed posts maximum exposure.

Tagging versus @mentioning an Instagram Account

First, let’s take a look at tagging regular feed posts on Instagram. It’s important to understand the distinction between tagging an account and @mentioning an account. These terms are often used interchangeably but they’re actually different.

A mention is accomplished by placing the @ symbol in front of somebody’s Instagram username in a comment or your caption to mention them and get their attention.

Tagging someone on Instagram is done on the image of your original post, and you can tag a number of other accounts in that image.

Only the content creator can tag people in the post itself but an @mention can be done on any content by anyone.

So why would you want to tag an account if you could simply @mention them? There are two very good reasons.

The first reason. @mentions show up in the regular notification feed and can easily get lost. The notification feed shows only the 100 most recent notifications. So if an account gets 200 notifications, they won’t see the first 100; they’ll only see the last 100. When you tag that account, however, it shows up in a separate notification. This allows you to stand out against the other notifications and make sure that account saw your content.

Keep it strategic and don’t tag large accounts. A business with huge following, like Amazon, might not share your content. But a smaller brand, like the latte you bought at the local coffee house, are more likely to share your Instagram photo.

Don’t tag businesses, brands, or people who are not featured in your photo or video! That’s just spammy.

Reason number two. When an account is tagged on Instagram, the content is housed on a separate tab on their Instagram profile. The tagged content essentially becomes a giant gallery of user-generated content about the brand.

But there is a downside to only tagging an account on Instagram and not @mentioning it. While the tag on a post does show all of the accounts tagged, most users won’t tap on the content to view who’s tagged in it and see the accounts that were mentioned. In this case, it’s best to @mention all of those tagged accounts in the caption as well so the average user reading it sees those usernames too.

Ready to start tagging? Here are the steps to do that.

Add a Tag to an Instagram Feed Post

First, it’s important that you only tag people or brands that are actually in your post. Don’t tag a bunch of people in a post in which they don’t appear simply to get their attention. This strategy just makes you seem spammy, and it might get your account muted or blocked.

Another important fact. In order to use tags, your Instagram account has to be public. If your account is private and you tag an account that isn’t following you, they won’t be able to see your content that’s been tagged.

Add a Tag to a New Instagram Feed Post

To add a tag to a new feed post you’re uploading to Instagram, start a new post like normal with a photo or video. When you get to the caption screen, you’ll see an option to tag people.

If you’re uploading an image, tap anywhere on the photo and you’ll see a pop-up box where you can type in the name of the person you want to tag. Select that account from the list and the tag will appear on your image.

You can drag the tag to move it around on the screen so it’s right over their head or off to the side if you don’t want to cover up your image.

If you’re uploading a video, tap on the Tag People option and you’ll be able to add the tags of people below the video.

To add multiple people, simply tap anywhere on the image again and you can add another person. You can tag up to 20 people per post, but make sure you’re not spamming.

When you’re done tagging people, tap on the checkmark in the upper-right corner to return to your regular upload screen. Continue loading the post like normal and you’re all set.

Add a Tag to an Existing Instagram Post

If you want to go back and edit an existing post on your Instagram profile, you can do that too. Just go to that post in your gallery, tap on the three-dot icon in the top-right corner, and select the Edit option.

On the image you’ll see the Tag People option in the lower-left corner. Just tap on that, follow the same steps to type in the name, and select the person you want to tag in the image. When you’re done, save your changes.

Add a Location Tag to an Instagram Post

Another type of Instagram tag you can use to get more exposure are location tags.

When you tap on Tag Location on the caption screen, the location options will default to what’s near you. If you don’t see the location you want to tag, simply start typing the location you want and a list of matching options appears.

Select the location you want to use and you’ll see it on the caption screen. Now complete and publish your post as normal.

Once you upload your Instagram content, you’ll see that location appear right below your username. That’s actually clickable. Someone can tap on that and navigate to search results for that location.

So why would you want to use location tags? Searchability. People on Instagram are looking at locations for things to do and what’s going on in the area, or to find out more about that business. If you’re tagging that location in your content, there’s a good chance you may show up in those search results and other people will see your content related to that location.

If your business doesn’t have a physical location, you can use tags in the vicinity of where you live or where you travel including venues, events, or anything related to your business that’s at a physical location. It isn’t recommended that you add a location tag to every Instagram post, but doing it strategically can expose your content to more people.

Combine Tags for Maximum Exposure

If you’re looking for your post to get for maximum exposure, combine all of the above types of tags. Use the following three-step approach:

  1. Tag the business in the photo itself.
  2. @mention the business in the caption so your friends and family can see that @mention.
  3. Add the location tag to show up in possible search results.