If you're using Instagram for business, it is imperative that you have some sort of a strategy in place. Sharing photos simply for the purpose of sharing isn't going to help you gain new followers or grow your business. So, in this post I want to give you some tips on some of the best practices for sharing Instagram photos to ensure you succeed.

Determine Your Message

Your photos need to convey a message about your brand. What is that message? Are you sharing photos of your products? Are you sharing photos of you and your staff at work and events? Are you highlighting your customers? Are you promoting a lifestyle? Before you can start posting anything to Instagram successfully, you need to determine what it is you are trying to say. Once you know that, you can start taking the right images.

Share High-Quality Images

Don't share blurry photos, pixellated images, or poorly exposed pics. These photos represent you and your brand so take the time to make them look good. Plan and organize your photo shoots, position your camera in the right place, and take lots of photos. I never take only one photo - not even of a sunset. I always take multiple shots. Sometimes the camera shakes, sometimes a different angle grabs a different color spectrum. Taking a variety of photos allows you to go back and choose the best one of the batch to actually share with your audience.

Choose a Posting Schedule

Check your analytics to determine the best times of the day and days of the week for engagement. Focus on sharing the majority of your posts during these peak times to ensure reach and engagement (but post at other intervals and times as well). Unless you are posting from a "live" event, most of your photos don't have to be shared immediately.

Don't Flood Your Followers' Feeds

No one wants to go through their feed and see 25 photos from you, one right after the other. This is not exposure. This is annoying. Space out your images with one every hour or so to ensure that other users' photos fill the space between yours. Not only will this keep your photos active throughout the day(s), it will also increase your engagement on each photo. If you share 10 photos in a row, by the second or third one, people stop liking and commenting. However, if you space them out and keep them fresh, you're more likely to continue getting likes on comments in higher proportions on each post. Also, share only the best photos with your audience. Just because you have 3 different angles of that birthday cake doesn't mean you have to share them all. Choose the best one and share that one.

Use the Comments

I can't say this enough. Taking advantage of the comments is one of the best ways to increase engagement on Instagram. There is no set limit to how many characters you can use in the captions so you can write as much as you'd like to describe your photo, explain the contest rules, share a story, or whatever else you choose to include in the comments. A word to the wise though, people aren't on Instagram to read - so keep your captions short. I recommend keeping comments to under 200 characters but if you need to go longer, you can.

Now that you know the best practices for sharing Instagram photos, I want you to really look at your strategy. Are you incorporating these practices? If not, take a step back and start looking to incorporate these into your strategy. And then, watch your levels of engagement increase!