Looking for a way to see what your Instagram profile looks like before you upload your next post? Plan out and layout your Instagram with UNUM.

How does it work?

Use UNUM to design the order in which you upload your posts. Download the app and sync your personal or business account by logging into your Instagram through UNUM. All of your previous posts will appear in the Instagram layout in UNUM.

Next, select the photos that you are considering posting. You can move the photos in the order that appeals to your brand aesthetic. You can also hide previous posts if you are considering deleting content.

What is my aesthetic?

Your aesthetic is whatever feels right and stays true to your personal brand. Consider the colors in the photos. Look at where you have used photos with similar colors and space them out between posts that look good on the layout of your content.

For example, if you have recently posted a photo with a high black point, contrast, or dark-colored background, post the next dark-colored photo after posting about four other photos with a different background color. Your Instagram content will start pulling together an aesthetic that appeals to the eye and you will be creating a pattern that evenly distributes color and theme within your Instagram content.

Why should I plan out my Instagram with UNUM?

Planning out your Instagram layout helps you figure out your personal brand and aesthetic. It will help you find photo opportunities. If you know you need a future post that showcases your food, you will find yourself looking for opportunities to eat nice meals or create a colorful plate of food through a new recipe. Likewise, if you know you need a photo with a high black point, contrast, or dark-colored background, you will start manifesting nighttime adventures.

Finally, planning out your Instagram with UNUM helps you pay attention to the beauty of your world and what makes you happy. UNUM turns your regular Instagram content into a comprehensive piece of art. You are art, so start portraying that through your profile by downloading the UNUM app now.

LinkedIn is known as the best social media platform to display your achievements, and its algorithm works to focus on you by increasing engagement with your most relevant and readable posts. Use the LinkedIn algorithm to your advantage by keeping in mind these tactics for increased exposure.

Relevance

Within the first hour your LinkedIn post is up, the algorithm watches its engagement. The algorithm classifies your post as spam, low quality, or high quality. The more users who engage with your post within the first hour, the more likely your post will gain exposure over the coming weeks. It is important to post during working hours. According to HubSpot, the best times to post on LinkedIn are 7:30 to 8:30am, 12pm, and 5 to 6pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

Readability

In order to see an increase in content exposure, it is important to put out high-quality content on LinkedIn. This means no grammar, spelling, or punctuation problems. Focus on making your content easy to read.

Try not to use hashtags like #follow, #like, or #subscribe. Use hashtags for broad keywords followed by focus keywords.

Do not use multiple links. If you have more outbound links to share, put them in the comments of your post.

To increase engagement, consider posting something that elicits a response. The easiest way to do this is by asking your audience a question.

Only tag people who you know will respond within the first hour. Do not post random people who do not know you, unless they are known to respond to strangers at the time of your post.

Always come back to your post to interact with comments. This will improve your engagement rating and increase your post exposure throughout LinkedIn.

Increase Exposure

LinkedIn gives you the ability to be seen and heard by people you know and by the masses, as long as your content is good. LinkedIn has over 500 million users and only 1% post regularly. Allow LinkedIn to focus on you by posting relevant and readable content.

Instagram and Facebook have certain rules that users must follow in regards to music usage in live-streams and posts. Here some music copyright rules to keep in mind:

Music on Instagram Stories

Instagram encourages its users to share music through Instagram and Facebook Stories. In fact, the platforms have made it easy for you. Share music through external apps like Spotify, SoundCloud, or Apple Music. Your audience will be able to access the song as well.

Concert Videos

Live music is a drastically different experience compared to studio music. When you post a video of a song during a concert, Instagram and Facebook have a harder time noticing if you have used a song that does not belong to you. Both platforms fully permit the use of live music in posts. Share your concert experiences with your followers.

Use Shorter Clips of Music on Instagram

The more you use full-length studio music in your live-stream or posts, the more likely it will be muted or taken down. Use shorter clips of music. The safe zone is 15 to 30 seconds of recorded studio music.

Have a Visual

Create a visual element to go with the music. You cannot post a recording of a song with no visual component. Consider creating a video or photo montage to go along with the music clip you want to share.

What happens if you don’t follow the rules?

If you use an excessive amount of full-length copyrighted music, your live-stream may be interrupted, or parts of your posts may be muted or taken down. Instagram and Facebook will send you a notification during your broadcast or upload that warns you if you are using more than the permitted amount of copyrighted music. Receiving this notification allows you an opportunity to adjust during your broadcast or before your post is uploaded. Take the time to switch to non-copyright music or stop playing music in your live-stream altogether.

Musicians want you to promote them.

However, they also want to get paid. The best practice for following music copyright rules on Instagram and Facebook is giving just a teaser of a song. Give your audience just enough of the song that they will want to go find it and listen to the song in its entirety on their own.

Remember to be respectful of the artist’s rights to their work. Creating music is how they make their money. If you really feel inclined to share an entire copyrighted song, create a cover of the song, add your own twist to it, or simply create your own music from scratch to use and promote.

58% of users surveyed by Instagram say they have become more interested in a brand or product after seeing it in Stories. Instagram Stories can be a useful yet often overlooked marketing tool that can increase audience engagement with your profile. It is also useful to help you sell more or spread information more quickly. Here are a few ways you can use your Instagram Story as a marketing tool to your organization’s advantage:

The Swipe-Up Function

If your organization’s profile has over 10K followers, you have the ability to use the swipe-up function on your Instagram Story. With the swipe-up function, you can embed a link to your story so your audience can swipe-up and visit the webpage. Many organizations will embed a link to their product page or their ticket site. This gives the audience a chance to learn more about the product, performance, or service before deciding to buy. 50% of Instagram users surveyed say that they have visited a website to purchase a product or service after seeing it in Stories.

The swipe-up function is the most important marketing tool to use on your Instagram Story if you qualify. Instagram for business accounts will give you insights into your Story’s engagement. It will show you who and how many people viewed your Story and how many link-clicks the Story received.

Additional Content = Additional Eyes

If your organization only relies on regular Instagram posts to get the information out there, you miss out on additional eyes that may miss your regular posts. Years ago, Instagram would show posts in chronological order in people’s feeds. They now use an algorithm that places certain posts in their feed based on other engagement factors, so regular posts are more often missed than before.

Once you have over 50 views on your Instagram Story, yours will be placed first on the list of Stories. Since Instagram Stories are at the top, most people will look at Instagram Stories first before their feed. It is important to create additional content specifically for your Instagram Story that is visually different from your regular Instagram posts.

Engagement Tools

Instagram offers a variety of marketing tools that will increase audience engagement with your Story. One popular tool is the Countdown function. Organizations can post a Story using a Countdown sticker to incite anticipation and excitement for the organization’s next product launch. Countdown stickers are most effective when they are posted within the 24 hours leading up to an event. Instagram allows you to choose the color or gradient of the Countdown sticker so that it matches your content. Just set the date, and the sticker will begin counting down by the seconds to your organization’s event.

Another popular engagement tool is the Question and Answer sticker. This sticker gives your audience a chance to interact with you by answering a question. Most organizations will use this sticker as a feedback marketing tool. For example, let’s assume your organization is a professional dance company. Posting a question sticker on your Story that asks for your audience’s feedback on the performance will result in engaging responses that you can share onto your Story for other people to see. If someone in your audience answers your question with a question, you can share the user’s question and provide an answer through video or type. The Question sticker allows for stronger two-way communication with your audience.

The Possibilities are Endless

There are many other engaging marketing tools that Instagram Stories have to offer. Hopefully, you will use this blog post as inspiration to help you get started. Use your Instagram Story to your advantage and begin increasing your engagement, growing your following, telling more stories, showing more information, and strengthening the two-way communication between you and your audience with these marketing tools.

When the pandemic first started, schools, institutions, and organizations adopted Zoom as a means of meeting online. Over the past year, we have seen and heard many embarrassing stories about users with their microphone or camera on, users stuck with virtual face filters, and users who had nonsense going on in their backgrounds. We can obtain professionalism on Zoom with more robust user knowledge. Here is how to disable filters and apply backgrounds on Zoom so you can avoid embarrassment in your next interview or meeting:

Is your lawyer a cat?

This week, a lawyer appeared as a white kitten on Zoom for a live court proceeding in Texas. He had logged on to Zoom from his assistant’s laptop, which his assistant’s daughter had previously used to play with Zoom filters. Attorney Rob Poston announced that he could move forward with the hearing as a cat, but he eventually got the filter off with guidance from his assistant and the judge.

Face filters on Zoom are fun to play with, but before you log onto your next important meeting, make sure that the filters are disabled.

How to disable filters on Zoom:

1. Hover your mouse over Stop Video. 
2. Click on the upwards carrot next to Stop Video.
3. Click on Choose Video Filter. 
4. Select None. 

What does your Zoom background say about you?

Do you feel like you have a dark cloud looming over you when you are on Zoom? It might be the enormous dark-colored oil painting in the background above your head. You could solve that problem by taking the oil painting down or moving to a different location in your home. But what about the inevitable and unexpected distractions that come from your background?

If your goal is to keep your home-life private or keep your audience free from the unavoidable distractions in your background, Zoom backgrounds can help. Zoom backgrounds act as a green screen to help other users focus on you and take away minor distractions. Zoom backgrounds add an element of fun or professionalism. Make sure not to choose a background that is too distracting, which would defeat the purpose of a Zoom background. Zoom backgrounds are not hard to find; you can select one of your photos, search for “Zoom backgrounds,” or choose one of these to download:

After you have chosen a professional background, here is how to apply it on Zoom:

1. Hover your mouse over Stop Video. 
2. Click on the upwards carrot next to Stop Video. 
3. Click on Choose Virtual Background.
4. Click on the plus sign to add an image or video. 
5. Upload the image or video you want to use as your background.

Before your next meeting, check your Personal Meeting Room.

If you are worried that a filter or a non-professional background was recently used your computer, enter into your Personal Meeting Room on Zoom and disable filters and apply backgrounds to meet your professional standards.