At Insiteful Solutions we, along with so many other Canadian businesses, have had to adjust our operations to the current impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We were fortunate at Insiteful Solutions that our business transitioned fairly seamlessly to working remotely. Many of our designers and programmers were already working off-site and we were able to continue working with clients and address all of their needs promptly. Unfortunately, we have had to move our in-person client meetings to virtual – but this too has worked well and we’ve enjoyed more than ever working with our valued clients to help keep their businesses thriving during these challenging times.
If you need to reach anyone at Insiteful Solutions our phones are still staffed Monday to Friday from 9:00am to 5:00pm, please give us a call at 905-947-8235 or pop us an email at contact@insitefulweb.com.
At Insiteful Solutions we are sending our thoughts to everyone affected by COVID-19 and wishing that you all stay safe and healthy during this challenging time.
Our People
A strength of Insiteful Solutions is we have a large network of people who work together to create cutting edge websites and online marketing campaigns. Nothing is more important to us than our staff’s well-being. At the very beginning of COVID-19 we have adjusted all of our operations to function remotely; staff are working from home and we check in with them frequently and everyone is following social distancing guidelines. Our staff are available and eager to work with current clients on their existing sites and new clients to create website and online marketing solutions.
Our Clients
At Insiteful Solutions we are fortunate that many of our clients have been with us for a decade or longer. Their well-being is of paramount importance to us and we are dedicated to supporting them throughout this crisis. We want to make sure our clients have the best website possible to weather this current economic crisis and we constantly educate ourselves on current trends and opportunities that we can pass along to our valued clients. While some of our clients already had e-commerce built into their websites we want to make sure all of our clients can re-calibrate their business model to not just survive, but succeed, during the pandemic. At Insiteful Solutions our team of experts are here to help you pivot your business operations and drive as many people as possible to your online presence.
We hope this email finds you and your families keeping well during these uncertain times. As you know, as of midnight last night the Government of Ontario has closed all non-essential businesses and services.
We realize this is going to affect many of you. If you require any assistance with messaging around how your business is dealing with COVID-19 to share with your clients please let us know how we can help you. We have writers on staff available to help craft your messaging to make sure your clients stay as engaged as possible during this period of time.
Fortunately at Insiteful Solutions many of our employees were already home-based and therefore we are able to provide all of our services to you during these challenging times.
The world was introduced to Instagram in the fall of 2010. The term Instagram derived from a combination of ‘instant camera’ and ‘telegram’ and quickly grew from 1 million users in 2010 to an incredible billion daily users by 2018. At Insiteful Solutions we are Social Media and Online Specialists and are based in Markham and the GTA who can help bring your social media marketing to the next level.
While similar to other social media vehicles Instagram is more focused on visual sharing. With nearly 5 billion mobile phones in use globally people are taking more photos than ever before; it has been estimated that 95 million images are posted to Instagram every day. Instagram users can comment, like, tag and communicate both publicly or in private messaging. While text is often incorporated into an Instagram post it’s not required.
How do I get started?
Glad you asked – the very first thing you’ll need to do is to create an Instagram account – the good news is that its free! If you have a business Facebook account you can use that or you can sign up using an email account. Once you input your username and password you will be asked if you want to connect with people you may already know on Instagram.
When opening up a business Instagram account it’s a good idea to brand your account to match all your business marketing materials. As soon as you start connecting with people they will be able to learn about your company – and as the saying goes ‘first impressions matter’!
How do I post photos and videos to Instagram?
In a single post you can upload up to 10 photos and videos. Her are helpful instructions from Instagram!
Tap then tap Library (iPhone) or Gallery (Android) at the bottom of the screen.
Tap .
Select up to 10 photos and videos from your phone’s library. To adjust how each photo or video is cropped, tap it then touch the screen to adjust how it fits in the frame. Keep in mind that the orientation you choose (square, portrait or landscape) affects all of the photos or videos in your post. You can’t select a different orientation for each photo or video. When you’re done, tap Nextin the top right.
Tap a filter at the bottom of the screen to apply it to every photo and video you’ve selected, or tap a photo or video to edit it and add filters individually.
To change the order of your photos and videos, tap and hold one then drag it to another spot. To remove a photo or video from your post, tap and hold one, then drag it to at the top of the screen. When you’re done, tap Next in the top right.
You can add one location and caption for your entire post, and tag someone in each individual photo. Tap Tag People, then swipe to find the photo you’d like to tag someone in.
Tap Share.
In Feed, you’ll see the first photo or video from your post with a row of dots below it. People can swipe to see the rest of the photos or videos you’ve shared. On your profile, you’ll see the first photo or video from your post with in the top right. From your profile, you can tap the post, then swipe to view the rest of the photos and videos you’ve shared.
What the heck is a hashtag?
On Instagram hashtags and how you use them matter; using the hashtag symbol # next to a keyword does two things. First, it helps people to search for topics using the # symbol and it also indexes terms and topics that can be used across the social media network.
Hashtags got their start on Twitter in 2007 by product developer Chris Messina, he sent out a tweet asking if people would use the # symbol when identifying group activity on Twitter. Chris mined other social media platforms Jaiku and Flickr for inspiration on how best to contextualize and group like minded terms and issues. Originally Chris wanted hashtags to act as a device to provider users a way in which to add supplemental info to a (think linking a magazine article related to the topic of your photo on Instagram).
After some trials and tribulations (and internal debate at Twitter headquarters) the hashtag soon evolved into an integral part of every social media platform.
Hashtags are a great way for you to draw attention to your business; its been reported that an Instagram post with a hashtag gains 13% more engagement that one without. Your company can reach customers in two ways: you can create a hashtag related to your product or offering or you can start using hashtags created by your customers. An irreverent use of hashtags has also become popular marketing method. In 2015 Red Bull started their #putacanonit campaign which asked people to include a can of Red Bull in their Instagram photos. The campaign took off like wildfire and created massive user generated content at absolutely no cost to Red Bull.
When using a hashtag for your business it’s important to remember that it should reflect your brand’s personality. There are also general hashtags ( example: #instadaily) that are used broadly that you could also take advantage of (keeping in mind that broadly used hashtags can dilute your message). You should figure out what number of hashtags works for your brand and keep them organized in either Excel or an Instagram analytics tool. Most brands post anywhere from seven to 20 hashtags per post. You can also easily research how other brands are hashtagging and test out what works best for your business.
What’s tagging?
Tagging is another great, virtually no cost, way to attract attention to your brand on Instagram. You can tag someone on Instagram by placing an @ symbol before their name. You can identify someone in a photo by tagging them or can mention them in the text in your comment section. Its best when tagging someone to have the correct link to their social media account. Before tagging someone on your Instagram account it’s a good idea to have a plan formulated on who you are trying to reach and what you’re trying to communicate.
At Insiteful Solutions we are Social Media/Online Specialists who operate in Markham and the GTA. We’ve worked with hundreds of clients to improve their social media marketing – give us a call so we can help your company!
