It’s not quite a walk in the park, bearing in mind that Instagram has over 700 million users. Coming up with a fresh and creative nickname might take a while, but it’s worth the effort. Here’s a few tips:

If your website is e.g. sotrender.com -> You could try sotrenderCOM or sotrender.com as a nickname.

If your brand is called ABCD -> It’s likely that the name is already taken. Try adding your domain alias to it, or adding your region/country.

Try to make it consistent and easy to remember. It should be easy to find manually by potential customers, users, business partners, and your target group. Also, if you use a particular nickname on Facebook or Twitter, you should use the same one here.

2. Fill in your bio + www

A common mistake made by many. Your bio is the only place where you can include clickable links. Don’t forget about it, and add a link to your website next next to your description. Also try adding #linkinbio in the descriptions of your photos – it’ll direct interested users to your bio where they can click for further information. And if you have multiple things to show users, replace your link from time to time. If you need some detailed statistics and you want to keep an eye on them, consider switching your profile to a Business one.

3. Add some photos

A profile picture makes you look more trustworthy and friendly, so remember to include one! After that, it’s a high time to publish your first photo. Choose it carefully and prepare a “welcome post” in which you’ll cover whatever your Instagram profile is going to be about. Use up to 30 hashtags, including…

4. …your own hashtag!

It’s not a bad idea to invent and include your own hashtag in your strategy and posts from the very beginning. This will help you build your brand recognition and get your audience familiar with your communication. It can be tough to make a unique a creative one though, just like making a nickname.

5. Prepare a list of hashtags

Along with your own hashtag, you can prepare a few hashtags to use for your posts. It’s a great way to gain valuable followers who are just clicking and jumping through hashtags on Instagram.

6. Find your favourite filters.

Instagram offers a wide range and variety of filters you can use to make your photos look better and more attractive. You can find one or two you like most and keep using them (it doesn’t mean you’re stuck with them forever, you can always change it up and modify your Instagram checklist) with your posts to make them look unique yet consistent.

7. Play with formats.

Although Instagram is most known for photos, you can also share great videos as well as carousel formats or the famous Boomerang (which is additional app). Juggle around with post formats and see what delivers the best results. You might just be surprised!

8. Get & give some likes, follows, and comments.

Just to clarify – we don’t recommend being spammy and pushy or playing the terrible game known as “follow4follow”. Do your research, start following some people from your target group, comment on their content in a valuable way, or like some of their comments and photos. Slowly and peacefully. If you do it too quickly, Instagram may block your account for good. They are fighting all the time against bots that are responsible for fake traffic on Instagram.

The first 10 followers will be your success – then, you just have to keep going with your Instagram checklist!

9. Make your first advert.

Instagram offers a lot of opportunities for advertising – and they are pretty efficient and effective. Don’t be scared of investing a penny or two into your Instagram, it’s rather cheap to get promoted and put up your sponsored content. This can work better than Facebook for your brand, but you won’t find out unless you try!

10. Make your first Instagram Story.

Instagram Story overtook Snapchat, and it’ a great way to build your brand and keep your audience engaged. Try to keep it steady and live, share some photos from the last 24 hours on your feed, or just share something spontaneous. Why not?

Is this Instagram checklist complete?

This is a list of “only” 10 things you should do while opening a new account on Instagram. For some, it might seem like a short and easy list of steps to follow, but we’re sure there are more to add – what would you add to our checklist? Let us know in the comments.