I’ve been learning my way around Instagram recently. I’m excited about the ministry possibilities (and I love photography, too).
e4e on Instagram
In planning to minister to others, I’ve chosen a particular message through photos. Here’s what I’ll post on Instagram:
- Great photography from National Geographic and other sources
- Issues concerning missions, tech, and related current events
- Prayer suggestions from the above two points
- Humor and a handful of my personal pix and news
- Reposts from Cru staff and ministries
- Quick tech tips
- Compelling quotes
- Social cards from blog posts (mine and Cru staff)
On that last point, if you’re a Cru blogger, it’s easy to make social cards using Canva. Post these cards in Instagram and Twitter with a mention to me and I’ll be glad to comment, repost and / or retweet.
Of course, if you’d like to follow crue4e on Instagram, I’ll be glad to follow you, too.
Ministry on Instagram
If you want to use Instagram as a ministry as well, post no more than twice daily. Anything beyond that won’t make a difference in impact, according to marketing researchers.
When posting, use popular hashtags suggested by Instagram and even use a hashtag with an emoji.
Emojis (🐧 🌷 🐥 🌵) are very trendy on Instagram. I copied and pasted these emojis into my blog post from Emoji Classic. See Emojipedia if you don’t know what a symbol means.
If your phone doesn’t have emojis:
- Do a Google search to see what setting to turn on.
- Do a Google search to find out how to pull up the emojis on your keyboard.
- If 1 and 2 don’t work for you, look for an emoji app.
Instagram works best on your phone, obviously, but it’s possible to do some limited functions on Instagram in your computer’s browser. For instance, some of these emojis from Emoji Classic will paste into an Instagram comment.
Reposting on Instagram
For reposting on Instagram, I’m using the Repost app, which is available for Android and Apple devices. If you have a similar app that you like to use, please recommend it in the comments. When I looked at a few options, I chose Repost because I can place the referral mark where I want it on the photo and then I’m seamlessly sent to Instagram to paste the original comments and edit the photo. The app’s been working fine on my Android for photos and videos. I have to X out an ad when I open the app, but I don’t mind that.
It’s possible to use other ways to repost, but I believe an app will be less frustrating for you (see NOTES).
What is your ministry on Instagram?
NOTES:
- Three ways to repost on Instagram (WikiHow)
- Check out these additional app recommendations: 5 Instagram Tools to Better Manage Your Marketing (Social Media Examiner).
- I decided against using Latergramme for scheduling posts. If you use it, let us know what you think of it.
eQuipping for eMinistry 