Using Tailwind for Instagram for my Etsy Shop | Tool + Resource Spotlight
disclaimer: this post is sponsored by Tailwind by Instagram, meaning I may be compensated for it. This post also contains affiliate links which means, at no extra cost to you, I will earn a small commission from any purchases made through these links. All opinions are always my own.
I’ll be the first to admit it, I am definitely guilty of neglecting my business Instagram account over the last few years. I’ve taken classes, purchased social media content calendars and invested in hashtag guides, but none of them seemed to fit just right with my business style, my voice or what I’d like my social media strategy to look like.
With all of the time invested (or lost, spent comparing myself with others who were outgrowing me), it started to feel like the less time I spent on Instagram, the better it was for my mental health. I struggled with low return on time invested, very little traffic and sales from the platform, and it felt like I was working so hard on it all and getting nothing in return.
Deep down, I knew I needed to have a presence, and I knew Instagram was a great source of traffic for many people. So, I kept searching for a solution and guys I FOUND IT and I’m so excited to share it with you.
Introducing Tailwind for Instagram
You might already know that I’m a fangirl for Tailwind for Pinterest (I’ve written about it here and here). I’ve been using it to grow my Pinterest account for the past few years, and it now reaches over 1.8 million viewers a month. It’s kind of crazy, I know, but it’s a testament to the Tailwind team and the fact that they really know what they’re doing (you can read more about typical results for Tailwind for Pinterest here). So when they introduced their Tailwind for Instagram tool, I jumped at the chance to use it.
Now, you might be thinking that you already use an Instagram scheduler and you don’t need to add another tool to your toolbox. That’s totally fair, but, I do think it’s worth mentioning two things.
- Tailwind for Instagram is not just a post scheduler. It schedules, yes, but it’s also a powerful program that streamlines your content plan, helps you develop a strategy, assists with captions and reminds you of upcoming events and holidays. It includes many things we used to have purchase separately from marketing professionals, and puts it all together in one neat place.
- Over the past 2 years, I have invested time and money into 4 different Instagram schedulers to help me develop a better Instagram presence and keep me accountable. Tailwind for Instagram is the only one that has completely changed my perspective, views, followers and link clicks on Instagram. I’m finally seeing a return on my time invested, in a way that makes sense for me to continue doing.
So, what are the perks of Tailwind for Instagram and how do I use them to manage my Instagram? Let’s go!
Perk #1 – Auto Publishing
This one may seem basic, but I wanted to include it to make sure everyone knows it’s a valuable feature of the program. Auto publishing means that once your posts are scheduled and approved, they will auto publish for you at their scheduled time. You don’t need to open your app to complete the process, as long as you are set up as an Instagram Business account. This is a huge timesaver, and allows you to set it and forget it until you have comments to reply to. I personally love this feature, since I tend to loose an hour of my time every time I open Instagram so I try to be intentional about it!
Perk #2 – Hashtag Finder
I love me some good hashtags, but I am a totally out of the loop when it comes to finding ‘the good ones’. Enter Tailwind’s smart assistant and the amazing hashtag finder tool! As you begin typing your post caption, Tailwind will automatically generate a selection of suggested hashtags based on engagement and overall usage, and colour codes them for popularity.
Grey means niche (thing very small group of people using them), light green is good, dark green is best and orange is competitive (and likely oversaturated). You’ll want to focus most on choosing hashtags that are light or dark green for optimal exposure. Each time you select a hashtag, Tailwind will generate additional related ones, so you’ll be able to add 30 relevant hashtags in no time. As a huge bonus, this tool is available on the Free Trial plan, which means it’s free for everyone to use. Check out which hashtags are recommended for your next post.
If you often make similar posts (i.e. I post a quote graphic once a week), you’ll love the hashtag list saver feature, which allows you to save the entire list to easily add to similar posts in the future.
Perk #3 – Drag + Drop Preview Calendar
This is one of my favourite features – the visual learner in me loves how I can see everything laid out for the upcoming weeks, and know exactly how it will look on my feed. I prefer to organize my posts by purpose, grouping things together so they form a pattern on my feed. This layout allows me to easily see what types of content I need to create to fill in the gaps, and ensures that my desired pattern continues seamlessly. If you’re just getting started, I highly recommend having some fun and playing around with your posts to see which layout you like the best.
The beauty of this drag and drop grid, is that I can change up my pattern at any time and the posts will automatically be scheduled for the best publishing time on whichever day it gets moved to. Tailwind’s SmartSchedule analyzes the data of your account and your followers to recommend the highest engagement times to publish your content. Of course, you can always select your own times as well, if you need to.
I also want to take a second here and mention that it’s this feature that has made the biggest difference in encouraging me to post at least once a day. Posting consistently daily is recommended for optimal engagement, but it was also something that I struggled with – until I started using Tailwind for Instagram. I set my SmartSchedule to one post per day, and work hard to ensure each blog on the schedule is filled.
Perk #4 – Content Planner + Caption Help
As a handmade business owner that designs and makes nearly everything I sell, I find it very hard to gush about my own products and creations. I’m usually at a loss as to what to post, and I’m overall just generally worried I’m annoying folks with my constant posting. First of all, I’m learning I need to get over myself. Second of all, Tailwind to the rescue again!
This content planner + mad-lib style caption assistant has been a lifesaver!
There’s that Smart Assistant again, making things easy for me! I tend to use the Inspire and Educate tabs the most, but all of the caption categories are so good. They remind me of the writing challenges I used to years ago, with the little journal prompts that I used to help get me going.
All of a sudden, sharing with my community has become a little more fun. AND they are prompts that my audience is actually connecting with.
There’s also more generic caption ideas under post prompts, as well as holidays to post about, that change each month.
Try Tailwind for Pinterest for FREE
Tailwind is kind of awesome, in that they let you try out their program for 30 posts. Not 30 days, but 30 published posts. Which means you can start your trial anytime and not worry about running out of time before you even sink your teeth into the good stuff.
You know what else I love? They don’t just automatically charge you once your free trial is up. You have to manually upgrade, which means that giving it a try is actually risk free. Although I’m warning you, you will probably fall in love. Even if you don’t upgrade after your trial is over, there are still a number of tools that are available on their free plan including the Smart.bio – which is totally worth giving it a try just on it’s own.
Get started on your free trial here – and drop a comment below if you have any questions! I’m happy to help any way I can 😀
