So, if we’re being 100% honest here – we really wish someone had explained Instagram Etiquette to us when we were beginning to use Instagram for our business. Because in a world of constantly changing algorithms, fake accounts and “highlight” reels – it’s easy to accidentally make an “Instagram faux-pas”. But don’t worry! We’ve rounded up key tips to repost, get reposted and keep friends on Instagram that we’ve learned from personal experience, our favorite photographers, and being straight called out.
Most major accounts have social media managers who are accustomed to Instagram etiquette, but every once in a while, a photo credit will slip through the cracks. (This happened to us this weekend when Self Magazine shared our image that Kelsey Butler took for us). Start with leaving a comment thanking them for the share and include something like, “Hey [insert photographer’s account here]! Did you see your photo was reposted? So exciting!” Then follow up with a friendly DM to the reposting account and simply ask them to tag the photographer as well. Just be sure to be appreciative for the repost, understanding that it was an accident, and grateful for their cooperation.
This is such a tricky one, and our good friend Kate Max of Kate Max Stock walked us through it. A great option when you’re starting out is a stock photography account – and many don’t require you to tag them as your source in their terms of service. But often, people will regram that image (which you’ve rightfully paid for) and only tagged you – not the actual photographer. Kate suggests reaching out to the person directly via Direct Message and informing them that it is a purchased stock photo, that you don’t actually have licensing to share, and asking them to remove it. It’s possible they might ignore you – and that’s when you bring it to the attention of your stock photo account and they can handle it from there.
YES! It’s so exciting and a huge key to growing your following. The best way to get regrammed? Shoot content with products from key accounts in it and tag them in the photo. Fashion bloggers and interior designers do this really well, but it totally translates to small business too – brands love it because it’s advertising AND original content for them. Another way to get featured? Use branded hashtags from big accounts. You can easily see what hashtag a company wants users to use either on the footer of their website or in their bio on Instagram. Their team continually searches that hashtag to find content to repost!
Well, that was less than inspiring.
Yup – that was a lot of Instagram Etiquette rules. It may feel like it sucks the fun right out of Instagram. But it’s so important to support fellow artists, makers, shakers and entrepreneurs – and in order to do that, you have to give credit where credit is due. We are firm believers in building each other up, inspiring each other, and celebrating each others successes. These simple rules for Instagram Etiquette are quick to implement and go a long way in the name of community.
The easiest way to avoid having to remember all this? Focus on creating your own awesome content! Team up with a local photographer and shoot a few dozen of your own branded images that will last you for months on Instagram. Get a stock photo subscription and curate your favorites to share on your account. Use your favorite accounts for inspiration and recreate the images you love with the items you have around the house! Have fun with it and get ready to watch the engaged followers start rolling in.
The Identité Collective is a full service creative studio for interior designers and boutique lifestyle brands. Offering bespoke branding, web design and social media content creation, we help small businesses elevate their digital presence to become industry experts. Want to work together? Shoot us an inquiry here.
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thank you for the great article! this has been on my mind and it’s nice to see a write-up of crediting and re-gramming etiquette!
You are so welcome Amy! It’s something we hear discussed “behind the scenes” all the time, but until we educate everyone on the courtesy, we can’t be upset that they don’t know the standard. Thanks so much for stopping by – it makes my heart so full. 💕
These are awesome tips! I’m starting to get regrammed more, and I was wondering what, exactly, to do when it happens with the stock photos I’ve purchased. Thanks so much for sharing your insights and clearing this up for me!
This is a FANTASTIC list of IG etiquette! Thank you for sharing, especially the many ways to contribute the original content creator, it’s soooo important!
Girl!!! You preached on this post. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been frustrated. Thank you so much for taking the time to really break this down.
I have one major gripe with this article. That permission isn’t expected or required. Posting someone’s content to your account without the consent of the originator is a direct violation of instagrams tos. People need to stop taking come t that doesn’t belong to them to make their pages look prettier or thatbare on brand with their business. You should ALWAYS ask for Permission unless the person states you may repost with proper credit. I have filed copyright complaints for anyone who repaired my images with out asking even if they did credit me because most of the time they were people trying to sell other services. People are so lazy and curate their entire page with other peoples images it’s ok to share someone else’s work
every once in a while but I really hate that people curate entire accounts off other people’s hard work.
Hey Justine! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave your SUPER valid opinion. I couldn’t agree more – especially when it comes to using your images to sell their goods or services. I’m going to make a note of that in the article, thank you so much!
Thank you so much for posting this super helpful guide! I’m not a designer, just a “hobbyist” and have been searching to find answers to many of these questions. Another question I was wondering, (not sure if this is a good format to ask but I’ll throw it out there in case anyone feels generous with their time!): What about moodboards? I am not seeing anyone post them so I have been hesitant to post my own, and am assuming it has to do with copyrights to images from different stores that cause too much of an issue. Is it enough to tag the image sources in the photo and the caption, or should I just avoid doing this?
Hey Claire! Thanks so much for taking the time to reach out – that’s such a great question! Mood boards can be tricky since they are so often just “inspiration”, however, a dear designer friend of ours was using a mood board she put together for a Pin graphic, leading to a template she was selling, and included an image that wasn’t hers. That person reached out, very upset, that “friend” was using her images to sell products. SO – we learned our lesson from her generously sharing that experience with us.
What we do is tag the designers in the mood board image directly on top of their photo, and link back to original sources on the blog post (if there was one). I hope that helps + provides a bit of clarification!
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