Level up your Instagram game!

Stitchers, designers, Flosstubers and local needlework shops like Keepsakes are posting amazing photos, reels, stories and videos on Instagram every day. But there is so much more to this platform than the posts that show up in your feed when you are scrolling.

Here are a few tips to level up your game and get the most from your Instagram account.

1. If you wait for Instagram to show you posts like those from Keepsakes, you will miss out! Because of the way the platform's algorithms work, you only see a fraction of what creators like us have to offer.

2. Tap the circle logo on our profile page to see the day’s Insta stories. We almost always have something up and many times the stories include links to more information. Unlike Facebook or Twitter, Instagram does not allow us to include links in our regular posts. Stories disappear after 24 hours, so be sure to check them daily.

3. To see our story highlights, go to our profile page and tap the row of round circles under the link in our bio. That’s where we save our best Insta Stories, organized by topic.

4. Tap the video play button under the row of Story Highlights to see our Reels. These are fun to create and fun to view, and share great information about the shop or events.

5. Check out the more than 300 posts on our profile page. Tap our name on any post to get to our profile page. There are five years of posts there covering any and every cross stitch topic you could imagine.

6. Search and follow hashtags (#). Hashtags are the way Instagram organizes posts. You can follow a hashtag just like you follow another Instagrammer. Tap the magnifying glass at the bottom of your screen, type #keepsakescrossstitch in the search bar, then tap the hashtag that matches. Then tap "Follow" at the top of the screen. Anytime someone uses our Keepsakes hashtag, you'll get a notification. You can do this for anything you're interested in like #samplers or #crossstitch.

Don’t wait for the content you want to appear in your feed – go find what you want to see! And if you haven't already, give us Keepsakes Cross Stitch a follow on Instagram. We love providing inspiration and encouragement for stash enhancement!