Instagram is an absolute goldmine for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Starting from social media sales to community-building to spreading ideas and awareness and beyond, Instagram has taken the market by storm. But many brands struggle to grow or adopt Instagram as part of their social strategy. It is so because Instagram needs a clear-cut and actionable strategy.
If you find this very relatable, then this blog is just for you! This guide is a step by step process for you to have an impressive Instagram marketing strategy.
- Define the goal and purpose of Instagram marketing
The main and foremost question that must be answered before any planning is “why?” Why are you using Instagram? To generate leads? Build a community? For brand awareness? Understanding the purpose sets the further course of action straight. The beauty of Instagram is the sheer amount of creative freedom that it gives to its users as long as it isn’t unethical.
Also, good ideas can be obtained from your favorite brands, from your competitors too! It is advised that before using Instagram for marketing, experience the platform as a user as it will help you understand how businesses and consumers interact with each other.
- Optimizing the Instagram profile
After getting the first-hand experience as a user, you can convert your profile into a business profile. Instagram is relatively straightforward! This will allow you to highlight additional information such as industry, location, phone number, and email address. All this becomes a part of the Instagram bio itself. Also, Instagram business profiles have access to analytics too. That helps in analyzing the interaction with the followers.
- Importance of brand creatives
Brand creatives are integral to any Instagram marketing strategy, including the hashtags and bio. Always ensure that the brand name is constantly mentioned in the hashtags and then promote that hash-tag. This is so because hashtags serve as a sort of call-to-action button which is used to encourage customer photos and stories. This is mainly used for genuine public reviews.
Don’t underestimate the value of the Bio. This is the brand’s first impression with customers and potential followers.
- Creating customer-oriented content
Ultimately, everything comes down to content. Content here is in the following forms:
- Images
Make sure that imagery is not just attractive, instead, it should be eye-popping. Features photos with your creative trademark or logo to leave an impression of the brand everywhere possible. Use filters and style options to step up your game. Using people-oriented images is also quite captivating. Putting humans who support your business, your employees is another way to make a relation.
- Videos
Video content is among the most popular and shared around social media. Always make sure that the quality isn’t compromised even when it is being viewed on different platforms. Using vine-style looping videos and time-lapse videos are insanely popular these days. An option to make long IGTV videos can come in handy in case of long videos.
- Stories
Most of the popular brands are integrating Stories into their Instagram marketing strategies. The main reason behind them is that these stories are time-sensitive. So they create quick hype among the viewers.
- Publishing relevant content on Instagram to maximize engagement
The main purpose of every post is to get maximum engagement from the viewers. So for this use the following tips:
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- Each post should have a unique caption. Catchy, crispy, and alluring captions leave an impact for a longer period thus, impacting the engagement rate positively.
- A caption must have CTA, hashtags, and some personal touch.
- Publish frequently but don’t compromise on quality for quantity.
- Cross-post your Instagram content across networks such as Twitter, Facebook, etc.
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- Promoting your Instagram for the long-term
Never forget that this promotion is in the long run. Make sure that you put your Instagram front-and-center across your other marketing channels. Always being active is the key! Responding to followers, engage with other accounts, replying or commenting are some ways to be an active participant on the platform.
Using these Instagram marketing tips for business will help you highlight your brand over others. And this is of paramount importance to regularly optimize your profile and engage with followers. Maintain the clicks with consistency and experimentation in a fun way!