Today, Instagram is the first thing that youngsters wake up to and go to bed with! Something that started off as a mere social media network, now boasts of over 800 million active users worldwide. With a decline in Facebook and Twitter usage among the younger generation, Instagram has taken the centre stage, thus creating an opportunity for businesses to market their offerings. It has turned out to be one of the most popular business marketing platforms today. Owing to its far-reaching audience, researchers have predicted that influencer marketing on Instagram alone can generate around 32.3 million in 2019. If you want your brand to be recognised, then Instagram marketing is the current best strategy for you.
So how do you go about marketing your business on Instagram and making the most of it? Let’s unwrap some of the most helpful tips to get your business on the limelight.
Know Your Target Audience: Before you start, understand the community of people you’re targeting. Once you know your audience and their interests, you can chalk out different ways to impress them with your posts. Use the ‘Instagram Insights’ tool to get an insight on your post reach, website clicks, content saves, follower activity and other details so as to know who all viewed your post. You can also attract new users by monitoring Instagram for specific keywords and including those hashtags that are related to your industry.
Create a Gripping Profile: Have a profile that is crisp and to the point. Include a short bio that talks about you and your business/products. Let there be target keywords and links to your website that will help people find you. Refer to tools like the ‘SE Ranking keyword research tool’ for finding essential and popular keywords/phrases. It is also a common practice to add a “@””company name” or “@””CEO name” in your personal bio. So when users open your personal profile, they can click on the “@” link and be re-directed to your business page.
Bring Something Unique onto the Table: With millions of people posting their day-to-day activities and goals on Instagram, it becomes very difficult to put up something that will really grab someone’s attention. If you’re determined to expand your business and get a good fan base, you must ensure that your post is unique and interesting each time. Experiment with different types of content and see the user engagement for each post. This will increase user-brand engagement and maximise your reach.
The Right Hashtags: Hashtags are a way to make it easier for people to find your content. However, avoid overusing them and include only those that are relevant to your post. Again, you will find more than thousands of posts under every popular hashtag. So you will have to make it even more specific and focus on niche hashtags like #mobileapp or #hairstylemagic rather than using a general one, say, #products.
Identify The Best Time to Post: Did you know there’s a best time to post? Yes. Peak times to post on Instagram are when maximum numbers of users are online, which is generally between 7 PM – 9 PM. It’s even better to find out the time when your target audience is most active and post your content then. The ‘social listing tool’ will help you monitor user engagement by tracking each of your posts and giving you an insight on the best performing ones, on the basis of date and time. Alternatively, you can simply use the general non-work hours (say, lunch and snack time), weekends and after-dinner hours for posting your content.
Post Jaw-Dropping Photos/Videos: When Instagram offers amazing photo/video edit features, why not make use of them? Videos help attract more users when compared to normal written posts, and in turn increase traffic to your page. This will also bring you more followers and help popularise your Instagram presence. Another fun technique is to post candid/behind the scenes images and videos. Such posts create some kind of interest in users, making them return to your page every time.
Show-Off Your Products: Have you heard of Instagram stories? It’s like a trailer (for your followers only) that creates interest and curiosity about your brand and what you’re going to bring next. This makes your followers feel special and stay tuned for your next post. Make it a point to update your story on a daily basis in order to engage your followers. Some things that you can add in your story include ad campaigns, product launch broadcast, flash sale, contests and giveaways, links to your website etc. You must have seen online shopping sites such as ASOS, The Iconic, Amazon and various other businesses that are successfully marketing their products on Instagram. That’s where you want to be.
Communicate With Your Followers: Once you have an active community of followers, you might think that your job is done. But that’s not the case. Make sure to interact with your followers by replying to their comments, showing interest in their requests/suggestions and responding to their messages. This will help strengthen your relationship with your Instagram community. It’s also a good idea to connect with influencers from your industry, who have a great following, and have them say something about you. When people see that influencers have something amazing to say about your business, it automatically gives more value to you.
Frequency of Posts: Finally, your posting frequency will depend on your goals and strategies. Make it a point to plan a proper posting frequency, so that you don’t end up giving away too much or too little information. Scheduling tools can help schedule your posts and also preview them in advance, thus saving much of your time on daily publishing.
So go ahead and use these essential tips to kick-start your Instagram business marketing journey. If done right, these tactics will help your business grow and gain popularity in no time.
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