With more than 4.57 billion users, the Internet has a more significant reach than any other network in existence. And, the social media platforms are one of the biggest drivers behind such humongous expansion. More than half of the world’s population use social media today with numbers increasing by the droves. As social media platforms increase their reach further, more and more businesses are implementing strategies to leverage their advantages these platforms offer and tap their immense potential.
Consider Instagram. A subsidiary of Facebook, this social media platform is a rage amongst a wide variety of demographics. Its popularity is soaring as it acquired 1 billion monthly users as of January 2020. And, we are yet to talk about the platform’s massive popularity amongst businesses.
So what are the reasons behind Instagram’s widespread popularity?
The visual means of communicating using images and videos is a significant reason. Who wants to read some text when you’ve got high-resolution pictures & videos showcasing things?
Instagram is very mobile friendly. With smartphones becoming easily accessible and used by millions, mobile society gets easy access to the application.
Instagram has a very easy to use UI. The user-friendliness of the application makes it easy for any user to use the numerous features of the app.
The application is rolling out neat and handy features regularly. And, while the Feed feature remains a central aspect of the app, Stories, Slideshows and Instagram TV offer new & exciting ways to deliver content.
The above are just some of the reasons behind the rising popularity of the app. And, it is foolhardy for any business to reap the potential benefits of this happening platform.
With that in mind, here are seven key steps that any business owner can implement to improve their Instagram marketing.
1.Make the best use of your profile
You won’t be able to any worthwhile promotion unless you work on your profile bio. Fill out all useful information and work on enhancing your user profile & make things attractive.
If you are promoting a brand or a business, use its logo as the profile photo. It will help your audience identify it with ease.
Use your business name as the account name. Make it similar to the names you are using in the other social media profiles for your business. Use the business name as your username too.
Make use of the website section by posting a link to the landing page of your business or a promotional offer.
The Bio section is the place to inform visitors about the USP and other features of your brand. Grab their attention by promoting your services, hyping up for new offers and using taglines or slogans to keep things interesting.
Say, for example, if you are online writing service and are offering operation management assignment help, then post some engaging videos of your satisfied students.
It is up to you how you want to design and decorate your profile. Modify bios as necessary while ensuring that it relays enough information. Be creative; add images, the physical location of your business, links to your other social media profiles to increase engagement and generate better leads.
Tip: Instagram has Business Profiles that can meet many of your business needs. You can convert your regular account into a business account with ease and access interesting options, such as direct CTAs, publish ads, access analytics tools & more.
2.Use intriguing and eye-catching visuals
The visual medium is one of the biggest reasons behind the app’s popularity. Capture the attention of everyone out there and attract more followers by posting stunning images and stirring videos.
Showcase your brand and its products or services in all of its glory. Establish a narrative for your brand and tell exciting stories with your images.
Consistently post exciting stuff. Keep your followers and visitors hooked with your content.
Post pre-recorded videos. Also, try to make use of the Instagram Live option to post live videos that have the potential to click with your audience.
Use innovative, catchy and original hashtags with engaging content to improve brand awareness.
Sharing user-submitted content is an excellent way to highlight your popularity amongst the masses.
Tip: Intriguing visuals and well-timed live videos can help your brand connect easily with larges demographic on the site, the youth.
3.Link up with some influencers and establish relationships
The harsh truth of the matter is that you will only be counted as an Instagram success story if you possess scores of followers. But that will not happen overnight.
Start small and expand slowly. Focus on building close relationships.
Develop a close and loyal community of followers.
Target niche audiences first as that guarantees successful impressions.
Once you start building a substantial following, remember to pay attention to them. Incentivize them any way you can whenever possible.
Instagram is the biggest influencer-marketing platform today. Get in touch with professional influencers and with followers who use your products & services. Share links & posts to market your brand better.
Influencer marketing is one of the fastest ways to reach a wider audience, and you do not always need to pay big bucks for it.
Influencers command a considerable following and enjoy the trust of a large & varied demographic. Getting the right influencer to endorse your brand can boost both its image and visibility.
Look for relevant influencers who use your products & services and try to build a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship with them.
4.Use Instagram business tools
One of the biggest incentives of using an Instagram business profile is accessing the various potent business monitoring tools. Here’s a glimpse of the different things that the app offers.
You can add CTAs to your business profiles.
Instagram offers a limited choice of action button partners. Check with their list to find out whether you are partnered with them.
The app allows you to book a schedule, reserve a hospitality service, get event tickets, deliver gift cards and order foods.
Instagram Insights are an excellent way to monitor vital business metrics. It can help business owners view stats such as the extent of engagement, impressions and much more. What’s more, it even offers a complete breakdown of the demographics of your followers. Insights can also be used to determine how many people engaged with your posts.
5.Tease them and please them
Use Instagram to showcase new offers, products and services. Tease your followers and other visitors with engaging content and eye-catching themes that subtly urges them to engage & buy.
Use posts to tease new product releases. Posts are an excellent way to advertise your products without being too pushy.
Add product images and brief descriptions to intrigue and excite your customers.
If not an immediate conversion, visitors will at least engage with your post by liking, commenting or sharing your post with others.
Time your posts right so that they get the maximum amount of exposure. Instagram Insights are an excellent way to determine the time when most of your followers are active.
6.Invest in the sponsored ad feature
Sponsored ads on any online platform have better penetration and reach than any other kind of promotional campaign. Making some acute investments in these kinds of ads and experience a boost in inbound traffic, lead generation & subsequent conversions.
Determine an ad budget that suits you and use it to get some sponsored advertisements.
Display just one ad or use Instagram’s carousel feature to showcase multiple ones.
You can also use your most engaging and popular posts as sponsored ads.
Instagram allows for different kinds of sponsored ads in the form of photos, videos, dynamic ads, Instagram Stories, etc.
7.Use third-party tools for a big boost
Finally, there are several third-party tools, which you can use to create high-quality promotional posts for Instagram.
Here’s a glimpse of some of the most popular ones along with brief descriptions.
Hootsuite: A scheduling tool that helps you post on Instagram without any fuss.
Sendible: Another excellent post scheduling tool that doubles as a report maker. It is also an official Instagram partner
Tailwind : An official Instagram scheduling and analytics application that offers hashtag recommendations.
VSCO: One of the most popular photo editing platforms for Instagram.
Snapseed: A free but refined photo editing app with handy features
Before we conclude this article, here are a few statistics that show the effectiveness and efficaciousness of the powerful strategies above.
75.3% of USA based businesses are now on Instagram.
Advertising revenues in 2020 are expected to rise to 13.86 billion.
More than 200 million Instagram users visit at least one Instagram business profile every day.
More than 500,000 active influencers are there on the platform.
Instagram’s estimated advertising reach is about 928 million users.
So, shake off all those doubts and inhibitions. Get on the most happening social media platform for online promotions today and use the strategies given herein to become a successful Instagram marketer today!
Good luck!
