Are you looking to increase your brand’s visibility and reach? The rise of social media has fundamentally changed the way businesses market themselves online. Instagram, in particular, is an effective tool for increasing brand visibility and connecting with potential customers. By leveraging the platform’s unique features, brands can increase their reach and grow their presence on the web. This article will look at how Instagram for business can be used to drive brand awareness. Let’s get started.
Increases Exposure
One of the best ways to use Instagram for business is to increase exposure. With its ability to reach millions of users, it’s an ideal platform for getting your brand out there. When you post on Instagram, you can access a wide array of potential customers who may not have heard of your business before. Plus, the user-friendly interface makes sharing content quickly and effectively easy.
There are various ways of increasing exposure, including getting more Instagram followers. For instance, you can buy real followers who have a legitimate Instagram profile to help get more people to view and interact with your posts. You can also turn these followers into potential customers by engaging with them and offering discounts or promotions. Ensure that you post consistently and that your content is high-quality to attract more followers.
Targets Reach
Instagram also allows businesses to target users who are likely to be interested in their product or service. For example, you can use the platform’s targeting features to reach a specific demographic or geographic location, ensuring your message reaches the right people.
You can also use hashtags to target your audience further and draw attention to specific posts. Think carefully about what hashtag will best fit your brand and content, then create an engaging caption that is sure to draw attention. By doing so, you’ll be able to reach more users who are likely to be interested in your products or services, thereby increasing your brand awareness.
Instagram Ads
In addition to organic posts, businesses can also use Instagram ads to get more followers and increase brand awareness. With its powerful targeting features and analytics tools, Instagram’s ad platform allows you to create and track campaigns that have the potential to take your business even further. Plus, the ads are affordable, so you don’t have to break the bank.
When using Instagram ads to promote your business, you must ensure that your ad copy and visuals are engaging. This will help you draw people’s attention and encourage them to interact with your content. Plus, running ads will also increase the visibility of your posts, giving you more potential customers.
Content Variety
Another great way to use Instagram for business is to post various content. This may include product photos, customer reviews, behind-the-scenes shots, etc. By providing users with interesting and informative content, you can keep them coming back for more. Plus, it gives them a reason to follow you and interact with your posts.
Additionally, Instagram stories are an excellent way to give users a glimpse into the life of your business. Create fun and engaging stories that showcase what goes on in your company, from product launches to customer experiences. By doing so, you’ll be able to draw more people to your brand, increasing your reach and visibility on the platform.
Helps Engage with customers
You can also use Instagram to engage with customers and build relationships. This can be achieved by promptly replying to comments and messages and liking and following other users’ posts. Doing so will show your followers that you care about them, which can help create a strong bond between you and them. Plus, it gives you an opportunity to answer any questions they may have about your product or service, which can help increase their interest in what you have to offer.
When engaging with your clients on Instagram, be sure to use a friendly and positive tone. Doing so will ensure they feel appreciated, thus encouraging them to continue supporting your business. You should also take the time to thank them for their patronage, as this will show them you are grateful. For instance, you can post thank-you messages or give out discounts and offers to loyal customers.
Promotes Business Beyond Borders
Instagram for business can help you promote your brand outside of your local area. With its global audience, the platform allows you to reach a larger online market, thereby increasing your chances of finding potential customers. Plus, with the right content and strategy in place, it’s possible to build relationships with clients in different countries or continents.
Some factors to consider when promoting your business beyond local borders include language barriers, cultural differences, and payment methods. To get started, research the countries you wish to target and create content that resonates with them. Additionally, find out what type of advertising works best in each location and adjust your strategy accordingly.
Builds a Community
Did you know that Instagram for business can help you build a community? The platform’s interactive features allow your followers to share content and engage with each other. This encourages conversations about your brand, allowing you to gain insights into what your customers want from your products or services.
You can also use Instagram’s polling feature to get feedback from customers and find out how they feel about your brand. This can help you improve the quality of your products and services, thereby giving customers an even better experience. A good example is when you ask followers to vote on the design of your latest product.
Helps Schedule Your Content
Another great feature of Instagram for business is the ability to schedule your posts. This allows you to create and post content ahead of time and stay on top of all your posting needs. For instance, you can plan out the content for a week or even a month in advance. This is especially helpful if you’re running campaigns or looking to launch products, as it ensures your posts are ready and published at the right time.
By scheduling your posts, you can also ensure a consistent flow of content and not forget to post regularly. This will help keep followers engaged and interested in what you have to offer. Additionally, it’s an effective way to monitor the success of each post. You can use the insights from Instagram to adjust your strategy as needed, maximizing your content’s impact.
Instagram for business is a great tool to promote your brand, engage with customers and build relationships, expand reach beyond local borders, build community engagement, and more. With careful planning and the right strategies in place, it can help drive brand awareness and boost sales. So if you’re looking to take your business to the next level, Instagram for business is definitely worth a try.
Social media has become a powerful tool for businesses in recent years, and Instagram is no exception. Growing an Instagram following takes time, but there are several quick tips to increase your followers quickly. In this article, we will discuss the best methods that you can use to increase your Instagram followers fast.
Make Your Instagram Bio Count
Your bio is the first thing users will see when they visit your profile so it’s important to make it count. Make sure that you include relevant keywords that describe yourself and what kind of content you post on your account. Additionally, be sure to include a link to your website or other social media accounts in order to direct traffic from Instagram to different areas of your digital presence.
Connect with Your Network
One of the most effective ways to quickly grow an Instagram following is by connecting with your network people who already know who you are and follow similar accounts as yours. Reach out and connect with them via their accounts or through messaging platforms like WhatsApp or Messenger. Once you’ve connected, be sure to engage with their posts by liking and commenting on them; this will help build relationships over time which could result in more followers for both parties.
Find Your Audience
Finding the right audience for your brand is key if you want to increase your followers quickly. The best way to do this is by using hashtags related to the topics or products that you post about. This will help expose your content to more people who are interested in what you have to offer, thus increasing the chances of them following your account. Additionally, engaging with other users’ posts on similar topics or products can also draw attention toward yours as well!
Live By The ‘5 Likes, Comment & Follow’ Rule
One of the quickest ways to gain more followers on Instagram is by following the ‘5 likes, comment & follow’ rule. This means that each time you post something new, like 5 photos from similar accounts that are not competitors; comment on those photos; then follow those accounts (if appropriate). This helps create connections between accounts which can lead to increased visibility for both parties and more followers over time!
Find Your Voice as a ‘Brand’
The first step in increasing your Instagram followers is finding your voice as a “brand.” Take some time to think about what your mission statement is and how it sets you apart from other influencers or businesses on the platform. Find a unique angle that resonates with your target audience and use it consistently throughout all of your content. This will help you stand out from the crowd and attract more followers who are interested in what you have to offer.
Write Catchy, Shareable Captions!
Your captions are just as important as your photos when it comes to attracting new followers. Write captions that are witty, engaging, and shareable—this will encourage people to comment, like, and share your posts with their own followers. Try experimenting with different types of captions such as quotes, questions, or even jokes—whatever works best for you! Just make sure they’re relevant to the post itself so that they can spark conversation among potential new followers.
Post Engaging Content
Your content should be diverse enough that it appeals to a wide range of audiences while still maintaining its sense of authenticity. Posting engaging content is key if you want more people checking out what you have to say—so experiment with different styles of photos and videos until you find something that resonates with people. Don’t forget to also include stories which can be used as an additional way for people to engage with your content!
Post Consistently
Consistency is essential when it comes to social media success. You want people visiting and interacting with your page frequently in order for them to remember who you are so post regularly (at least once per day). This will also help boost engagement on each post since users will see them pop up more often in their feeds! Try scheduling posts ahead of time so that you don’t have to worry about posting every day manually.
Optimize Your Imagery for Instagram
When taking photos or creating graphics specifically for Instagram, make sure they’re optimized for the platform’s size and shape requirements (ie portrait vs landscape). This will ensure that everyone viewing them on their phones has a clear view without any cropping or distortion issues getting in the way! Additionally, always make sure the image quality is high so that it looks professional and inviting – this can be done by shooting in RAW instead of JPEG format when possible. This optimization process may seem tedious but doing it correctly can really help elevate any post’s appearance which could lead directly into increased engagement rates!
Experiment, Test & Analyze Your Content
Finally, don’t forget about data analysis. This is one of the most important aspects when trying out anything new on social media platforms like Instagram! Make sure you track key metrics such as engagement rates over time (e.g. likes/comments/shares) as well as follower growth rate after certain types of posts/content releases etc… Doing this kind of research can give invaluable insights into what type of content works best on your page which could then be used again in future posts/campaigns! Such knowledge could prove invaluable when looking into ways to quickly increase one’s following base over time so never neglect this aspect when striving towards achieving success online.
Conclusion
Growing an active following on Instagram can take some time and effort but it doesn’t have to be difficult if you know how! Utilizing these tips such as making sure your bio counts, connecting with networks and finding relevant audiences should help give you a jumpstart in growing a larger base of followers quickly! Just remember: consistency is key, keep posting quality content regularly and engaging with other users’ posts in order for these strategies to work properly! Good luck!
Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms out there. And it’s not just for personal use. A lot of companies are using Instagram to reach out to their target market and promote their products or services. If you’re a business owner, you should definitely consider using Instagram. In this article, we’ll give you a basic overview of how to use Instagram for business purposes.
Why Use Instagram for Business?
What’s Instagram for Business? Instagram is a great way to tell the story of your brand. It’s also great to show your customers what you do and why they should buy from you. It’s one of the best platforms where you can start your digital marketing strategy wisely and effectively.
Instagram can be used as an effective marketing tool for businesses in three main ways:
- Showcase product photos and videos with captions that explain how it works or how it makes life easier.
- Share customer stories about how their lives were changed by using this product.
Benefits of Using Instagram for Business
1. Learn What Your Customers Like
The first advantage of our list is that it is straightforward yet useful. For example, Instagram users frequently post content that may be used to understand their tastes better and learn what they truly enjoy. Their way of life, where they live, their values, their personal beliefs, and many more can all be swiftly determined.
2. You Can Present Products or Services
You can submit photographs of your products, video instructions, and reviews of your services. The only thing you should be careful of is writing too many posts exclusively about products. Although increasing sales is your primary objective, Instagram users won’t appreciate seeing too much content that promotes sales.
3. Build Customer Relationships
Modern customers have high expectations of brands and companies. To keep them happy, you should interact with them online by publishing high-quality content, posing queries, responding to comments, and praising their Instagram efforts. Engaging in such a technique can cultivate enduring relationships with your fans and eventually convert them into devoted followers or even brand evangelists.
4. Reach New Audiences and Drive Traffic to Websites
Most likely, your brand has a loyal following of Instagram users who follow your work and like, like, and comment on your posts. You can reach out to a lot more people via Instagram and increase your fan base, so you don’t have to stop there. Make sure to create Instagram content that pops and you will go viral.
How to Create an Instagram Business Account
Convert an existing Instagram account:
- Step 1: Go to your profile page in the app.
- Step 2: Select the menu by clicking on it in the top right corner. Three small stacked lines appear to be present.
- Step 3: Choose “settings” from the menu.
- Step 4: Select “account” from the settings menu after you’ve arrived there.
- Step 5: From here, you should notice the choice to switch to a business account marked at the bottom of the account menu. When you click it, you can be prompted to switch over immediately away or asked to provide any additional missing information.
Create a brand-new Instagram business account:
- Step 1: Install the Instagram app on your iOS, Android, or Windows smartphone
- Step 2: Open the app and register by entering your information. If more than one person will have access to this account, use an administrator email address. Alternatively, you can choose to log in using Facebook to quickly link your Facebook company profile.
- Step 3: Choose a username and password, continue filling up your profile, and complete the login process.
- Step 4: A personal account will be selected by default when you open a new account. As we indicated above under “convert an existing account”, you will now proceed with the steps for changing your Instagram account to a business profile.
Tips to Create Your Own Good Instagram Content
Base on DataPortal research Instagram has at least 1.452 billion users around the world in April 2022. Here are some tips on how to create well-thought content to boost your engagement on Instagram:
- Define your goals and purpose
- Do a target market analysis
- Create a content calendar for the month or year, depending on how many posts you want to publish per week/month/year (see below)
- You should also know that there are different types of accounts on Instagram, so make sure you’re using the right one for your brand or small business.
Make sure that you’re doing the right strategies and plan to create effective Instagram marketing for your business.
What Instagram Content is the Most Popular?
You might have heard that Instagram is a visual platform, and that’s true. You can find some of the most popular content on Instagram by looking at what people share with hashtags, images, or videos. Here are some examples:
- Infographics
- Images
- Videos * Live videos (e.g., skydiving) * Live stories
- Reels
One of the most effective ways to promote your Instagram is creating Reels. You can make informative and amazing content with great transitions, special effects, filters, and more using different video editing software.
How to Promote Instagram Business Account
1. Set up a Business Profile
Set up a business profile on Instagram. This is where all of your marketing efforts will be focused, so it’s important that it looks professional and is easy for people to navigate.
Link all of your other accounts together: If possible, link all the other social media accounts under one umbrella (for example: “Instagram Business Account” vs “Instagram Profile”). This way, when someone searches for something related to an “Instagram Business Account”, they’ll see what else falls under this or other categories too!
2. Publish Consistently
When it comes to promoting your Instagram account, consistency is key. You want to post regularly, but not too often or too infrequently—you also don’t want to overwhelm your audience with too many posts at once or too few. You can use tools like a content scheduler in order to publish your content on time and make your Instagram management easier and faster. Also make sure you’re creating both engaging and informative content with relatable photos, videos, and captions.
Here’s the best way to keep track of how much time you spend posting each week:
- Divide up the week into three equal parts (1-3 days).
- Write down which days you’ll be active on Instagram during that period and what type of content (images/videos) will be posted on those days.
3. Advertising for Instagram
To grow your reach and engagement, consider using Instagram ads. If you’re interested in paid advertising on Instagram, you can set up an ad campaign in just a few minutes. You’ll be able to track the results of each campaign easily by generating detailed analytics reports that show which posts generated the most traffic, how many impressions they received and how many clicks they got.
Instagram offers several types of ad formats:
- Text Posts – This type of ad consists only of text and links within it (e.g., “Click here”). It’s ideal for businesses who want their message short and sweet but still want some call-to-action items included in their link text, such as “Shop Now!” or “Sign Up Now!”
- Video Ads – This type of ad is similar to text post ads except that it includes video content along with the link text (e.g., “Watch Video Here”). Creating video ads will boost your brand engagement and create a big impact on your Instagram Business account.
Grow Your Business with the Help of Instagram
Instagram is the second most popular social media platform, and it’s great for business. Instagram has a large, engaged audience that uses the app on mobile devices. It offers many advantages over other social networks like Facebook and Twitter, including sharing content with friends or followers and engaging with them in real-time.
Slay your digital marketing strategy by optimizing your Instagram Business account. You can partner with experts and find digital marketing solutions that will surely help you with this.
Your brand serves a purpose beyond selling products or services. It’s a representation of what you believe in and the values that your company upholds, and how customers connect with you on an emotional level. To build a solid brand, it’s best to nurture engagement from your target audience online, and Instagram can be the best place to start.
Instagram is one of the quickest growing social media platforms, with over 1.45 billion users worldwide, and 90% of Instagram users follow at least one business on the platform. Thus, it’s no surprise that Instagram has become a powerful tool for marketing. So, if your brand isn’t on Instagram, now could be the best time to jump on board.
Here are some actionable tips to help boost brand engagement on Instagram:
Define Your Target Audience
You probably want to reach as many people as possible with your brand. And, the first thing that could come to mind is to buy Instagram followers. This is because the more followers you have, the more reach and engagement your posts will get. In other words, it may give you a quick boost in numbers. After all, people are more likely to engage with a brand that has a large following.
But, before you do that, defining your target audience must be the top priority. Trying to please everyone may end up pleasing no one. So, it’s essential to focus your efforts on a target audience that’s most likely to convert into paying customers.
To identify your target audience, consider the following:
- Who is your ideal customer?
- What are their values and interests?
- What are their pain points?
- Where do they hang out online?
Answering these questions will help you paint a picture of your target audience and what they’re looking for. Once you understand your target market well, it’ll be easier to create content that resonates with them and speaks to their needs. This approach will help you attract more relevant followers who are more likely to engage with your brand.
Use Hashtags Strategically
Using the right hashtags is all it takes to get more eyes on your brand. Hashtags help users discover content and brands on Instagram. And, when used correctly, they can be powerful tools for boosting engagement.
To find the best hashtags for your brand, start by brainstorming a list of relevant keywords that describe your business. For example, if you sell eco-friendly products, some relevant keywords could be #sustainability, #ecofriendly, or #zerwaste. Once you have a list of keywords, do a quick search on Instagram to see the most frequently used hashtags.
It’s also best not to stuff your captions with too many hashtags. This approach will make your post look spammy and may turn people off. Instead, use a combination of popular, medium-, and low-traffic hashtags. Using a mix of hashtags will help you reach a larger audience while maintaining a high engagement level.
Share Compelling Visuals
Instagram is a highly visual platform, meaning your visual quality is essential to success. If your photos are blurry or poorly lit, users are less likely to be attracted to your content. On the other hand, eye-catching and visually appealing images are more likely to get interested in your brand.
It’s also vital to be strategic about the photos you share. For example, share pictures of your products being worn in real life if you’re a clothing company. This strategy will give users a better idea of how the clothing looks and how it can be styled. You can also share product close-ups or user-generated content to give users a more well-rounded view of your brand.
Go Live
It’s no secret that live videos are all the rage right now. This technique is a great way to connect with your audience in real-time and show them the human side of your brand. Live videos are also more likely to stop users in their scroll and make them want to see your content.
When you go live, make sure to introduce yourself and your brand right away. This will help people just tune in to understand what your live video is all about. It’s also best to interact with viewers by answering their questions and responding to their comments.
Here are some live video ideas to get you started:
- Share a behind-the-scenes tour
- Announce giveaways or promos
- Product demonstration
- Do a Q&A with your team or customers
- Livestream an event or tradeshow
- Offer a sneak peek of a new product or service
You might also want to consider running a contest in your live video. For example, you could ask viewers to share the live video with a friend for a chance to win a prize. This idea will encourage people to tune in and help you reach a larger audience.
Takeaway
There you have it! These are four surefire ways to boost brand engagement on Instagram. Start putting these tips into practice and see how they can help grow your business.
Social media marketing flourishes on Instagram, which has over a billion monthly users. Apart from the sheer numbers, the fact that Instagrammers are shoppers turning to social media for references works well in your favor.
So, using Instagram for small business is the next big thing. If you’re only getting started, let’s review some of the best strategies to apply.
Make a Business Account
Marketing has to keep your audience in the center, not yourself. Instagram for any business is a fantastic tool, and you should hop on the bandwagon.
Note: To make yourself seem more human and relatable, you can link the personal account in the bio.
Optimizing Your Business Account
The bio is an essential part of your business account. It’s the only place where you can place the clickable link to your store or landing page.
Make it catchy and actionable. You’re seeking to inform potential followers that the content you’ll bring to their feeds is valuable and engaging while also concisely describing your service.
Avoid an overly promotional tone in your bio. Craft a text that appeals to the platform you’re on, and leave the keywords for your text posts. The only SEO-related element to include is your niche’s hashtag.
Moreover, focus on branding. The key is to keep your posting recognizable and related to your business, from the username you choose to the profile picture.
Monitor Your Niche
Networking on Instagram isn’t that difficult when you find your niche, as people are already looking for profiles like yours.
Hashtags are a fantastic way for people to connect through shared interests. This trend can work for you. Examine and get in on the relevant hashtags to grow the community through in-app connections.
The best way to stay up-to-date is by following the biggest brands in your industry. You can also keep an eye on the people who fit your target demographics.
These accounts will often follow you back, giving you a chance to engage with them meaningfully.
Post Engaging Content
Images are Instagram’s bread and butter, so you should make yours pop. Keep the design and relevance high-quality and valuable to your customers.
While writing for your profile, take advantage of calls to action in your descriptions, comments, and, most importantly, bio. Direct people to your home page and tell (or show) them what they’ll get from clicking on the link.
Bonus Strategies
You could also take advantage of guest posters. It works exceptionally well with industry experts, which adds credibility to your brand. For example, have a live chat with a big name in the community you’re targeting.
Another thing you could capitalize on is people’s love for gifts. If you sell products, reward people who engage with your brand the most. If your business revolves around services, you could team up with another account in the same niche – bonus points for networking.
Post Regularly
A consistent posting schedule is a must, as people work with companies they trust. If you’re too busy, there are many services for posting on social media, letting you schedule daily content in a batch.
Note: Use the analytics from your business account to find the best times for posts, and use the info.
Apart from your regularly scheduled daily posts, get in on Instagram Stories and live videos. Here, you can go a bit more casual and breathe life into your brand.
When it comes to stories, organize them into logical categories below your bio for new followers to see.
Stay Genuine
Finally, one of the crucial strategies has to do with a road you shouldn’t go down if you want to stay genuine. Never buy followers.
Social media is all about building relationships, and if you do so dishonestly, people will quickly pick up on it. Instead, use the ethical way to generate a following, even if it’s slower.
The Bottom Line
If you don’t have enough time to engage with all social media marketing forms, Instagram is the way to go. Create the account, make it high-quality, and engage with your audience. Your business will reap the rewards that are ten times worth the trouble.
Social media has changed the face of online marketing, with Instagram being among the top sites enabling marketing professionals to reach vast audiences. What sets Instagram apart from other social media platforms is its focus on images and videos.
To be an effective Instagram marketer, you need to develop your skills for creating visual content. It is imperative that you come up with very interesting posts because you’re competing for attention with a multitude of highly talented content creators. In highly competitive industries, such as fashion, it takes a lot of creativity to make it to the top.
That is not to say that it’s not possible to gain a strong footing on the platform. By coming up with unique content and doubling in on areas that your competitors commonly ignore, you’re destined to succeed. Here are two areas of your Instagram marketing strategy you need to work on.
Up Your Caption and Hashtag Game
Posting photos on Instagram is not the same as posting photos on Facebook or Twitter; you need to make each one count. A lot more thought and creativity goes into Instagram posts because the aim is to impress. But what would be the point of creating the perfect Instagram post if only a few people see it?
That’s where captions and hashtags come in handy. Used correctly, they can vastly increase the size of the audience that views your posts. Remember the following when using them.
- Only use hashtags that are relevant to your brand, and most importantly, your post. Otherwise, you run the risk of being seen as spam, which would seriously hurt your brand image on the platform. Also, don’t add too many hashtags to your post, even if they’re relevant. It comes off as spam to your Instagram followers.
- Coming up with posts that gel well with popular hashtags is more of an art than a science, and it involves more than just thoughtlessly hopping on seemingly popular hashtags. Put some thought into it and make sure you understand the primary aim of specific hashtags before using them.
Interact With Your Followers
This may sound like a no-brainer but far too many brands use Instagram as a primitive broadcast tool or simple catalog for their products and services. Such brands end up missing out on opportunities to truly connect with their audience and build lasting relationships with existing and prospective customers.
It’s called social media because you’re meant to have conversations, i.e., two-way interactions with your audience. As such, you should encourage your followers to interact with you through calls to action asking them to like and comment on your posts. Respond in kind by commenting and liking posts relating to your brand.
As you engage with your audience, keep in mind that the comments you make depict your brand’s personality. Find the right balance between being thoughtful and professional as well as casual and relatable. Instagram users are drawn to the human aspect of your brand, so talking to them will certainly keep them watching.
Bio:
Walter Moore is one of the leading editors at a budding social media marketing consulting website (https://instamacro.com/). His expertise in social media comes from leveraging Instagram followers for destination organizations.
Copyright: 2nix / 123RF Stock Photo
Instagram has become an insanely popular marketing tool over the past couple of years. With recent trends showing more Instagram users are buying products based on what shows up in their feeds, brands are learning to adapt – and influencers are helping them do it.
Instagram influencers are users of the platform with larger, established audiences. These users have built-up credibility with their audience and have a larger degree of trustworthiness. It’s for this reason that influencers provide a great opportunity for marketers. But finding the right influencer is easier said than done.
Some users can charge exorbitant sums of money for a shout-out – and without picking the right influencer for your brand – this can mean a lot of wasted funds. If you plan on using influencers to market your brand – it’s best to make sure you’re choosing the right influencers and going about it in the best way.
Here are some things to keep in mind when choosing an influencer and running an influencer campaign.
1. Know your audience
It’s important to establish early on who you want to market to. This will help in selecting the right influencer to grow your audience. The influencer with the most followers might seem to be the best – but it most cases, it’s not.
Think about your target demographic. How old are they? What interests them? What are they likely to scroll past and what’s likely to catch their attention? Knowing which influencer to select is all about knowing your own audience. Try to avoid focusing too much on the number of followers and influencers has and focus more on the types of followers they have.
2. Stay transparent
The average internet user is more media-savvy that they’ve been in the past. It’s easy to fall into the trap of creating a promotional post that feels more like a shameless plug. If your campaign comes off as disingenuous then it can hurt both your brand and your influencer’s credibility.
Be honest with yourself and your audience. If you believe in your product or service – find an influencer that you genuinely think would benefit from the use of it. If your influencer really digs your product, this is going to make your marketing campaign all the more effective. Users can tell the difference between a sincere endorsement of a product and a half-hearted plug, so make sure to choose an influencer that genuinely likes your products.
3. Consider the user experience
Think about how you want your audience to engage with your product in the context of your marketing campaign. Avoid thinking too much about direct sales relating to your campaign – using influencers is a long-game marketing strategy. Successful influencer marketing strategies are more about creating brand awareness among users who you think would benefit from your product.
4. Treat your influencer as a partner
Instagram influencers have motivations for partnering with brands that go beyond simply making money. When coming up with ideas for a campaign – think of what your influencer wants to get out of the campaign as well.
The best brand-influencer partnerships are ones in which the influencer truly benefits from your product. Find an influencer that genuinely believes in your product. This will make the campaign resonate more with their followers.
5. Don’t overlook content
Instagram is a visual medium – above all else. This means that as analytical as you are about the types of users you’re targeting, you also need to be sure that your product is something that lends itself to visual branding and that the content for the ad is visually interesting.
Products like clothing, phone cases and jewellery are generally better for a visual medium like Instagram. You obviously want your images to include the influencer alongside your product – but remember that the image has to be visually interesting.
Take this photo from Burst as an example. This could easily be an image like this used to promote a hat, watch or clothing – but what’s important to take away from it is the way the lighting, framing and color-scheme all help to brand the product and set a moody atmosphere. It works because it showcases the products in a way that adds to the character of both the brand and the influencer.
Don’t pick influencers with too many followers
This may come as a surprise but it’s been shown that engagement with a post in Instagram decreases as the user gains followers. Influencer marketing platform Markerly showed that for unpaid posts – Instagram influencers with fewer than 1,000 followers have a like rate of about 8 percent, while those with 1,000 to 10,000 followers have a like rate of 4 percent. This has given rise to what marketing gurus refer to as “micro-influencers” – smaller Instagram profiles that target more niche audiences.
As the number of followers goes up – the percentage of engagement goes down. This means that it can actually be beneficial to use influencers with smaller amounts of followers – especially because these influencers target more specific niches. It makes sense when you think about it; it’s far easier to built trust networks with smaller audiences and content promoting a product feels more genuine coming from users who have more intimate relationships with their audience.
On top of this – smaller influencers are likely to charge a lot less – or even not at all – since they’re likely working on building their own fan-base and promoting their own content. It’s in this was that working with many smaller influencers can be more beneficial than working with one larger influencer.
Author:
HarveyStewart is a writer and digital artist based in Toronto, Canada. He’s written about content marketing, futurism and technology. He graduated from York University in 2012 with a degree in Journalism. You can visit his Instagram to learn more – https://www.instagram.com/harveystewart/
Image: 123rf/ Tul Chalothonrangsee
For start-ups or any business for that matter, one of the best ways to grow is to avoid competition. Yes, you’ve heard it, “competition is good”, but if that were true there would be no need for patents or anti-competitive laws. The best companies try to avoid competition and create monopolies. The Facebook and SnapChat war isn’t a board game, however, disguised as Instagram, Facebook is out to dominate social. And with SnapChats rising popularity, the objective is to kill any momentum.
Why Avoiding Competition is Good
Disruption has been a hot buzzword for start-ups. Uber disrupted the transportation industry and AirBnB disrupted lodging. But disruption shouldn’t be a strategy, it should be a result of great companies being innovative.
Napster disrupted the music industry and was crushed by the RIAA. On the contrary, Apple found a way to work with music executives and iTunes thrived for many years because of it. Now streaming services like Prime and Spotify are on the rise, and this was done by avoiding competition, not picking fights.
For years SnapChat has been in a league of its own, growing exponentially using innovative ideas only found in China. In 2013 Facebook attempted to buy SnapChat for $3 billion, but after being rejected, Mark Zuckerburg launched a similar app called Poke. It flopped, however, but that didn’t stop Mark and the Facebook team from taking shots at the young company. With Instagrams latest release of “Stories”, Facebook mimics SnapChats interface and functionality. CEO of Instagram Kevin Systrom, recently announced the introduction of events, a move some are calling a full-blown SnapChat blitz. Many Instagrammers are excited about the new features since they are comfortable using the platform, and wanted to avoid the cost of taking on another social network.
Image Source: Instagram
War is Costly
The reason why finding a niche is so rewarding is because you get to focus on growth and avoid distraction. War is costly. Don’t believe me? Ask Blockbuster and Hollywood Video (who no longer exist)… While they were busy warring with one another, Redbox and Netflix were finding new ways to serve their industry.
So what does this mean for SnapChat? I personally think SnapChat has done a great job at being creative and keeping to themselves. They have attempted to stay off the grid while focusing on growth. Unfortunately, this doesn’t prohibit larger corporations from competing against them. And who can blame Facebook? They don’t want another company to do to them what they did to Myspace. So the mission is to buy or destroy. And right now Facebook is in destruction mode.
Will SnapChat be able to survive this offensive? Who knows. The founders have proven to be savvy and strategic, constantly innovating and resisting competition. Nevertheless, Facebook has deep pockets and the best talent. This may be the reason they fell behind in the first place. Buy and absorb has been the MO of many market leaders in regard to small competitors. And when you can’t buy, #attack.
In the end, who will win, Grams or Snaps? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
About Author:
Larry C Lewis is an Internet behavior scientist best known for his work in social media and video marketing. He is the head of marketing at Digital Exponents and the founder of Marketinglikeapro.net. For more information, Larry can be reached on Twitter @larryclewis.
Instagram was launched as a tiny mobile app with a dozen users posting pictures of cats and dogs. Six years later, with over 400 million users actively posting pictures and taking part in discussions, the app stands as one of the leading social media platforms for business.
According to eMarketer, Instagram’s global ad revenue is expected to cross 2.5 billion dollars by the end of 2017 – and that’s roughly 10% of Facebook’s revenue itself. That’s big!
Now that brands and businesses are using Instagram to promote their products and services, it makes sense to utilize every opportunity and reach out to tons of potential customers on the network.
Here are 10 awesome tips for instagram marketing success on Instagram.
ADVERTISING FORMATS
Let’s take a quick at the different formats we will look to tap into for our marketing campaign:
Image Ads – A picture speaks a thousand words. What better place than Instagram to tell your story to thousands of audience? Whether it’s a beautiful product image or behind-the-scene images of your support team, make sure to show them to the audience to get a wider reach for your brand.
Video Ads – If a picture can speak thousand words, video can add more. Given the limitations of the texts in pictures, it makes sense to tap into video marketing to add to the interest and curiosity of the audience. Whether you wish to show the real making of your product or post teasers of an upcoming service, videos are a great tool to spark interest among the audience.
Carousel Ads – Choose carousel ads to add an extra layer of depth to your image ads. These ads allow people to effortlessly swipe through the images and take action to visit your website.
10 TIPS FOR INSTAGRAM ADVERTISING SUCCESS
When it comes to Instagram marketing success, there is no ‘holy-grail’ for businesses. However, here are some tips to increase your odds of building credibility and reputation on the platform.
1. POWERFUL AND NATURAL IMAGES
Instagram itself is built around the idea of sharing awesome photos and videos. Since photos are more popular than videos, let’s get started by posting some fantastic pictures.
One of the best ways to make your Instagram ads an instant hit among the audience is to post high quality images. Great photos leads to more action, brand recall, reputation, inquiry and increased sales for your brand. No prospect will remember a photo ad that is blurry and unattractive.
Take a look at the image below using which Philadelphia saw its sales go up by 41% with an amazing photo and an appropriate caption.
When people are scrolling at lightning speed on their Instagram feeds, photos that make them take notice are the ones that have great colors, effects, quality and of course a catchy caption.
2. GO DIET ON THE BRANDING
As mentioned earlier, it’s important your photos belong to the noticeable elements in your audience’s feed. But, also remember that they be like direct recommendation from a friend and not a direct sales pitch.
Make a few alterations like using smaller logo size and more creative elements that resonate with the interest of the audience in your target industry.
Here’s is an ad from Sony with a soft branding tone. It went on to handover the brand a 43 point rise in ad recall, 6 point rise in message association, and a 6 point rise in brand awareness too.
3. THE 80/20 RULE
If you’ve noticed the American marketing styles, you will be able to recall that native speakers talk less but express more. They use less words in their images and sound interesting to the audience.
The 80:20 rule seems to be a great fit in image promotions on Instagram. Try posting images with 80% focus on the image and 20% space for text. If you analyze the most popular non-celebrity accounts on Instagram in 2015, you’ll be surprised to see how images with few or no words were liked by tens of thousands of people.
Here’s an example from Easy Canvas Prints, which turned photos into custom prints and garnered crazy response from the audience. The ad went on to generate over 300% ROI and a 55% lower CPA for the fast-growing eCommerce company.
4. KEEP YOUR COPY SHORT
The online users of today have a less attention span, so they want to read less and know more about a product or service that they’re interested in. Instagram is no exception to the rule. Make sure that the wordings that go with your image are really, really short and simple to understand.
The ideal character for texts in an image ad is 40 for Facebook and even Instagram captions have got great response when they are 40 characters or less. Take a look at Instagram case studies for some interesting information on this.
5. TEST THEM ADS
It’s a no-brainer that Facebook took the right decision to get more visibility for Instagram by allowing users to put their Instagram posts on their Facebook timeline. That’s almost double visibility for Instagram business users.
You will find the technique of integrating your Instagram ads with your Facebook promotions more useful especially when you are running targeted ad campaigns. Targeted ads work wonders for business promotions because they help eliminate uncertainties and in turn increase your chances of being seen by the right audience i.e. people that are actually interesting in buying your products or services.
A lot of businesses just copy-paste their Instagram ads on their FB timeline, but if you wish to go a step further, then try A/B testing by going for different variations for the same ad.
Before that, take some time to look around for ways to find your target audience on Facebook. What posts of your competitors have they liked, shared, and commented on? Find out what type of posts are easily getting ignored so that you can learn from your competitor’s mistake. Run a few mini Instagram-Facebook campaigns to understand people’s response better.
6. INSTAGRAM IS NOT FACEBOOK
Okay, Facebook and Instagram are united by the owner; they’re united by the ‘integration’ feature. But, when it comes to advertising, Facebook and Instagram are divided. They are separated on the basis on two main factors: user-behavior and demographics.
– USER BEHAVIOR
Instagram is a platform for photos and videos whereas Facebook focuses on texts, images, and videos. Shared content is more popular on Facebook than on Instagram.
Based on our research of user behavior of the two platforms, we found that:
- The user engagement on Instagram is two times more than Facebook
- The user engagement per follower is 58 times more than Facebook
Source: Selfstartr
– DEMOGRAPHICS
Despite the huge difference in their user base, Instagram has more users under the age of 30 than Facebook. The table below shows that 28% of Internet users are active on Instagram – that’s huge! What’s even more surprising is that, the majority of instagram users are women.
Source: Pew Research Center
Even with Facebook, women users outnumber their counterparts. But, most of the women on Facebook are in the age group of 50-65+. So, if your target audience is young women, then Instagram is the best place to promote your stuff. Use Facebook to get noticed by the older generation if at all you feel it adds value to your promotion.
Takeaway: If you have a small marketing budget, then make sure to try Facebook ads for greater visibility.
7. YOU MUST ADD A CALL TO ACTION
Instagram allows only one clickable link and that’s in your bio. No other post in your timeline will have clickable links to drive traffic to your site.
Probably the only reason why you do not need brand awareness is when you are a Fortune 500 company that does not need clickable links to drive traffic to their site. If not, you need serious brand awareness. Now, that’s a challenge.
But fortunately for upcoming brands like you, the owners allow paid Instagram ads with CTAs to get higher response for their ads.
Think of simple, short CTA’s like Watch Now, Learn More, Contact Us, Sign Up, Shop Now, Download, and Apply Now and choose different variations in your advertisements.
8. DON’T DISAPPOINT WITH UNRESPONSIVE LANDING PAGES
When visitors are coming to your website through Instagram ads, the next step of your success is largely determined by the appeal of your landing page.
Imagine you’ve posted an awesome ad that gets high engagement and clicks, but you have a bad non-mobile optimized landing page for your website. What happens when people check in? They check out in no time. You missed a potential sale.
Bringing visitors to a bad landing page is like inviting them to a shopping mall and telling them that they’re not getting the latest mobile model. That’s giving your customers a bad experience. Make sure you do not disappoint potential customers. Create awesome landing pages that are well-optimized for the mobile version to increase your conversion.
9. INCLUDE RELEVANT HASHTAGS
There is one more way how Instagram differs from Facebook – hashtags. Though people have started using hashtags on Facebook, they aren’t that popular yet. On the other hand, hashtags are widely popular on Instagram. People use hashtags to find their preferred category of posts under one roof.
Make sure you tag your posts with hashtags related to your industry and, wherever appropriate, come up with your own variations too. This will help improve the search-friendliness of your posts and get more visibility on the platform.
Above all, keep in mind that hashtag marketing isn’t just about including 20+ hashtags in your posts. Even here, quality comes over quantity. Use these tools to find the right hashtags for your photos and videos:
Here’s an ad from @Scotiabank that uses hashtags smartly. The ad campaign was aggressively using #ThingsOrganizedNeatly to promote its list of items from a movie.
Source: Buffer
Through the campaign, @Scotiabank witnessed a 20-point rise in ad recall and a 6-point rise in brand awareness.
10. IMPLEMENT USER-GENERATED CONTENT ASAP
Trust is the factor that stands between promotion and conversion. If you wish to see long-term results for your ad campaign, then you need to focus on earning people’s trust.
How to earn the trust of people with advertisements? Well, this is where user-generated content comes into the picture.
Source: Nielson
As you see from the data given above, there are two forms of advertisements that buyers take seriously. They are “recommendations from known people” and “online user reviews”. These two factors are the top priority for potential buyers because they come from people that have tried the product or service that is being advertised.
In addition to developing trust, user-generated content also help to generate more social signals for your promotions, which is again very crucial for the success of your campaign.
LET’S GET THE BALL ROLLING WITH INSTAGRAM ADVERTISEMENT
If you were depending only on Facebook for your business promotions, then after reading this post, you should probably know what kind of marketing potential Instagram offers for business. Even if you’re a new user, don’t be afraid to give a shot at Instagram marketing. A lot of businesses that thought Instagram was just for selfies and food picture are now running mighty big campaigns and getting six digit revenues per year.
May be, now it’s your turn to jump on the board and make things better for your business.
Author Bio:
Nancy Grace is a social media writer at iDigic.net who also contributes for hundreds of other blogs. Her articles predominantly focus on social media and are widely followed by readers from all over the world
We all like to share our photos and filter them in order to get the best possible photo effect. In this article we will concentrate more on business strategy of the most famous photo sharing app in the world and inspect 5 aspects of its success through quotes of Kevin Systrom, CEO and co-founder of Instagram.
“Part of being an entrepreneur is understanding how you’re going to be different.”
Before Instagram, people who wanted to customize their photos needed to use Photoshop. Although it is a great piece of software, is more adapted to professional users. Since Photoshop is a paid software and it can only work from desktop, there were a lot of people who wished to play with their photos, but simply didn’t have the means.
Instagram changed everything, with the introduction of photo filters that are great for photos taken by phone, that often come out too dark, even during a sunny day. Each startup should have at least one thing they do different from others.
“Optimize for people, don’t optimize for valuation.”
Each new Instagram feature was made to be useful for their audience. You can look at their innovation timeline and see for yourself:
- October 6, 2010- Instagram Launch
- September 20, 2011- Introduction of 4 new filters
- February 11, 2012- Introduction of “Lux” filter
- April 3, 2012- Launch of Android phone app
- June 28, 2012- Photo page redesign
- August 16, 2012- PhotoMaps launch
- September 13, 2012- Mobile profile pages redesign
- February 5, 2013- Launch of web feed
- June 20, 2013- Launch of Instagram video
- October 24, 2013- Sponsored photos and videos launch.
Although their app became instantly popular, they waited for three full years to add any sponsored content to it. From this timeline we can see how Instagram adapted its product to make it more suitable for people who like playing with their photos. Imagine 2010 is 2015 and think about what you are doing at the moment to make your startup more optimized for your targeted audience.
“I think that above all else, [what] makes products spread is when they’re useful and they’re usable.”
Unlike other photo sharing apps and websites, Instagram is fully oriented to creating the best possible user experience. On Instagram’s photo pages, there are no commercials and ads and everything is highly transparent. In addition to that Instagram also set a new standard when it comes to fast photo uploading process. All this shows us Instagram’s serious approach to UX which makes it one of the most popular apps in the digital world.
“Bringing a prototype into a pitch meeting is so much more powerful than a bunch of graphs that say you’re going to make lots of money in the future.”
For the moment we will go back to the launch of Instagram. Back then, this app was only available for iPhone users, who were at the time the best audience for app testing. “iPhone People” were always more respectable towards innovations and more diligent in testing all possible features of certain apps. That’s mostly because they are younger and more affluent, plus they invested more money in the gadgets and want them to provide the best possible experience. That’s how Instagram skip the initial talking and put their prototype on the table for everyone to try it. Enthusiasm about this app, which was shared through social network channels by its initial users, put Instagram where it is today.
“You should not be afraid to have simple solutions to simple problems.”
Everybody has that one thing he/she is really good at, and the same goes for startups. When mobile apps introduce too many features, they shift the focus from things they are really good at to those for which they offer average or even above average performance. From the beginning of its work, Instagram focused on photos and filters, and they let other companies to deal with check-ins, video games and stuff like that. Each company has its thing:
- DropBox– practicality and ability to connect to any device;
- Zoho– users can make custom email addresses for free;
- Tesla Motors– makes electric cars.
This rule doesn’t only concern tech businesses, but any other company that wants to be successful. Do one thing you are good at and have a wide network of people and organizations to provide you with all other services you are not into., You can search for business advice online, the same goes for accounting, graphic design, marketing etc. That is also one of the reasons why outsourcing gives great results for startups, because pros work best with pros.
In 2012, Instagram was a company with almost no revenue, but lots of soul. It was bought by Facebook for $1 billion, which proves our point that making your product more convenient for the users always pays off in the end, and that making over-commercialization leads to small amounts of fast cash, and nothing more than that.