Social media is a necessary platform for businesses to connect with their customers. The biggest social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are especially necessary to optimize in any marketing campaign. No marketing campaign is complete without a good social media strategy.
Instagram Marketing Tips for Businesses
• Take Good Photos
• Fill out the Bio Section
• Use Instagram Filters
• Use Instagram Add-On Apps Like Boomerang
• Post Photo Collages
• Add Text to Photos
• Post Video Clips
• Post Photos from ‘Behind the Scenes’
• Showcase the Company Brand
• Show Off Company Products/Services
• Preview New Products
• Introduce Employees
• Use Hashtags
• Link Posts to Other Social Networks
• Focus on Your Instagram Community Instead of Instagram Influencers
• Host Contests
• Post at Peak Times for Your Company
• Respond to Comments
• Post Regularly
There are many tips to help a company make the most of their Instagram feed. Besides posting engaging photos, the best thing any company can do on all their social media platforms is to engage with their users. Whether it is responding to comments, hosting contests or even featuring a customer of the week/month, the best way to attract customers to a company and turn them into brand loyalists is to engage with them in a fun, relatable way. There are also websites that can help marketers increase their Instagram audience and engage with them in better ways. Sites such as INK361 and IconoSquare are perfect for increasing engagement efforts and unlocking the full potential of social media.
Instagram Marketing Strategy
The first step in an effective Instagram marketing strategy is to determine the objectives you want the strategy to accomplish. What is it that Instagram allows you to accomplish that other social media platforms don’t? Which members of your target audience are active on Instagram? How does Instagram integrate with the other social media networks you’re using? A successful Instagram marketing strategy should:
• Drive Sales
• Increase Traffic
• Showcase Products/Services
• Increase Customer Engagement
• Connect with Influencers
• Build a More Engaged Community
• Increase Customer Loyalty
• Increase Brand Awareness
• Demonstrate Company Culture
• Share Industry News
The next step is to develop an Instagram Content Strategy. The best approach to the content a company shares on Instagram is to showcase the company brand. To achieve this successfully, businesses should:
• Build Content Themes
• Determine Content Medium & Ratio
• Sat a Content Calendar
• Curate User-Generated Content
The third step is to establish clear team guidelines about the style, publishing, and workflow that will be used. Setting these guidelines from the beginning will maintain the brand’s aesthetic, allow team members to share posts across other social media platforms, use hashtags, create photo captions, use filters and other creative tools, understand the brand’s composition, use geolocations and identify their role in the team more effectively.
The fourth step in a successful Instagram marketing strategy is to foster engagement and set guidelines for community management. Setting these guidelines early will instruct the marketing team how to optimize the bio and link, follow the best accounts and influencers in the industry, manage engagement and incoming messages, monitor brand keywords and misspellings and use Instagram stories.
The final step is always to test the results of the strategy. This allows you to make changes and grow the strategy over time. To ensure this growth it is essential to avoid common mistakes and tell a powerful story through powerful photos. Not every company’s strategy will be the same and building your brand on Instagram can be difficult but it is an essential part of successful marketing strategies today.
Instagram Marketing Secrets
• Schedule Content Posts
• Save Post Drafts
• Use Editing Apps
• Create a Feed That is Seamless (Looks Like One Giant Image)
• Share Testimonials and Reviews
• Post Discounts and Promotions
• Broadcast Live
• Maintain Your Instagram Story
• Use Instagram’s Carousel Feature
• Use a Monetization Tool to Sell Products
• Run Ads
• Run a Hashtag Contest
While some of these “secrets” aren’t necessarily secrets to most of us, not enough companies are utilizing these features Instagram offers. The best way to get the most out of Instagram is to optimize the features it already offers and keep up with updates Instagram is regularly adding.
