The growth of Instagram has been nothing short of phenomenal. Today the social media platform boasts over 300 million monthly active users and businesses are now cashing in on the trend. It is the perfect platform for you to get your products seen by millions of people from across the globe. Better still, they can share these on other social media platforms, again giving you more exposure.
To appreciate how important Instagram is for your brand, consider a 2015 Forrester Research Study showing that more than 75% of Instagram users have looked up a brand on the platform before buying. With the right strategy, this social media platform can revolutionize your business. The platform essentially transforms a passive shopper into an actual shopper, which leads to more revenue for your business. Followers Up is a great resource you can see further for revenue generation ideas.
It is the perfect branding tool but then again it is not that easy to deploy. Millions of businesses are struggling to leverage the mouthwatering numbers on Instagram for their brands. If you are planning to launch a business Instagram profile, it is important to get it right. Here are some tips you can use to ace it and ensure your brand is noticed on this crowded platform:
- Awesome Content Does it
Why do people go to social media? The world is rife with sadness and they are going to these sites to get some reprieve. This means they are looking for awesome content that will help them and lift up their spirits. They are looking for beautiful images that are inspiring amidst the gloom that is all around them and this is what you must strive to serve. A single post can boost your brand more than any other marketing campaign you have ever executed.
To get this done, start with a strategy and determine what you want to share. Is it appropriate for your target market? Go for beautiful imagery that will captivate viewers and this means being creative. It is important to go against the trend and avoid posting about your business every other hour. Throwing in a caption or text on your post can go a long way to enhance engagement with viewers.
- Build Strategic Partnerships
This is one of the most obvious Instagram strategies for branding yet the most ignored. To enhance visibility for your brand, you need to leverage the power of partnerships. This means reaching out to other Instagram accounts that have a similar reach to yours. It is advisable to keenly check how the other account is performing and their method of working.
- Unpaid shout-outs: These are a great way to give your brand some exposure. They mostly work through share for share formats where you share another account’s posts and encourage your followers to follow this account.
- Paid shout-outs: This is another technique that is rapidly gaining tract on Instagram and for many good reasons. If your brand has a budget for social media, it is time to get more followers by aiming for accounts with more followers than yours. These accounts must be related to your brand. It is a guaranteed way to find followers especially when you are starting out. With a call-to-action (CTA) on your paid shout-outs, it becomes easier to get the other account’s followers to land on your account. From here, you can then drive them to your website.
- Use Instagram to Build an Email List
An email list is crucial for any business but it is not always easy to start this campaign. Instagram can help you build an invaluable email list by converting your followers into email subscribers. While you can’t include a link on your photo, the trick lies in using the bio creatively. The caption should not be all about the image but you can easily integrate a call to action that will have a hold on viewers. Your bio must be short and sweet and include your link in order to enjoy better conversion. Once they land on your page, make sure you give these viewers value for their time; give discounts, bargains, freebies to ensure they subscribe.
- Build a Community
For your brand to get the most out of your Instagram account, make sure you engage with followers. This might not be easy especially as a business unless there is a dedicated team working on the account only. The trick here is to use an automation tool, of which instamacrois the crème de la crème. This tool helps you to remain active on Instagram even when you are not around. It also helps you to determine the best time to post content. Automation helps your account to remain active through automatic likes, follow and unfollow actions.
If your Instagram campaign is floundering, it doesn’t hurt to ask for engagement from users. People might be viewing your content but they don’t have any reason to engage with you and it is advisable to call them out. A simple call-to-action as a post can work magic; for instance, you can ask them to tag a friend. The idea is to start a conversation that will eventually lead to your website.
- Participate in Community Events
If there is one thing people love, it is a brand that gives back to the community. Think of a school event in your neighborhood and imagine how good it will look if your staff participated. Any activity that is geared towards helping the community rather than your business alone will provide a great talking point and these images are bound to generate a lot of likes.
While Instagram might have started as a platform where people can share moments with family and friends, it has now evolved into a valuable marketing tool. You can increase visibility of your brand to your target market by ensuring you post relevant content, engage with the community and strategize on how best to generate more followers. With the right tools, it is now easier to gain a large following on Instagram and as the number grows, so will your brand.
Author Bio
Evans walsh is a social media marketer who has worked in advertising for over 27 years. She writes on topical issues in the industry and new tools like instamacro to help businesses optimize their marketing campaigns. She lives in New York with her family.
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