The Essential Instagram Marketing Guide
Folks sure do love Instagram, and by folks I mean almost everybody! Well, over a billion users at least! Of course, as it is one of the most beloved social media platforms, using Instagram to market your brand is a good idea. However, before you begin posting your heart out, there are a few things you need to make sure you are doing to be successful. Keep reading to find out what they are.
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Create a cohesive strategy
When engaging in social media marketing you must have a clear strategy that you can work too. Indeed, by defining what you want to achieve and how you will get there, you stand a much better chance of making a significant positive difference to your brand.
In particular, you need to consider the types of posts you will use on Instagram to engage your followers. For example, those looking to sell a physical product will primarily focus on images, and videos of people using their item. While those looking to sell a service need to be a bot more creative about the way they approach marketing on Instagram, perhaps by going live and using it as an opportunity to establish their brand as an expert in the field?
Monitor how effective your strategy is
However, having a savvy Instagram marketing strategy and Instagram post generator online is only half of the equation. Indeed, you will also need a way to test that your strategy is working and running as effectively as possible.
Back in the bad ol’ days’ marketers used to do this based purely on sales and gut instinct. Thankfully things have progressed since then, and there is now a range of analytic metrics that can be used to see how successful (or not) a particular campaign is.
The only problem with using such analytics to help you establish the success of your marketing is that things can become confusing pretty quickly, especially when you need to track particular metrics and have to inform others of the results.
Happily, it is now possible to build your own Instagram report with any metrics you choose. Something that can make the whole process of establishing what is successful or not much clearer and easier.
Regular posting
Whether you choose your newsfeed or stories, regular posting is the key to Instagram success. The reason for this is that it is only by posting regularly that you will attract the attention and interaction for your brand that you are looking for.
Of course, the value of the content you post matters too. By value, I mean how well your content meets the needs and wants of those you are looking to appeal to. In particular, offering useful information or entertainment can help guarantee you get the most views and shares.
Indeed, to help you stay on top of this it can be useful to come up with a content calendar. The idea of this is that you use the data you have gathered about topics and types of content that your target demographic most wants, and then come up with ideas for a month or two ahead of time. Many people even schedule in particular posts to specific days to help them stay on target. You can also use Social Studio to automate your entire Instagram journey— from content and designs to images and captions
The great thing about using a content calendar in this way is that you don’t have to keep coming up with ideas from scratch, something that can be very challenging. Also by planning out your content you can make sure you are offering a balanced range of types and topics and so help to keep your audience as engaged as possible.
Instagram marketing: Interact with your audience
Instagram is a social media platform. With that in mind it is just as important to take advantage of the social aspects it presents as it is the content ones. This means that you need to interact with your audience by responding to their comments, sharing their content, answering questions, and above all else providing excellent customer service on the platform.
In fact, by demonstrating to customers and potential customers that you genuinely care and respond to queries and issues, you can vastly enhance your brand’s image. Not to mention that your audience are one of the best resources you have at your disposal.
Indeed, by impressing your audience you encourage them to share your content and so help build your brand. Also, Instagram provides opportunities to directly interact with the people that you want to buy your product, this means they have a wealth of information on how you can improve your service, product, and even your content on the platform. Something that anyone looking to be successful at Instagram marketing would be wise to seek out!
