Suppose you were attempting to pitch Instagram to a venture capitalist in 2010. There are simply too many words, and that’s the main issue with social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. Our online community will mostly consist on visual content. I know, I know, but hear me out: now everyone can make their photos like those terrible Polaroids from the ’70s and ’80s! AND we’ll do it all on mobile, allowing users to download these images at lightning-fast 2G and 3G rates!
It seems like a challenging sales pitch, right? A small group of people had the foresight to predict that visual content will dominate in the future. Instagram’s rise to prominence coincided with the explosion in mobile data speeds and the sophistication of smartphones.
These days, marketers of all stripes may find tremendous opportunity on Instagram. Over half of Instagram’s monthly 500 million users are under the age of 35. The platform has made great efforts to create and improve marketing-friendly features, as these millennials and Gen-Zers have considerable purchasing power.
There’s a significant chance that your brand should be present on Instagram if it isn’t already. Success stories may be found across widely varied brands, from GE to Donna Karan. Making visually appealing content for your brand is a must.
What follows is a primer on using Instagram for the first time.
Make an Instagram Account, For One
It’s recommended that you browse existing advertising on the site before creating your own. Start expanding your customer base by making a Business Profile and posting interesting updates.
To stay abreast of the competition, it’s a good idea to keep tabs on a number of firms that are comparable to your own and to add a few from outside your industry that may have useful strategies to implement.
Step Two: Create Amazing Content and Watch Your Audience Grow
You don’t have to put much thought into your content strategy if your business is well-suited to glamorous lifestyle photographs or action shots of your wares. For the rest of us, the platform may serve as a window into the real culture of your firm.
Take your audience on a behind-the-scenes journey through your business with visual media. Display workers in action and introduce them. Show off your office space by giving a tour. Bring them along to business functions.
Instagram allows for video lengths up to 60 seconds, perfect for a short tutorial or piece of advise. Providing useful information without any overt marketing can help you get followers naturally.
Don’t stress over having professionally perfect images because Instagram is a visual medium. It’s recommended that you make use of Instagram’s built-in editing features to make photos that appear and feel more natural and at home on the app.
As a third step, link your Instagram to Facebook’s Business Manager.
Since Instagram is owned by Facebook, you’ll use Facebook’s Business Manager to distribute your advertising. Anyone who has created and managed a Facebook ad campaign should have no trouble adapting to the Instagram marketing platform.
Ads Manager and Power Editor are both available to you while making advertisements. Ads Manager is the easier option, although both are feature-rich enough for advanced users to use right away. Achieve a goal, target audience, and content will be guided via the platform.
Put hashtags to moderate use
Hashtags serve a similar purpose to the category tags in a blog, helping Instagram organise and display photographs.People that employ all 30 of them frequently occur. Try not to repeat their mistakes.
Relevant hashtags, limited to no more than five per post, get the greatest results. Whenever your material is shared, other users will be able to add additional tags. In other words, begin with the bare minimum of descriptive tags and let the community guide you from there. And forget about the 2200 character restriction; try to keep captions to about 125 characters.
Gear Content Towards Your Objectives
Look to the material that is currently doing well with your organic audience if you want to boost exposure and grow your audience. If you invest some money on material that has already been shown to be engaging, you may increase the likelihood of its success and the number of people who end up following you.
Use images with a distinct CTA when trying to generate leads. The Instagram ads in HubSpot’s gated Complete Guide to Instagram Advertising were subjected to rigorous testing. Surprisingly, they found that advertising with more obviously commercial imagery performed better than native content ads for generating leads. Thus, you shouldn’t use a lovely kitten picture or motivational message as your gated content offer. Provide a sneak peek at the material and state your objectives plainly.
Happy #Successful #LoveInstagramMarketing
Instagram might be difficult to master if you’re not working in a traditionally visual field. However, if you’ve found success on Facebook, you’ll likely also find it on Instagram. Make your point, give your readers something of value, and they will click through.