In 2010, Instagram launched as a way to share pictures with family and friends. Yet, now it is a crucial marketing tool for businesses all over the world.
If you’re considering implementing Instagram marketing into your marketing plan, then you’ve come to the right place.
There are tons of different Instagram marketing strategies that you can use to help push you above the competition. It is all about standing out and connecting with your audience on Instagram.
Be sure to keep reading for our ultimate guide on the eight tips you need to know for building Instagram marketing strategies for businesses.
1. Be Consistent With Posting
Consistency on Instagram is the key to generating new followers. People don’t want to follow an account that rarely posts content or does so sporadically. Instead, they want to follow accounts that they can expect photos and videos from often.
This is why you need to make sure that you’re consistent with your Instagram posts. The best way to stay consistent is to create a posting schedule and make sure that you stick to it.
Decide what days and times are best for you to post content. You might want to do some experimenting and see when people interact with your posts the most. Doing this will help you to decide when you will post your content.
The best times to post for most companies are during lunchtimes, which are 11 am to 1 pm, or around dinner times, which are 5 pm to 7 pm.
Schedule Your Posts
One great way to make sure that you get content out consistently is to schedule your posts. Many different websites can assist you in creating a schedule for your content for a variety of social media platforms.
You can do a quick search and find tons of different places that will help you to schedule Instagram posts.
2. Switch to a Business Profile
Instagram offers personal profiles as well as business profiles for companies. There are many benefits of Instagram business profiles. All you need to do to make this change is head to your settings and click on “switch to a business profile.”
Social media platforms are all about engaging and creating a conversation with your followers. You don’t want to use your Instagram platform only to advertise your products or services. One reason is that no one wants to follow a 24/7 advertisement.
Followers will now have the option to use your contact button to get in touch with you easier. They will see the same type of information that you would offer to them on your website.
You will now also have the ability to create Instagram ads without having to go through Facebook.
Another great thing about having a business profile is that you get the analytics feature. Instagram calls this feature Insights. You’ll find that this is one of the best marketing tools so that you can see how well your content is doing on Instagram.
3. Engage With Your Followers
Instead, you want your followers to comment on the things that you post and get a conversation going. Create compelling or relevant content that will influence your followers to leave comments.
In turn, you need to make sure that you’re replying to comments or liking them. When doing this, your business will seem more human-like and approachable. People love to shop with brands that they can trust and that are friendly.
Getting comments and likes on your posts do more than help to build a relationship with your followers. More people will be able to view your content if there is a lot of engagement.
When specific posts get a lot of attention, then Instagram will start showing them to more people. You’ll find that this is an organic way to gain more followers and recognition through Instagram.
4. Answer Your Direct Messages
Direct messages on Instagram are one of the easiest ways for customers to contact you if they have a question, comment, or concern. Many people will choose to reach out to businesses on social media as it is an efficient way to handle an issue.
Direct messages are like receiving text messages from your followers. You should treat them like that too!
Aim to respond to any direct messages that you receive within under an hour. Once you have the conversation going, then you should be sure to respond even quicker.
Customers are going to respond well if you can handle their problems over social media. Be sure to use the same type of customer service that you would if you were speaking over the phone or in person.
Did you know that you can even answer DM from Mac? If you’re answering lots of direct messages from customers, then you might find it easier to answer them on your computer compared to a smartphone. Instagram has recently done a lot so that you can use their website from your computer.
5. Post on Instagram Stories
If you’re trying to improve your digital marketing strategy, then you need to also focus on posting on Instagram stories.
Instagram launched its back in 2016, and many people weren’t keen on the idea. Instagram Stories is a feature that is very similar to Snapchat, where you post photos and videos for a limited amount of time before it disappears forever.
Now in 2020, if you’re not posting on Instagram Stories, then you’re not using all the benefits of Instagram. Businesses have taken advantage of Stories as a way to advertise their products, but their top priority is to connect with their audience.
If you’re looking for ideas of what you can post on Instagram Stories, then try going behind the scenes at your company. People love seeing the work in action.
You can let your followers meet your coworkers or record your daily life at the office. The possibilities for Instagram Stories are endless. Be sure to get creative with what you post.
6. Go Live on Instagram
Another way to let your followers get a behind the scenes look is by using the Instagram Live feature.
Instagram Lives gives you the ability to connect with your followers on the fly. They can ask you questions, and you can respond to them right away. You even make conversation by using your face and voice, so they get to know you better!
Make sure that while you’re live on Instagram that you’re interacting with the people commenting as much as possible. Doing so will help to get even more people engaging with you because they will want the chance to get noticed.
Instagram Lives can be very fun for businesses because there are so many different things that you can broadcast. Whether you want to go live and talk about a new product, do a question and answer session, or go live and connect with your audience better.
7. Work With Social Media Influencers
Another huge part of Instagram is the social media influencers. These are people who have accumulated thousands or millions of followers.
Social media influencers get paid to promote a brand’s products or services. They’re a great way to help broaden your audience and increase revenue.
The best way to find a social media influencer to work with is by doing some research and seeing who aligns with your brand’s values and target audience. You can even ask your current audience which influencers that they like. You’ll be guiding in the right direction to find the perfect fit.
One great way to work with a social media influencer is to let them do an Instagram takeover. An Instagram takeover is when the social media influencer will have access to posting on your account for an entire day.
They will post fun content that usually has something to do with your products or services. The reason to do this is that most of their followers will want to see what they were up to for the day, so they will come and follow your Instagram account.
Instagram takeovers are a fabulous way to help you get more Instagram followers that will want to purchase your products or services.
8. Don’t Forget a Call to Action
A call to action, or CTA, is a way for you to tell your followers exactly what you want them to do. You can tell them to buy your products, follow your page, check out your website, or anything else specific.
The problem with linking on Instagram is that you can only use one link in your bio. Many businesses will tell customers to refer to the link in bio.
There are plenty of different places that you can include a call to action within your Instagram. Whether you a CTA in a post on your feed, Instagram Stories, Instagram Reels, or even in your Instagram bio. One thing to do is to tell your followers exactly what you want them to do.
Instagram Marketing Strategies for Businesses
There are tons of different ways to make Instagram work for your brand. Be sure to use these Instagram marketing strategies to help you get started on Instagram or to improve your current plan.
Instagram isn’t going anywhere, especially in the digital marketing world. Be sure to take advantage of everything that it has to offer for your company as soon as possible!
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