Website design By BotEap.comHow to Create a Powerful Social Media Marketing Strategy on Instagram

Website design By BotEap.comOne of the most powerful marketing tools marketers have today is social media. From Facebook posts to tweets on Twitter, sharing your products or services on social media platforms is a great way to increase brand awareness, engagement, sales, and leads.

Website design By BotEap.comHowever, many people are left scratching their heads when it comes to Instagram marketing.

Website design By BotEap.comMany of us use Instagram as a personal account to post photos of our family, friends, vacations, and food, but how can it be linked to the business? And should I do it?

Website design By BotEap.comWith the speed at which Instagram is growing, don’t underestimate its value in driving your brand and marketing efforts.

Website design By BotEap.comIt has become an incredibly valuable marketing platform and while 18-29 year olds are still frequent users, older age groups are catching up and catching up quickly.

Website design By BotEap.comSome 2018 Instagram stats from Sprout Social are revealing:

Website design By BotEap.com• 7 out of 10 hashtags on Instagram are branded

Website design By BotEap.com• 80% of users follow a company on Instagram

Website design By BotEap.com• 65% of the best performing Instagram posts feature products

Website design By BotEap.comIf you feel the urge to explore Instagram as part of your social media marketing strategy, check out these initial tips to help you get started:

Website design By BotEap.com1. Use hashtags wisely

Website design By BotEap.comYou don’t need to include every hashtag you can imagine in a post, but you do need at least a few.

Website design By BotEap.comA hashtag is the # sign followed by descriptive words about your image, as in this example, I used #marketing and #ctaconf, which was the conference I was attending at the time.

Website design By BotEap.comWhen a user clicks / taps on a hashtag or types a hashtag in the search box, all images using that hashtag appear. The user can even subscribe to continue following that hashtag.

Website design By BotEap.comThe hope is that the user will see your photo, go to your profile and in the best of cases, follow you and participate in more publications.

Website design By BotEap.comHowever, when hashtags are extremely popular, the competition for results is fierce. Similar to SEO keywords, the more popular a term is, the harder it is to stay at the top of search results. So my #marketing usage example was really useless if I wanted to get some traction from that post.

Website design By BotEap.comYou want your hashtags to be relevant to your business and location, but also attractive enough for a user to type them into the Instagram search box.

Website design By BotEap.comFor instance:

Website design By BotEap.com• Let’s say you have a pizzeria in Vancouver. You post a photo of your pepperoni pizza with the hashtags #VancouversBestPizza #NicolosRestaurant #DeliciousDeepDish

Website design By BotEap.com• Or you are a Toronto wedding planner. You post an image of the bride and groom’s first dance with the hashtags #TorontoWeddingPlanner #LoveWins #WinterWedding

Website design By BotEap.comHolidays and special events are a great time to promote your business and gain followers on Instagram. Whether it’s a sale on Black Friday, a Thanksgiving-related use for your product, or a product mention on National Dog Day, these are all ideal opportunities to showcase your trademark in a non-commercial way.

Website design By BotEap.com2. Thank your audience for showing up

Website design By BotEap.comDon’t just post a bunch of photos and hashtags and wait for the likes to appear.

Website design By BotEap.comTo gain followers on Instagram, engage with your audience, and increase sales or leads, you need to spend time.

Website design By BotEap.comSee an example here from video expert Michele Moreno, where she responds to each of the comments she left on her video post.

Website design By BotEap.comSo if someone leaves a comment or question on one of your posts, please take the time to reply and thank / answer their question.

Website design By BotEap.comTake a look at their profile, and if you like what you see, follow them.

Website design By BotEap.comCompanies often follow commenters first, hoping they can return the favor.

Website design By BotEap.comYou can also search for people who may be interested in your product, then comment on their photos and / or follow them, but don’t spam them asking them to follow you right away.

Website design By BotEap.com3. Interact with the right influencers

Website design By BotEap.comInfluencers are Instagram users who can influence your target audience due to their popularity and / or followers on social media.

Website design By BotEap.comDanielle Bernstein is a good example of an influencer who worked with a brand. You may not recognize his name, but the 1.8 million followers of his WeWoreWhat Instagram account do.

Website design By BotEap.comBernstein and FIJI Water worked together to create BodyWoreWhat, a marketing campaign featuring 8-minute exercise videos with her and her personal trainer.

Website design By BotEap.comThat can be an extreme example, and unless you have a lot of money, you probably won’t be able to attract an influencer with almost two million followers.

Website design By BotEap.comBut don’t despair. From blogger moms to local foodies, you can always find someone your target audience follows, likes, or admires. Maybe they are willing to comment on your product or take a photo using it, use your imagination!

Website design By BotEap.com4. Don’t just fool your products

Website design By BotEap.comInstagram is not the place to simply share product photos all the time. Think about the experience people have using what you offer or the benefits it provides.

Website design By BotEap.comEven better, show real examples. Asking user-generated content from your audience is one way to do it. That means users share their photos using a hashtag that you provide.

Website design By BotEap.comOnline furniture store Wayfair.com does user-generated content very well. They have a user-generated campaign that allows customers to share photos of their elegant Wayfair-filled houses using the hashtag #WayfairAtHome.

Website design By BotEap.comMake sure to let people know that your images can appear on your page and that you can increase your Instagram content in a big way – for free!

Website design By BotEap.comNo matter how you use Instagram for your business, be authentic and true to your brand. That’s what the platform is all about and it will help you grow your business, gain followers on Instagram and attract sales or potential customers.