Instagram has been rated the best app, with over 1 billion active users. Due to the sheer size of its user base, businesses have many opportunities to use the platform to build an audience, create a community and drive sales.
In 2010, Instagram was just another social media platform that featured selfies, pets and photos of food. Fast forward to 2023, Instagram has almost completed its transformation from a photo-sharing app to a full-on advertising channel.
See what’s new on Instagram! Instagram has introduced dozens of new business tools in the past year, including advanced analytics and shoppable Instagram posts. There are also new ways to drive traffic through Instagram Stories and the standalone video platform IGTV.
It doesn’t matter if you are in education, e-commerce, media or publishing. Having an Instagram presence is essential. You need to understand the platform and your audience inside and out if you want success. This includes how to create an Instagram content strategy, what content resonates best, how to track your metrics, and how to monitor your KPIs.
How Instagram Marketing is key to eCommerce Success?
Instagram is an excellent platform for sharing photos and videos with friends and family. But it’s also a fantastic channel for eCommerce marketing. Why?
The apparent reason is Instagram’s format. Ecommerce businesses who want to show off their products have tremendous opportunities on Instagram due to its visual nature. Millions of companies have discovered that Instagram can be an excellent tool for enhancing their eCommerce marketing.
Instagram users are also more engaged than average social media users. While trends show that Instagram engagement is declining, it still produces higher engagement rates than Facebook and Twitter for businesses.
However, Instagram users are not just engaged but often online shoppers. A recent study found that 72% of Instagram users have purchased after viewing something on Instagram. The most popular categories are clothing, jewellery, and makeup.
Because they are a high-intent and quick convert, Instagram users are considered to be the ideal audience. This means that e-commerce businesses can use Instagram to promote their products.
It would be wrong to assume that because your business doesn’t sell e-commerce products, you don’t belong on Instagram. Instagram has the unique ability to sell products. However, it is also an excellent place for businesses to increase brand awareness and connect to new audiences (potentially customers).
Instagram Marketing Hacks:
Let’s break down these hacks into seven sections for ease so that you can easily find the best hacks to help you achieve your goals.
1. User-Generated Content!
You can implement a campaign that encourages user-generated content to help you create more content for your business. It will not only take the burden off your shoulders but also help strengthen your followers’ faith in you.
Brands should be able to speak well about themselves, and your users can make it more meaningful. You can search for people who are posting about your brand or create a hashtag to allow your users to create content. Be sure to get their permission before you republish.
If you can get your users to create content about your brand, you will be able to connect with them on a deeper level. You can also use this to get in front of potential customers who are not on Instagram.
2. Learn everything you can about the target customer:
To develop a successful Instagram marketing strategy, you must know everything about your ideal customer. Instagram’s ideal customer is the foundation for everything you do.
Your target customer is the most important thing to remember before you upload any content to Instagram. If you don’t have a perfect customer profile, you risk attracting the wrong customers and wasting your time.
Make a profile of your ideal customer. This will allow you to understand their interests and their personality.
Think about it. Who is your ideal customer? What hobbies and interests are they interested in? What are their needs, and what are their pain points?
These questions will help you to identify your ideal client.
- What is the name of my ideal client?
- What is my ideal client doing for work?
- What is my ideal customer’s preferred way of spending their time?
- What are my ideal customers’ needs, interests and pain points?
- Is my client married? What is their age?
- Do you have a client who is married, single, divorced, or in another situation?
- My client lives where?
- What is your ideal client’s age?
- What is my ideal client’s favourite social media platform and why? How many times do they use it? What length of time have they been using it?
3. Consistently post value:
It would help if you were committed to long-term goals to grow your Instagram following.
Instagram posts should not be about you, instead, your posts should focus on providing value and encouraging sales when necessary.
Consider following the 80/20 rule to find the perfect balance:
The 80/20 rule suggests that 80% should be value-driven content. They educate, inform or empower your ideal customer and 20% of your posts should be about your product or service.
Create a simple content publishing schedule:
Simple content posting is something you can do consistently. You don’t need to be an expert on Instagram if you have never posted daily or are new to the platform.
For a beginner’s schedule, I recommend starting with the basics.
- 2 posts + 1 reel per week + 1 story per day
This is a great way to start with Instagram content creation. You can always add more to your schedule as you grow. It’s also a great way to learn the ins and outs of the platform.
Once you have established a routine, you will want to start moving up to more frequent posting. This could be as simple as posting one daily reel with three stories, and you’ll soon feel the difference.
The number of posts you create can increase or decrease depending on your results and the amount of time you spend creating them.
4. Leverage different content formats:
Carousel and video posts are more popular than single images on Instagram. Carousel posts include multiple media formats (photo and video) within one post, which allows you to create high-impact content.
Users stay engaged with both types of content for longer, whether they scroll through your 5-picture photo collection or watch a video. Your content will remain more engaging if users interact with it for a more extended duration.
Video and carousel posts are the most popular. However, you can experiment with other content formats to see which one resonates with your audience.
5. Hosting giveaways, challenges, or contests is a great idea:
Your posts can go viral by hosting contests, giveaways, or challenges that appeal to your ideal customers. Ask your followers to share the giveaway on their Stories and grid for extra entries. Bonus entries can be given for friends tagged and comments on your post.
Remember that giveaways, challenges, and contests are more effective when hosted often or used to promote a campaign.
Conclusion:
Building a following on any platform can be difficult, especially if you’re just getting started. Use the advice on this list from other marketers who have gone through it and enjoyed the advantages to start developing your own Instagram development plan that will assist you in building an engaged community.
