Top Instagram marketing tips for business wanting to get more from the ‘gram!’
Instagram is an ever-evolving platform that keeps on continuing to knock the ball out of the park with the number of daily users it receives year-on-year.
It is a visually stimulating platform that allows companies to get creative, build customer relationships, and get exposed to a wide online audience.
Our Instagram feeds play a crucial role in our marketing strategy - they can be the make or break of a customer's purchase! Our feed is our company shop window with every single one of our activities being a reflection of our brand - showcasing our expertise, our company's personality and, our company's values.
There are many hidden gems to Instagram marketing, so what’s not a better time than now to find them all? Join us as we highlight our best Instagram marketing tips along with key takeaways from our favourite, most relevant to date Instagram marketing articles & videos that will help in shaping any Instagram strategy.
1 . Make the most of ‘real’ imagery to produce quick authentic content.
Real and raw imagery continues to stick around since it’s popularity in 2020. More than ever, people are sharing ‘unedited’ imagery taken from their smartphones, capturing in the moment shots portraying themselves as transparent in the minds of consumers.
Glossy, edited visual content are valuable too. This type of content takes time to create, and it’s ‘finished look’ represents you in a professional light, whereas imagery that is not ‘picture perfect’ feels more real bringing a humanising touch to the post. This type of content is relatable to our audiences and helps bring life to your channel!
‘Real’ photos work specifically well for Instagram stories, whereas edited photos work best on your feed.
Key takeaways: Having a mixture of real and edited posts is key. You want to humanise your brand but also want to show off your best moments/work.
2. Use Hashtags strategically - How to Use Instagram Hashtags for Maximum Exposure.
Jenn Herman (a Instagram expert at Social Media Examiner) tells of all the tales of how to be strategic with hashtags. Covering how many to use, which ones to use, and where to use them - helpers to take forward and implement into our digital strategies to get more followers and increased sales through Instagram Marketing.
Key takeaways: The more you use the better - “Use them or lose them”. You should be using a minimum of 15-20 at-least! A mixture of highly populated hashtags, popular hashtags, along with niche focused and branded ones. Don’t forget to use Instagram insights to see if specific hashtags are paying off.
3. Use longer captions - What is the Best Instagram Caption Length?
Captions allow us to be storytellers and really create an emotional connection with our audience. The more detail revealed from a story, the more a post comes alive. Lengthy captions also show our personalities and can increase the chances we have of encouraging followers to take action and engage with us…and the more engagement, the better!
This article explains why captions matter, how long to make them depending on your content and brand, followed with a quick tip on how to improve your captions.
Key takeaways: Using longer captions of at least 70 words is a great way to produce captivating copy to keep your followers spending more time consuming your content.
4. Post ‘share worthy’ content - Instagram Algorithm 2020: EXPLAINED
Clues tell use that Instagram algorithms favour content that people have shared, over content that people have liked!
This video is a prime example, suggesting that we should be posting content that people will share, as it has shown a positive factor for Instagram algorithms to rank your content as more valuable, and thus gaining it higher exposure.
Key takeaways: Make sure your content is relatable and share worthy to your audience, but also your audience’s audience in order to gain highest exposure on Instagram.
5. Use shoppable posts to sell directly to your audience - How to Sell on Instagram Using Shoppable Posts
Many of us business’s use Instagram to show off our products and produce compelling content, which puts us in a great position to push our consumers to purchase. Adding this ‘sell directly’ feature, makes the sales process much simpler and allows consumers to buy off of impulse - as all they have to do is simply click on a product tag.
HubSpot demonstrates how to easily set up selling from your Instagram business page. Just be mindful that if you’re planning to sell physical products, then they must comply with these Instagram polices.
Key takeaways: Selling directly is great as long as you don’t come across aggressive - you want your content to blend in and feel natural to connect with your audience on a more personal level.
Final thoughts
Instagram is a great platform to use for those who want to keep up with large target audiences & for those who are able to produce exciting visual content that their consumers would be interested in and find valuable.
These Instagram tips are our favs, but that doesn’t mean they are for everyone. But if you haven’t already, then we recommend you use them as a base to find an Instagram marketing strategy that works best for you and your business.
Final tip - Experiment, analyse your results and use insights to inform your future direction.
Good luck!
