Instagram is a hot topic when it comes to marketing. With so many brands and influencers using it to share their content, you can’t afford to not be on it. But how do you get the most out of Instagram? What should you post, and what shouldn’t you? In this blog post, we’ll take a look at some of the key steps that will help your Instagram marketing strategy.
#1: Align your Instagram posts with your marketing strategy and objectives
The use of Instagram should be integrated into your company’s marketing plan, in addition to content, email and other forms of social media marketing. Before creating an effective Instagram marketing strategy, you need to start by reviewing your company’s marketing calendar and brainstorming Instagram content that is relevant to each initiative.
Do you have a seasonal event or a product launch planned? You can plan Instagram content at each stage, from teasers to announcements to collaborations. You can map out an Instagram calendar in whatever way is most effective for your team, such as a whiteboard, spreadsheet or collaborative platform.
Note the goals for each post after you add content ideas to your marketing calendar. By doing so, you can ensure your Instagram strategy is aligned with your marketing goals. Your goals might, for example, include:
– Engaging more people with your content
– Increasing sales from your Instagram shop or website
– Increasing website traffic from your bio or Instagram stories
– Increasing awareness of your business or your products
#2: Adjust Your Posting Schedule as You Grow
How many times should you post every day? A few times a day or only twice a week? Adjusting your posting frequency is an important thing to consider as part of your Instagram marketing strategy. Don’t make your audience overwhelmed, otherwise you’ll receive negative feedback. You should post enough content naturally in order to get results.
Based on research by Later, the size of your account determines the right posting frequency. Generally, small accounts should publish twice a day, while big accounts with 250,000 followers or more should post about once a week.
The other thing you need to consider is the time you publish content. It makes a real difference. You need to find out when your most audiences are online so they can see and engage with your content.
Open Instagram Insights and tap Total Followers to see when your followers are online. Scroll down to see what day of the week and time of day your followers tend to be online. Then add those times to your regular posting schedule.
The most effective way to post on Instagram is to schedule content in advance. Both Facebook Business Suite and Creator Studio allow you to schedule content in advance so that you will always publish at the best time.
#3: Post Useful, Relevant Content to Your Audience’s Demographics and Preferences
You have determined what kind of content you should post, great. Now you need to determine how to position the content you post on Instagram. It is important that the content you post resonates with your audience so you can reach your goals.
You can learn more about your audiences in Instagram features by tapping the insights dashboard and selecting total followers. You can see gender, age range, city and country breakdowns, giving you a complete picture of your account’s demographics.
Check the insights dashboard on your previous posts to see who’s been seeing your posts in their feed. Tap Accounts Reached for a demographic breakdown and a better understanding of who you’re reaching out to. Keep an eye on this breakdown over time to ensure you’re always producing content that resonates.
Are you trying to find fresh ideas for your next content? You can use your previous posts to see what’s worked best before and what to avoid. You can see the posts from the greatest reach from likes and replies. Just scroll down to see the details, then tap Accounts Engaged and scroll down to view the top content.
If you want to optimise your Instagram reach and drive great results, you need to take full advantage of everything Instagram has to offer. Instagram may have launched as a photo-sharing app but there’s a lot more to it than just feed posts. Include these content types in your Instagram strategy:
- Photos: You can create compelling feed posts using anything from single images to carousels with up to ten photos.
- Videos: With the demise of IGTV, you can now post videos to your feed that range in length from a few seconds to 60 minutes.
- Reels: As Instagram’s short-form video option, reels are ideal for sharing authentic content that posts to a dedicated tab in your profile.
- Live: You can go live from the Instagram app or schedule a live event up to 90 days in advance to communicate directly with your audience.
- Stories: Stories are great for sharing exclusive behind-the-scenes content or reposts from your followers because they only endure 24 hours.
- Stories Highlights: You can create a highlight album that is permanently pinned to the top of your Instagram feed to save stories to your profile.
One last thing is to keep in mind is maintaining a consistent style as your content mix changes. Establishing a visual style is important for your business accounts since Instagram is a photo- and video-based social media platform.
#4: Keep Your Instagram Copy Focused on Your End Goal
The visual aspect of your content is only a part of the equation. To get your audience to act after seeing your post, you need captions, text overlays, and live scripts – collectively known as your Instagram copy.
Your audience, company’s style guide and goals.are the things to determine how you write Instagram copy. Consider how your followers sound, how your brand voice sounds, and what you hope to achieve. Calls to action (CTAs) can be used in Instagram copy to prompt your audience to:
- Leave a comment so you can get to know followers and build a community
- Answer a question about their preferences to help your market research
- Ask you a question so you can script a live video or get content ideas
- Swipe left to see all of the photos or videos in your carousel
- Check out tagged products to browse or purchase from your Instagram shop
- Tap the link in your bio or story to visit your website or an eCommerce shop
For example, this @klaviyo post encourages followers to swipe left to see highlights from the email marketing platform’s Black Friday report by using both the caption and a hand icon. The caption also encourages followers to access the full report by tapping the link in the account’s bio.
The reel below by @shannonmckinstrie also employs visual cues to entice viewers to act. The text overlay encourages viewers to read the caption, which contains five practical tips for finding clients on Instagram. Furthermore, the caption asks viewers which tip they intend to try first, which is a great way to increase engagement.
Bonus rounds!
We’ve got a couple more tips to help you raise your Instagram marketing strategy game!
#5 Leverage Hashtags to Increase Instagram Reach
The use of hashtags is essential for driving discovery and increasing the reach of your Instagram content. Users on Instagram can follow hashtags to see specific themes, and they can also find your content by searching for hashtags.
You can use up to 30 hashtags in feed posts and reels, and up to 10 in stories, giving you a ton of options. So, where do you like to begin?
Make it a habit to include at least one branded hashtag in each post to help your account gain traction. Then, include any relevant campaign hashtags as well as a mix of industry, descriptive, location, and viral hashtags.
If you want to find hashtags to use, you can type them into the Instagram search bar and scroll through the suggestions. The app automatically calculates the total number of times the hashtag has been used so you can quickly determine whether it is popular or obscure.
To find more ideas, you can type a hashtag into the search bar and swipe left to see the most popular content. Then, tap on some of the most popular posts to see what hashtags they’re using.
You can use third-party apps to find out trending hashtags and assess virality over time. This is an alternative way to ensure what hashtags are the most suitable for your research
#6 Work with Influencers and User-Generated Content
It would be ideal for your brand to create most of its Instagram content in-house. But it’s not always necessary. You can rely on customers and influencers for high-quality photos and videos. User-generated content (UGC) and influencer content both have the potential to improve any brand’s Instagram content strategy.
In fact, these types of content may be even more effective than the images and videos created by your team. For many consumers, user-generated content (UGC) is an important factor in their purchasing decisions. That means incorporating user-generated content (UGC) into your content strategy could completely transform your Instagram results.
You’ll need a simple workflow for collecting and crediting UGC if you want to post customer-created photos and videos in your Instagram feed. For example, you can search for UGC using branded hashtags and mentions and then direct message (DM) the original creators to obtain permission to share their content.
You can also share fan-created posts, stories, and reels directly to Instagram Stories, crediting the original creator. For example, the @evernote story below includes user-generated content (UGC) from customer @annavatuone. The original story mentions the note-taking app in response to an interactive question, and Evernote’s story serves as social proof by amplifying the original creator’s content.
If you want to form official business relationships with influential customers, use Instagram’s Paid Partnership tool instead. This tool lets your brand and the influencers you work with disclose your relationship and it allows approved partners to tag your account in branded content.
You want to include influencer content in Instagram ads? You want to include Branded Content, a feature of the platform, can also be used to acquire permission for paid campaigns
#7 For Fast and Trackable Results, Use Instagram Ads
Some Instagram marketing goals can be achieved using organic content only. However, if you want to build your brand more quickly and drive revenue, Instagram advertising is a wise decision.
Start by enhancing your best-performing Instagram posts directly from the app. To improve the reach of your finest content, use the built-in Instagram Insights to discover it and then tap Boost Post. Then pick a goal, such as increasing profile views, website visits, or DMs, build a target demographic, and set a budget.
Create a campaign in Facebook Ads Manager for more complex goals such as lead generation or eCommerce sales. You can run ads on Instagram, Facebook, and the Audience Network or customise creatives for high-performing placements like Reels and Stories.
High-performing placements of stories can be seen from, for example, the @falconio ad below. To encourage users to swipe up and click through to the social media management platform’s website, the ad keeps copy minimal and uses eye-catching graphics
If you’re new to Instagram ads, you can start with a low budget, such as $100. Conduct a test campaign to determine the average cost per thousand impressions (CPM), cost per click (CPC), and cost per result. Use these initial results as a baseline, and then experiment with new creatives, audiences, or placements to see what you can achieve with a larger budget.
#8 Incorporate Instagram’s Shopping Tools for Ecommerce Businesses
The Instagram app can also be used for eCommerce. Just connect your brand’s Facebook page and upload a product catalog in Facebook Commerce Manager. Then, open your account settings within the Instagram app and select Business. Tap Set Up Instagram Shopping to complete the process.
When the Set Up is done, users can access your eCommerce catalog from the View Shop button in your Instagram profile. You can also tag products in your photos and stories, allowing customers to begin shopping right away.
Do you want to encourage your followers to buy from your company, but you don’t have an eCommerce? You can connect out from Stories in addition to including a clickable link in your bio. Create a story and add a link sticker from the sticker tray. Then use the text customization option to add a CTA to the sticker to increase clicks.
Final Takeaways
In order to achieve your marketing objectives, Instagram content strategy is essential, whether you want organic or paid results. The steps above should help you get started to create a successful Instagram strategy for your business.
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