As far as media marketing channels go, Instagram has been a dominant power player for quite a while. This is particularly true for eCommerce businesses, which get access to a visual-focused platform with enthusiastic people following it and high engagement.
In the past few years, the platform has grown and evolved at a rate similar to the Facebook platform, quickly adopting advanced features (including Stories and Reels) and becoming even more valuable to merchants and users alike. It doesn’t matter who you are on this platform to communicate and share your life. For full functioning, you need active subscribers. You can independently try to gather enough audience or buy Instagram followers from some reliable sources. Anyway, it will be profitable in the future.
With this particular guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about Instagram marketing, including how to optimize your account, how to create enjoyable content, how to get more results with both feed and Stories content, and how to implement the perfect Instagram marketing strategy.
1 What Are the Reasons for The Instagram Implementation
Instagram is a mix of many small campaigns, and for significant reasons. It has a large and diverse fan base of over one billion monthly active people and 500 million daily Stories watchers who are happy to interact with products promoted, resulting in top engagement overall.
Studies have demonstrated the advantages of an Instagram marketing strategy, finding that it translates directly into sales and leads.
- Nearly 10% of US followers make purchases on Instagram.
- 130 million people tap on Shopping posts monthly.
- People are using Instagram earlier in the buying cycle, with 73% using the social media platform to research products and services.
- 90% of people follow at least one product account, and 69% of users say they’ve purchased a product they’ve seen on the platform.
- Near 54% of people say they have become more interested in a brand or product after seeing it in Story.
In general, users are more than happy to follow brands on Instagram, where they are actively discovering and purchasing products on their feeds.
It’s also worth noting that the platform continues to invest in helping eCommerce brands and stores turn engagement into sales. For example, Instagram ads, when done correctly, often see excellent results and offer high engagement.
Purchasing streamlines the Instagram sales process. Business profiles with over 10,000 Instagram followers can add Swipe Up links to Instagram Stories to drive traffic directly to their site, something that was otherwise difficult to do on the platform.
This digital place keeps expanding, making it more valuable to merchants and eCommerce businesses, especially if they have products with a strong visual appeal.
The Instagram algorithm shows your content to users based on their interests and behaviors in the app. This makes it easier for you to reach Instagram users who’ll likely engage with your brand, and get more results from your marketing efforts.
1 Here are the main tips to increase your visibility and sales on Instagram.
Enjoyable Photos
Imagine your average Instagram user scrolling through her feed. She whizzes by publication after post of yawn-inducing mediocrity. Until one jumps out and grabs her attention such as this Instagram post by National Geographic. You don’t have to travel to Greece and capture a photo of the full moon rising behind Poseidon’s temple. All you need to stop scrollers in their tracks is a beautiful, unique, high-quality image.
Publication Images that Interact with Your Audience
For example, if you know your audience is interested in different cultures around the world, an image like this will spark their attention.
Stick to the Rules of Great Photography
The great news is you don’t need a DSLR camera and expensive professional gear to take stunning photos.
Simply follow these suggestions with your smartphone, and you’re good to go.
- Use natural light whenever you can.
- Avoid overexposure (to do this, tap the brightest part of your frame before taking the photo).
- Shoot at sunrise, sunset, or on a cloudy day.
- Take photos from different vantage points. (That’s right! Crouch, crawl, lie down, even scale a wall if you’re feeling ambitious.)
Use Contests
Running Instagram contests helps you spark engagement, plus win a ton of new followers.
Here are three great Instagram contest ideas you can use.
- Like, comment, and follow. Users like your post and follow you to enter your contest.
- Tag a friend. Users get one entry for every friend they tag in your post.
- User-generated content (UGC). Your audience creates unique posts and tags your business or uses a hashtag you created.
So far, the best type of contest is the UGC contest.
It’s because people love to share their stories, tap into their creativity, and impress their followers.
Consider Enjoyable Quality Video
Did you know that Instagram videos receive 2x the engagement of other posts? If you want your followers’ attention, it’s time to leverage those videos. Here’s a quick guide to videos on the platform:
- Keep your videos short and grab your viewers’ attention with movement in the first few seconds of your clip.
- Add captions (Instagram videos are mute by default).
- Plan your videos with a specific goal in mind (e.g. drive traffic to your blog, spark engagement, gain new followers, or educate your audience).
- Add behind-the-scenes footage of your brand for a human touch.
- Capture your products in action (a video of customers using your products is great).
- Follow the rules of great photography when shooting your videos.
Provide Exclusive Content with Stories
Use Instagram stories to show behind-the-scenes action and truly pull those viewers into what your brand does. A super example is Boxycharm and their absorbing story clips.
As you know, Boxycharm offers customized makeup boxes with all your favorite brands in one box. To interact with watchers, they post stories of real people using their boxes to “glow up.”
Interact to Comments
Instagram users are swamped with content. So when do they take the time to comment on your post? You’ve achieved something awesome! But don’t stop there. Make commenters feel special by responding to them. Like their comments, thank them, and answer their questions.
Join Instagram Pods
New to Instagram marketing and don’t have a ton of followers?
Get on quality Instagram Pods to ramp up your engagements.
In their blog, Hootsuite called Pods Instagram’s latest engagement hack.
Here’s how it works:
- Find a small Instagram Pod. Pods are groups of Instagram users who band together to increase each other’s followers and engagements.
- Follow the Pod’s engagement guidelines. You usually have to like, comment, and share other Pod members’ posts.
- In return, your posts will receive likes, comments, and shares from other members.
Remember:
- Go for small pods with 15-20 users.
- Avoid giant spammy Pods with thousands of users.
- Keep your end of the bargain! Failure to like, share, and comment on posts can get you kicked out of the Pod.
- Pods are only great for getting started. As your brand presence matures, you’ll want to gain your likes, comments, and shares instead of Pod-generated ones.
Hashtags Are Important to Be Used
Using hashtags is an excellent way to expand your Instagram audience. This is because they make your posts appear on the pages of hashtags you use.
Since Instagram allows you to use up to 40 hashtags per post, you can go all out with them!
First, make sure to use the most prominent hashtags on the platform. These will get you in front of millions of users.
Use Your Links Carefully
But don’t worry. There are two ways you can drive users to your store with links.
Use Link in Bio
Instagram allows you to use a single link in your bio. Use it wisely to connect users to your most prominent website page.
Connect with Up & Coming Bloggers
90% of marketers say influencer marketing is effective.
But remember, it’s important to pick influencers carefully. You want to go for people who:
- Have real influence in their area
- Do something relevant to your product
- Have followers who will benefit from what you’re selling
Use Emojis: The Advanced Language of the Internet
Lavishly sprinkle your Instagram posts with hearts, rainbows, and smiles.
They’ll make viewers feel good, plus they’re super popular.
50% of all Instagram posts contain emojis!
Run Compelling Instagram Ads
69% of marketers in the U.S. spend their influencer budgets on Instagram ads.
So if you haven’t started an Instagram ad campaign yet, it’s a great idea to get cracking on it today.
Follow these pro tips when creating your Instagram ads.
- Know what your audience wants to see.
- Keep your message short. Your text will be cut off after two rows, so motivate with a CTA as soon as you can.
- Engage with users. Treat your paid ads just like your organic posts to connect with your audience.
3 How to Engage with Instagram Users & Gain More Sales
With over a billion users, there’s a ton of noise on Instagram.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t use it to spark connections with your audience and drive sales.
While learning how to create the kind of noise your audience wants, you’ll be amazed at how Instagram can grow your brand.
Thus, it is critical to recognize that each group of marketers has specific marketing fundamentals relevant to that group. So, let’s begin by classifying marketers into five major groups based on their experience, roles, and responsibilities.
- Beginner Marketers: These aspiring marketers have just begun their journey in marketing as team members of a startup or a growing business. They are primarily in the learning phase and execute predefined marketing tactics.
- Marketers: They possess a few years of experience, lead a small marketing team, and deliver results based on predefined KPIs.
- Marketing Gurus/Celebrities: These professionals have several years of marketing experience, and play multiple roles for various companies, including demand generation and forecasting.
- Entrepreneurs: These include greenhorn as well as seasoned entrepreneurs with a passion to learn and experiment with various marketing tactics. This group includes founders and/or CEOs who are driven toward business success.
Regardless of the group you belong to, this post will offer you practicable knowledge about marketing fundamentals relevant to you!
4 Marketing Basics for Beginner Marketers
Consider the pointers shared below to develop your marketing skills and apply them to your existing campaigns.
Promotions
Promotion is spreading awareness about your firm’s offerings. Traditionally, marketers used TV advertising, personal selling, sales, and billboards for brand promotion. The online marketing efforts include content marketing, public relations, SEO, PPC, social media, and ads.
Whichever mode of promotion you use, remember to focus on developing the supportive skills that ensure the effectiveness of the promotional campaign. For example, content marketing and SEO require exceptional content writing skills. Similarly, social media and PPC cannot be successful in the absence of good copywriting. Simply put, that’s how promotion is placed: write > optimize > promote.
Ethical Tactics
Ethics refers to promoting your products and services to help people and win their trust. Refrain from using unethical promotional efforts. That’s a sure-shot way to earn customer trust and build credibility.
Final Thoughts
Instagram is a social digital place that business owners and marketers must add to their marketing list if they have not already done so. Use Instagram to the fullest, immersing yourself in its many features, regularly posting different types of content, and interacting with your audience.
