With over 800 million monthly active users, Instagram has been ranked one of the best platforms for businesses. Within such a successful system, comes a range of marketing techniques that help benefit new and existing businesses to promote their brand. From eye-catching imagery to live broadcasting, Instagram offers it all!
About Instagram
Owned by Facebook, Instagram is a photo and video sharing network that provides businesses with a visual platform to promote their products.
Instagram is amongst a range of competing social media programs that allow companies to engage with existing and potential clients through comment sections and private messaging services. This is a great way to generate more user traffic to, not only your Instagram profile, but your company website and other linked socials as well!
Marketing Techniques
Profile
The first thing users are going to see when they visit your Instagram account is your profile picture, bio and your nine, most recent posts. For the best possible chance of growing your business, it is vital to make the logo of your company your profile picture and have a short but informative bio. Visually appealing posts with a range of content can also help to improve your online performance. All these elements can instantly grab the attention of users and in turn, will increase the chance of potential customers!
Posting
When posting about your business online, it is important to take into account some basic techniques to improve your ranking and performance. A fundamental component of SEO has always been key wording, so it is necessary to incorporate these into your content as a way of generating more user engagement to your profile. Hashtags can also be used for this method but remember to keep it moderate!
Frequent Uploads
Promoting your brand more frequently can help to gain followers and attention to your account. You can post about up-and-coming discounts, published blogs on your website, your company team or even future events. The list goes on! But make sure not to overdose your followers with too much information! By keeping it to approximately 1.5 posts a day will help to improve your user engagement and ranking! Scheduling your posts for early morning and weekday hours can also benefit your business as it is noticed there is a higher rate of activity between these hours.
Targeted Ads
Instagram provides businesses with a paid feature as a way of promoting products, deals and websites. These are called targeted ads and can appear on any timeline. This is a great technique as users can’t differentiate these ads from regular posts and are therefore, more likely to take interest.
Location Tagging
Location tagging is another great method for businesses to target audiences from specific places. This can be good if your company has a range of sites spread across the country.
Instagram Stories
If you wish to provide your clients with more information and content, Instagram stories is where it’s at! Whether you plan to run contests, offer discounts, document a day in the office or launch a giveaway for your customers, Instagram stories is a great way to engage more personally with your audience. Creating fun and exciting content can also provide a stronger relationship with your viewers. With an added “swipe-up” feature for businesses, you can link products, websites and other socials. This method allows users to access the rest of your online content! Using this can help generate traffic to other platforms that you use.
Instagram Live
From November 2016, Instagram added a new entertaining section to their site. Used prominently by businesses and celebrities, Instagram Live is a great way to connect with customers in real time. Whether it be with a Q&A or a collaboration with a partnering company, businesses use Instagram live to engage with customers in a more relaxed and casual way. It is a great opportunity to answer questions, give more details on offers or sell your brand to potential clients!
Social media is becoming increasingly popular, making it the central hub for growing businesses! Create an account on Instagram today and use these marketing techniques to bring your brand to life!
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