Instagram Marketing for online businesses? – Is it really useful?? Read on…
Instagram should be your go-to social media network for marketing. Because the network is large and is steadily growing. Whether you have a b2b business or a b2c business, what matters is your marketing strategy.
Instagram can be a fun yet resourceful experience for your business. You can assess companies like yours are doing. What is making them different? Understand your competitor’s strategy.
To get the most out of Instagram, scroll through these pointers to help convince you, to start using it today.
Instagram for Visual Marketing:
Every day we see billboards showcasing different advertisements. What makes them stand out, is the graphics? The images, the colors? Instagram gives you room to visually market your brand.
It’s exactly like the Ariana Grande song- I see it, I like it, I want it, I buy it.
That lyric sums up how Instagrammers shop and browse Instagram. There are free websites such as Canva, to give you the templates you need.
Video Marketing on Instagram
Video marketing is also gaining impetus. Instagram lets you run video ads. Yet, a short 60 seconds video that is engaging is an excellent marketing strategy.
If the video is long, you split it, the likelihood of users swiping, is not very high.
Unless of course, you leave them hanging. Hire professionals who can help your brand by making your content stand out. The time and energy that you invest will only sum up to double the profits!
The space to get creative is ginormous. It is how you use it, that makes the difference.
Instagram Marketing is Free of Cost
To start marketing on Instagram, you do not have to pay to have an account. You do not need to pay advertising companies huge sums to market your brand. On Instagram, you need to set up your account. Think of a smart and easy username. Convert it to a business account. There you go, your brand is on Instagram. You are your boss now! You can control what you want your audience to see, and how to see it. The only payment you might be making is for paid promotions. Since everyone is becoming more tech-savvy, the internet is the place to be. Even if you have a good name in the market, or you are starting out. Start marketing on Instagram today!
Enormous Scope via Instagram Marketing
When it comes to Instagram, it is all about strategy. Strategically posting, generating content-everything. But once you get a hang of the basics, you are set. There are no geographical barriers.
Except for the customs charge, but that has a solution! With startups, marketing on Instagram gives you a much broader audience. Y
ou can sell from your house but still have global customers. How cool is that! Your reach can be immense. Posting consistently is essential. Big brands tend to post 4 to 5 times a day.
This is because, posts that receive the most interactions, start trending. Once the posts trend, several users see the post in their explore feed! Or under the relevant hashtag. Post away!
Marketing on Instagram via Planners
Organization is vital. You might get overwhelmed with the things you need to do. The different posts you need to post. Yet, there are third-party apps and official ones to help you out.
Facebook’s creator is the official app to help schedule your posts. Analyze how the content is doing. Other plugins, such as Later, Planoly are free too.
Some offer you a visual representation of how your feed will look once published. While the others offer caption generators. Each has its pros and cons! You can go through our article on the best Instagram desktop planners. It will give you more information.
5 Instagram Marketing: MUST Features to Use
1. Instagram Stories for Marketing
Instagram offers you Instagram stories. This is the best way to market. Because stories often come upon exploring pages for users. You can post reviews of your post in the story.
Encouraging users to check it out by piquing their curiosity. When you have more than 10,000 followers you can also add links to the story. This means, that with one swipe up feature users will be redirected to your webpage. Or, to another website of your choice.
You can also ensure your website attracts traffic by using the swipe up feature in your stories. Be precise about where you want them to swipe.
A specific call to actions such as SWIPE UP FOR MORE, SWIPE NOW are only a few examples.
2. Using Instagram Live for Marketing
LIVE on Instagram. As the name, you can have live broadcasts on Instagram. This increases engagement with your followers.
You have 60 minutes to put your brand out there. Instagram also lets you go LIVE with another viewer.
For example, you are the CEO of your company. You decide to go live on Instagram. If your content manager is viewing the live video, he/she can join in!
Together, you can give tips and talk about the purpose of your brand.
3. IGTV to market on Instagram
With Instagram’s IGTV feature, you can become a producer. Make your tiny show.
It can range from behind the scenes videos at the workplace to getting to know your staff.
The videos can be a maximum of 60 minutes long. The feature is often overlooked. But brands who use it the right way, are experiencing a growth spurt!
4. Hashtags to help with Instagram Marketing
Hashtags make you discoverable on the app. If you understand the technique of using them, your brand will reach new heights. Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags per post.
Plus, you can add hashtags to your Instagram stories. Imagine hashtags, as your salesmen.
They reach each user’s explore page. The posts speak for themselves. Your caption convinces them. There you have it, a brand new customer! There are hashtag generators too.
They help you decide which hashtag is best suited for your content.
Keep changing the hashtags often, rotate between different ones. This ensures that your brand knocks on new user’s doors.
5. Instagram Marketing via User Generated Content
Say you are running a wood carving business on Instagram. You have sold a few products. Consumers have posted a photo showcasing your craft in their space. You can repost this to your account.
This is especially useful when you have an artistic block and you do not know what to post. User-generated content also inadvertently markets your brand for you.
The images will represent the lifestyle your brand brings about. User-generated content is customer testimonials.
They post an image and tag you because they like the product and they want to recommend it. These reviews increase as your brand grows.
Market your Product by Hosting Contests
Photography contests are all the rage. You post a topic relevant to your brand.
Ask users to post an image, related to the topic. Encourage them to use the unique hashtag you created. This will make it easier to get through all the entries. To be more on brand, ask them to tag you in the images! Here, a cycle begins. The contest starts at your page and ends with you having a wider circle of followers.
Giveaways are also great! You get to connect with people within your niche. Organize a giveaway together. This cycle will help all the members of the pod. Especially in creating more reach and attracting new followers.
Another trick used to market is discount codes. This is done by reposting a user-generated image or video. The content showcases your brand. You offer people a 25% for using a coupon code. This code consists of the user’s name.
For example, your wooden artifact was posted by a user named Julie. When you offer a coupon, you can say it is JUILIE25! Shop now and use this code, to get 25% Off instantly. It is a new and smart marketing strategy!
Influencer Marketing on Instagram
Have you seen Kim Kardashian talk about SugarBear hair vitamins? She posts an image of consuming it. Sometimes, a video talking about why she loves the brand so much. What Kim Kardashian is doing, is known as influencer marketing.
Influencers are people who have a loyal yet large fan following. People hang on to everything they say or promote. It may be their throw of words or personality. Either way, it does the trick. The only drawback is, it might be a little heavy on your pocket.
You can prevent yourself from having a hole in your pockets. Your brand can reach out to micro-influencers. These refer to up and coming influencers. They are doing well for themselves, people are engaging with their content. And, they have many followers. It usually ranges from 10 to 50k.
Reach out to a micro-influencer in your niche. Strike a deal to help them promote your products. You get the exposure, they get the money. It is a win-win!
Cross-Posting to Market on Instagram
Cross-posting refers to posting your content across many platforms. Various plugins, or within the Instagram app can help. This feature is useful for brands to update their followers across different networks. You can connect your Instagram account to your Facebook page within a matter of seconds. Instagram allows you to share your posts on your Facebook page. Tumblr and twitter are also other platforms, Instagram lets you cross-post to.
Instagram Marketing- You have your Virtual Shop!
Having an Instagram business account brings about a lot of benefits for the business itself. Let’s review each one!
Also read more how to use Instagram live to boost views!
Using Instagram Analytics for better insights
Instagram analytics gives you a lot of stats on your content. From, being able to see when your followers are active. To help you understand how many people have viewed your profile.
You get to even see what percentage of the male or female population is engaging with your content. The audience stats are available once you reach 100 followers. What these stats do, is tell you what’s working and what isn’t. If a post gets a lot of engagement, the hashtags worked. Or, It could be the caption too.
Something about that post, made it trend outside your circle of followers. The analytics helps you grasp how effective your marketing strategy is.
Instagram Shop
Another reason to use Instagram for Marketing
Instagram recently introduced Shop. You can shop for products on Instagram.
Your brand-your business can set up shop on Instagram. You heard us! No third party involvement. Only a few regulations to abide by. Apply for your shop’s approval, and there you have it.
This means, that you can pay and check out after shopping within the app. There won’t be any redirections to other webpages. A shoppable image looks like this:
- The shop is visible on people’s explore feeds. When you click on the shop, it redirects you to different stores. Instagram curates these stores based on what content you have been engaging with.
- On the Shop Icon, let’s you see what the brands you follow sell. It also suggests different accounts to buy from.
Use Promotions for Instagram Marketing
Paid promotions are great to an extent. Instagram runs on ad revenues. But, to run your promotions you need to connect your account to your Facebook page.
After that, you can choose from different plans, and invest in ads. Users who browse similar content will see your promoted post.
Even if it doesn’t lead to more followers, it puts your business out there.
Instagram Marketing- Connect!
Instagram is about growing. But, this growth does not happen without any interactions. Other than giving your brand a marketing platform, it also has helped several brands. These brands have established themselves on the app. Reach out to these people, ask them their stories.
People usually agree to discuss their success stories! They can brag and you get free tips! Respond to messages. DM businesses like yours, ask them if they want to collaborate. Reply to users who comment on your posts. Without any engagement, there won’t be any successful marketing.
Instagram can be a game-changer for your business. It can help improve your brand’s marketing strategy creatively. Instagram at the end of the day, is a community.
The community is large, with different groups, different cultures, and different interests. You will find your perfect community.
This was it for this guide. Let me know how you are using Instagram for Marketing your business!
Also Read – 350+ Best Instagram Captions for Photos and Selfies!