With more than 1.15 billion active users a month, Instagram is the place to be right now. Whether you are a marketer or just a user, Instagram has captured everyone’s attention with its slick interface and great content.
What’s more, over 90% of all users on Instagram follow at least one business account.
This is hardly surprising as brands have long focused on building quality relationships with younger audiences through Instagram.
And there’s a good reason for that. Instagram’s highly visual and engaging interface makes it easier for users to engage with the content and for brands to capture their attention. That’s a win-win for both.
But, the high engagement and reach come at a price. Brands and businesses today have permeated Instagram’s landscape. A large number of established brands already command a huge audience and it can be difficult for new entrants to make their own space on the platform and make their voice heard.
It’s safe to say that Instagram today is no longer an untapped platform for marketers. So, the question then is not just how to market your brand on Instagram, but how to do it right.
Getting started with marketing your brand on Instagram is the easy part. But to reach your objectives and see tangible results, you’ll have to have a killer marketing strategy focused solely on Instagram.
Whether you are an already established brand looking to tune your Instagram marketing or are just starting your Instagram marketing journey, this insightful and detailed guide is the right place to start.
Instagram for Business
Instagram offers a lot of features and perks to businesses. That makes it easy for businesses and marketers to market their brands and products on the platform. In case you are still unconvinced about marketing on Instagram, there are many reasons why brands prefer Instagram over other social media platforms.
But all of that can quickly get confusing. If you’re just starting out, you’ll need to have an Instagram Business profile and understand how Instagram works for businesses.
Learn how to set up an Instagram Business profile and how to use Instagram irrespective of what your business is to generate strong growth and increased revenue.
Instagram Posting
Having a presence on Instagram is just the first step. To grow your brand presence or following on Instagram, you’ll need to stay consistent and reliable when it comes to posting content.
There’s no doubt that a lot of brands compete for users’ attention on Instagram and it can be difficult to stand out in such a crowded platform. But, by strategically timing your posts you can ensure that your content reaches more people and gets seen by those who are most likely to engage with it.
Understanding when your audience is the most active will help you get your content across their feed more effectively. Along with timing, content plays a huge role on Instagram. Posting high-quality content consistently is a sure-fire way to grow your Instagram following and your business.
To have a highly effective Instagram strategy, you’ll need to cover a few bases:
- Use analytics to identify the best time to post
- Schedule and publish quality content consistently
- Know and understand what your audience wants
- Know image and video size guidelines to optimize content for best performance
Learn how to identify and create high-quality content that your audience will love. Also, take a look at the best time to post for your brand so that your content reaches the most number of people.
Hashtags on Instagram
One of the reasons why brands thrive on Instagram is because of hashtags. Hashtags are an invaluable part of a marketer’s toolkit.
Hashtags help your content reach and be discovered by people who have similar interests. Instagram has specifically introduced many features such as the first comment to help users make the most of hashtags while still preserving the clean, aesthetic look.
While they may seem like something worthy of only an afterthought, a well-thought-out hashtag strategy will do wonders for your brand.
Learn the dos and don’ts of using hashtags and how to use them for more effective and impactful Instagram marketing.
Instagram Stories
While stories are an integral part of almost all social media networks today, not so long ago they were relegated to just one platform – Snapchat.
But, the rapid spread of this feature to most platforms tells us a lot about how much users love them and how brands can tap into them to create a more engaging narrative.
From giving users a look behind the scenes to community polls and product teasers – Stories let you have one-on-one conversations with your audience.
Stories make for a nice break from the usual content that goes on your feed. And since stories don’t reflect in your feed forever, they don’t have to be perfect. This gives you a lot of creative freedom to stand out from the crowd.
Learn more about Instagram stories, how they work, and explore some story templates to amplify your marketing strategy.
Instagram Reels
Just like stories, Instagram reels were once a trademark of another obscure platform – TikTok. But ever since Instagram introduced reels, engagement has sky-rocketed and users have embraced it with open arms.
Reels are 60-second-long videos that you can share with your friends or anyone on Instagram.
Reels are relatively new to Instagram, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t be a useful tool in your marketing strategy.
Learn more about Instagram Reels, the right size specifications, and how to create reels that land on the explore page.
Instagram Video
Videos on Instagram are a great way to capture and hold your audience’s attention. And that’s a good thing. Video content on Instagram gets the highest engagement and users prefer video over other forms of content.
According to a study by Wyzowl, 84% of customers feel convinced to buy a product after watching brand videos.
But, getting started with video content on Instagram can quickly get overwhelming. There’s just a lot to cover.
- Video Posts
- Stories
- IGTV videos
- Instagram Live.
There are also different size specifications for each form of video which can be hard to keep track of and adhere to every time you’re in a rush.
Use this guide to explore the different types of video content on Instagram. You’ll also learn the best practices for each type of video and how to create content that resonates with your audience. Done right, Instagram videos can sky-rocket your engagement rates leading to higher brand awareness and growth.
Instagram Messages
With more people preferring to engage with brands and find support online, it’s no wonder that traditional forms of customer support have been taken over by mobile-first platforms.
Instagram skews heavily towards mobile users. And as a result, users frequently spend a lot of time on the platform. This makes Instagram particularly conducive to reach out to your customers or offer them support.
Instagram has direct messaging capabilities allowing users and brands to communicate via private messages. This makes it possible to do a lot of customer service right where your customers and audience are going to be most active.
Learn more about using Instagram DM’s to create lasting relationships with your customers and utilize DM groups to create a sense of community and participation.
Tips & Strategies
Engagement is the name of the game on Instagram. Instagram is popular with users as well as businesses because of the engagement it generates.
Getting users to engage with your content and brand helps nudge them towards making purchases which directly results in the growth of your business and revenue.
As discussed in this guide, timing and content play a huge role in your Instagram marketing strategy. But, that’s not necessarily the end of the story. To drive engagement and consequently growth, you’ll need a killer strategy that optimizes your marketing effort to generate spectacular results.
To help you make the most of your Instagram marketing, here are some tips and strategies that’ll serve you well.
In this chapter, you’ll learn how you can organically grow your Instagram presence and generate more engagement. Also, explore some best practices to follow on Instagram so that your brand can stand out from the crowd and get noticed.
Instagram Followers
Your Instagram following impacts a lot of things. For starters, it serves as valuable social proof for would-be customers to help them decide to buy your product.
Follower count on Instagram determines the organic reach of posts and consequently the engagement that is generated by them. No wonder that people go to all sorts of trouble to get more followers on Instagram.
But there is a right way to do so and many wrong ways. For starters, buying followers is usually a lost cause. But, don’t worry, there are some strategies that’ll help you grow that follower count in no time.
Learn more about how you can attract more followers on your Instagram business profile to consistently grow your brand presence and reach.
Instagram Analytics
Analytics are a huge part of any successful marketing strategy and it’s no different for Instagram as well.
Instagram offers a lot of valuable data and insights on business profiles. Using analytics, you can get to know your audience better and know what kind of content resonates the most with them.
You’ll also get interesting insights into your followers’ activity patterns that’ll help you find the best time to post your content for maximum reach and engagement. It’ll also help you target your audience better and improve conversion rates.
Instagram analytics cover three aspects of your profile:
- Content
- Activity
- Audience
Armed with the right data and insights you can create winning strategies that generate more engagement and ultimately growth for your business. Learn more about Instagram analytics, analytics tools, and hashtag analytics to keep your business growing.
Instagram Ads
There’s no doubt that organic reach alone cannot grow your brand and business. While not impossible, growing your brand with organic reach alone is a long and arduous process.
That’s where paid advertisement comes in. Specifically, Instagram ads.
Instagram ads are usually in the form of images or videos that appear in the feed or stories. Instagram is great for running ads as it consistently generates more engagement compared to other forms of advertising.
In addition to engagement, Instagram ads are also great for:
- Generating brand awareness
- Increasing reach of your posts
- Redirecting traffic to your blog/website
- Generating more conversions
And much more.
Instagram ads in its entirety consist of innumerable tiny details and processes and it is easy to see how it can quickly get confusing if you’re just starting out with it.
So, in this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know to create great ads on Instagram that help you reach your marketing objectives. You’ll also learn how to create Instagram ads, target the right audience, optimize your budget and duration, and create successful ad campaigns. You’ll also learn how to use video ads and incorporate ads in Instagram stories.
Do you want to start marketing your business on Instagram, but don’t know where to start? Explore our step-by-step Instagram Marketing Guide that’ll get your marketing strategy up and running in no time.
