With over two million monthly active users, Instagram has become one of the most favored social media apps of Gen Z. The platform opens a vast opportunity for businesses to reach relevant audiences and grow brand awareness.
Instagram’s features help you grow your business in many ways. You can stay creative and authentic with various content options to attract and engage relevant audiences. Best of all, you can track and analyze your content performance.
From sharing branded videos to hosting live-streaming videos, Instagram connects you with potential buyers. If you plan to leverage the platform, here are some strategies to use Instagram Marketing for business growth.
#1. Develop a Content Plan for Instagram Marketing
Starting Instagram marketing should begin with a comprehensive content plan. Develop your strategies and list some content ideas to navigate the platform more effectively.
While creating a content plan, researching your market and target audience is highly recommended. Consider doing the following steps:
- Conduct competitor research to know how other brands run their campaign.
- Research content ideas suitable to your target audience.
- Find the best time to publish content.
- Find marketing tools for creating, optimizing, and managing content.
Once you have identified those aspects, start creating a content plan using a digital calendar or a management tool of your choice. Note important dates and input what content should be published at that time.
Social media tools like Blog2Social can really help you manage your plan. It offers features like a video publisher, content editor, social media calendar, and time manager. It also has social media metrics and team management features for seamless teamwork communication.
#2. Optimize Content on Instagram
Content optimization on Instagram goes beyond adding hashtags. Instead, you have to pay attention to content formats and quality. For instance, short vertical videos are preferable for Instagram Reels and Stories.
Here is a short guide on the best formats and content recommendations for Instagram:
- Feed posts: Use high-quality visuals and engaging captions to capture attention.
- Instagram stories: Share User-generated content (UGC) and interactive posts like polls, quizzes, and questions to increase engagement.
- Reels: Share short-form vertical videos (15-60 seconds) to showcase valuable content for audiences.
- Instagram Live: Use Live for Q&A sessions, behind-the-scenes glimpses, or live selling to boost sales.
Invest more in video content as it drives more engagement. You can share behind-the-scene, explainer videos, tutorials, and other video content to entertain and educate audiences on your brand.
#3. Create Interactive Posts
Another noteworthy benefit of using Instagram is that you can create interactive features to enhance audience engagement. It is a vital metric to build relationships and evoke audiences to connect closer with your brand.
Instagram stories provide several interactive features, including polls, quizzes, Q&As. and reaction sliders. Those interactive features enable audiences to take action on your post, resulting in higher engagement.
You can try various interactive posts to find the most favored by your audiences. Moreover, you can get valuable insights from audiences with written Q&As. You can ask about their preferences and the solutions they are looking for.
#4. Include Links on Stories
One of the ways to grow your business is to drive traffic to your site. Instagram stories can help you make the goal come true. You can include links to your site using the “link” option when you create a story.
It allows you to refer to any link. You can link to your blog post, YouTube video, or eCommerce page. This way, you can expose your brand more effectively and allow audiences to discover your content more.
#5. Use Hashtags on Feeds and Stories
Hashtags are essential in any content marketing. You might think to leverage content marketing tools to find relevant and trending hashtags. They improve the visibility and discoverability of your post when users look for related posts using the platform’s search engines.
Instagram doesn’t only incorporate hashtags for feed posts but also stories. You can slide up to find the hashtag feature when you create a story. Add relevant hashtags and stickers related to your product or brand.
#6. Host Live Videos
Hosting a live video is an effective way to achieve business goals. Whether you want to increase sales, build engagement, or raise brand awareness, live videos are an easy alternative to make them achievable.
82% of customers agree that they want to see live videos from brands. The statistic aligns with the fact that live videos allow you to open two-way communication. The audience can directly ask questions, and you can answer them in real time.
You can also host a live video to sell products. Many brands offer special deals for customers who purchase a product during the live session. This trick can effectively boost your sales.
#7. QnA’s Follow Up
If you want to understand your audience, hosting a Q&A session with Instagram stories is an alternative to consider. After you upload a video on your story or feed, you can follow up by hosting a written Q&A.
Hosting a Q&A session helps you peek into your audience’s mind. You can ask about their feedback, expectations, desired solutions, and things from your brand that need improvement.
You can also leverage the Q&A feature to generate user-generated content (UGC). Ask about their experience when using your product. You can repost positive reviews or respond to unsatisfied customers.
Responding to customers is an excellent way to improve your service. Also, consider using the Q&A feature to ask trivia questions like ‘How are you?’ and ‘How have you been.’ Trivia questions help you build genuine relationships with audiences.
#8. Use Stories for Paid Advertising
One of the ways to quickly grow your brand using Instagram stories is to utilize them for paid advertising. The significant difference between organic stories and ad stories is their longevity.
Organic stories will disappear after 24 hours. Meanwhile, the rule doesn’t apply to advertisement stories. They will still be on the platform as long as your campaign. This way, you can get optimum results on engagement and conversion rates.
The big question is, ‘How much does an Instagram story ad cost?’. The answer depends on you.
On its guideline page, Instagram states, “The cost to advertise is up to you.”
Instagram allows you to set up your budget. You can also set up the ad duration, personalize the target audience, and choose the goal you want to achieve.
With utmost personalization, Instagram ads allow you to get optimum results and make your marketing strategy more effective. You can also use the analytic page to monitor and measure your progress.
Takeaway
With social media marketing becoming even more popular, Instagram Marketing is a go-to for businesses of all sizes and fields. Instagram features help you create creative and engaging content.
Consistently posting on your Instagram is also key to reaching a broader audience and growing your business over time. Best of all, Instagram ads help you to spend your budget wisely with targeted, personalized, and measurable advertisements.
Andre Oentoro is the founder of Breadnbeyond, an award-winning explainer video company. He helps businesses increase conversion rates, close more sales, and get positive ROI from explainer videos (in that order).
Twitter: @breadnbeyond
Email: andre@breadnbeyond.com
LinkedIn: Andre Oentoro
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