Instagram has absolutely shattered every marketing playbook developed in the last century. As one of the most popular social media platforms to date, it is an essential addition to any business toolkit. In its 11-year life span, IG has grown to include over one billion users. One.Billion.
The marketing potential available is absolutely unheard of and completely unprecedented, which is why there are now over 25 million business accounts on Instagram. It is absolutely one of the best platforms for growing your business, creating more brand awareness, and making more money. So how do we harness this enigma? If you are a new business or are thinking of starting one, pay close attention, because here it is:
Work with others
If you are new to IG and haven’t yet gathered up masses of followers, this is a great way to increase brand awareness. IG is a social media app, so it is in your best interest to actually be social! This means you need to invest some time daily to comment on others’ posts. Make friends, make connections, and increase your social reach. Follow people who you want to notice you – growth services like Growthoid are leading the way in this industry. Find a role model within your niche, someone you would consider a good representative for your company’s values. The direct message these people and ask to collaborate. T
here are many influencers on IG that have hundreds of thousands of followers – explain to them how partnering with you can benefit them, bring them back to their roots, or the like. If you find someone with a significant number of followers, and partner with them to either shoutout or endorse your brand, that’s another 300,000 people who have just been exposed to your business! Finding the right influencer can skyrocket your numbers.
Related: How to Get More Followers on Instagram: 19 Tips to Grow Your Real Audience
Understand the Analytics
Instagram has some wonderful tools you can use to analyze the effect you are having on your viewers. Through IG Insights, you can view reports on concepts like ‘engagement’ and ‘demographics. You can also learn when your most effective posting times are, who your target audience is and what time they are tuning in to your account. Most of these tools are free to use, and the information you can retrieve from these reports can help you optimize your IG performance, and tweak your marketing strategy to appeal to the masses. The more you know about the users and demographics monitoring your feed, the more you can cater to them, and create content worth talking about. Experiment! Fine-tune your posts to get the best reactions from your viewers.
Make sure to use Hashtags
The right hashtags can make or break your brand. Hashtags make your posts discoverable on Instagram, so make sure you are using ones that relate to your content and promote your brand. It is just as important to not spam irrelevant hashtags as this will make you easily identifiable as a company that doesn’t do their homework. A lazy brand is as good as dead. Find interactive hashtags! Creating your own hashtags can lead to the ultimate goal – trending! Trending is synonymous with viral, and viral is gold because it means you will increase your follower count. A smart, well-placed hashtag could be the difference between a vital spark and a flatline. Relevant, meaningful hashtags are absolutely a cornerstone in an effective marketing strategy. I cannot stress strongly enough how important it is to invest time into researching the right hashtags that represent your brand.
