In just a few short decades, Instagram has grown into an effective marketing tool that smart entrepreneurs are taking advantage of. As of December, 2020…
* Instagram has more than one billion active users. This means that your target market is likely using Instagram. Your competitors are as well.
The younger generation is a big part of the picture. More than half Instagram users are aged between 18 to 29. If you’re in that category, Instagram is the place to be.
63% of Instagram users visit their Instagram feed on a regular basis, that’s many mobile phones with eyes!
* 67 percent of US adults use Instagram and, therefore, even though it’s not as popular as Facebook (yet) it’s certainly an option worth taking advantage of.
In addition, Instagram has seen the benefit of a double-digit growth rate each year, and there are no sign that it is slowing. The time is now to get on board with Instagram and the potential it can provide as element to your entire marketing strategy.
Instagram is a simplified version of Facebook that focuses on sharing images via mobile devices. Like many other platforms, you can interact and interact with others on Instagram through following other users, or being following them, commenting like, liking, tagging and private messages. Additionally, you can save photos you view on Instagram.
Since it’s so centered on visuals, Instagram has multiple filters you can apply to improve photographs and videos. Other options for editing photos let you straighten your image, alter the brightness and warmness, as well as overlay colors. When it comes to videos, you can disable audio, choose an image frame to cover, and, if using the iOS application, you can reduce videos.
Unique Challenges
However, Instagram offers particular challenges that could make you question whether it’s worth the effort. The primary challenges are:
1.) It’s mobile-based. As with other platforms, it is impossible to make posts to Instagram via your computer. In fact, you cannot even use it to post from applications that are third party. It’s designed to appeal to people who use mobile phones. Therefore, in areas that have a high percentage of mobile users (and we’ll admit it, it’s pretty much all over the world), Instagram is a easy choice.
2.) It’s heavily focused on images and videos. In contrast to Facebook or Twitter or Google+, where text updates remain the normal, Instagram demands photos. The text (called “captions” in Instagram) is not the primary focus, but unlike others, Instagram can be quite accommodating in terms of the characters limit. Be aware that, no matter what other platform you use, pictures usually outperform only text updates. Therefore, using images for your marketing might be an excellent idea.
Instagram for Businesses
However, Instagram isn’t all about pictures. By creating a business profile you can showcase your company’s mission and objectives as well as showcase your product as well as capture leads and even make sales.
If you sign up to Instagram there’s the option of creating a private Instagram profile option, and it’s possible to select the “Instagram For Businesses” option. It’s similar to Facebook in that your private profile is intended for personal useonly, while the business profile allows you to offer offers. (If there’s already a profile for yourself it is easy to switch to a business one or even have both.)
In addition as an additional benefit, the profile of your business provides access to analytics. This allows you to see statistics and demographics of your followers , as well as your followers’ interests. This allows you to know the people you want to reach and what they are looking for. You may also pay to promote your content, which that is not possible through your private Instagram profile. Similar to Facebook If you want to make sure that your followers are able to see your posts for business, you’ll have spend money for this.
Instagram and Facebook
You may have heard that Instagram is controlled by Facebook so you are able to join the two platforms and connect with both your Facebook as well as your Instagram viewers.
If you have an advertisement on Facebook you are able to show your ad through Instagram. If you publish content on Instagram it is possible to make it automatic to post to Facebook too. This will save you time and keeps all your accounts on social networks on the same page.
How can you make use of Instagram to use to promote your business?
Here are six steps you can follow to start with using Instagram to advertise your company:
Step 1: Optimize Your Profile
As with all platforms, Instagram asks you to set up a business or personal profile. This is where your new users can find out more about you, the people you are, and your personal style is. It’s your opportunity for you to stand out… with just 150 words or less.
Step 2: Start Growing Your Community
In the end, Instagram is a social network, which means that active participation with the group is essential. Focus on identifying and following the relevant people: Influencers in your field as well as your ideal customers. Once you’ve identified these people Begin to have conversations with them in order to establish relationships with them.
The primary objective of any social media is getting your community online to sign up to your list, and you control the way your interactions with them. Remember, any of these companies may be gone in the next day and leave you without a penny.
Step 3: #hashtags #matter
More that any other media platform, Instagram relies on hashtags to organize and categorize content. People who are interested by certain areas can decide to “follow” specific hashtags, the same way you connect with other Instagram users.
You can utilize use of the hashtag phenomenon be your ally by using the right combination of tags to ensure that your content is found and followed
1.) 1. The most important hashtags you should include are those that are popular or popular. So, for example, if you’re sharing inspirational quotes that might include #inspirationalquotes, #inspiration, and #quote. This can help your content get discovered by people who are searching for these broad subjects. It’s not likely that everyone is likely to be your ideal customer however that’s fine.
2.) The second kind of hashtag you can use is specific to your niche or audience. #WAHM, #Podcasting businesscoach, and other hashtags like are not used as often but can be used to reach an even more specific audience.
3.) A different hashtag you should employ is to simply ask for the follow. They include #followme, #followme, and #follow4follow, to name a few.
Step 4: Develop Your Brand
If you’re struggling when it comes to branding issues, you’re all alone. This is one of the issues that is so hazy and unclear that it’s difficult to pin down. What is it? Is it an emblem? The colors you use on your site? Your tagline? It’s all that and more.
Here’s what you must be thinking about when thinking about your branding. When done properly, branding makes every image, post and social media update identifiable as your own. It’s the thing that is what makes you you-the clever use of:
* Language
* Colors
* Fonts
* Attitude
* Personality
For photographs, this means that you are as consistent as you can with style, composition filters, composition, as well as other aspects.
Step 5: Create a Content Strategy
Like other platforms, if you utilize Instagram to promote the purpose of your company, then you might need to develop an content marketing plan. To begin, decide how often per week or day you wish to publish. Some coaches only post once a week, while others post multiple times per day. No matter what you decide it’s essential to stay constant.
Be sure to follow this guidelines to compose your content: Have at least a third of your content focus on branding your branding and the third posting posts from influencers or users as well as a third marketing products or services.
A) Branding:to help your fans get to recognize your brand as a whole Include your mission, values and “why”.
B) Sharing:This means reposting content that your followers share (and obviously giving the credit).People love when you repost their photos. It gives them the feeling of being validated and valued by your brand. If you share pictures of influencers, that helps you be seen by them.
C) Selling:Sales posts shouldn’t be overly promotional and reflect the brand’s image.Utilize photos of lifestyle of your products or services to demonstrate how their lives can be enhanced by the product.
A content strategy, when used in conjunction with a calendar of content will keep you on track and assist you in laying out your content in as to benefit your business and your customers. A content calendar could include an Excel spreadsheet or an Excel spreadsheet, Google document, or even an WordPress plugin to create calendars. However, there are a variety of content calendars on the internet. Pick one! Use it to create your content in accordance with your content and marketing strategy.
