Are you using Instagram for marketing? You should be!
Instagram has over 500 million active monthly users – 75% of which will take action, such as visiting a website, after looking at an advert posted on the site. That’s why you need to make it an integral part of your marketing strategy – providing your brand’s face fits.
It’s not an easy content stream to immediately manage effectively (unless you’re cunning and also a massive fan of a filter). It’s for happy posts. There’s none of the depressing deluge of Twitter complaints. Or the political and personal grievances that litter Facebook. Instagram is the zen guru amid the social media storm. It’s beauty, happiness and community.
This potential hasn’t gone unnoticed by professional marketers. It has been revealed that 48.8% of key brands were using it last year and the company targeted pushing that to 70.7% in 2017. These companies have come to recognise the subtlety of the platform too. They post around five times a week. That’s over 50% more than we were seeing in 2015.
Basically, if you’re a brand or company with great visuals but you’re not yet set for Insta then you haven’t quite missed the boat, but you do need to get on board and fast. There are a few easy ways to fit in with the crowd to make your product stand out. Around 60% of the top brands on Instagram use a consistent filter and posts with at least one hashtag and average 12.6% more engagement.
Hashtags help Instagram users discover content and accounts to follow. The right hashtag, or combination of hashtags, will expose your brand to large and targeted audiences. Here are a few other top tips for keeping your content gorgeous, great and engageable.
Get the image right – You might need to brush up on a few photography basics to take a photo that really stands out. At its most basic, try for an image that is dominated by a single colour (or group of colours), and see if your subject matter is clear and in focus.
The lighter the better – Messaging on Instagram is light and friendly. You’re not setting out to start a debate – just show your potential customer what you could be offering. Tease and tantalise their senses (or just post something cute) then get out.
Remember what you want people to do – Where’s your call to action? Pretty pictures are great but you’re there for a reason soldier! To keep your campaign profitable, remember you need to get people back to your site or engage with you in some other way. Eyes on the prize!
Give something back: What’s it worth to follow you? Consider exclusive content, discounts or freebies. Make your feed useful and your feed will be useful for you. Happy snapping!
Fancy working with a bold marketing and branding consultant who can sprinkle some glitter and add some pizazz to your team?