Instagram has become one of the most popular social media channels, continuously counting more and more users.
The latest Instagram statistics by Statista show that the social media app had reached 1 billion monthly active users in 2018. The number is higher now.
This means that turning your marketing efforts to this platform is one of the best steps you can take for growth. But it’s one thing to create an Instagram account and start posting attractive photos, and a whole other thing to provide real value to your followers.
This is where an Instagram marketing strategy comes in. To make it effective, you need to figure out how you can stand out. The question is: What is it that will make your brand different from all the others on the platform?
To answer this question, you need to know the purpose of your strategy.
Let’s dive into it, before exploring other essential tips for developing an Instagram marketing strategy that will leave your competition in the dust.
Define the Purpose of Your Strategy
This is the first and most crucial step you need to take. What is it that you want to achieve by marketing on Instagram? Obviously, you want to grow your business, but in what way?
Are you looking to increase your sales and generate more revenue? Are you only planning to build brand awareness? Perhaps both?
Once you know the core purpose of your strategy, ask yourself these questions:
- Is my target audience actually on Instagram, and do they even use it actively?
- Does my company provide value to millennials? (As of October 2019, 35% of the global Instagram audience is aged between 25 and 34, according to Statista. Those aged between 18-24 make up 30% of global Instagram audiences.)
- Will visual content bring real value to my business?
- Does Instagram go well with my brand’s image?
- Will marketing on Instagram make any difference?
If the answer to all these questions is “yes,” then creating your Instagram strategy is a no-brainer. With its primary goal and purpose in mind, continue taking all the following steps.
Create a Content Strategy
You need to create content that your target audience will resonate with. Content that will give them real value.
So, what kind of content can you share that is both relevant to your brand and engaging to your followers? There are three main types to choose from.
1. Product-Focused Content
This is pretty straightforward. If you sell certain products, you should post images, make eye-catching banners and videos highlighting their features and everything else that makes them unique.
2. Customer-Focused Content
If you provide software products or other intangible services, you should post customer-focused content combined with product-focused content. For instance, you can share your software’s demo videos and show your followers how your product can benefit them.
You can also share behind-the-scenes photos and videos of the faces behind your brand, or anything else that shows your company’s culture and helps you build trust.
3. User-Generated Content
UGC on Instagram is great only if you already have a lot of loyal followers. Since you’re just starting on the platform, you can leave this for later, but be sure to keep it at the forefront of your mind.
People love when brands involve them in their marketing and share their content. It makes them feel more connected to a brand, which easily translates to brand loyalty and advocacy.
Go With High-Quality Visuals
When it comes to your visuals, you must always focus on quality. Create well-lit, high-quality, relevant images, and videos that will stand out from the crowd. Give your target audience something eye-catching and exciting to capture their attention.
This doesn’t only mean taking excellent photos but editing them well. Even if you take them on your smartphone, you can make them professional with various editing tools.
When using filters, be careful not to go overboard and ruin your creations. Instead, make small changes that will make a big difference. You can also choose one filter to use on every photo so that you maintain consistency.
Again, the quality will go a long way, but you also need to ensure every post resonates well with the message you want to convey.
Captions & Hashtags
You need to write compelling Instagram captions on every single post. Include your CTAs in the captions, driving your followers to dedicated landing pages where they can learn more about your offerings or purchase from you.
Don’t forget to harness the power of hashtags so that more people can find you easily. It’s smart to use local hashtags and specific hashtags related to your products so that your content can truly stand out in searches.
Don’t go overboard with hashtags on a single post, because you don’t want to make an impression that you’re a spammer. Your engagement could suffer greatly because of this.
Instagram Stories
In January 2019, Instagram reported that there are more than 500 million daily active users of Instagram Stories across the globe. Leveraging this feature will help you further in your marketing efforts on the platform.
There are plenty of Stories features you can use to enhance your visuals and grab your audience’s attention. But did you know that Stories are also great for lead generation? Take the quiz feature, for instance. Who doesn’t like taking quizzes? They’re fun!
If you integrate lead quizzes into your Stories, you can generate more qualified leads ready to convert. There’s the quiz sticker button you can use, but you can also use a quiz builder to create an online quiz outside Instagram, and then integrate it on the platform.
Monetize Your Instagram
Even if you’re only looking to raise brand awareness, it won’t hurt to monetize your Instagram marketing strategy.
But if you do, you must be careful not to spam your followers. Instead, focus on ethical monetization.
To transform your followers into qualified leads and convert them into customers, include CTAs in your bio and captions. Don’t add too many too often, but do get creative with them.
You can direct your followers to your landing pages, but you should also frequently offer discounts, coupons, and promotions. Make sure those are all limited-time offers because the sense of urgency is what will drive your followers to take action.
Run Instagram Ads
Advertising on Instagram is yet another excellent addition to your marketing strategy. Instagram ads will help you target your specific audience much better and achieve all your marketing goals and objectives.
Make sure you use enticing, eye-catching visuals that will make your ads pop and stand out, and include a link to a dedicated landing page. Most importantly, narrow down your audience so that you can reach the right people you need and get the highest conversion rates.
Creating an effective Instagram marketing
strategy highly depends on taking all the steps mentioned above. So, carefully
calculate each of them with your brand values, brand messages, marketing goals,
and target audience in mind to develop a killer strategy that will slay your
competition.
