Instagram is now one of the top social platforms with more than one billion monthly active users and 25 million business profiles. Assuming you are already using it to promote your brand, you might be wondering if there’s anything else you can do to amplify the effect of your posts and, as a result, affect your bottom line.
In this post, you will learn the essentials you need to create an effective Instagram marketing strategy.
Table of Contents
1. Define Your Goals
The first thing you need to do when creating your Instagram marketing strategy is to determine why you want to post content there. Is your goal to gather new leads, increase brand awareness, boost conversions, or connect and engage with customers? Having clear goals in mind will help you stay focused on what you’re trying to achieve but also make it easier to decide on what you should include in your marketing plan.
For example, if you’re trying to boost customer loyalty, your strategy should involve contests and giveaways that will increase engagement, but also involve sharing educational materials like video tutorials that aim to help customers enhance their use of your products.
2. Refine Your Audience
Once you have set your goals, the next step is to refine your Instagram audience. The Ads Manager allows you to customize your audience based on various parameters such as age, location, interests, and behaviors. Just like on Facebook, you can make a lookalike audience to upload a list of users who have already expressed interest in your brand.
Refining your Instagram audience before starting a new campaign will make sure you’re staying on top of your marketing campaigns by reaching the right people.
3. Increase Your Reach With Hashtags
Hashtags are crucial when it comes to amplifying the reach of your content. Instagram users can find your content by searching for hashtags and can also follow hashtags to see certain topics. You can add up to ten hashtags on reels and stories and up to 30 on feed posts, which means you have lots of options. But with so many options, you may be wondering how to choose hashtags for Instagram that will help you increase your reach.
Well, be sure to add at least one branded hashtag, followed by relevant campaign hashtags, as well as a combination of location, industry, viral, and descriptive hashtags. You can easily find hashtags by typing ideas into the platform’s search bar, but you can also use third-party apps to identify trending hashtags and assess their virality over time.
4. Diversify Your Content
In order to reach your goals, it is very important that the content you post resonates with your target audience. If you’re looking for fresh ideas, you can use your past posts to see which ones performed best. Did your followers respond better to Stories or feed posts? Did they prefer product or lifestyle photos? What kind of copy generated the most comments and likes?
To further boost your reach and optimize your results, explore all of the different content options the platform offers, such as single images, carousels, videos, Stories, Reels, and Instagram Live.
5. Work With Influencers
When it comes to influencer marketing, Instagram is definitely the best performing social platform, allowing businesses to reach new audiences quickly and efficiently. Adding influencer marketing into your overall Instagram marketing strategy can help grow your follower base, increase your brand awareness, and drive more sales. By partnering with influencers, your brand is placed in front of people who are already interested in what you have to offer, so it is much easier to make a lasting impression.
When choosing an influencer for your brand, focus on micro-and nano-influencers. In general, a micro-influencer is someone who has an engaged, but not huge following that ranges between 10k and 100k followers, whereas nano-influencers usually have only a few thousand followers.
Keep in mind that authenticity is crucial. When a certain influencer is consistent with a niche market (for instance, vegan supplements or organic cosmetics), their followers will view that influencer as an expert on the topic and, as a result, trust their recommendations.
Final Thoughts
A well-thought-out Instagram marketing strategy is key to reaching your business goals. From choosing the right content and hashtags to investing in influencer marketing, you can follow the five tips listed in this article to create an effective Instagram strategy for your brand.
Read also: Instagram Tools To Grow Fast – Get Content In 2022