Over the past few years, Instagram has emerged as a powerful marketing platform. It is no longer limited ONLY to photo/video sharing.
Today, Instagram helps businesses to build presence, drive traffic, and grow sales.
Here are some interesting figures to answer your why:
- A total number of 1 billion+ people use Instagram every month.
- Out of these, 51% are female, and the rest, 49%, are male.
- And these people use Instagram for 30 mins daily.
So, Instagram is the ideal marketplace for you to sell your products.
If you are not leveraging Instagram for your business yet, you are making a big mistake.
In this post, I will walk you through several promising Instagram marketing tips.
But before that, let me tell you why having an Instagram marketing strategy in place is important.
Let’s get started.
It Is Important To Have An Instagram Marketing Strategy In Place
Instagram marketing is one of the prime aspects of social media marketing.
If you have the right Instagram marketing strategy in place, you can receive incredible benefits.
Some of these benefits include:
- Reaching millions of customers world-wide
- Creating brand awareness
- Increasing your brand’s online visibility
- Resolving customer queries and grievances
- Advertising products and services in a cost-effective way
Overall, it helps you build engagement, generate conversions, and grow your business.
Without taking a pause, let’s go through the actionable Instagram marketing tips
Tips To Turn Your Posts Into Profit
Getting started with Instagram Marketing may sound tough and complex. But, with the tips mentioned below, I hope it will become simple and easy for you.
Here we begin:
1. Set Your Goals & Objective
Not knowing the direction in which you have to proceed is a blunder.
So, you must become SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely.
- Be specific about numbers while setting a goal.
- Choose trackable goals which Instagram Insights can measure.
- Stay realistic and work on achievable goals.
- Create relevant content for your audiences.
- Set a timely schedule to accomplish your goals.
Example: Loren is a resin artist, a small Instagram business owner with 0 followers. And for the first 2 weeks, she planned to gain 150 followers.
She decided to set a realistic, achievable goal in a doable time. Plus, she will be sharing relevant content to gain those followers.
Similarly, you can set goals and objectives for your Instagram Marketing strategy.
It is the first step to ensure you get the desired output out of your efforts.
Next, you should have a well-thought content calendar in place.
2. Create a Content Calendar
A content calendar is a summary of your upcoming Instagram posts for every single day for a month.
Ideally, people opt to create for a month; as a beginner, you can do a fortnight content calendar to test your strategies.
Where or how do you create an Instagram content calendar?
There are various other applications that you can use to create a calendar, but I would strongly recommend going with a ‘spreadsheet’.
Every entry in an Instagram content calendar usually includes a blend of these factors:
- Date: Helps you determine when to post the content.
- Post Type: Tells whether it’s a story, reel, IGTV, or a feed post (video or photo).
- Idea: Gives the context of your content.
- Reference Links: Provides clarity on your idea/inspiration.
- Media File: Contains a link to the video/image/gif that you would post.
- Caption: Gives a mini description of the post that will go on Instagram.
- Hashtags: Lists hashtags for getting your content discovered.
- Time to post: Specifies the time slot to post the content.
You can always make your calendar as exhaustive as you want to, but don’t go overboard with it. Try and make sure it is easily readable.
When you have a content calendar ready, you will need Instagram Marketing tools to make your work easy.
3. Work With Instagram Marketing Tools
The first thing you need to know is that there is an app for everything. You can find great tools to boost your Instagram marketing ROI.
Knowing which tool will work in your favour and what application/software will profit your online business is vital to get started.
Here’s a list of the top 5 tools that will help your Instagram account stand out:
1. Buffer: It’s a great marketing tool that allows you to schedule your posts in advance. Plus, you can manage all your social media profiles from one place.
2. LeeTags: It’s a free hashtag generator. Using it, you can find relevant and popular hashtags to use in your post’s captions and stories.
3. Canva: It is an all in one designing tool that has recently gained a lot of popularity. You can easily use it to design your aesthetically pleasing Instagram posts.
4. Hubspot Ads: It is online software, which enables you to create ads for your Instagram handle. Also, the free platform allows you to track your ad’s performance.
5. VSCO: It’s an editing application; it helps enhance the hues of your Instagram post.
So, you can create, edit, schedule, design, and do everything else you need for a killer Instagram post using a tool.
4. Leverage User Generated Content
Often people create content about your products and services, and we call it user-generated content.
You can, later on, use that content as a post on your Instagram business handle and boost your customer engagement.
90% of the online users say that posts having user-generated content hold more influence on the buying decision of the consumers.
That’s because the user-generated content posts work like testimonials and product reviews, helping a brand build its credibility.
So, your business should go knee-deep in it.
It’s simple to create user-generated content posts:
- Encourage your customers to share the product images/videos with you.
- Post that high-quality media on your handle, also tag the person who made the purchase.
- Share the same on your Instagram account’s story.
This way, you will make your customer feel honoured and build a positive reputation.
When others have a look at it, they get motivated to buy your products or services. Thereby growing your sales and revenue.
All in all, you are building your brand credibility, providing a good user experience, and generating profit.
You made it halfway; let’s see what is next!
5. Run Instagram Sponsored Ads
Instagram ads can be one of the easiest ways to market your product.
Small and big brands use this tool to promote offers, campaigns, and eye-catching deals.
You don’t need specific media to promote your goods; you can simply use your top posts and top stories as sponsored ads.
Now, what’s the catch here? Even earlier, without doing anything, the audience could see all of this content, right?
The difference is that your content will reach the non-followers account’s timeline.
These paid promotions help your brand reach your target audience, create brand awareness, and drive conversions.
Instagram provides a step-by-step guide for creating an ad. You can give it a read and learn how to run Instagram ads flawlessly.
If you don’t want to go for sponsored ads, you can find influencers in your industry and collaborate with them.
6. Tap Into Influencer Marketing
Influencer Marketing is a form of authentic paid promotion where you pitch public figures (influencers) on Instagram to promote your products or services.
For example, you’re in a food chain business; you might collaborate with a food blogger or lifestyle blogger.
This way, you will reach a wider audience and enable them to learn about your products and services.
Tapping into the influencer market is no hardball.
Firstly, you need to create a list of potential influencers you wish to collaborate with.
Secondly, create a standard pitch mail and share it with the shortlisted creators.
Here’s a sample for help:
After hearing back from the creators, you need to share your requirements.
Here you will be sending them the number of posts and stories you want them to post on their Instagram handle, along with what they will get in return.
Once they say yes to your offer, you’re set to reach more people and drive more conversions.
The wave of influencer marketing has taken over every big and small industry because it is the fastest way to reach potential customers globally.
After influencers, the next best way to reach the desired audience is by using brand hashtags!
7. Use Your Brand Hashtags
Hashtags strengthen your Instagram marketing strategy. And branded hashtags take it to the next level.
To create one, you will have to add the company’s name or the product’s name after a hash (#).
Here’s an example:
Using a brand-centric tag allows your posts and stories to appear on a specific hashtag page.
Also, it shows up in the news feed of all users who are following your branded hashtag.
The more hashtags you use, the more people you can reach. But, overdoing it is not recommended.
Instagram has a limit of 30 hashtags, but ideally, you should add near to 11 tags in your post.
Your posts can primarily include tags that are:
- Niche based (#lifestyleyoufollow, #fashionmodel)
- Location based (#londoneats, #delhidiaries)
- Brand centric (#nikeshoes, #urbandecorlivings)
Ideally, a new Instagram business should use strategically searched tags; it increases their posts’ chances of getting discovered by a wider audience.
When you’ve decided on your branded hashtags, the next step is to decide how often you will be posting on Instagram.
8. Decide A Posting Frequency
What do you understand by posting frequency?
It is how frequently a business uploads content on its Instagram account.
It also refers to the time when the post will go live and how to maintain its consistency.
To determine the perfect time to post content on your Instagram handle, you need to check the best active hours.
Here are the steps:
Step 1: Tap on the Settings section, then click on Insights.
Step 2: Open Insights Overview on your screen. Click on Total Followers.
Step 3: Scroll down to the bottom. You will find the Most Active Time.
Even though you have the best active hours, you can consider posting your content between 8:00 AM and 9:00 AM, as well as 2:00 AM.
You can decide a posting time for every post you conceptualise and add it to your content calendar.
With that, you’re ready to post on Instagram.
9. Offer Customer Support via Instagram
You can also use your Instagram business handle to provide customer support to your online buyers.
Why? Because the most convenient way to reach out to someone on Instagram is by “direct texting”.
With an active Instagram business handle, you get various queries and complaints.
But, you need to streamline your work and figure out how to reply to all the queries simultaneously.
Here’s what you need to do:
1. Open your Instagram handle and update your email address/contact number if you haven’t already.
2. Save standard responses to the questions you receive most often with the save replies option.
3. Directly message the answer to the question asked by the interested buyer in any online post.
Don’t just be punctual with your basic replies. Always give interesting offers and deals to the buyer to attract him/ her to make a purchase.
When all this falls in place, what else do you need? It’s keeping a check on your Instagram post’s performance.
10. Monitor Your Stats Regularly
It is necessary to keep track of your Instagram handle activity regularly. You can do it on a weekly or monthly basis, as per your business needs.
It allows you to see:
- The progress of your sales,
- The accounts you have reached,
- The followers you have gained,
- Your best post/worst post, etc.
The best way to track your progress is by creating an evaluation sheet. According to your requirement, you can mention the evaluation criteria.
However, I would highly recommend making it according to Instagram Insights; it will be easier to track your sales and business handle’s progress.
Bonus: Improve Your SEO
Social signals have always been important for SEO. Most search engines consider combined social performance for ranking websites in the SERPs.
If you want to check how your social presence impacts your SEO, you can do it easily using a free website analyser tool like I just did for Flipkart:
When you build a strong brand presence on Instagram, it indirectly hints the search engines about your credibility.
So, in a way, it helps you improve your search performance, website traffic, and conversions!
Haven’t Started With Instagram Marketing Yet?
Let the buzz of Instagram marketing take over. Open your Instagram business account, explore the features and figure out how you can generate profits.
With a good Instagram marketing strategy in place, I’m sure you’ll be able to increase your sales and conversions significantly!
For help, you have the Instagram marketing tips mentioned above. If you have any other doubts or questions, let me know in the comments below.
Author Bio
Sahil is the CEO and Founder of Rankwatch – a platform, which helps companies and brands stay ahead with their SEO efforts in the ever growing internet landscape. Sahil likes making creative products that can help in automation of mundane tasks and he can spend endless nights implementing new technologies and ideas. You can connect with him and the Rankwatch team on Facebook or Twitter.
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