What is Instagram marketing?
In simple terms, we can say that marketing done using Instagram is Instagram marketing.
But we need to go deeper to understand this whole concept in totality.
Before we embark on this, first let us understand Instagram.
What is Instagram?
Instagram is a social media platform.
We use Instagram for sharing images and videos.
When was Instagram launched?
Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, two Stanford graduates, founded Instagram. Instagram launched first only for iOS in 2010, and later on, in android phones in 2012.
The name Instagram came after combining alphabets from the words- instant camera and telegram.
Though it began as a mere photo-sharing app, more and more features were added from time to time by Instagram makers.
Facebook acquired it in 2012.
It still works as an autonomous unit as envisioned at the time of acquisition.
Is it free?
Yes, it is free to install and log in.
Why Instagram Marketing?
Today management of the firms considers social media as the best place to grow awareness among people.
And among all the social media platforms, audiences are browsing more on Instagram daily.
Instagram is also gaining popularity because engagement is more on Instagram. Its concentration is almost ten times more than that of Facebook.
Market research and statistics also indicate its growing reach among the people.
There are 2. 5 million business profiles on Instagram.
Every month 800 million-plus people use Instagram, while over 500 million logs into Instagram every day. So Instagram users are more engaged.
According to Pew Research, approx. 40% of adults in the USA between 30 -39 use Instagram.
In Power Reviews Ecommerce Snapshot, 72% of shoppers in the USA search product’s visual content for buying it
And Instagram has videos and photos that have been uploaded by users of the product. Those photos and views are much more valuable than what the advertisements proclaim.
Nowadays, 70 to 80% of shoppers use their mobile phones to do online searches like finding new products, comparing products, or going through product reviews.
Also, the majority of social media browsing takes place on mobile devices.
And Instagram is a mobile platform.
Instagram is quite popular in all age groups.
Approximately 60% of 18 to 29-year-olds use Instagram.
33% of 30 to 49-year-olds and 18% of 50 to 64 olds are active on the platform.
39% of adults in urban areas use Instagram, while 31 % of adults living in villages use it.
Why people prefer Instagram?
The scrolling feature is easy to navigate. In comparison, Facebook seems to be quite complicated.
It has photos and videos. And these can be easily digestible by users.
The young crowd loves it because it is visual and looks very attractive.
Advertisers like it because it is easy to use influencer marketing to reach a broader audience.
It helps you to introduce new products and grow awareness of your brand.
Besides, Instagram stories are a very effective way to get in direct connection with the audience.
It has made the process of connecting with a new audience straightforward by its policy of using hashtags.
There are many creative ways to get the attention of the audience.
It allows you to create content for your other social marketing channels.
It is easy to see the marketing strategies adopted by the competitor in terms of posts and engagement. And accordingly, you can modify your approach.
Instagram has initiated programs like shoppable posts, through which businesses can tag products in photos with product descriptions and prices. It leads the user to store and buy online from there.
Important words used on Instagram:
Some words are more in use on Instagram. We should understand their meaning before we move on to the question of how to do Instagram marketing.
What is Instagram Bio?
It is the most important of all the content that you put into the Instagram account. It gives the first impression of the account holder to the potential customers. It is where you get the opportunity to make connections with the viewer.
According to the research, you have even less than two-tenths of a second to impress the visitor. The visitors tend to skim through all the posts at a fast pace.
A bio is a short form of biography. So it is the biography of a person in a short form. And only 150 characters are allowed. That makes the task of writing an Instagram Bio with all relevant information very tough.
It should contain your real name, the name with which you are associated with your business. As users are likely to search by your name, and it will help in easy identification.
Also, explain your business, profession, or any particular skill that makes you unique.
Use keywords that indicate the problems of the people that you can solve with your expertise.
Only in this part, you can put your clickable links and not any other place on Instagram. And you can use the link to send users to webinars, conferences, campaigns, live events, product releases, or your website page.
You can share emails, as it makes it easier for anyone to get in touch with you.
You can use hashtags, emojis, and line breaks to make the information more easily consumable. Also, you can change the fonts in Instagram Bio to stand out.
Calling to action can be used to increase engagement.
You can make your Instagram Bio by clicking on the edit profile button. And it will show underneath your Instagram username on the profile page of Instagram.
What is Instagram Caption?
It is the description that we attach with photos that we post on Instagram.
It should be catchy so that it is more effective in engaging with potential customers.
It can have a maximum of 2200 characters in length and can include up to 30 hashtags. Users can see only the first three-four lines initially. They need to click to read the whole. So it is essential to include the vital message in those lines so that it is visible more.
We can add emojis to attract more viewers.
Generally, users put 5 to 10 hashtags in a caption.
The caption needs to resonate with your brand.
What are Hashtags?
These are keywords/phrases used to give more visibility to your content. We need to choose the keywords carefully to reflect in a summary of what we want to convey.
We use the (#) sign. We can put Characters, emojis, numbers using hashtags to increase engagement.
By creating hashtags, we build a link that connects to all the posts associated with that hashtag.
It can be used in all the posts, whether it is Instagram stories or captions or Instagram highlights.
Hashtags help you get noticed quickly, as millions of posts are put daily on Instagram.
These are mainly used to give information about any new product launches, events, functions, announcements, etc.
Five to ten popular and related hashtags in a post are considered a suitable method.
One can also use trendy hashtags in the post, or one can opt for branded hashtags.
What are Instagram stories?
One can post images and photos in a slideshow format. These remain for 24 hours, like Snap chat stories, and disappear afterward. However, we can save these save on our device, and we can reuse it later on.
The stories consist of videos and images that are raw, organic, and unpolished.
These are displayed at the top of the follower’s timelines, and the user sees it first whenever he signs in. These are displayed very quickly. One needs to just click on your photo at the top. A separate window will pop up, and you can view the story in a slideshow format.
We can capture behind the scenes of a company and show it in stories.
It is possible to tag other accounts in the stories.
You can add any number of posts to your records.
You can use this to promote products, and it is a perfect method to get in more direct contact with the audience.
What are Instagram highlights?
Instagram stories remain only for 24 hours. In 2017, a new option of highlights created through which you can keep records on your profile for more than 24 hours.
You can create Instagram highlights by using the current story or from the story archives. In one highlight, we can put up to 100 images or videos. And you can have as many highlights as you want.
Highlights appear as a circle on your profile. By clicking the icon, you can watch the story like a regular Instagram story. The only difference is that you don’t get to see the list of viewers.
You can create a custom cover image cover for the highlights.
Instagram highlights make your profile rich with the presence of these curated stories
What is IGTV?
It stands on Instagram TV. It is an application by Instagram.
One can log in using one’s Instagram user name. And then one can post long-form, vertical videos using this, up to one hour long. It is an upgrade from the earlier allowed time of video upload time of 60 seconds.
Long-form, vertical videos are liked a lot. IGTV was launched in 2018.
What is Instagram Live?
It helps to start a live video and get in touch with the audience at that moment. You can have real-time engagements in the form of Q&A. Viewers can also comment on the video stream.
It helps you in building rapport, bonding, trust, and credibility with your followers, as you have the opportunity to show your human side
What is Boomerang?
It is a standalone application for making GIF-like videos. Using the app, one can combine many photos, approx. 10, into a short video that plays forward and backward in a loop.
Basically, Boomerang is made by a burst of photos and then putting them together in a short repeating video. Usually, these videos involve fun activities like jumping, putting prank with your friends, etc.
One does not need an Instagram account to use this. It was launched in 2015.
What is Hyperlapse?
It is Instagram’s in-house stabilization app. One can use this stabilization technology to capture high-quality time-lapse videos even when you are moving.
You need to download the app giving access to your camera, and you can start. You can also make the long videos into shorter videos by condensing them.
It has reduced the need to have expensive equipment to create good quality videos.
One does not need an Instagram account to work on this. It was initially launched in 2014.
What is Instagram Reels?
We can shoot, record, and edit videos for up to 15 seconds in the Instagram camera. You can also add music to your video. So you can watch very entertaining videos and share with people in the Instagram community if you have a public account.
You have a feature that allows you to express yourself and share it with many people.
It is just like Tik Tok. Instagram launched it in August 2020.
What is Instagram Influencer?
An Instagram influencer is the new breed of celebrity. Anyone who has followers in millions is an influencer. He has many dedicated followers who are willing to follow his advice. And he is in a position to influence the buying preferences of his followers.
So an influencer is approached by various companies to endorse their products on Instagram. Influencer earns money in return for his services, and the company can increase its influence on more people.
Influencers have taken the word of mouth marketing to a new level. They can quickly help the brands to go viral.
What is an Instagram Business account?
One needs to have a business account on Instagram to do Instagram marketing. You can create and publish Instagram ads and need not go to use the advertising tools of Facebook
You get additional benefits if you have a business account. You also get access to Instagram analytics tools, called insights. It can help you to know the reach of your posts and learn about your audience.
What is Instagram Insights?
Instagram Insights are analytics that helps one to see the statistics regarding the users.
You get your followers’ information like gender, age, location, income, most active hours, etc. This kind of data can be useful to plan effective ads and segment targeted.
Steps to create an Instagram account:
Set up the process:
- You can log in with a Facebook account or an email account.
- Sign with your business email.
- You need to put our business name in your profile so it easy for visitors to recognize you.
- Have a unique user name, recognized quickly, and resonates with your brand and its values.
- It is always good to have a username matching your other social profiles.
- Choose a good profile picture, and you can pick the one associated with your brand.
- Write an Instagram bio that includes your business, address, and website URL, besides little background.
- You can also add a verification badge to indicate that your account is the original account regarding you and your business.
How to do Instagram Marketing?
It is crucial to have a proper strategy in place before one starts marketing on Instagram.
Strategies:
- Have a clear objective.
- Use different types of posts.
- Create engaging content.
- Collaborate with an influencer.
- Use ads effectively.
- Encourage engagement.
- Keep in touch with your followers.
Why do we want to do marketing?
First and most important is to have a clear objective of what we would like to achieve by marketing on Instagram. Then we should decide on our primary customers to target. A purpose will determine the type of advertising.
Create a business account that has a good profile picture along with a good Instagram Bio.
You need to maintain a content calendar, which can help you to keep track of posts that needs to be done on Instagram from time to time.
How to use posts?
You need to be clear about your goals and objectives that you want to achieve from posts.
It is more about why you want to share posts and not the type of posts you do.
Posts should show variety and not be the same.
We need to do posts, and these should be consistent with the brand image. And it should be posted consistently. One should avoid overposting. And you should post when you know that your audience is more likely to be online.
There are many ways in which one can post.
You can make a post that shows the actual working environment; people are seen working. It enhances value.
One can provide motivational posts, posts that have the potential to resonate with brand values.
One can post tips about the handling of products related to your field. It is another way of enhancing brand recall value.
We all love tutorial posts. Tutorial posts give step by step instructions on how to do a sure thing.
You can also personalize these posts as per your brands. The posts need not be very long.
It is better if these are short, attractive, entertaining and gives the right information to the people
Influencer posts are gaining popularity today. A celebrity endorsing your products increases the reach to more audiences.
Product teaser posts are beneficial. These increase excitement about the product and don’t give the impression of selling too aggressively.
We put branded posts to increase visibility and boost brand awareness.
People engage with these posts by commenting or forwarding to their friends even if they do not buy themselves. So it spreads brand awareness.
Instagram is an excellent platform to show teasers about an upcoming product to create awareness and increase excitement about the product.
The research done to find out the best time to post on Instagram gave great insights.
It is best to post between 8 to 9 am and at 2 am, as per research done by Coschedule. People generally check their social media in the morning while commuting to the office or at night before falling off to sleep.
And the best days to post are Mondays and Thursdays, while posting on Wednesdays and Sundays is wrong, as per SimplyMeasured.
It is also essential to study internet surfing time particular to your location and your target market.
Schedule posts to go live during those days and times.
And you can easily find data about your audience’s time and days of the online time by using Instagram analytics.
Using hashtags in posts is a good strategy. Hashtags are how other people find your posts. To find the right hashtags for your brand, you should research to see which ones are popular.
Before you post, check if it has a catchy caption, good video/photo, and relevant hashtags to find your brand.
You also have the option of pushing these high-performing posts out later to potential customers in the form of sponsored ads.
What type of content?
Write engaging content. Take time to make a caption. Create visual content that attracts the visitor’s attention before it scrolls down further on the page. Also, use large text so that it is prominently visible on mobile.
We need to give the content of value to the audience, whether in videos, photos, or text.
You can inspire your users to make content related to your products. User-generated content, photos, videos help in building trust in your brand and products.
It is possible to create great content without you working on it. Many do it. It is done through photos submitted by users.
It is possible only when you have an engaging audience. You can ask them to make valuable content for you.
Followers like user-generated content as it is more authentic and genuine. Your audience will love to generate content for you if you tag them in your posts.
So it helps them to increase their followers and is beneficial to you also.
You can use hashtags to increase engagement with the customers. Businesses seem to be using 2 to 3 per post.
It is always good to add geotag to the post as research has shown that it leads to higher engagement.
The most important part of posting content on Instagram is to make sure you use good quality photos. You can use your logo to increase brand awareness.
People love videos. And we have seen videos get three times more comments than photos.
Approx. Eighty million photos are shared per day on Instagram, so it is essential to use hashtags to get noticed.
How to collaborate with Influencer?
Instagram marketing through influencers gives an excellent opportunity to connect with a new audience.
This is the fastest way to reach your potential customers on Instagram. They already have numerous followers. And followers trust the recommendations given by them.
Also, now there is a growing trend that people buy products or services after seeing influential people using it.
First, you need to study how other brands in your industry have taken influencers’ help and how it has benefited them.
Then engage with the influencers who are relevant to your line and command respect.
The right Influencer has the potential to take your product to a new level, and your return on investment will increase. The chances of your work going viral with their few posts are very high.
You need to be transparent with the audience which one is paid and unpaid with the Influencer.
People are easy to see if you are paying someone to say only positive things.
If you have a long-term association with the Influencer, it helps create strong brand awareness among people.
How to run Ads?
Ads on Instagram are in a better position to engage with customers as ads appear in feeds like other posts. These posts are not disruptive and encourage users to engage and learn about the products.
Decide beforehand what you would like to achieve with ads.
Do you want to create more brand awareness, or do you want to increase your product’s reach, or do you want only to increase traffic, or are you looking to increase engagement with the audience?
The results you want will decide the ads campaign.
You can run multiple posts at one time, targeting different segments of society. It will lead to more engagement.
Ads can be in many forms -videos, photos, stories, carousels, etc.
There are some tools like Insights, Iconosquare, Simply Measured, Sprout Social, etc. that can details the followers and potential customers. And that information can be used to modify the ads for their effectiveness further.
For example, Metrics helps you see how many people visit your Instagram story and how many are finishing it. If the ratio of people completing the information is low compared to the visitors, you need to work on your record.
You can also see how many engage whenever you create posts and the profile of the engaging people. It helps you to make changes to your marketing strategy.
How to increase engagement?
Engagement is the main factor of Instagram. If you have more attention, your feed goes higher in Instagram’s algorithms.
The first step in this direction will be to start posting. Have at least 15 useful quality posts in your feed. Then your profile will look good to begin the engagement process.
Along with this, start following the accounts that are related to your industry.
Link your Instagram to Facebook pages.
You need to engage with customers regularly actively. Besides keeping profiles up to date, you need to post regularly.
The strategy of a call to action always works in increasing engagement. You can ask readers to share, follow, and comment.
More comments indicate more engagement as one needs to take out time to think and write a comment. The Instagram algorithm also considers words as an indication of deeper engagement. So when there are more comments, then it helps your post to rank higher.
Another way of engagement can be reposting the images shared by followers about the brand. Re-posting increases the bonding with the followers as they feel appreciated.
Suppose you have a huge fan base but not much of comments or likes. Then engagement per follower is low. It is easy to calculate the attention. You need to divide the number of words or likes per post by the number of followers at that time. So you can find your engagement rate anytime.
Also, you can go live to launch your products. And ask for audience participation by giving deals, discounts, vouchers, etc. You can again run contests in which customers try your products.
Photos of people using your products have the potential to make your work go viral. People tend to like a product that is used by more and more people. Firstly it gives them an idea of how it will look at them and secondly they would not like to leave behind in adaption to a growing trend.
An interactive hashtag is also a method to increase engagement. When one posts using the tag, their followers also get attached.
It takes time and energy to maintain your profile on Instagram. You need to invest in resources to post regularly and keep up with your followers’ engagement level.
How to measure whether your efforts are working on Instagram or not?
We can look at some of the parameters like URL click-through rate, engagement rate in the number of comments, follower growth rate, etc.
If your followers have increased after you made the changes, it indicates that your efforts are on the right track.
You can also calculate your percentage growth by comparison with the previous month.
You also need to see if there is an increase in the development of your business.
It takes time and energy to grow followers on Instagram.
Conclusion:
In today’s scenario, Instagram has gained a prominent position in the social media world in reaching out and engaging with a much larger audience.
So you have a golden opportunity to connect with your current and potential customers. You are missing out on those opportunities if you are not on Instagram. The whole data is open for all to see. Your competitor may be there, making the most of Instagram.
So think before you skip Instagram from your social media marketing strategy.
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