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How to Promote Your Brand on Instagram in 4 StepsMore than 500 millions users worldwide and around 95 million photos published every day. Are we crunching numbers? No, we are talking about the Instagram community, which is continuing to grow at a staggering pace. How can it be exploited to promote your business? By using these tips, you can make Instagram an added value in your communication strategy. Step 1: Define the Role of Instagram in Your Communication PlanBefore engaging in any operational activity, you should ask yourself, “How can Instagram help me achieve my communication goals? What specific task should I entrust this social network with?” As you’re probably aware, investing in channels and tools without having a precise plan will not bring you desired results. So, to promote your company, you’ll need to define the age group you want to address. Instagram is particularly popular with young people aged 18 to 29, whose number tripled between 2013 and 2015. Spend some time searching for information related to your industry: Are there any other brands like yours on Instagram? Are they posting profits or going unnoticed? Fashion, food, and automotive, for example, are the three sectors that attract the most interest. Step 2: Manage Your Profile EffectivelyThe first impression is what counts. To be immediately recognizable, you should not be overly creative when choosing your nickname and image. Just use your company’s name and something visually identifiable, such as your logo. Use the bio section to describe your values and insert a call-to-action to make your visitors feel immediately involved. Keep in mind, though, that you are limited to 150 characters. Don’t forget about hashtags. By using them in the description, you will give your users an indication of how to interact with you. You can also choose original tags that represent your world and your value system. Finally, insert the link to your site or the page where you want your followers to land. Step 3: Create a Content Strategy, Plan Your Activity, and Interact with FollowersContent StrategyOnce your goals are defined, and profile is set, it’s time to decide what content you should publish to attain your goals. Do you want to use Instagram to increase your brand awareness or bring more traffic to your site? To accomplish both of those objectives, you will need a content publishing strategy. You will need to ask yourself, “Which aspects of my brand I want to promote: products, services, culture, specific activities, or events?” You will also need to understand which content better describes specific aspects of your company. You can post photos, graphics, or videos to make your content more diverse. I also advise you to identify a series of formats to involve your followers. Try using the following ones: product images inserted in creative contexts, quotes and motivational phrases, comments under other users’ photos, the “behind the scenes” of your company, shots taken during corporate events, or contests and riddles related to your brand. The important thing is that the content you share must meet the social network’s quality standards. Remember: aesthetics is fundamental on Instagram. For that reason, before deciding what to publish, you should also consider the skills of the team that will take care of your company’s page and the time you can dedicate to these activities. Filters provided by Instagram can be useful, mainly if they’re applied to give your photos a look that recalls the identity of your company and its values. You can play with warm and cold tones, look for vintage effects, or improve poor-quality shots. In any case, I suggest preparing uniformly styled images, captions, and hashtags so that your content meets all pre-established requirements. That will also ensure the consistency of communication on this social platform. Don’t Forget About HashtagsSearch for the most popular hashtags related to the topic you want to deal with. Choose the most suitable ones for your post and define a specific tag for the address books. To find new ones, you can use apps like “TagsForLikes” or see which hashtags your followers use. To help describe the subject of an image, tag the geographical location (for example, the city where a meeting is held). Editorial Calendar and Real-Time MarketingOnce the content and formats have been chosen, it is time to make a timetable for publications. Define how many times a week, on which days, and what type of content you will post. On Monday, for example, you might want to upload a photo of the company’s employees at work or during a break. On Wednesday, you’ll be posting an image related to a product or service. On Friday, you’ll be uploading something creative, something that tells a part of your company’s story. Have your social media manager quickly post content during events in which your company participates or which have something to do with your sector. They should also launch a thematic hashtag and upload photos showing what’s happening there. Engagement and User-Generated ContentThe ability to make users interact is one of the main reasons for promoting your brand on Instagram. According to Wired, the interaction rate on this social network is far higher than what you get on Facebook and Twitter. This aspect, therefore, will play an essential role in your strategy. To arouse emotions in your followers, you should create your brand’s story. It should reveal the true narrative behind your company’s success and make your users feel part of a large community. Ask your users to participate in your games and interact with the page by making simple clicks (or taps). They will be the first to publish the content needed to create value around your brand. Before sharing their images, remember to check their profiles to make sure you don’t reconnect the company to people who post questionable posts or do not share your values. Run contests and conduct small ad hoc promotions will also allow you to attract more users to your website. Instagram AdvertsTo increase your company’s visibility on Instagram, you can also publish advertisements. You can program ads to show up on social networks and monitor the progress of your campaign. You can use photos, videos, or carousels (4-image slideshows) and set your listing according to the specific goal you wish to achieve: for example, getting clicks or conversions, installing apps, or engaging. To learn more about this topic, you can visit an Instagram page dedicated to advertising. Keep in mind that Instagrammers are not used to displaying advertisements, so I advise you not to insist on posts that are too explicit. Step 4: Community and InfluencersNumerous regional and local communities of users grew out of Instagram. This is an excellent opportunity for companies that can offer partnerships and collaborations to develop creative projects together. At the same time, it is possible to get in touch with users who have achieved particular success on the social network by marketing themselves and acquiring thousands of followers. Look for individuals that post content related to the products offered by your company and offer them collaboration. With a well-known influencer by your side, you will be able to attract new users and earn their trust more easily.
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