What is Instagram Marketing
Instagram Marketing is a type of social media marketing that involves the use of Instagram to promote a brand, connect with an audience, increase brand awareness and improve engagement.
Aside from boosting your brand’s reach, Instagram is a great platform for generating leads and building loyalty.
Why Instagram marketing is important
- Growth Opportunity: There’s a relatively small number of business profiles on Instagram compared to the number of users on Instagram. This is a good sign that your business can grow.
- Accommodating all audiences: You can build a strong brand on Instagram regardless of your age.
- Easy to grow an audience: Instagram is one of the easiest platforms to grow an audience on. Anyone can start on Instagram.
- It’s Multi-format. With Instagram, you can create content in form of reels, guides, stories, guides, photos, and carousels.
- Multiple Engagement tools: Instagram makes it easier for you to engage your audience in the stories because of features like polls, questions, and links.
- Influencer Marketing: As of 2022, $1.7 to $2.3 billion is spent on Instagram Influencers.
- Stories: 62% of Instagrammers have become more interested in a brand or product as a direct result of seeing their stories.
How Instagram can be used for marketing
Here are a few ways you can use Instagram Marketing to attain your goals.
#1 Create a Stand-Out Instagram Profile
New users who don’t know much about your brand or what you offer. Hence, they will judge your business based on your Instagram profile.
Creating a stand-out profile will go a long way in making sure they have the best first impression of your business.
The important thing in your Instagram profile is the bio. It should be brief, straight to the point, and informative. Instagram allows 150 characters, therefore, you have to be very careful with your words.
If you sell physical products, consider adding a shop button on your Instagram profile so that buyers can directly shop from you.
You can also add a link in the bio. This is critical because it allows people to move through your funnel easily. Especially if you’re a service-based business.
#2 Check your Metrics
When we talk about Insights, we mean everything from follower count, reach, profile visits, and website clicks to the average number of comments per day.
Previously, the most important insight was “follower count” but in 2022, followers can be bought! A good brand has a combination of great metrics.
Growing followership, good engagement, and a growing reach are a good combination of metrics. But all in all, the KPIs should be based on your business goals.
These metrics help you identify what works and what doesn’t. To improve your marketing, you must do more of what works and less of what doesn’t.
In this day and age, we have so many tools but our recommendations for coaches and consultants are either databox or skedsocial.
#3: Feature Your Customers
One of the biggest trend predictions in 2022 and beyond is the need for customer-generated content. People want to see faces on your social media page. What are other people saying about your business?
There’s something profound about seeing a friendly face when your potential customers visit your business’ page. Customers are your business’s greatest advocates. Whether they’re using your products or saying great things about your business, that’s something you want to show.
These kinds of customers tell your brand’s story from an outsider’s perspective. And that greatly encourages leads and sales from people who might not have heard of your business before.
Don’t just leave those reviews or testimonials on your webpage, share them on social media too.
#4 Make Sure to Post Regularly
There’s no point in having an Instagram account if you’re not active.
If you really want your marketing efforts to pay off, you must post regularly. Ideally, once a day but other people post multiple times a day and that works for them.
Previously, there was a huge controversy about the number of posts you should post daily. Data has consistently shown that accounts that do well post about once a day.
You may choose to post 4 times a week at first for the sake of gaining momentum but make sure you’re active on your Instagram stories.
The number of posts a day can also vary depending on things like niche, the purpose of your brand, and the followers you currently have.
Since there are multiple ways to post on Instagram (reels, stories, feed posts, IGTV, Lives, guides), you don’t need to worry about “overposting”. You can plan your posts to include a few of these formats.
#5 Offer Giveaways
An easy way to market your products or services on Instagram is to offer a giveaway, i.e a free gift that would help your audience achieve their goal in exchange for them promoting your services or business.
A simple way to go about this is by asking your followers to do something that helps you win more followers and increase brand awareness. You can ask them to
- Tag a friend in the comment section
- Post a photo/ video using your product
#6 Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is a $2+ billion industry on Instagram alone. And this keeps growing year after year.
Before we jump into the benefits of influencer marketing, let’s highlight how it works first.
An influencer is a social media user that has a significant number of followers that give him or her the power to influence.
Influencers range from micro-influencers that have a following of 5000 followers to macro-influencers like Kim Kardashian.
Micro-influencers are generally suitable for local brands. Most micro-influencers are willing to negotiate and some even work for free products. This isn’t the best practice because we are moving away from paying influencers with publicity.
Mega influencers on the other hand can be very expensive. Influencers like Kim Kardashian charge anywhere from $1million to $5 million per sponsored post.
If your brand decides to work with influencers, ensure you check the validity of their audience and ask for their Instagram analytics. The ROI from working with an influencer can be as high as 1000%, given that you work with the right influencer. E.g someone that is followed by your target audience and one that has a good reputation.
#7 Post Captions That Sell
The main job of an Instagram caption is to tell your audience what the post is about.
Captions that educate and appeal to your audience’s emotions sell better than captions that tell people to buy without context. However, it’s not mandatory that you write long captions. Short captions can be just as compelling.
Use this rule of thumb:
If you’ve posted a post that is content dense, write a shorter caption.
If your post is a picture or a simple infographic then write a more descriptive caption.
Remember these few things when writing an Instagram Caption
- Hook your audience with the first sentence
- Use storytelling to retain their attention
- Add value e.g address a pain point
- Use emojis to animate your caption
- Include a Call To Action (CTA)
- Add hashtags to increase reach
Example of Call to Actions to include:
- If you’re looking to attract leads, you can ask people to DM you if they need problem X solved.
- If you’re looking to get more comments and generate awareness, ask people to tag 2 friends.
- If you’re posting a product, you can speak about the problems it solves, the price, etc
- If you want to get more traffic to your blog, you can ask them to click the link bio where you’ve linked the blog post.
Whatever you post, always add a CTA in your caption. Your audience appreciates being told what next step to take.
#8 By using Instagram ads:
Before you can advertise on Instagram, you must have a business profile linked to a Facebook page. Instagram offers about 7 types of ads:
- Image Ads
- Video Ads
- Carousel Ads
- Stories Ads
- Explore Ads
- Shopping Ads
- Collection Ads
- IGTV Ads
- Reels Ads
The ads you use depend on what your goal is.
How do you develop an Instagram Marketing Strategy?
1. Define your target audience
A good Instagram strategy starts with understanding your audience’s needs and wants. Understanding your audience also involves knowing where they hang out.
The majority of people on Instagram users are between 25-34 years. This knowledge puts you in a better position to create targeted content.
Look at the kind of content your ideal audience posts and engages with and use those insights to inform your strategy.
2. Set goals and objectives
Your Instagram strategy should inform what you hope to achieve on Instagram.
The best way to start is with your business objectives and then ask yourself, “How can Instagram help me achieve those?”
Apply the SMART framework to ensure your goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely.
3. Track your analytics
With your goals and objectives clearly defined, it’s easier to identify the key Instagram metrics to monitor.
If the goal is to get more leads, you can track the number of clicks on your links or sign-ups on your newsletter.
Align your goals to one of the five stages in the customer journey:
🔶Problem Unaware: Your prospect has no knowledge of his problem.
🔶Problem aware: Your prospect senses or knows that he has a problem but is unaware that there’s a solution.
🔶Solution Aware: Your prospects know the solution he/she wants but isn’t aware that your product or service can solve it for them.
🔶Product/Service Aware: Your prospect knows about your product or service but isn’t sure you’re the right fit for him.
🔶Fully Aware: Your prospect knows about your products and services and they need to know how to make the purchase.
4. Create a content calendar
With your goals and audience clearly defined, it’s easier to plan your content with purpose. A well-planned Instagram content calendar guarantees you don’t miss out on important dates and allows you to allocate enough time for content creation.
Use this sequence to create your Instagram content calendar
- Establish your pillar posts
- Brainstorm your ideas
- Research those ideas
- Draft your ideas
- Design your content to ensure it’s presentable
- Write your captions
- Add hashtags
- Review your content
- Schedule your content
Ensure you know the holidays prior to content creation so you don’t miss out on important dates.
Plan to publish your Instagram content when your followers are online. The Instagram algorithm promotes your content to more people when a lot of people engage with your content in the first 30-60minutes.
With the business account, you can check the hours and days that your audience is most active.
5. Write a great bio
Tip #1: Use Your Instagram Bio to Attract Your Ideal Audience
A great Instagram bio explains what your brand is about in bullet points or a few short sentences.
With a great bio, you can target your ideal audience so that new profile visitors will understand what problem your business solves and how they can benefit from following you.
Instead of your username, you can use a targeted keyword that enables your business to be found easily.
For instance, if someone searches, Instagram Tools on Instagram, they’d probably find Ubora Marketing’s page near the top.
Tip #2: Drive Traffic & Make Sales Using Link In Bio by Sked Social
Instagram allows you one link in your bio which can link to an external website, it’s therefore important to be strategic about what link you add.
At Ubora Marketing, we use Sked Social to create a link in the bio that allows multiple links.
Tip #3: Add a Call-To-Action for the Link in Your Instagram Bio
Since you are only allowed one link, it’s good to use that last line to add a call to action.
For instance, if you’re offering a lead magnet, make sure your followers know. (E.g Grab your free XYX Resource)
Tip #4: Choose the Perfect Instagram Profile Picture
Speaking of first impressions, your profile picture is the first thing people see when they land on your profile. If you’re a business brand like Ubora Marketing, you can use your logo to enhance brand recognition.
If you’re a personal brand, use a clear picture of your face with a plain background to make your picture pop.
Tip #5: Strategically Use Instagram Stories Highlights in Your Instagram Bio
Use your Instagram stories and highlights to share valuable information that you want your audience to focus on.
Instagram story highlights appear just below your Instagram bio and they each play a key role when someone taps on them. They tell your audience of the story behind an aspect of your business. For example, you can a highlight named “Followers” where you document the growth of your Instagram followers. This can take many months but it’s great because it shows new profile visitors your journey.
Tip #6: Share high-quality content
Check your competitors: Before you even start creating content on Instagram, look for brands that have similar audiences to yours and see what content does well. The little exercise should give you an idea of what your audience sees as valuable.
Know your audience: Before you start creating, think long and hard about who you’re creating for and hone in on what will truly resonate with them.
Tip #7: Post consistently
If you’re serious about building a brand on Instagram, you need to prove to potential followers that they can count on you to show up.
It’s not enough to post once a week, a good frequency is every day.
This keeps your brand on top of your audience’s mind. You should post consistently, so your followers know they can expect helpful and impactful content from your brand. It goes a long way in encouraging followers’ loyalty.
Tools that help with Instagram Marketing
#1. Sked social
There are many helpful schedulers out there. However, we like Sked Social because it allows you to schedule Instagram Stories. Very few tools support this capability. It also allows you to “spy” on your competitors and see their top-performing posts.
#2. Canva Pro
This is hands down the best tool for designing your graphics. It has a lot of images, audio, and video files that are available to use if you’re a pro user.
#3. Active Campaign
If you’re looking to grow your business beyond Instagram and generate more leads, Active campaign is the tool for you. It allows you to create personalized newsletters using its segmentation feature.
#4. CoShedule Headline Analyze
To capture your audience’s attention, you need a good headline. Coschedule headline analysis is our go-to for headlines that hook and stop the scroll.
#5. Grammarly
Poor spellings in your captions and content can ruin your credibility. Grammarly is great because it goes with you everywhere. Once you install the google extension on your computer, it analyzes anything you write from Canva content to google docs.
#6. Lingojam
Use Lingojam to segment your caption and make them readable. Lingojam allows you to highlight and make your subtopics bold.
#7. IQ Hashtags
Hashtags play a key role when it comes to brand awareness. If you don’t use hashtags, you’re missing out on reaching more people. For good and balanced hashtags, use IQ hashtags. This tool even shows you the hashtags you’re using that might be banned.