Wondering how to make the most of Instagram to promote your business? SocialPlus review the best options below – helping you make a wise decision.
1. Create And Use Branded Hashtags
One of the goals of using social media is to help potential clients discover your company and relate to your values. Branded hashtags help boosting the discoverability of your business.
A well-known study conducted by Sprout Social has revealed that posts featuring at least one hashtag score higher engagement than those without any hashtags. For best results, consider using hashtags that are memorable and easy to use.
The best hashtags are the ones that double as mini calls-to-action. For example, Paqui, the snack brand that created the spiciest chips ever, came up with the hashtag #OneChipChallenge, a call-to-action that invites adventurous spirits to film themselves while trying the new black tortilla chips seasoned with the dreaded Carolina Reaper Chili, and post their video to their social media profiles.
The #OneChipChallenge gathered almost 19,000 posts containing the hashtag. Some of these posts managed to score hundreds of thousands of views.
2. Create A System To Curate User-Generated Content
User-generated content is very valuable, as it helps making your brand feel more authentic. However, not all content generated by your fans and followers falls in line with your brand values. This makes it very difficult to identify the right strategy to implement, in order to ensure user-generated content fits with your brand.
The best way to proceed is to implement your user-generated content policies early on. Carefully check, curate, edit and promote this content to maximize the chances that it resonates with your followers.
For instance, the hashtag #thefrankeffect is the tool Frank Body, the body scrub brand uses to compile transformation stories from their users. This was one of their most successful ideas, with about 50k user-generated, branded Instagram posts speaking about their body scrub. Increase your followers, likes and engagement with SocialPlus.net.
3. Cooperate With Influencers
Shoppers belonging to younger demographic segments don’t care about Hollywood stars or VIP celebrities. They rather trust Instagram influencers for insight on the best lifestyle choices and the products to use.
Influencers can boost your brand on Instagram big time. According to stats published on Social Media Today, the ROI of influencer marketing is 11 times the one of traditional digital marketing forms.
FIJI Water, for instance, cooperated with Instagram influencer @weworewhat and used the hashtag #bodyworewhat to improve their brand reach on this social network. In terms of brand awareness, this was one of their most successful campaigns, its25 Instagram posts managing to bring in over 235,000 likes.
4. Create A Brand Theme And Use It Everywhere In Your Communication
Your Instagram page should be in line with your branding and with the preferences of your core target audience.
The easiest way to ensure you provide your followers with a cohesive feel is to develop a brand theme. This theme is nothing but a set of visual guidelines in regard to acceptable colors, symbols, typefaces, photo filters, etc.
Use the right choice of color palette to support your theme. Make sure these colors reflect the personality and the values of your brand. for example, use earthy tones to express rustic vibes, but rely on shades of gray and black to impersonate sophistication.
For instance, the blues and whites used by Casper, the reputable mattress brand, are always paired with bright photos in all of their Instagram content.
5. Ensure Your Posts Include Calls-To-Action
It’s a known fact that Instagram users have a very short attention span. They move on from your post to the next one within a split second, unless you manage to somehow grab their attention. One of the simplest yet extremely effective calls-to-action you can use is to direct them to Instagram Stories, where they can see your latest promotions, giveaways or special sales. Another good call-to-action is the request to join your newsletter or your email list, visit your YouTube channel, or tag one of their friends in their comments. This is how you can turn these people from passive users to active fans of your brand.
Coco Chloe is one of the best examples in this area, with her contest for makeup brand Nomad Cosmetics. She simply asks her followers to comment on her post.
6. Diversify Your Posts
Even though Instagram is a mainly visual network, it showcases more than photos. It is also the ideal environment to post short clips of marketing videos. This is an effective method to direct these users to your YouTube channel where they can see longer videos and product demos. Also, make sure you do use Instagram Stories, as they are the favorite content of many young people. This type of time-sensitive, rough content is also best for Snapchat.
All of the major brand use Instagram videos and they are doing it for a good reason. They achieve impressive engagement by posting such content.
7. Identify And Use Trending Hashtags
Some hashtags are surely more popular than others. When you use one of these trending hashtags, you enjoy a lot more interest from people in your target market.
Just make use of the Explore page to discover the best hashtags to use in your posts. However, make sure you don’t harm you brand by using the wrong hashtags, only for the sake of their increasing popularity. Trends are good to follow, but only if they are in line with your core values, with your mission and with your other messages.
