Though Instagram had a humble start as a photo-sharing platform, it quickly become the favorite social media platform for marketers and users alike. Launched in October 2010, the marketing platform has reported significant growth since then. As it is entering the second decade of its existence, it shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. According to the Digital Trends Report 2021, it was the seventh most visited website in the world. Currently, Instagram is the fourth most used social media platform after Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp.
All Instagram statistics show it plays a significant part in a brand’s digital marketing strategy. It is a low-cost and highly effective social media platform for building brand awareness. Because it’s picture-centric, it is greatly helpful in building brand familiarity. Regardless of the size and industry of your business, Instagram opens multiple ways to grow your business. It allows businesses to do creative marketing campaigns using creative carousels, Stories, Reels, etc.
Are you planning to upgrade your Instagram marketing strategy in 2023? Here are a few ways to boost your Instagram marketing efforts and find success in today’s market.
Have Specific And Measurable Goals
There are different goals you can set for your social media campaigns such as building brand awareness, increasing website traffic, increasing audience engagement, etc. To make sure you get the best out of your Instagram marketing campaigns, you have to set the goals clear, specific, and measurable. If you are not sure of what you want to accomplish through the campaigns, you cannot know whether it is going in the right direction. When the goal is clear, you can determine the type of content that you have to create. Also, you will know the key metrics to track for measuring the success of the campaigns.
Optimize The Profile
Before you start your Instagram campaigns, make sure your profile is optimized for your target audience. Your profile and bio should be utilized wisely to tell your brand message. Make sure your bio is interesting and informative for your audience. Also, make sure you keep your captions keyword-optimized for improving the search results.
Make Your Content Visually-Compelling
As mentioned above, Instagram is primarily a platform for visual content. When you create content for Instagram, make sure it is visually appealing. Whatever content you post to Instagram, be it Reels, Stories, or Photos, it should look great to grab the attention of your target audience. Make your Instagram page aesthetically pleasing and it should reflect the personality of your brand. If done right, Instagram helps to humanize the brand and stay connected to the audience.
Know The Strategy of Your Competitors
Competitor analysis is an essential part while you create social media marketing. Researching your competitor’s marketing activities will help you set the benchmark right for the Instagram marketing strategy. Spend time understanding what type of content are they publishing, the frequency of posting, the hashtag strategy they use, and more. Also, you can check how frequently they use user-generated content and whether they are taking advantage of an influencer-marketing strategy or not. This way you can get further insights to improve your marketing strategy.
Build A Community
A strong and engaged community helps to fasten business growth in today’s world. Luckily, Instagram is loaded with multiple features that help to build an engaged community. For example, Instagram Stories is the best way to share informal and conversational content with your audience frequently. You can use polls or quizzes to encourage conversation and interact with your audience. You can add a call-to-action in your Instagram captions to start a conversation with your followers. Also, you can schedule Instagram Live frequently to stay connected with your audience. All these tactics help you create an engaged community and establish a strong bonding with the followers.
Go with Relatable Influencers
Influencer marketing is growing by leaps and bounds in the last few years. You may be already working with influencers to promote your content. If you are planning an influencer strategy for Instagram, make sure you are working with influencers who are relevant to your business domain. For example, if you are a fashion brand, you should work with fashion influencers on Instagram. This way, you can ensure you are reaching the right target group and make your influencer marketing efforts more effective.
Use Analytics Effectively
If you really want to boost your Instagram marketing activities effectively, you cannot ignore the importance of analytics. When you have quality analytical tools in place, you can monitor and measure the progress of your marketing activities closely. With advanced analytics tools, it is possible to monitor the progress in real-time. It allows you to fine-tune the marketing strategy and optimize its impact of it.
Use Hashtags Wisely
Hashtags allow users to find the content that they are searching for. By using creative hashtags wisely, you can reach more users who are interested in your business domain. Regardless of whether they are following your brand or not, they can view the content when they search for the hashtag. You can increase the visibility of your Instagram posts significantly. Though the platform allows having up to 30 hashtags for each post, it is better to keep it between 2 and 8. Make sure you are adding hashtags that people frequently search for. If you are doing creative campaigns, you can add branded hashtags as well. If your business is catering to a particular locality, make sure you add location-based hashtags.
Let’s Connect!
They say creativity has no limits. When you plan content for Instagram, you need to come up with creative posts and campaigns to stand out in the market and get a competitive advantage. Need help in content development for social media? Allow our team to assist you. At Fresh Content Strategy, we help you create impressive content that conveys your brand message to your target audience. Get in touch with our team to discuss your content plan!