With over one billion active users, Instagram is one of the best social media platforms for brands looking to reach a large audience. The platform provides an easy way to get your visually compelling videos and photos across the platform and also offers services for sale. The app is loaded with features and is perfect for anyone who wants to start building their audience or making a profit.
But in order for any brand to achieve its business goals, it should have an effective Instagram marketing strategy. This involves employing various tactics that will help increase brand awareness, improve website traffic and SEO ranking and provide businesses with better audience insight.
One particular aspect many brands are concerned with is how to get more followers on Instagram so they can grow their brand and generate more sales.
Below, we share five tips that will help you get the most out of the platform.
Optimize your Instagram account
Optimizing your Instagram bio and profile is the perfect way to represent your brand and guide visitors to your website. When optimizing your profile, make sure you keep your account details clear and simple, and always use the same profile picture and name every time you share across platforms so you will be easily recognized.
When it comes to the bio, you should know that you have only 150 characters to describe your brand to your audience. Make sure to include specific keywords and a link to your website in order to appear higher up on search results. You can also include emojis or hashtags that are relevant to your brand.
Partner With Influencers
To attract more followers on Instagram and grow your brand visibility, consider partnering with an influencer. They’ll help you promote your brand and engage with your target customers to generate buzz within the right demographic.
If you don’t have the budget to collaborate with a high-profile influencer, you may reach out to someone who has an established following in your niche instead. That’s the great thing about influencer marketing as you don’t have to be a big brand or spend a fortune on advertising to use it. Working with influencers means greater access to large audiences which further translates into many more interactions and followers for your brand.
Create Engaging Posts
There are lots of different things you can do to make your IG posts more engaging to your audience. Some of them include asking questions, using humor and memes, giving tips or advice, talking about trending topics, and more.
Also, Instagram lets you post different types of content so that your followers are able to interact with your account in a variety of ways. However, this does not mean that all posts have to be promotional. For the best results, you should follow the rule of thirds. The first one should be about promoting your business, the second about interacting with followers, and the third about other people’s content.
Make use of IG Stories
IG Stories are a great opportunity for you to use different content strategies. These stories are short videos that last 24 hours and can help you engage your followers and remind them of your offering. You can use them in a variety of ways to drive traffic including posting them in your Highlights section, doing takeovers with your influencers, taking polls and quizzes, making GIFs, reusing your Reels, and more.
Another way of directing your followers to your other pages on social media is by including them in the Stories you post. For example, if you’re doing a Facebook Live, you should also post it to your Stories and mention people in the comments.
Use Hashtags
Another effective Instagram strategy you should employ is to use hashtags. When you add hashtags to your posts, it becomes easier for people to find and follow your account. This is because they’re usually looking for specific categories of content, so they will be able to quickly spot yours.
But in order to drive more traffic, you should look for hashtags that aren’t too populated. This means finding words or phrases that your target audience is more likely to check. You could also create a branded hashtag and use it on your social media to maximize its popularity.
Final Thoughts
Employing a good Instagram marketing strategy is crucial for the success of your brand. Fortunately, there are plenty of tactics you can rely on to help you increase your brand awareness, drive more traffic, and ultimately generate more sales.
From optimizing your Instagram account to using specific hashtags, be sure you explore all options so you can develop a solid marketing plan to achieve your business goals.