[dropcap]I[/dropcap]cn a fairly short period of time, social media has transformed our entire online experience. Today with more than 1.5 billion active users per month social media just cannot be ignored by businesses that wish to engage with customers and build a loyal base that will give them recurring business. Because Facebook was the pioneer in social media it is no surprise that businesses kicked off their social media initiatives there. However, even with the emergence of other platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, it is Instagram that has created the maximum waves.
In the just five years of its existence, the photo-sharing app has grown from nothing to having over 500 million active monthly users. Its male to female ratio is evenly balanced and it’s overwhelmingly biased towards the young, with more than 70% of the users being less than 35 years of age. What is more interesting for brands is that user engagement is 58 times greater per follower than the best of the rest, Facebook. This means that even if your business is not driven as visually as many others, you can generate reach that is pretty awesome by any standard. Some useful tips on how to leverage the potential of Instagram best:
Create A Posting Schedule and Stick to It
To get the most out of Instagram, you need to be noticed. This can only be achieved if you regularly post pictures that are of interest to your followers, otherwise, you will drop out of sight. After all, more than 80 million photos that are being uploaded daily are vying for attention. Just because Instagram bot comes across as very informal, it can mislead marketers to be lax about their posting. Schedule your activities so that you are able to stay on top of their minds. It is not necessary that you post every day; however, do find out what works best with your target audience. You can use an instagram marketing tool. There are several free ones online.
Ensure High-Quality Images
Do not assume that you can get away by posting images of inferior quality every now and then. Instagram is for people who love expressing themselves with images and they are unforgiving towards those who use images that are blurry and have no story to tell. Make sure that you do not lose a chance to engage with your Instagram followers by using poor quality images that also damage your brand. Use a good quality camera-phone to click photos or even take the opportunity of getting photographs shot by professional photographers if your sector is extremely visually-oriented, for example,holiday and travel, fashion and lifestyle, food and beverages, etc. You should edit the photographs or change their appearance with the use of specialized editing tools and filters to enhance the appeal of the images you post.
Evolve a Hashtag Strategy and Use Them Frequently
Hashtags are vital to your Instagram existence as there is no other way users can conduct searches. It is thus vital that not only do you use them but use them very well. Do not rely on the most popular keywords in your sector as searches using these keywords will turn up too many results for your post to have a chance of being discovered. Instead, think creatively about keywords that are associated with your business, relevant to the audience but not very common. Try using one of the many hashtag tools, Hashtagigy.me is pretty good, to get a fix on which hashtags could be used. You can use as many hashtags as you like but a study reveals that posts with 11 hashtags have an engagement level that is 71% more.
Embed Instagram Images on Your Website
When your Instagram account is new it can be very difficult to drive much traffic towards it. You can try embedding your images and videos posted on Instagram on your website so that your site visitors will get to know about your Instagram account and get there with just a single click. Promoting your website on your Instagram account is also good for generating traffic and sales conversions.
Monitor Your Instagram Account
It is very important that you study the ways in which your followers are interacting with your posts and reacting to your content. By getting to know what they like more and what they are inclined to avoid you can get a very good understanding of what to do to grow your brand on Instagram. There are a number of very handy analytics tools that can be used to deliver detailed information regarding user behavior and engagement.
Conclusion
Every marketer will need to take proactive action to make their Instagram account popular. All actions should be geared to providing content that is relevant and interesting, is easily discoverable and guided by follower preferences. By ensuring high quality of content, maintaining a regular posting schedule and ensuring followers can find you easily; you can propel your Instagram account to the top.
William Smith leads the social marketing team of a prominent online pharmacy. By ensuring very high quality of content and with the use of sophisticated analytics tools for revealing customer insights he has been able to substantially boost the number of Instagram followers of his brand.
