So you may well ask, why do I need to advertise on another platform? What makes Instagram marketing so special? Instagram is fast becoming the most popular social media service in the world. Acquiring 2 million new users a month, the demographics are growing, and advertising is relatively new.
It’s a brave new world out there amigos. You need to be prepared.
There are three huge concerns advertisers and brands have when placing ads on social media accounts:
Will my ad be seen?
Will my ad be blocked?
Will users want to engage with my ads?
Instagram solves all three. Truly. So let’s talk strategy. We’ve searched, scrolled, and scraped the internet to bring you five tips to master your brand’s Instagram account.
1 – Make It Picture Perfect
It’s a visual platform, so needless to say, you’re going to need some good visuals. Remember:
What’s the personality behind your brand?
How do you want customers/users to feel when they visit your site or engage with your company
This is important, because there’s nothing more jarring than two conflicting stories. It turns people off.
Imagery that sticks with your branding is successful because it helps share your brand story. Make sure the images you choose are relevant to the platform without changing your brand image. The content needs to look and seem ‘native’ to the platform
Generate database? Website visit? Engagement? Luckily, Instagram has some phenomenal built-in features that can enhance your photography, making images more likely to be liked, shared, or commented on.
2 – Tell A Story
Once you’ve got picking the mood and tone of your imagery and editing, it’s time to think big. This is the next layer…using your feed to tell a story.
Contextual photos are a great start. Instead of posting a photo of a product, post a photo of the product with its intended purpose. A blender is far more interesting when it is pouring a delicious smoothie, or demonstrating how many ingredients can fit into it. A lipstick colour might seem okay, but once you show how it looks against skin tones it will surpass mildly interesting and become desirable. When creating ads for Instagram, you need to make sure the ad content looks and seems ‘native’ to the platform. Why? Even though users will eventually be getting used to seeing ads on Instagram, they are not ready to be bombarded with too many bells and whistles.
This is probably why The Iconic has been successful with their social media: they use Instagram to create emotional connection with users while dedicating Facebook to advertise their sales and promotions!
3 – Copy that Leads Somewhere
Copy for Instagram is like a little push in the right direction — it facilitates the action you desire. People won’t know to visit a website, how to partake in a competition, or where to purchase a product without words.
Repeat after me: words are important.
Match your photo with clear copy that offers or enlightens. It might be an offer, a seasonal message, or a funny caption — but make sure it is working with and enhancing your photo, not fading into the background. And of course, your ad must lead users to your intended channels to maximise conversions.
4 – Hashtags Are Serious Business
Sure we all joke about them, but there’s a honest power in hashtags — they are a gateway to an already active community, and they can help you start one. It doesn’t have to be long or complicated, make it timely and memorable. For example:
If you’re promoting boutique wine and New Years is fast approaching, you’d try and tie promotions and hashtags in with such a big event right?
Sprinkle them through your posts accordingly, but don’t go overboard — you’ll spoil the other layers to your ad. According to a study by Track Maven, posts with five hashtags received the most interaction, but make sure each hashtag you use has a clear purpose.
5 – Be Part of Something
You can have the most beautiful post in the world, but if you’re not inviting anyone to enjoy it — what’s the point? Offer people a chance to engage with your ad. Do it any way you wish. Here are some examples:
Invite users to contribute photos
Share photos where your products are used and photographed
Repost great reviews
Shout-out to great content that relates to your brand
Reaching out is also a great way of showing that you also care about your audience. Like, repost and comment on your audience’s posts from time to time. Make them feel good, feel special to encourage them to interact with your brand even more.
Don’t forget to…
1. Hashtags: use more, and more often when you want to grow audience. Make sure they are relevant and targeted.
2. Frequency of posts: be consistent but do not over-post. Have an organic content plan and stick to it.
3. Be data driven: set up metrics, Google Analytics, conversion tracking pixel to track everything, including your user behaviour. See if users spend more time on a piece of website content, then you should pull that to social media as well.
4. Running a competition? Competition must direct to your target audience – not the general public otherwise your list won’t be quality!
5. Repost, reuse, recycle! Don’t be afraid to repost other people’s content, especially your best users and influencers. Paying influencers to link back to your profile is also an effective strategy in addition to your ads!