Micro-influencer marketing, IGTV, and giveaway contests are just a few tactics you can use to boost sales and brand awareness. Social Media Week magazine has compiled 7 tips for succeeding on Instagram, and we’re bringing them to you for inspiration.
Increasing reach, expanding your audience – these tend to be the main goals of Instagram marketers. However, as practice has shown, they can only be achieved by understanding who your audience is and how to serve them content in the right way.
Your business is already active on Instagram – so why not do it properly and turn your efforts into real conversions? Explore various strategies to make optimal use of your time and money and deliver long-term results.
1. Tailor Your Marketing
According to Statista, the largest demographic group on Instagram is the 18-24 age category. This is the so-called Generation Z, and it’s important to recognize that only marketing techniques appropriate to their age will work here.
For example, 69% of users in this generation consider online ads to be disruptive, so it’s worth thinking about a non-invasive approach instead. Much like what Apple does, engaging its audience with photos taken on an iPhone. This simple strategy allows the company to build a relationship with its audience in a natural and non-intrusive way.
2. Invest in Micro-Influencers
Don’t be afraid to collaborate with so-called micro- or nano-influencers. It’s an accessible and naturally fitting way for this generation to help your brand grow on Instagram.
These smaller influencers can be original, capable of reaching a wide audience while remaining “normal,” trustworthy people who communicate with their followers. That’s exactly what young people appreciate about the platform.
It’s also likely that, unlike celebrities and big-name influencers, these influencers will add a link to their bio, helping you drive traffic to your website.
3. Use a Variety of Tools
A great way to expand brand awareness is to use tools that take you “behind the scenes.” For example, you can focus on analytics and already published posts. This will help you find out what’s working for you and which posts are getting the most engagement.
Instagram itself offers a whole range of useful tools. If those aren’t enough, use additional ones from third-party providers – for example, for content scheduling, tracking the right users, building strategies, editing images, and more.
4. Let Instagram Amplify Your Content
Incorporate as many different distribution channels as possible into your Instagram strategy. For example, if you write blog articles or record podcasts, create shorter versions of them that you can use across other channels within Instagram (feed posts, Stories, IGTV videos, and more). Or, conversely, offer people a teaser of what you have coming up. This way, you maximize the use of all the content you create.
5. Make Use of IGTV
IGTV is a platform where you can publish longer-form videos, and one that Instagram is actively working on. By creating an IGTV channel, you get a mini version of YouTube connected to Instagram, which you can then use to promote your videos.
IGTV is well suited for things like video tutorials, serialized spots, new product/service introductions, podcasts, and more. IGTV also lets you create multi-part content focused on a single topic. This can genuinely engage viewers and draw them back for regular viewing.
6. Spark Interest with Contests
A great way to attract audience attention and spark their interest in your brand is to run giveaway contests. It’s one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies on Instagram and is very easy to implement.
Before you dive in, however, keep these criteria in mind:
- define a clear goal of what you expect from this activity (is it brand awareness, more followers, or perhaps more likes?)
- decide what the prize will be
- create an interesting description and add the right hashtags
- set the contest conditions for participants
- read Instagram’s rules for running contests
- think of ways to promote the contest
- determine the duration of the contest
- finally, launch and promote the contest
This strategy has proven effective not only in building a follower base, but it will also tell you a lot about your audience. This marketing technique works especially well for new businesses.
7. Share user-generated content
Many brands make the mistake of focusing solely on creating their own content, instead of involving users in the creation process. The goal, after all, is for your audience to love the brand just as much as you do.
This strategy works wonders for several reasons:
- It helps your audience connect with the brand, because they see that your products/services are being used by people just like them.
- If you share a photo posted by someone who has a connection to your brand and likes it, you will likely further fuel their passion and they will start coming back to you regularly.
- People who would also like to appear on your page will likely post even more photos featuring your product/service.
If you want to find out more about how to work with so-called UGC content, check out our article.
Creating a social media strategy for your business is one of the fundamental components of your digital marketing efforts. Keep in mind, therefore, that the strategy should align with your goals and should be tailored to your business.
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Michal Záruba is a digital marketing specialist and a consultant in social media and SEO. For more than 8 years, Michal has been helping brands grow online through strategic content, search engine optimisation and effective communication on platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.
On the blog, Michal shares practical tips on how to combine SEO, social media and brand building into one working strategy, focusing on how companies can use modern tools and algorithms so that their brand gains not only reach but also trust.
Alongside creating content, Michal lectures on digital marketing, trains teams and follows new trends in AI and search.