With over 800 million monthly active users, Instagram has become one of the favorite social media platforms for internet marketers. Among the major social networks, only Facebook and YouTube have more active users logging in each month. Learn how to put your Instagram marketing in steroids.
It’s worth noting that over 95 million photos are uploaded to Instagram every day by its huge, active user base and nearly 60% of Instagram users fall in 18-19 age group. This is a high marked demographic for brands and entrepreneurs that are trying to build a viable social audience. Which also makes Instagram extremely competitive.
In the following post, we will be writing about a few effective Instagram marketing tips that with a well-planned marketing strategy and a firm brand identity, your business can get the right kind of exposure helping you get real world results.
1- Add your website, blog or your affiliate link to your Instagram profile
One of the biggest limitations of marketing on Instagram is the limitation of including clickable links in posts. You are only allowed to add one clickable link to your profile page along with 150 character description but you cannot add clickable links to Instagram posts and unfortunately, I can’t change that.
You should consider using your most important link. This could be your blog page, your product page, a custom landing page, a lead generation page or any other page on your website.
Do you wish to promote a specific link page for two weeks and then change it to a new link page after that? Just change the link. If you’re running a special promotion or a contest and want people to opt in or register on your website, make this page the link in your Instagram profile. Then change it back to your default link page when the contest or your promotion ends.
And remember to collect all the possible data you can by tracking your Instagram URLs.
The best fix is to use a trackable link in your Instagram profile. Instead of listing the full URL, get a Bitly or short-url link that allows you to track clicks.
That way, you can view the analytics for that specific URL and get a real assessment of how much traffic you’re website is actually getting from Instagram.
2- Put some “text” on your images
Another way to hype to your Instagram photos is to put some visual text on your image. Whether you’re offering a service, doing a promotion, sharing tips, or just branding a pic, this strategy will ensure that all your Instagram followers will see your message.
Checkout Petsmart’s example of an overlay text over your image:
To create overlays on your images use a desktop tool like Photoshop or PowerPoint or a website like Canva or PicMonkey before you upload them to your Instagram account.
3- Showcase the high quality of your products or services
Contrary to the real world where people can go and purchase the latest trending sunglasses and wear them before buying them, on the Internet, they can’t feel, touch, or smell your product or service.
Tell your business story through images and videos.
Put your products and services in context so your audience connects with them. An image of a new pair of sunglasses on a counter doesn’t convey the same feeling as a photo of someone wearing that same sunglasses with a coordinated, styled outfit.
Take it a step further: put that person in an environment, such as at a party, with family, in a park or all of the above.
Michael Kors does an excellent job of showcasing their products. It doesn’t matter what they’re selling—whether it’s a watch or a purse—they put their products in a familiar environment with someone wearing them.
4- Use clear Calls to Action in your post captions
One of the main reasons why most Instagram accounts and sales pages are not converting leads into customers is a weak call to action with no sense of urgency.
Try including a clear call to action in your post caption so it will drive traffic and results.
According to an article by Neil Patel about “How to create the perfect call to action”, your call to action has to offer some form of benefit to the customer. Otherwise, your click-through rate will suffer.
If you want people to visit your website, ask them to “Click on the link in the bio” or write some other message requesting they navigate to your profile to access the direct link. If you want people to call, email or visit your store, make that request clear in the message.
“Whatever your call to action is, make sure it contains value to your followers and make it as transparent and clear as possible. The simpler the action, the better the results.”
5- Use #Hashtags
Hashtags are everywhere these days. You see them on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Google+, and Facebook. So, to boost even more your Instagram reach add some relevant hashtags to your post captions and comments. This will help increase your Instagram likes, engagement and overall visibility.
Add hashtags that are related to your services, business, and your target audience. (stay away from popular hashtags or completely unrelated descriptions in an attempt to get on a popular search; these will not help your brand.)
Try accommodating 10 to 15 hashtags per post. If you can add 2 to 3 more, that’s fine too. You can use up to 30 hashtags per post, but there’s rarely a situation where that many are needed.
In every post, incorporate a mix of highly popular hashtags (those with hundreds of thousands or more images), moderately popular hashtags (those with thousands of images), less popular (those with fewer than 1,000 images) and your own custom hashtags.
This ensures you’ll reach popular searches, while staying relevant for more than a few minutes in searches for the less-popular hashtags. And, when you incorporate your own custom hashtags, you create a virtual gallery of all of your content. Then when someone searches that hashtag, they’ll find all of your Instagram posts.
Put your Instagram marketing on steroids
Instagram is a visual social media platform so remember to create content that’s a little different from your other social media sites to best engage your followers. Interact with your Instagram followers to boost your brand awareness. Then market your business to these people to get more traffic, conversions and sales from Instagram.
Instagram is a fun site that’s also a really powerful marketing tool. You just need to know how to use it and don’t forget to share this post with your Instagram friends.