Using social media accounts to boost your brand’s success is a necessity now that people spend so much time on their phones. While some sites like Facebook and Snapchat are seeing a decrease in the amount of time that users spend on them, Instagram is in the midst of an upward swing. The trend for all three websites is expected to remain this way at least through the next two years.
Harnessing the power of Instagram might seem like another daunting task on your plate, but it isn’t. There are five steps that you need to incorporate into your IG plan if you want to make your brand well-known, increase your audience, and get more sales.
#1: Post regularly
Just like the search engines have an algorithm for what websites rank higher on the lists that show up when a person enters a keyword, social media sites have one for the ads and posts that they show. One of the most important things that you can do on ‘The Gram’ is to post new things on a consistent basis. You shouldn’t overwhelm your followers with posts, and there is no evidence that a more frequent routine gets better algorithmic results, but a good rule of thumb is to schedule 3-7 posts per week. This keeps you in their feed without making it seem like you are desperate for attention.
#2: Follow the competition’s followers
You can learn a lot by following people on Instagram. Some of the best people to follow are the ones who follow your closest competition. You can get clues to why they like the competitor and then use that information to develop your brand. Once you follow them, there is a good chance that they might follow you back, which means they have opted in to your marketing.
#3: Always be responsive and engage frequently
People who follow you on Instagram aren’t exclusively there for you to post at them. They want to engage with you. Make sure that you are responsive to private messages and comments on your posts. The goal is to become closer to your followers and establish a sense of trust with a core group of individuals. Engaging is translated as user activity to the Instagram algorithm, which is a critical factor in reaching more people and quickly growing your page.
#4: Create a theme for the page
Your Instagram page needs a cohesive theme. Are you going to share tips for health or wellness? Will you post about nature and include beautiful scenic photos? Will people be in your photos? Maybe you’ll use a specific filter or editing style. Creating a theme that communicates what your brand is about requires you not only to know your product or service, but the demographics of those who are most likely going to be impressed with it.
#5: Enlist the help of influencers
With the right following, Instagram influencers can make or break a brand with a single post. Enlisting the help of these individuals is one of the best ways to build your following and get people fired up about your product or service. Some social media influencers are compensated exorbitantly; however, others with smaller followings will often post about your product/service for free. Researching which influencer you want to use for your brand is a critical step here, because you don’t want to put efforts into sponsoring content with someone if nobody in their audience is going to convert into a customer. If you have a small budget to spare on Instagram marketing, Influencer posts are generally the best place to put your money for rapid initial growth.
Bonus tip:
Learn from your successful posts
You can track your IG posts to see which ones your followers are interacting with the most. Once you know this, you can try to replicate that success with others. Because people don’t want to continue to read the same information regularly, try to replicate the photography style, copywriting, or editing from one successful campaign to another one without posting a replica. Other important metrics to look at for replicating success include the time of day of your post and the day of the week. Are people engaging more with your posts over the weekends? Maybe it’s time to push 50% of your scheduled posts to Saturdays and Sundays. Are certain hashtags you’re using bringing in more engagement? Keep using them and find variations of them to add to future posts.
Remember, your Instagram page is entirely customizable as long as you remain within the confines of the terms and conditions of the website. Use these steps to grow your following, increase engagement, and show exactly how your customers can benefit from what your company has to offer.
Marla DiCarlo is an accomplished business consultant with more than 28 years of professional accounting experience. As co-owner and CEO of Raincatcher, she helps business owners learn how to sell a business so they can get paid the maximum value for their company.