With over a billion active users globally, Instagram is one of the top social media networks. That is a somewhat phenomenal growth rate, considering that just five years ago, there were only 90 million users.
Users on Instagram are active, some making several posts a day. This makes it even more interesting for marketing professionals. A lot of businesses have already jumped on board and got their own Instagram pages up and running.
Some are still on the cusp. They feel it could be a good idea but haven’t taken that final step yet. Are you in the latter category? Why haven’t you switched over yet? Is it possibly because you are not sure where to start?
If that is the case, don’t feel alone – Instagram is not like any of the other social media sites. You cannot just post a link and go. In fact, you cannot post direct links in any of your posts at all, so it requires a whole new strategy.
Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories is a good place to start off when it comes to building your following. Unless you feature them under your highlights on your profile page, Stories disappear after 24 hours.
So, they are a great way to try out something new – if it’s working, save it under highlights, if not, let it simply disappear. Recent research done by 99firm shows that 50% of companies have already started creating Instagram Stories, which means that they’re definitely effective when it comes to marketing your business online.
As to what you should post, that really depends on you, the message you are trying to get across, and what your clients will respond to. The infographic below will give you some ideas of how the bigger brands have been using this feature.
Check it out and see what ideas might fit your market.
There are a lot of ways to use this feature, just be sure to follow the basic rules – keep it fresh, interesting, high quality, and brief. Focus on adding some value to your followers. Here are some basic ideas to get you started.
What About A Behind The Scenes Look?
This shouldn’t be something that you do all the time, but it can be an interesting take and might even drive more business to you.
Say, for example, that you are a fashion designer. You could show excerpts of you choosing the fabric or fitting it to a dummy. Choose beautiful prints and it will get people interested in the clothes at the same time.
It is also a great way of introducing people to the staff that they would not ordinarily see and can be a not-so-subtle way to show people how much effort goes into getting the products ready.
Get creative with this idea and think about doing a quick, spontaneous short video. This one doesn’t have to look polished or prepared.
Give Your Blog Content A New Lease On Life
You have spent a lot of money getting content for your blog. Let that work with you on Instagram as well by creating a condensed version of the content. Think about the content you have created. Can you condense it into a few easy pictures and present it as a slideshow?
This kind of idea is useful for your followers and is a good brand building exercise. Even if they don’t go through to your blog, they still have a good impression of your company.
Do put the link at the bottom of each page in the slideshow so that they can find the content on your blog if they need to. Start with a great cover page that reels people in and then keep them hooked from there.
You could also use this as a way to test out what kind of information would do well on your blog. What snippets are people responding to more? What content is getting better engagement? Focus on that kind of content on your blog going forward.
Drive Traffic To Your YouTube/ Facebook Account
Live feeds are very popular at the moment. But what happens if you have a live session and no one shows up for it? It could easily happen. Why not create a small “trailer” hyping your live session? Provide just enough information to get them interested and leave the rest to them.
An Exclusive Sneak Peek At A New Product Line
This is a fun way to make sure that people keep checking your page for updates. Offer a sneak peek that they don’t get on any other social media channel. Even if it is just one product out of the line, create a buzz by showing photos or video of it.
Promote A Special Discount
Again, this is a good way to convince people to keep checking back on your page. Offer a “crazy” sale – only valid for the next 24 hours, for example. Include a special code for them to use so that you can see exactly how many sales can be attributed to this promotion.
How-To Videos
Don’t assume that everyone knows how to use your product. Not everyone will. And, even if they think that they do, they might want confirmation of this before start using it. But, how many people are going to bother with reading the instructions?
This is also useful for products that people are bound to know how to use. Take a face cream, for example. It’s simple enough to use – apply to the face. But why not whip up a relaxing nighttime routine. You’ll feature the cream but also add in the other products for the range.
You will show them exactly how they should be using the product. That way, there should be fewer comebacks at a later stage.
Showcase Your Product
This is where Instagram can pay huge dividends. Take fantastic pictures of the product and of people using it. Think more along the lines of standard advertising – you are selling a lifestyle item rather than a product on its own.
Anyway, those are the basic starting points to focus on. There are tons more, but we just don’t have quite enough space here. Take a look at the infographic and get even more creative ways. And then go and out and get started.
With over a billion active users globally, Instagram is one of the top social media networks. That is a somewhat phenomenal growth rate, considering that just five years ago, there were only 90 million users.
Users on Instagram are active, some making several posts a day. This makes it even more interesting for marketing professionals. A lot of businesses have already jumped on board and got their own Instagram pages up and running.
Some are still on the cusp. They feel it could be a good idea but haven’t taken that final step yet. Are you in the latter category? Why haven’t you switched over yet? Is it possibly because you are not sure where to start?
If that is the case, don’t feel alone – Instagram is not like any of the other social media sites. You cannot just post a link and go. In fact, you cannot post direct links in any of your posts at all, so it requires a whole new strategy.
Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories is a good place to start off when it comes to building your following. Unless you feature them under your highlights on your profile page, Stories disappear after 24 hours.
So, they are a great way to try out something new – if it’s working, save it under highlights, if not, let it simply disappear. Recent research done by 99firm shows that 50% of companies have already started creating Instagram Stories, which means that they’re definitely effective when it comes to marketing your business online.
As to what you should post, that really depends on you, the message you are trying to get across, and what your clients will respond to. The infographic below will give you some ideas of how the bigger brands have been using this feature.
Check it out and see what ideas might fit your market.
There are a lot of ways to use this feature, just be sure to follow the basic rules – keep it fresh, interesting, high quality, and brief. Focus on adding some value to your followers. Here are some basic ideas to get you started.
What About A Behind The Scenes Look?
This shouldn’t be something that you do all the time, but it can be an interesting take and might even drive more business to you.
Say, for example, that you are a fashion designer. You could show excerpts of you choosing the fabric or fitting it to a dummy. Choose beautiful prints and it will get people interested in the clothes at the same time.
It is also a great way of introducing people to the staff that they would not ordinarily see and can be a not-so-subtle way to show people how much effort goes into getting the products ready.
Get creative with this idea and think about doing a quick, spontaneous short video. This one doesn’t have to look polished or prepared.
Give Your Blog Content A New Lease On Life
You have spent a lot of money getting content for your blog. Let that work with you on Instagram as well by creating a condensed version of the content. Think about the content you have created. Can you condense it into a few easy pictures and present it as a slideshow?
This kind of idea is useful for your followers and is a good brand building exercise. Even if they don’t go through to your blog, they still have a good impression of your company.
Do put the link at the bottom of each page in the slideshow so that they can find the content on your blog if they need to. Start with a great cover page that reels people in and then keep them hooked from there.
You could also use this as a way to test out what kind of information would do well on your blog. What snippets are people responding to more? What content is getting better engagement? Focus on that kind of content on your blog going forward.
Drive Traffic To Your YouTube/ Facebook Account
Live feeds are very popular at the moment. But what happens if you have a live session and no one shows up for it? It could easily happen. Why not create a small “trailer” hyping your live session? Provide just enough information to get them interested and leave the rest to them.
An Exclusive Sneak Peek At A New Product Line
This is a fun way to make sure that people keep checking your page for updates. Offer a sneak peek that they don’t get on any other social media channel. Even if it is just one product out of the line, create a buzz by showing photos or video of it.
Promote A Special Discount
Again, this is a good way to convince people to keep checking back on your page. Offer a “crazy” sale – only valid for the next 24 hours, for example. Include a special code for them to use so that you can see exactly how many sales can be attributed to this promotion.
How-To Videos
Don’t assume that everyone knows how to use your product. Not everyone will. And, even if they think that they do, they might want confirmation of this before start using it. But, how many people are going to bother with reading the instructions?
This is also useful for products that people are bound to know how to use. Take a face cream, for example. It’s simple enough to use – apply to the face. But why not whip up a relaxing nighttime routine. You’ll feature the cream but also add in the other products for the range.
You will show them exactly how they should be using the product. That way, there should be fewer comebacks at a later stage.
Showcase Your Product
This is where Instagram can pay huge dividends. Take fantastic pictures of the product and of people using it. Think more along the lines of standard advertising – you are selling a lifestyle item rather than a product on its own.
Anyway, those are the basic starting points to focus on. There are tons more, but we just don’t have quite enough space here. Take a look at the infographic and get even more creative ways. And then go and out and get started.