If you are contemplating on getting the services of an Instagram Marketing Agency and delving deeper into social media marketing to reach prospects and increase sales, you’re at the right place!
Now is the time to look for opportunities to elevate your branding message and set yourself apart from those pesky competitors.
Which social media platforms should you focus on? Sure, Facebook is the giant, but where else can effort equal opportunity?
(Drum roll please) Instagram!
This photo-centric social media platform has grown by leaps and bounds and is now second to only Facebook for users and blows far past all competition with engagement.
According to Hootsuite, Instagram has 1 billion active monthly visitors.
It is also the 2nd most engaged social media platform next to Facebook.
And because of this, Instagram engagement is growing for businesses.
Increasing by 29%, brands are expected to generate more than 4 times of interactions from users.
Not sure how to make marketing with Instagram pay off for you?
Here are 25 quick and dirty tips from our Instagram marketing agency.
Improve Your Branding with These Instagram Marketing Agency Tips
Branding is crucial in social media. If an audience doesn’t recognize you, how can you build trust and loyalty?
#1: Choose A Killer Profile Photo
Stay within your branding guidelines but use a picture that shows your company’s main vibe.
Your logo can be your profile picture, but a better idea is to boil down what you want the audience to feel about your brand.
Having a quality photo that is in focus and crisp is an absolute necessity.
#2: Write A Descriptive Bio
Many people will end up finding you through a keyword search. Use this to your advantage!
Write out three descriptions of your business using keywords and action verbs.
Take the parts that are exceptional and meld them into one cohesive bio.
Remember to write with your buyer in mind!
Explain what your product or service can do for them and why you do it better than the competition.
#3: Display Authenticity in Branding
You learned this in Kindergarten and it’s still true today! Be yourself.
Social media is all about making connections and fostering engagement.
Huge exaggerations and stilted language will turn Instagram users off.
Show the humans behind the brand.
Vague references and abstract thoughts don’t come across as genuine.
#4: Showcase Your Products
While you want to make friends, remember your goal in marketing with Instagram is to increase traffic to your website, build a larger lead base, and eventually woo more customers.
Use your branding message to methodically build recognition with your followers.
Help them remember what you sell and what it does for them to address a problem or solve a pain point.
#5: Share Cohesive Messages
Haphazard, random posting won’t do much to help build your brand.
Break out the ole calendar and schedule consistent posts.
Think each one through and makes sure it represents your company well.
Try conveying as much of your message as possible through the photo you use.
Choose the same filters on all of your posts for consistency.
Keep your captions short, catchy, and positive.
#6: Post Consistently
Post at regular intervals. Two to three times a week is a good goal so your page stays up-to-date and relevant to your followers.
A stagnant Instagram account that has no new content makes zero progress for your brand.
Instagram Marketing Agency Tips on Creating Followers/Exposure
The most awesome message won’t do your brand any good unless people see it.
Here are a few hacks to get to the followers you need and entice them to engage with your brand.
#7: Use Hashtags
Mastering hashtags is one of the most important aspects of successful Instagram-ing.
Use them a few different ways. First, create some hashtags around your branding efforts.
Use these consistently to build brand awareness. But these aren’t the only hashtags you need.
Pick out some industry hashtags. These are words or phrases your buyer may use as a search tool.
Use these along with your branding hashtags in your bio and your posts to build your audience base.
Our Instagram marketing agency has found leveraging hashtags to be one of the most effective methods to grow an audience.
#8: Following Contests
People love contests, which is why they work so well to get users to follow you on Instagram.
Market a drawing for something cool as the prize for people who follow you to win.
Advertise the contest on Instagram with relevant hashtags as well as across your other social media channels.
Send an email campaign to your list of contacts to get them in the game, too.
#9: Influencer Marketing
Influencers are well-known people on Instagram. Their massive amount of followers know and trust them.
Influencer marketing is similar to old-fashioned recommendations from family and friends.
Getting an influencer on board with your brand is key to increasing followers and converting them to leads and then customers.
Do your homework and find the best influencer for your brand.
Approach him or her with a proposal. If they show interest, discuss the content and hashtags you want used and compensation options.
#10: Videos
Assuming your company should only use photos on Instagram is incorrect.
Tie a group of photos together with a short video, add a video as a teaser for a product roll-out or event, or show a how-to video to answer your buyers’ common questions.
Used strategically, videos can shoot your Instagram followers through the roof!
Instagram Marketing Agency Tips to Increase Engagement
The good news is Instagram users are a whopping 10 times more engaged than Facebook users, and there are several ways your company can take advantage.
#11: Contests
Contests create hype and can prompt followers to like, comment, and share.
(Image 0555) Run weekly contests so followers get used to watching for them and engaging with them.
Don’t forget to use your contest-designated hashtag!
#12: Post at Optimum Times and Days
Analyze your posts and read up on what time of day your audience tends to use Instagram.
Angle your posting during that timeframe and during those days.
Engagement and views of the same post can wildly vary depending on when you share it.
#13: Get Personal
Go beyond posting by tagging followers in the posts you make.
This increases visibility and ensures certain audience members see your posts.
Strengthen connections with personal communication, and watch your engagement grow.
Instagram Marketing Agency Tips to Increase Website Traffic
Followers and engagement are great, but most businesses want to increase the number of people who visit their websites.
Create a “bread crumb” path that’s easy for consumers to follow.
#14: Post Links
Blog posts, eBooks, infographics, and other interesting content should be easily accessed from links.
Add links into your photos and as part of your captions to drive followers to your awesome content.
If they love it, they will click around to find out more about your company.
#15: Share Calls-to-Action
Clear calls-to-action (CTAs) simplify the buyer’s journey. Keep them concise and actionable.
“Register now” and “Join here” are two examples of high-performing CTAs.
Always deliver what you promised with your CTAs.
Don’t have one that sounds great only to put your audience through a sales pitch once they click through.
That makes them feel duped.
Instagram Marketing Agency Tips to Help Increase Sales
Rev up your money-making ability with these tips.
#16: Instagram Ads
Social media advertising is crucial. Develop and post smart Instagram ads.
Users who don’t follow you may view the ad and get interested in your message.
A wider audience means more chances to turn prospects into customers.
#17: Click Campaigns
Motivate your audience to take action. Make it your goal to get your target audience to click through to additional information.
Lead them to a landing page on your website so you can hopefully snag their information and add them to your prospect list.
#18: Conversion Campaigns
Like click campaigns, conversion campaigns attempt to move prospects into the funnel as leads.
This takes fresh, enticing content that your audience craves!
Turn on that brilliant marketing brain and think of an eye-catching title, and then deliver the goods.
Your landing page needs to rock, or your conversions will stink even if your ad is awesome.
Test and re-test different landing pages and edit and revise according to your findings.
#19: Retargeting Campaigns
Some prospects may visit your website and then, for a variety of reasons, they click away and you lose them.
Don’t let them fall through the cracks into a competitor’s sales funnel!
Use Instagram ads to re-engage this segment.
Segment them as a custom audience and develop an offer they can’t resist as an ad.
Tips to Increase Conversion Rates
It’s time to see some results for your actions.
After all, this is why we’re here, right?
Before your conversions skyrocket, you need to do two things.
#20: Optimize Your Website
A poorly laid-out, low-ranking website hinders conversions no matter where the contact originated.
If your Instagram marketing performs like a champ, your website traffic increases.
Make sure your website is easy to navigate. Include proper keywords and meta tags.
Perform testing, even if you need to pay a professional service, to make certain your website is well-optimized before you begin an Instagram marketing initiative.
#21: Embrace Mobility
Instagram is a mobile platform.
If your business hasn’t created a mobile website yet, you are already behind the times.
Test out your website pages, pictures, and links.
Replace or delete any that don’t render correctly on your smartphone.
The last thing you want to do is to spend time creating interest on Instagram and then lose people because your website looks weird on their mobile device.
Tips to Save Time with Your Instagram Marketing
As with any new initiative, a big question is “how will I make time to do all of this”?
It’s true marketing with social media does take time.
Crafting posts, deciding on hashtags and photos, tagging appropriate people, and posting them are all hands-on actions.
There are a few ways to carve time out of the schedule so you can get done, Instagram style!
#22: Decrease Time Spent on Other Advertising
Marketing with Instagram can let you slow down on some of your traditional advertising efforts.
Decrease or completely eliminate print ads, banner ads, and other traditional advertising that gobbled up time and dollars.
Re-structuring your plan frees up some precious minutes to use on social media.
#23: Use A Content Calendar
Set up a timeline of the days, times, and content you will post on Instagram. (Image 0556).
It’s important to use a variety of content.
Industry updates, interesting or amusing quotes, cool pictures, product rollouts, trade show photos, blogs, and webinar invitations are all great choices.
Remember you need a mix. Going too sales-heavy turns the audience off.
A content marketing calendar is a great visual to make sure you aren’t veering too far away from being a relevant and informative connection for your followers.
#24: Use A Scheduling Platform
Marketing on Instagram will be an ongoing task for at least one person in marketing.
Setting aside chunks of time to post instead of posting every day is more efficient and lends a more cohesive air to your efforts.
Platforms like Hootsuite allow the social media manager to schedule posts.
That way, the admin can set up every social media account you use and post to all of them from one location.
The posts can be set to go out immediately, tomorrow, two days from now, or next week.
Scheduling platforms are big time savers for social media managers.
#25: Hire A Marketing Agency
Using an Instagram marketing agency may be the best option for your schedule.
Not only are they experienced at creating high-performing profiles, they already know how to employ hashtags and other follower-building strategies.
And it’s also worth noting that they are updated with the changes in these social media networks.
For instance, did you know that Instagram just recently tested to “hide likes” across some countries such as Canada, Italy, Brazil, New Zealand, Ireland, Japan, and Australia?
If you are an influencer or a business that depends on the number of “likes” to measure their contents’ success, this change will surely make you panic.
But not an Instagram marketing agency. They can adapt to these changes in no time.
A marketing agency can lessen your ramp-up time and start showing return on investment for your efforts faster than doing it yourself.
These Instagram marketing tips serve several purposes to your business.
They decrease the time it will take you to see results, give you a concrete plan of how to lay out your strategy, and arm you with ideas to increase followers and engagement.
Employ them wisely and you will see your Instagram profile grow, your website traffic increase, and your conversion rate explode!
