If you aren’t already on Instagram, there’s a good chance you should be. Instagram, initially released in 2010, is a “mobile photo-sharing, video-sharing, and social networking service” (Wikipedia) which allows users to connect through “likes”, comments, and content sharing. Instagram offers an excellent way for brands to connect with users, promote their brand, and bring in new customers. (Instagram Image from Freepik)
Check out these Instagram statistics from Hootsuite if you’re not convinced. As of November, 2016 there are over 500 million monthly active users on Instagram. Over 40 billion photos have been shared by its members, approximately 95 million a day. 80% of Instagram users are located outside of the US, but Americans are in on it too – 31% of American females and 24% of men are using the mobile based social sharing application. If you think that Instagram is a good fit for your brand, or maybe you are already on Instagram but not seeing the results you wish, read on to find out how you can increase your reach and potential on the application.
1. Share High Quality Content Frequently
Creating an Instagram account is only the first step to tapping into its potential. In order to reach your potential customers, you’ll need to create lines for them to find you on Instagram. The most imporant part of creating an Instagram following is to create content that is useful, intereseting, relevant, and easily sharable. You will want to post content, both videos and photos, that entice your followers and bring them in for more. Posting content that is valuable and high quality will bring people to your Instragram and brand, and allow them to learn more about you and create relationships. Posting frequently will give them reason to return and continue learning about your brand. The more quality content you post, the more visibility you will have to users.
2. Use Hash Tags That Target Your Buyer Personas
A great feature of Instagram is the use of hashtags. Tagging your content with hashtags that are relevent to your buyer personas is an excellent way to reach out to those targeted audiences and bring awareness to your brand. When researching hash tags that are relevent for your brand and buyer personas, make sure that they are hashtags that have a good following. You can do this by searching Instagram for various hashtags that you think will be a good fit. When searching Instagram hashtags, you can see how many posts each hashtag has, which will give you a good idea which hash tags are generating a lot of content and have a lot of user interaction. You can also use Instagram to create and promote your own hashtag to represent your brand, products, or marketing campaigns.
3. Interact With Your Potential Customers
Once you have quality content and are targeting your buyer personas, it’s time to interact with your potential customers. Instagram offers various ways in which you can connect with other users - you can “like” their posts, comment on their posts, and even direct message users. You can also connect with users on your own conent via commenting. This allows you to answer questions, respond to comments, or even tag users so they are alerted to your interaction with them. These various avenues of communication allow you to create relationships with customers and show that there is a face to your brand.
Conclusion
While there are many great reasons to use Instagram, it is always best to make an assessment to ensure this is the right way to contect with your customers. Looking into the demographics and statistics of Instagram, we can see that many different groups are using this social sharing platform now. Make sure you assess your buyer personas to see if this is a good fit for your brand. If it is, the possibilities are endless on how you can utilize Instagram to promote your brand and content. Instagram is easily integrated with various other platforms – such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and even Pinterest. If you feel that Instagram is a good fit for you. I hope that these tips have helped to get you started. There is always room for improvement, no matter how successful your presence is!
