Since it was founded in 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Kreiger, Instagram, the mobile photo-sharing app, has grown tremendously. Facebook eventually bought it for $1 billion in 2012. It is a widely known fact that more than 500 million people use the app monthly and 300 million users log into the site daily.
The primary focus of the site is media in the form of images and short videos. You have the option of posting and editing a single image/video, up to ten images as a carousel, Instagram stories, and live videos.
Tips for Making an Impact on Instagram
You won’t make an impact by posting haphazardly on Instagram. The following are some Instagram tips that will ensure your brand gets noticed.
Use the platform to showcase what you have to offer
Needless to say, you want your audience to know what products or services your brand is offering. Just be sure to make your posts attention-grabbing and visually appealing. Showcasing services takes a bit more creativity. If you sell makeup, for example, showing before and after pictures of models or customers is a good idea.
Let your customers in on the action
Use pictures and short clips to give your followers on Instagram a look behind the scenes. You can arouse a lot of interest by posting short videos of interesting product development processes. Rather than hide the answer to a common customer query deep in your website’s FAQ section, you can answer it with a short clip. All this serves to make customers feel more involved.
Build a personal connection with your audience through your employees
Your customers feel far more connected when they interact with the human side of your business rather than just your products. Having your employees participate in the creation of posts as well as feature in the posts helps solidify your connection with your customers. Clips of staff members having fun at a company retreat, for example, makes your brand more relatable.
Boost your engagement by embracing user generated content
In addition to including your employees in your posts, let your customers contribute to the creation of your content by uploading posts of your products and services and tagging the posts to your custom brand hashtag. Don’t let that content just sit there, though. Comment and like great posts by customers as often as you can so that they know you’re watching.
Appeal to your followers’ natural need to feel special
Make your audience and followers feel special by posting some deals and offer exclusively on Instagram and nowhere else. Rewarding Instagram followers with freebies such as promo and discount codes serve as a strong incentive for them to remain loyal to you. One interesting idea is having your followers receive in-store discounts by simply showing that they follow.
Work your Instagram strategy into your SEO strategy
Integrating SEO with your Instagram strategy involves more than simply including keywords in your posts. Make sure your custom brand hashtags are consistent, not only on Instagram but on other social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook as well.
Walter Moore is the head of the social media initiatives of a leading sportswear brand. An expert photographer, Walter is ever ready to offer advice on how to attract more Instagram followers.
