Recently I’ve gone over some different marketing tips for you. I’ve talked about emails and psychographic data, which are both imperative to great online marketing. But I would be doing you a disservice if I didn’t give you some advice about how to expand your email reach using Social Media. Today, I want to talk about how to do it with Instagram.
If you’re not aware, Instagram is a social media platform well known for its varied cliches (my favorite are mirror selfies – you see some strange things in the background), but also well known for the rate of speed at which you can grow an account. In reality, using Instagram properly can grow your social media business at wildfire rates of speed. It’s important for every business to know how to use Instagram, but that importance is double or triple if you have a product or service that is highly visual.
In that light, here are three things you can do right now to use Instagram to expand your audience.
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Develop Eye-Catching Instagram Content (That Suits Your Brand)
Instagram is a visual outlet. Everything you post has to catch your audience’s eye first, or it will slip right through their feed. My advice to doing that well is to make sure you have a consistent style to your posts that fits your brand. For example, I have a client who photographs trains and sells the prints. He didn’t have an Instagram account, so we fixed that and developed a brand guide for his posts. He’ll use the same font and logo placement on every image to prepare them. More importantly, though, he’ll use a specific method of captioning the image and he’ll use specific hashtags as a constant. Those will help keep all the images easily found from his feed. You need to be similarly consistent in your posts. When people know what to expect from your feed, they’re more likely to follow your account.
When people know what to expect from your feed, they’re more likely to follow your account.
Post To Instagram At Consistent Times (That Target The Right Time Zones)
If you don’t want clients from halfway around the world (or can’t deliver service to them), it’s not a good idea to post Instagram content at midnight or 2am. Save your posting times for the time zones you’re looking to generate clients from. Sure, you’ll inevitably get followers worldwide, but by posting at logical time zones that accurately target the market you want, you’re more likely to gain the followers you want.
Learn To Utilize Instagram Hashtags And Mentions Effectively
Hashtags (#) and mentions (@) are the keys to making sure your audience base expands rapidly. Your audience is paying attention to certain hashtags and certain mentions that will match what you do that are being followed by your audience. It’s your job to figure out which ones to use. You can use up to 30 hashtags in the caption section, and there appear to be no limits to the number of people you can mention. Use all the appropriate hashtags you can come up with, and do your best to push the 30 hashtag limit (don’t let the tool go to waste). If you get stuck, there are standbys that create an automatic boost. Hashtags like #like, #l4l, #follow, and #comment tend to create followers regardless of what your content is. Just be careful not to ignore relevant hashtags that will help you filter out unwanted traffic.
The mentions are a little more tricky. If you’re going to use them, there are two schools of thought. The first way of thinking is to mention highly followed accounts, like @kyliejenner or @taylorswift in order to get more views. The other train of thought is to tag leaders in your field or in related fields that they might share your content. I believe the second is more powerful, although the first is much easier. However, easy isn’t always better, and the wrong followers and views will not equal sales. Either way, do your research to determine which mentions will work best for you.
If you need additional tips for improving your Instagram, feel free to contact us with your questions. We’ll be glad to help where we can. If you need help managing your Instagram or other social media, we can definitely help with that too. Either way, make sure you get your Instagram working for you so you can see the results fast.
