With over 2 billion monthly users, and growing, Instagram is becoming one of the most widely used social media platforms available. Instagram started as a fun way to share pictures with friends, but has quickly become one of the most important tools brands use to market themselves. Effectively marketing on Instagram involves more than just posting an occasional picture. To harness the power of Instagram, you need a comprehensive marketing strategy that not only attracts potential buyers, but engages with them.
Why is Instagram Important for Businesses?
Even though understanding your target audience is important, brand visibility is king if your goal is achieving market saturation and staying at the top of potential buyers’ minds. Even if Instagram is not your ideal buyers’ most used platform, having a presence on the app is important.
An Instagram Page Will Appear in Search Engine Results
When prospective buyers search your business’ name, providing them multiple ways to find and contact you is ideal. Aside from having a Google Business listing set up that includes your hours and reviews, your website should also appear at the top of search results. If you are active on multiple digital platforms beside your website, however, links to those pages will also appear in results. When there are multiple links at the top of result pages that all lead to your business, you’re blocking out the opportunity for relevant competitor businesses to be visible to users.
Instagram Will Create Brand Trust
When potential customers can research your business on multiple platforms, it makes them feel like they can get to know your business before ever calling or stepping foot inside of it. Having a presence on Instagram can also allow you to showcase a different side of your company that your website or other platforms may not. Some businesses use their Instagram page to show day-to-day life within the company or to highlight employee accomplishments. Instagram can help your business feel more personal to potential buyers, which should be the goal for all types of marketing. After all, 71% of buyers purchase from a company they feel emotionally connected to. A recent GWI study found that 62.4% of social media users use Instagram to follow or research brands before they make a purchase. With usage this wide, not utilizing Instagram is a missed opportunity for any business.
How Do You Utilize Instagram Effectively?
An effective business Instagram strategy will target ideal buyers and create compelling content that entices them to visit a company’s website or booking platform.
Targeting
Anyone in the world can use Instagram, but not everyone from every corner of the world is your ideal buyer. Using Instagram to target buyers by age, interests, or location will help make sure the content you’re posting reaches the people who are interested in it. Instagram offers many options for advertising. You can advertise through Stories, Images, Videos, Carousel & Collection ads, as well as Explore Page ads and Shopping Ads. Properly researching where your ideal audience is most active will allow you to place your ads in front of them. Targeted ads will also increase your reach outside of your current followers, which means that you can help garner the interest of people shopping for the products or services you offer who had previously been unaware of your company.
Harnessing the Hashtags
If you’re familiar with SEO strategy, you know how keywords work. Hashtags work the same way for Instagram, allowing users to search for words or phrases they are interested in and see the results by hashtag group. Instagram allows users to include multiple hashtags in their posts, increasing the post’s visibility.
Researching relevant hashtags is similar to conducting keyword research. Instagram will give you an idea of how many posts are grouped under each hashtag. It may seem like a good idea to use a hashtag with a lower number of posts, but that just will lessen your chances of being found. Engaging with popular hashtags will help teach user algorithms that your content is relevant and interesting to them.
Hashtags often adjust, so frequent monitoring of your Instagram activity and relevant hashtags helps you continue to grow your following organically and boosts your ad performance.
Captivating Content
Creating a homogenized aesthetic on your IG grid – or main page, will help your brand strategy and make you easily identifiable to users. Great-looking pictures are half the work – compelling captions encouraging users to stop and read will also help grow your following and engagement.
If you’re ready to use your Instagram account to direct traffic to your website or allow users to interact with your business on a more personal level, contact Kymera today. Our brand strategy expertise will help you streamline your digital marketing presence and create a memorable impression on all potential buyers.
