When you think of using social media to take your business to the next level, Instagram probably isn’t the first platform you think of.
Traditionally, Facebook and Twitter have widely been used as the most efficient avenues for marketing as many businesses still currently use them. However, as Instagram is continually growing at an epic degree, more companies, entrepreneurs, brands, and start-ups are flocking there to expand their businesses. Instalikes for Instagram have helped countless companies do just that.
Initially, Instagram was built for sharing photos, videos, and stories among aspirational users in travel, food and photography. With slightly over 30 million users, Instagram has moved to an entirely new level and commanded a massive client base and is an incredible platform for business owners to market their products.
Looking at the numbers, you’ll be surprised with how Instagram started in 2010 and absorbed Facebook – the giant social media platform then – in a move that no one would have ever anticipated. Now, Instagram boasts of over 700 million new subscribers, out of which 500 million make purchases using this platform.
These metrics show that people are out here looking to make colossal purchases from Instagram. Still, as stories are continually added and as monthly users grow, people miss more than 69% of posts from people they follow.
Part of this emanates from the new algorithms that dictate what type of content appears in your feed. While you can’t change these algorithms, the great news is that you can change your strategy and grow your business on Instagram.
Here’s how.
Optimize your bio
Optimizing your bio is the preliminary step that draws the first impression on users and could be the potential selling point for potential buyers.
Check to ensure that your bio reflects your business and ensure that you have an engaging description of your business, products and services. At the same time, you can add a link to your website coupled with some clickable hashtags in it.
Quality over quantity
The greatest misconception surrounding social media users, in general, is the obsession that most people have with the quantity over quality of followers.
Without a doubt, most users think that they need 100K followers to make $100,000, but that’s not always true. Well, you can have a million followers, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to help you rake in thousands of dollars in profit.
Simultaneously, having a ton of followers doesn’t mean they’re going to convert into a lead or repeat customer. As the leading platform in terms of conversion rates, Instagram commands 1.08% – a figure slightly higher than that of both Twitter and Pinterest.
While it’s incredible to have a massive number of followers, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll equate to a huge payout. The idea here is to have a clear picture of who your ideal client is, ideally those who will respond to your call to action and pick your calls. They are the people who are going to book your service, share your advertisement message and buy your product.
If you are not sure who your perfect client is, try and find the most significant problem they want to be solved and find out what could be their possible way to solve the issues.
Always remember that if you’re talking to everyone, you’re talking to no one. Therefore, spend time identifying the specific person you’re speaking to, then create content for them.
Niche down
Understanding who your ideal client entails moving from the general niche then narrowing it down to a specific field. That will help you understand who your perfect client is and what they will be potentially looking for on Instagram.
If it feels a little hard to find the ideal client, spend some time on the app researching the kind of “avatar” they might fit into as you identify the type of content that catches their eye the most. Ideally, pick the top 20 accounts your clients engage with regularly and look for some loopholes in the content.
Identify the kind of questions they could be asking in the comment section, the video clips and images that you could take in that perspective and the content that the competitor’s business is thriving on. Once you identify these metrics, try and create compelling posts that could be eye-catchy to the users.
Keep in mind that all this is about creating your unique spin of articles that speaks directly to the clients. You will notice your engagement rising tremendously and the buying power rising to an epic degree.
Overall, you need to niche down and invest in the right audience before you start seeing some substantial influx of money.
Consistency
Commitment gets you started. Consistency keeps you going, and focus drives you to the goal.
When it comes to Instagram marketing, staying consistent with the elemental text, photos, and videos is increasingly becoming important. Text overlays on photos and captions on videos make it easy for the user to relate the content and how beneficial it can be.
Consistently publishing and frequently updating the photos and videos helps your audience learn when they can expect new content from you. At the same time, keeping a consistent schedule will offer a seamless way of maximizing engagement without any brick walls emanating from inconsistency.
A study carried out by Union Metrics unravelled that most huge brands try to post to Instagram daily. With an average posting frequency of 1.5 posts per day, most brands realized an incredible correlation between increased posting frequency and engagement.
Aside from adding visual appeal to the content, using consistent text makes your content easily recognizable. Besides, consistency in your fonts in your captions aligns with your brand and makes it incredibly straightforward for the user to relate with your unique voice.
You can use a caption in a shot, use captions to ask questions and set the bandwagon of comments going. Essentially, the possibilities are endless, but you need to make sure that the copy is aligned with your brand.
Grow your follower-base
While maintaining quality followers outweighs the importance of having a colossal community, it’s essential to understand that having a handful of quality flowers is as unfruitful as having a million idlers.
The number one importance of having a massive number of followers is that it significantly increases your chances of getting a significant conversion. For instance, if you have one million followers, the possible number of possible conversions you can get from this audience is about 10,800 – which is sufficient to keep your business moving.
Be attentive and genuine in your interactions with your audience through responding to comments, commenting on their pictures and leaving sincere replies. The human engagement coming from posts is so phenomenal that it can turn visitors into repeat clients.
People want to feel that they’re getting something extraordinary from your business, so you might want to show them the behind-the-scenes growth metrics, operations of your business and maintain fruitful interactions.
Foster personal interactions
Commenting on people’s posts, sharing their stories and liking their posts is a quick way to foster a growing community.
While these ways have proven to defy social boundaries set by humans, don’t be afraid to take it on another level. You see, online engagement works like any other typical social relationships. If you want commitment and consistency from your followers, you must be ready to take it to another level.
One way used by Instagram marketers is by putting their phone numbers in the bio. People long to have that personal connection, whether it’s through texting, direct messaging or calling. The great news is that the more you utilize these components, the more Instagram algorithms will work to your leverage.
In the long term, your posts will be more visible to the audience as the algorithms will recommend your posts to their feed.
You don’t always have to be the first
It’s not uncommon to find hundreds of lawsuits filed against people who have purportedly stolen content, violated privacy laws and infringed copyright rules.
But let’s face it – creating all your content can be time-consuming and tedious. While this can be a mark of uniqueness and creativity, you certainly don’t want to go through the hassle of creating posts for hours on end.
However, the great news is that there is an approach proven to work with many people’s businesses. Look for viral content from other profiles by scouring their feeds for content that you think will resonate with your audience’s content needs. Keep a good record of these top accounts and use their posts to get inspiration, after which you make a few tweaks that you’ll, in turn, share with your audience.
On a concluding note, starting and maintaining your business is increasingly becoming easy. While it’s only been three decades since the internet became commercially available to consumers, it’s safe to say that Instagram has revolutionized the way marketers and clients consume products.
If you want your business to grow and increase consumers’ opportunities, Instagram is undoubtedly a viable platform for you.