Instagram Marketing in 2021: Social Media Experts Share Top Tips

Instagram is the “it” social media platform for 2019 in McKinney

With plenty of creative possibilities, targeting opportunities, and personalization potential, the youth-friendly platform offers the power to connect with influential tastemakers, break through the competitive noise, and build active, engaged communities of customers.

And it might just offer brands the biggest bang for their content marketing buck. Though slightly in the shadow of big sister Facebook, Instagram boasts over 1 billion active monthly users globally. It’s eclipsed elder social statesmen like Twitter (335 million monthly users), LinkedIn (260 million monthly users), and Pinterest (250 million monthly users). Here are more Instagram Stats you may find interesting,

Given these advantages, the hunger for information and marketing on Instagram should be no surprise.

We’ve rounded up the best insights and advice we offer on the topic, making it easier for the Insta-uninitiated to find their footing while giving expert tips and tricks for power users to level up their initiatives.

Determine your Instagram strategy

Instagram puts a visual spin on the micro conversations that turned “tweet” into a marketing verb years ago. With its unique photography filters, streaming video storytelling features, meme-friendly editing tools, and ease of use on mobile, it’s the perfect platform for capturing those authentic little moments that bring out the human side of your business.

But before building your brand’s profile and posting pretty pictures, give serious thought to how to position your Instagram activities, so they contribute to your strategic marketing goals. (If you need some help, send us an email at information@lucemedia.net.

For example, if lead generation is a top marketing priority, be aware that Instagram doesn’t allow clickable links in post descriptions/captions or comments the way other social networks do. You’re allowed one hyperlink – in the bio on your profile page. You’ll need to optimize your bio content for lead-gen purposes and choose your link wisely.

Even though your linking options are limited, you can drive a flood of leads by including a relevant and enticing call to action on your bio page. There’s a prime example from Foundr Magazine:

Set up a verified business account

While anyone on your content team can set up a personal profile for your business on Instagram, it is easier to manage content activities with a verified business account. Once activated, these accounts can be managed by multiple authorized users and provide deeper insights on followers, performance analytics for posts, advertising tools, and additional post promotion options within the Instagram app.

One critical feature that business accounts don’t have is the native ability to schedule posts. Thankfully, third-party tools can let you keep your fans’ feeds full of conversations and activity day and night – even if one social media manager does all the posting.

Of course, no matter who (or what) publishes your content, there are guidelines to follow. For example, due to the limitations with Instagram’s API, scheduling tools can only publish images and videos formatted in an acceptable aspect ratio.

Check out Olga Rabo’s guide to the best Instagram scheduling tools, which includes a handy chart (below) on acceptable image specs.

Craft your creative with care

Looks count on Insta. Show off your most appealing brand imagery and supply descriptions that draw viewers more deeply into your brand experience. I mean, c’mon, who could possibly look at this post from NatGeo and not want to dive right into an undersea adventure?

Add a human touch

But your posts don’t need to be picture perfect all the time. In fact, Monina Wagner and Clare McDermott have outlined a few formats that don’t require professional photography skills. For example:

• Livestreaming with Instagram stories: Film and share spontaneous, relatable moments as they unfold, which is perfect for capturing the excitement at a live event or an afternoon outing with your team. Archive your Stories so the posts can be reshared later, using Instagram’s Stories Highlights
• Polling: Add a two-answer poll to your Instagram Stories. After tapping an answer, users see the results, which puts the focus on your audience’s thoughts and views. (Get more info on using this sticker feature below.)

Put your brand value on display

Even if your content team is photo-phobic, you have lots of creative options. For example, slick glamour shots may be hard to come by for B2B businesses, but SAAS company Salesforcefinds compelling ways to convey its message of value – as it does in this sponsored spot, which promotes a tip-driven e-book using its illustrated cover art:

And in this Instagram Stories campaign, Cheerios  eschewed imagery, choosing to share a series of personalized, text-based posts set against a simple, brand-appropriate colored background. The campaign is designed to trigger positive emotions that the brand’s fans can associate with its “good goes around” tagline.

Place the focus on your followers

No matter what content formats and design techniques you choose, Instagram works best when you understand and appeal to the interests of your target audience members– it’s their community sandbox, after all. Give them personal reasons to invite your brand in to play with them. Here are some ideas to accomplish this:

Fuel their creativity. Encourage your viewers to create user-generated content featuring your product or message.

Create a contest. Product giveaways are a natural fit for this platform. Don’t forget to use a hashtag that encapsulates your message or captures the viewers’ attention enough to make them want to participate and promote your offering.

• Demonstrate how your products fit their lifestyle. Consumers like to get ideas and see what other products fit with yours, so keep your content as actionable as possible.

Make your messages stickier with interactivity

Another way to bring your followers into your storytelling is with Instagram’s interactive stickers through the app’s toolset. By adding these features to your updates, you can:

• Create a live countdown for an upcoming brand event.
• Add a poll or an emoji slider to gauge fan response to a relevant issue.
• Enable viewers to select a song to play in the background of your post.
• Give people a chance to ask something they’re dying to know about your business.

Distribute and conquer

Even if only a small percentage of Instagram’s billion monthly users regularly post updates and stories, your brand’s efforts still need to cut through a lot of content clutter. Promoting your posts on Instagram is as important as it is anywhere else in your marketing mix.

Get discovered via hashtags

In his post on Instagram marketing, Robert Katai outlines the two types of hashtags you can use in your Instagram campaigns:

• Branded hashtags feature your company name, making it easier for people aware of your company to discover your content and learn more about you.
• Community hashtags are more organic to the conversations happening. They help users follow broader topics, specific areas of interest, or other unifying themes.

Put budget toward boosting performance

Paid promotions are another way to increase your brand’s reach and engagement on the platform. You can purchase promoted posts and display ads within Instagram’s regular content feed. In addition, you can promote your content by placing ads within Instagram Stories, which display your campaigns between image- and video-centric Stories that users click to view.

Enlist power players

Where would content marketing on Instagram be without recommendations from its legions of influencers – i.e., leading voices who have the trust and attention of your target audience?

Why does a takeover work better than a standard influencer collaboration? As Olga Rabo explains, the incentive for the influencer’s followers is different. They’re not urged to follow the brand but are encouraged by the influencer to see what he or she is doing on your brand’s account. The subtle promotion is more effective to increase reach and drive traffic from Instagram Stories to your site or special offer.

Stay out of social hot water

One final thought: While sharing is caring when it comes to re’gramming admired content and images, posting someone else’s creative property without securing permission is never cool – and in some cases, it could put your business in legal jeopardy. If you want to mitigate your brand’s risk, you need an understanding of copyrights and the terms for fair use.

This Article was Originally Posted at: https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2019/03/instagram-marketing-experts/?sm_x_cmir_edt_tsprtsnr_cmi_x_sclttw-blogtraffic