Mos Clement 28 June 2019

Categories Social Media

7 Easy Steps to Amplify Your Instagram Marketing Strategy

How well does your Instagram marketing strategy stack up with your competitors? Are you wondering how Instagram marketing can help you grow your business faster? Read this article to learn simple and yet useful tips that will help to improve your Instagram marketing strategy.

Instagram is one of the best social media sites where you can establish your brand presence and quickly grow your business. So it is vital to have an active social media presence on the platform.

Truth be told; you can’t say you have a solid social media marketing strategy with having an active presence on Instagram. Instagram has become a power-house social media site where brands, businesses - big and small, and organization are using to:

• Create brand awareness

• Drive website traffic

• Generate quality leads

• Convert followers to paying customers

• Increase sales

Hence, getting started on the site to improve your Instagram marketing strategy can seem overwhelming. But with the right tactics, you can quickly maximize your return on investment (ROI) and grow your business several folds.

Therefore, to help you start on the right foot and improve your Instagram marketing strategy, we have assembled seven effective marketing processes for your campaign.

1: Find The Best Time and Frequency to Post on Instagram

As stated above, with an active Instagram presence, you are set to increase engagement, gain more followers, and grow your business. However, since Instagram is not like Twitter, where users tweet 20+ posts daily, you need to know the posting frequency that works best on Instagram.

In view of this; how frequently can you post on Instagram, and at what times of day to help you improve your Instagram marketing strategy?

Considering that Instagram algorithm emphasizes particular posts algorithmically in users’ feed, marketers are now creating short and longer forms of video content to engage their audience.

Nevertheless, you may create the best content piece, but if you do not share posts at the best time of day, your materials will not generate traction. For this reason, Sprout Social examined 25,000 of their customers to find the best time to post.

Here are the results: The best times to post on Instagram are:

• 11:00 a.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays from 10:00–11:00 a.m.

• The overall best day to post to Instagram is Wednesday

• Tuesday through Friday at 10:00 a.m–3:00 p.m. are the safest times to post

• Sunday accounts for the least amount of engagement on Instagram

In addition to the best times to post for optimal engagement, you also want to know the best posting frequency. Further studies reveal that the best rate for posting on Instagram is one to two posts daily. In spite of that, posting times and frequency can differ depending on the data you’re using.

Thus, my recommendation is; use the Instagram Insights feature to find the best times and days to post. Instagram’s native analytics tool will show what times and days your followers are most active. Use the data to post accordingly.

2: Use Instagram’s Video Full Range Formats

The use of video content to engage users on social media sites has grown in popularity over time. Online video content is so impressive that 54% of consumers are demanding to see more video materials.

Why is that so? Because consumers have a 97% higher chance to remember calls-to-action after they watch video content. As a result, they spend 88% extra time on average watching videos. In view o this, 87% of marketers are using video content as a primary marketing tool on social media.

Source: Oberlo

Thus, 88% of these businesses are satisfied with the return on investment (ROI) of their video marketing processes. Instagram is not left out. The social media power-house acknowledges the potential of video content.  That is why it offers marketers an array of video options to help improve your Instagram marketing strategy.

Source Image: Shayla_exreme

The video options for Instagram include:

1. Instagram Stories

2. Live video broadcasts; which you can access via Instagram Stories from the Stories camera space.

3. Instagram video posts

You can use these alternatives to show your target audience what your brand is doing behind the scenes. You can as well use the choice videos that are available to introduce your products or services. This processes will effectively boost your Instagram marketing strategy.

3: Leverage Instagram Video Subtitle Captions

Video posts have become a prominent digital marketing asset in recent years. And since video posts on Instagram account for 38% of the overall engagement than regular image posts, and 2.1x additional comments, more and more marketers are turning to video marketing on social media.

Strangely enough, users favor not to allow sound when watching videos. That is why subtitles are paramount to your Instagram marketing strategy. And because we all crave for engagement, 80% of brands view engagement rate as the most critical marketing metrics for social media marketing success.

In light of this, businesses are looking for various ways to boost their Instagram engagement rates. That is where Instagram video subtitle captions come in handy. With video subtitles captions, you can play your brand message on screen along with your visual media.

The result of using captions on video sub, according to further research is that the average time users spent watching a video increased by 12%.

What does this mean for marketers?

It means that you could lose your outreach message if you fail to add captions to your videos. On the other hand, you will increase the success rates of your brand message if you include captions to your videos.

For instance, Media Cause experimented with video captions and added subtitle files to their Facebook video marketing strategy. Here is their performance record:

• They earned a 317% increase in video views

• Reached 235% more people

• Generated 367% additional engagement on a new video post

The statistic is terrific. Thus, you can access the automatic video captions via Facebook because the social media giant is offering the tool.

4: Avoid Aggressive Instagram Marketing Strategy (Don’t Post Too Many Promotional Materials)

In section one, we identified the best time of day to post and the frequency for posting on Instagram. Hence, the question you may ask is; what type of content connects well on the social media site? As a marketer, your primary goal for using Instagram marketing techniques is to generate new leads and drive more sales.

Therefore, you have to be tactful and keep a balance on what you post on the social media platform.

It means that you don’t want to be exceedingly promotional; that is, posting more promotional content than providing value to your target buyer. In this context, you have to mix things up and still maintain your brand identity.

For example, post inspirational and motivational content with your blog posts. Post behind the scene pictures of what you’re doing. Spy on your competitors who are killing it on the site to see what type of visuals they’re posting to improve their Instagram marketing strategy.

Try not to post materials that would offend your followers. And since your primary goal is to market your products or services, cautiously post promotion content.

Do not overwhelm your followers with too many promotions. Why? Because 60% of consumers say, excessive promotional content is the most annoying action marketers are taking on the platform.

And as a result of this irritating activities, 46% of respondents say they will size to follow a brand that is posting too many promotional materials. That is according to a survey by Sprout Social.

Source: Sprout Social

5: Combine Pictures and Videos to Your Instagram Stories

One of the most significant issues on Instagram for marketers is how to stand out from the crowd and get noticed. However, since the launching of Instagram Stories, businesses have found an ideal way to improve their Instagram marketing strategy.

For instance, unlike the regular posting where users are advised to post once or twice every day, you can display more content on Instagram Stories daily. The difference is that the content you share to your stories will not astonish your audience because it only lasts for 24 hours and disappears.

That is why it is advised to share more on your stories per day. Moreso, since experts recommend posting more stories, do not post a ton of content all at the same time. The reason being that Instagram introduced a “mute” feature that allows users the capability to mute the stories of other users.

So, be picky of the content you post and the number of posts as well. Some top brands get away with 10+ posts per day. In light of this, if you must post 10+ stories, space out the time, and post during optimal hours.

Post a combination of pictures and videos to your stories, and use your story materials to promote your brand. You can share the following content:

• Run surveys to identify what your target buyer wants from you

• Offer discounts

• Coupon codes

• Contest materials

• Gift cards

• Launching of a new product

• Etc

These types of content will help you to grow your followers, increase engagement, and boost the return on investment (ROI) of your Instagram marketing strategy. And when there is more engagement, there is an increase in visibility; which means more sales and revenue.

6: Use Instagram Tools for Followers to Improve Your Marketing Strategy

To grow a massive Instagram following is the beginning of a successful Instagram marketing campaign. Why? Because you need a target audience, who will consistently engage with your posts. Thus, without a significant number of followers, your business is doomed.

It shows that you will not gain substantial tractions on your Instagram posts. Users are likely to follow you or your brand if they find your posts intriguing. To prove my point, here are some statistics to consider:

Source: Search Engine Journal

Search engine journal recently published a report on why consumers follow a brand on social media. The research revealed that 62% of buyers would engage and follow brands on social media networking sites to learn about sales offerings.

It also shows that 60% of social media users will stalk companies to stay current with new commodities. In light of this, there are many ways to grow your Instagram followers; however, the best and quickest way is to use Instagram tools for followers.

Several automation tools can help you in this regard, but the top performers come with advanced targeting components that will make growing your followers faster. And these Instagram bots work well based on the criteria you want the tool to monitor.

For example, you can program the tools or set the goals for the tools to follow your competitors' profiles or industry hashtags.

It will enable you to automate your activities and streamline your Instagram followers growth. At the same time, it will remain consistent with Instagram’s terms and conditions of use and policy.

6: Use Compelling Instagram Post Captions and Hashtags on Your Photos

Captions on posts

Your Instagram marketing strategy cannot improve without the use of compelling captions and the right hashtags. Using captions on your photos is vital because they offer users a background of your message and moves them to take action.

Moreover, it enables you to maintain the state of your brand message. So, you need to craft a compelling caption that stands out and help you to increase engagement. Here are some tips for writing exceptional Instagram post captions:

1. Start with a question or a call-to-action

2. Be clear and concise

3. Make it easy to read

4. Write short captions

5. Add humor and be informal

6. Show your  brand personality

7. Use appropriate emojis

8. Add relevant hashtags

It is essential to start your captions with a question or call-to-action because Instagram will only show users the first few lines of your caption in the feed. So, starting your captions with a question may pique the users’ curiosity and make them click to read more.

On the other hand, a call-to-action tells users what they need to do. It is an effective way of appealing to your target market and invite them to take action toward your ultimate goal of converting them to leads and customers.

Hashtags

Add related hashtags to your captions. Hashtags make it easier for your followers and eventual customers to find you. In other words, hashtags can help classify your Instagram posts and improve visibility.

These little symbols will also help to increase your engagement by attracting users who are searching for and using related hashtags.

Wrapping Up

Improving your Instagram marketing strategy is not rocket science. With the right techniques, you can grow your business many folds. Apply the tips in this article, use the Instagram insights to evaluate your performance, measure your results, and tweak your strategies accordingly.

*Important* When adding hashtags to your captions, bear in mind that there are essential tactics you must follow to help you select the right hashtags for your campaign. Here are a few tips to follow; use popular hashtags, which your audience is continuously searching.

Also include hashtags that are known to attract new followers, such as:

• #followforfollow

• #followme

• #follow4follow

• #follow, etc.

In addition, use lesser-known hashtags that apply to your industry. These types of hashtags are best for attracting quality leads.

Strangely enough, there is a lot of conflicting ideas about the number of hashtags to use in each post. Some experts say seven is the perfect spot, others recommend one hashtag, and yet others say 11 is best.

I advise you to test your use of hashtags. The maximum for Instagram posts is 30. Experiment with those numbers to find your best spot.