If you're reading this blog, you probably use Instagram. Statistics say that of everyone who has access to the Internet, at least 25% of them have an Instagram account.
With over two billion monthly active users, Instagram is among the top three social media platforms used across the world. Instagram helps businesses and people connect with a highly engaged audience, build a brand, and drive sales.
In this blog, we'll take you through how to market with Instagram and how Instagram can be beneficial for your business. We'll also give you some tips to make the most out of your Instagram account and some mistakes to avoid on your marketing journey.
What is Instagram marketing?
Instagram marketing is the practice of promoting a business on Instagram through organic and paid content to increase followers, improve brand reach, and bring in more sales.
Founded in 2010, Instagram is still one of the most popular social media platforms, ranking as the second most used social platform for online shopping. 70% of active users on Instagram use it for shopping, so if you get your marketing right, you can sell (a lot!) through Instagram.
If you're targeting younger users, Instagram outpaces all other platforms and is a primary go-to shopping platform. With more than half its users under the age of 35, Instagram is the place for your marketing team.
How can you use Instagram for marketing?
Instagram has many potential use cases for marketing. Your business doesn't have to limit itself to just one. You can tailor your strategy and content for as many use cases as you need to reach the platform's full potential.
Here are some popular methods for Instagram marketing:
Direct selling: Create content promoting your offerings, focusing on your product or service, problems it solves, features, and benefits. Direct selling like this is ideal for B2C (business-to-consumer) services and products.
Brand marketing: Establish an identity for your brand to stand out in a crowded market. Use a cohesive visual design, consistent language across posts, and branded hashtags to create a unified and unique brand identity.
Thought leadership: Publish thought-provoking content that establishes your brand as the leader in your domain. Quotes from senior executives, articles featured in leading publications, research reports, and snippets from industry meetings are some thought leadership content you can share on Instagram.
Employee marketing: Run employee marketing to showcase how employees have benefited from programs and growth opportunities within your company, helping you attract and retain the right talent.
Community management: Create content your audience loves, so they engage more and spread the word about you. Run contests and giveaways, respond to comments and messages, and use interactive features like polls and questions to keep your Instagram community engaged.
User-generated content: Develop unique branded hashtags or create a viral trend and encourage your audience to produce content around the trend. Repost high-quality content created and acknowledge your audience's contributions to promote more Instagram users to create content for your brand.
What are the 3Cs of Instagram marketing?
Community
From demographics and location to age group and device, define your target audience on Instagram so you know who you're creating content for. Having a community of people following you, cheering you on, and supporting everything your business does is what Instagram is all about.
Content
The same content you create for other platforms might not work for Instagram. Create a content strategy specific to Instagram and its formats. Instagram lets users make posts, live videos, stories, and reels, so account for all of these when planning your strategy.
Consistency
Execute your plan and track metrics like post reach, follower growth, and engagement rates. These numbers will give you an idea of whether your efforts are translating into measurable outcomes. Keep optimizing your campaigns and continue your efforts to achieve results.
Let's see how you can leverage these 3Cs to create an Instagram marketing strategy.
Create and execute your Instagram marketing strategy in nine steps
Create a plan: Don't think of posting on Instagram as just another marketing activity. You need to create a dedicated plan for your Instagram account. Define your audience and create an ideal customer persona (ICP) before you plan the posts you will be doing on Instagram.
Define success: Set goals. Improving brand reach and increasing sales are two different goals. They're interconnected, but your content will vary wildly based on your goals. You can also have multiple goals and split your posts to attain them.
Design your profile: Switch to an Instagram business account and use high-quality logos and images to represent your brand. Optimize your account's bio, add relevant links to your website, and leverage special tools that let you build custom links in your bio. Create a profile that looks so good that visitors turn into followers without a second thought.
Leverage the right format: Remember that a certain post might work for you on one platform but not on Instagram. Ensure you create posts in formats that work well for Instagram and aren't generic.
Capitalize on the latest trends: Keep up with the latest Instagram trends and create posts that align with them. For instance, you could find audio or music that's trending and create a reel using it. Don't be afraid to experiment.
Engage actively: Don't post and vanish. Engage with your audience, run contests, respond to comments, and reply to inbox messages. Spam-like comments or messages might get your account restricted, so make sure you're meaningfully engaging.
Work with influencers: Influencers are individuals with huge audiences and high engagement. Instagram popularized influencer marketing as we know it today. Try paid collaborations with influencers relevant to your industry to reach a wider target market.
A study found that 74% of people have purchased something because an influencer recommended it. The trust people place on influencers impacts not just purchase decisions but also their trust and opinion of your brand.Encourage user-generated content: Encourage your community to create content through giveaways or break Instagram by creating the next viral reel. This sort of content will bring a new audience to your page.
Monitor and refine: Keep track of how your posts are performing by tracking metrics such as likes, shares, saves, comments, post reach, follower growth, and impressions. If videos perform better than images, it's time to make more videos to increase engagement.
Common Instagram marketing mistakes
Here are some common mistakes to avoid in Instagram marketing:
Not engaging with your audience
Not posting with a plan
Not tracking all your metrics
Not maintaining a cohesive brand identity
Not refining content according to performance
Not speaking to the target demographic
Not posting consistently
Not taking audience behavior into account
Not waiting for organic growth and buying followers
Not capitalizing on the latest trends
Not using all the formats effectively
Not experimenting enough
Crack Instagram marketing with Zoho Marketing Automation
Zoho Marketing Automation is a multichannel marketing automation software that lets you:
- Use the marketing planner to create a plan and set goals for Instagram (or even for all your marketing activities for the year)
Upload visuals from multiple sources to create visually engaging content that evokes emotion and captures attention.
Schedule content at the right time for different time zones to achieve maximum engagement.
- Track post metrics and check the most important numbers: likes, comments, engagement, shares, saves, and impressions.
In addition to Instagram marketing, Zoho Marketing Automation also lets you generate and nurture leads, orchestrate customer journeys, track your marketing activities, and use multichannel marketing, not just across social channels but through WhatsApp, SMS, and emails, as well.
Try Zoho Marketing Automation for free today
(It takes less than 30 seconds!)
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