Instagram is definitely one of the most popular social media platforms, and it has been that way for years. While it’s not ideal for every goal, there’s quite a lot you can do with it as an individual or as a business trying to gain notoriety. You will find an audience there that is eager to absorb content, and sometimes to buy things from you as well.
If you talk to the digital marketing agencies in Utah, it should not surprise you if they say that growing organically with this platform presents some challenges, but it is absolutely possible. Let’s talk about some ways that you can do that right now. We’ll operate under the assumption that you’re someone representing a company that is trying to gain prominence for your brand through the IG platform.
Cross-Promotional Efforts
Collaboration can help you if you’re trying to gain traction and grow organically with Instagram. One way you can do that is by teaming up with other entities on the platform that seem to share your values.
If you start to put out cross-promotional posts, that can help both your brand and theirs. Often, finding individuals and other companies with which you can collaborate is easier if you spend time at trade shows and networking events within your niche.
Talk to Influencers
Even more than other companies, it can be helpful to set up collaborations with influencers. This assumes, of course, that you can find some who seem to share your values and who are willing to do a team up.
Again, spending time at industry events can be helpful. There, you will often find influencers who are looking to collaborate. This can be more fruitful than trying to cold contact influencers who you don’t know and to whom you don’t yet have any kind of meaningful connection.
Use Analytics to Your Advantage
There are all kinds of analytic tools you can use to break down the engagement you’re getting (or not getting) with your IG posts. Some of them cost money, while others are free.
Learn how to use them. When you do, you can get all kinds of potentially useful insights on the performance of each of your posts. This is a great way to learn what kind of content is getting the most positive attention within your niche.
Be Willing to Adapt
Probably the worst thing that you can do if you want to be successful on any social media platform is to be stubborn if something that you’re trying isn’t working. Learn to be flexible. By changing your strategy, you make it a lot more likely you can get the positive attention you were looking for if the first idea you had is failing to catch on.
Try to Create Branded Hashtags
If you can create and circulate a branded hashtag, that’s an excellent way to get noticed within your niche or industry. Not only can you get eyes on your brand that way, but you can also potentially introduce yourself to a new audience that has never heard of your company before. This is especially useful if you either have a startup or you’re trying to expand into some new markets.
Use Basic Branding Elements
Speaking of branding, you always want to do it if you’re not making strides in that direction yet. Branding involves creating a company logo and featuring it on your IG account, using the same color scheme over and over, using the same font, etc.
The more you make your brand stand out, the more your potential customers or clients will learn to associate you with the aesthetic you are cultivating. This is absolutely critical if you hope to gain traction in a crowded marketplace.
Run a Contest or Hold a Giveaway
People like contests. Giving your potential customer base a chance to win something is always a proven winner on any social media platform. You can either get them to engage with your brand by creating something and then offering a prize to the winning design, or else you can do a giveaway if you can come up with something desirable that you’re sure your customer base will clamor over.
Ideally, you want to collect contact information from everyone who enters. Failing that, you can instruct them to follow your brand on IG in order to be eligible for whatever it is you’re giving away.
Conduct Polls
You can also poll your audience. This is one of the best ways to get free marketing information from them.
If you can’t come up with a poll, create a quiz that they can take. Asking questions that you think will get a response can work as well. The idea is to get your followers to engage with you directly. By doing so, you’re normally two-way communication between your company and them.
Interact with as Many of Your Followers as You Can
You should also have someone running your IG account who knows how to engage with your followers. People want to communicate with each other on social media, and that includes interacting with the companies they’re following.
You can like and share content that your followers create. You should try to keep things light and friendly. Doing so is a virtually foolproof way to get a potential customer or client to like you. People on social media are often looking for validation, and that is something you can easily provide.
Respond to Comments and Messages
If someone contacts you directly, make sure to get back to them promptly. They might do so because they like one of your promotions, because they’re having a problem with one of your services or products, or for some other reason.
Whether they are interacting with you in a positive or negative fashion, you want to be equally responsive. This is a chance to either agree with someone or to correct a problem they’re having with your brand. Either way, you’re getting visibility out of it that others will notice.