A picture is worth a thousand words. With this in mind, Instagram's increasing popularity is not
unexpected. Even if the network is still behind Facebook according to the Number of users, engagements on Instagram are more frequent and the users more connected.
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How does your brand fit into this?
More than any other social network, Instagram can help you raise your brand awareness and help you
create a loyal number of followers you can easily convert into customers. Though great content you can improve your reach on the World Wide Web, no matter if business is selling dresses, fixing AC units or kitchen remodeling.
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Many companies tend to neglect Instagram as an advertising platform in favor of Facebook or even
Twitter. Thats where they are wrong!
In this article, we are going to give you teach you how to create a loyal following through great visuals, interaction and thought-out content.
Visual Appeal
If you plan on selling a product or raising brand awareness through Instagram, the first thing you need to develop is a great visual appeal.
Instagram is more personal than any other social network, and this has to reflect in your images as well.
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Stock photography won't cut it on Instagram. You have to come up with a way to give your images a
personal touch, something that will set your brand apart from the competition.
The content you share also has to be valuable to a user. Create images that inspire by using inspirational quotes or post infographics to provide some fun facts
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But most importantly, be authentic. Nobody will follow your brand if you simply copy everything from a competitor. A little insight into how competition is handling their campaign is a good thing, but to really stand out you have to provide fresh, authentic and unique content.
Get the Timing Right
Timing is just as important on Instagram as it is on any other social network. Some days are better than others in that your posts will get more views and engagement. For Instagram, Monday and Thursday have proven to be in the lead.
Similarly, the time of day you post can make all the difference. Generally, 8 to 9 in the morning and 5 in the afternoon are the best times to share your content.
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With 600 million users and over a 100,000 posts shared each minute, timing is crucial in breaking
through to a larger audience.
#Hashtags and @mentions
Hashtags and mentions are the staples of every effective Instagram marketing campaign. Both can help you reach a bigger audience and more importantly, get the audience interested in your products. With a good hashtag strategy, your post can go a long way. The optimal number of hashtags per post should be three to four. Avoid hashtag stuffing since it can make your post look generic. Make sure to add a geolocation so you can reach the audience searching for or within your area. Before posting, do a little competition analysis to see which hashtags they are using. Base you content on the most popular hashtags in your niche, as well as trending hashtags. Finally, make sure to mention anyone involved in your post, as this can help double your engagement.
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Track Your Traffic
Traffic tracking on Instagram is as important as it is for your website. Sadly, Google Analytics cannot track conversions the same way on Instagram. That's why you have to be resourceful!
You can track the traffic by introducing a shortened URL and tracking it through Google Analytics. That way you'll know how much traffic Instagram has directed to your site. By tracking everything that happens on your profile, you'll get a better picture of what types of posts work with your audience and what posts don't. This way you will begin to notice patterns, trends and plan your futuremarketing steps accordingly.
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Use Tools
The main reason why many marketing experts don't use Instagram is because it does not provide them with the right tools. Instagram was designed with people not brands inmind, although that is rapidly changing. However, there are tons of useful apps that can help you improve your Instagram game. For example, Repost lets you regram other people's images. Regraming pictures from your followers is a nice way of encouraging your followers to interact with you by spreading the word about your brand and mentioning you in their posts. Twtrland is another handy tool that can help you with competitor research. While it started out solely focused on Twitter, the app added Facebook and Instagram analytics as well. This app can help you view how often your competitors post, how much engagement they are getting, what are their most popular posts, etc.
Developing your brand's identity on Instagram is a good way to stay ahead of you competitors,
as this network has yet to reach its full marketing potential in the coming days. Being the first to use this resource towards advertising your products and services can, therefore, be extremely beneficial. If you follow all the tips we provided, your Instagram game is going to be on spot and deliver tons of great results!