In just six years, Instagram has grown to over 300 million active users and more are joining every day. There’s a massive demand for image-based content.
Image sharing is no longer just between friends. Major brands, celebrities and other influencers are using Instagram to engage highly motivated target audiences.
But finding success takes more than simply posting photos to image. Here are seven easy tips for Instagram success:
1. Set Clear Goals
Develop a clear plan from what you want out of Instagram. Without a clear goal, you can easily waste opportunities. Plus, clear goals make it easy to measure results.
Brand awareness is a common goal. The image-based format works especially well for showcasing physical products such as appliances, clothing and food.
Instagram can also drive sales. Many marketers overlook this goal, but you can definitely use the platform to increase purchases. For instance, you can post images advertising a limited time sale, or even an Instagram-only discount.
2. Make it Easy to Connect with Your Site
Don’t use Instagram in a vacuum. Instead, always focus on driving your Instagram traffic into your Conversion Funnel.
If someone is interested in your brand, you want to make it easy for them to find out more. Add a link or call-to-action to your page. The best place is in your biography.
3. Make Your Account Public
Your business profile needs to be set to public. Private icons for brands cause people to move along. If your profile is set to private, you’ll have to approve each follower, which is obviously very time consuming.
To check your profile’s status, click on Edit Your Profile. This located below your profile picture.
4. Avoid Duplicates
Instagram can be fickle. If you re-post content often, users are likely to turn on you. Generally speaking, Instagram users want to be entertained. Fresh, new content is always viewed the most.
Vary up the type of content as well. Try to include a nice mixture of photos, videos, memes and quotes.
5. Respond to Comments (as Fast as You Can)
Even a simple “thank you” does a lot to increase engagement. Positive customer interactions are great for two reasons:
- They increase the personal connection between you and your customers.
- They help increase your ranking in the search engines.
Google prefers content which is popular and active. Lots of comments and interactions on your Instagram indicate the type of popularity Google likes. They’re a user engagement metric.
6. Pick Quality Over Quantity
High effort content is rewarded on Instagram with lots of views. Aside from avoiding reposts, you also want to avoid low effort, low quality posts.
Don’t feel you need to post every day. Even posting just two videos a month and an image or two a week can have big benefits.
7. Use Hashtags
Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags, but you probably don’t want to use that many. At the absolute most, I use about eight hashtags.
Instagram users will turn on you if you use hashtags improperly. Nobody wants to be treated like a marketing demographic. Proper use of relevant hashtags shows that you understand Instagram culture.
Along these same lines, always be aware of what’s popular on Instagram. You want to connect with positive trends as they appear. Direct relevancy is best. Avoid any hashtags which are too big of a stretch to connect to your message. That’ll will appear inauthentic.
Instagram offers a ton of opportunity to connect with a large audience. You want to publish a consistent stream of video and images, and connect to the larger Instagram audience.
