10 Instagram Marketing Tips Your Brand Can Do

There are currently about 4,200,000,000 billion people who use the internet. The number of websites you can visit on the internet is 1.95 billion. the 6th most visited amongst those websites is Instagram.

Not only is this statistic impressive, but Instagram is also the 4th most used mobile app in the world.

Now, why does this matter? Well, that’s because this statistic means that over 1 billion people are using Instagram every month. That means exposure, and what’s exposure good for? Business.

But if you’re looking to sell your product online, why choose Instagram instead of all the other options like Amazon or eBay?

About 81% of people use Instagram to shop and view products, and 130 million people tap on shopping posts each month. That should already be a global alarm for marketers and advertisers to hop on Instagram to expand their product and get in on some of that engagement that Instagram will almost certainly guarantee.

With this, I’ve prepared 10 Instagram marketing tips for you to get your brand some engagement.

#1 Switch to a business profile

The first thing you must do once you start using Instagram is to change your profile into a business account.

Shifting to a business account will already grant you all you need to kickstart engagement and analytics, such as access to a button on your profile that customers can simply click on to contact you. A business account will also introduce you to Insights, Instagram’s feature that allows you to keep track of vital statistics you will need, such as how popular your posts are getting and how many people visit your profile.

You can go to a business account by going to your settings and clicking the switch to business profile.

#2 Optimize your profile.

Instagram is very superficial. In the cluster of social media, Instagram would be that fashionable and snobbish cousin.

This said, you must get the attention of Instagram users who have somewhat of an acquired taste for Instagram profiles.

So, you must think about how your profile looks when people click on it. Some tips that you can employ are:

Your username should neither be too long nor too short. It should not be more than 30 characters.
Attach necessary information such as location and contact number.
Have a personality by adding phrases or a short introduction about your business in your bio.
Your profile photo should be aptly designed and sharp.
Create story highlights so that visitors can see what you have been up to in the past.

#3 Find your people.

Audience is big on Instagram, and it does not make it hard to find a specific audience for you to cater your business to. Whether you use hashtags for the audience to find you, you may monitor your customers’ profiles and see the latest trends or maybe look into demographics. One such demographic would be people aged 35 and below, who make up 71% of Instagram users. Knowing that you will probably be dealing with Millenials and Gen-Z Populus, you can model your product and brand to fit their taste better.

You can even utilize Instagram Auto Audience, which allows your ads to target specific people according to demographics such as location and similar interests.

#4 Know your look.

Again, Instagram is very superficial. You have to impress people visually if you want any sort of relevance on the site.

Instagram offers a variety of ways to impress audiences with content such as stories, posts, reels, or IGTV. Yet, whatever you post or document should be treated with absolute care; it should have great lighting, the subjects are clear and stunning, and capture a story that users can invest in. People would also like it if your posts and stories captured the same vibe. Whether melancholic, tropical, or modernist, you may want to establish a running visual theme. All things that taking a photography class can grant you.

You should also consider studying how to edit videos and photos so that you may dazzle audiences with stunning images and videos they can’t help but rewatch.

#5 Hashtags to full effect.

Hashtags are your way of announcing yourself to a specific audience. By attaching the # symbol before any word or phrase, you will clutter yourself within that particular line of content, therefore, placing yourself in front of people who follow that hashtag.

However, you can’t just put every possible hashtag before posting because that would be counterintuitive and defeats the point. Hashtags are only supposed to carry identity and reach specific people who care. With this, brands are only said to use 3-9 hashtags in every post, just enough to create brand coverage but not appear overbearing.

Also, don’t just choose any hashtag. Use hashtags that are a niche to your product. The most used hashtags on Instagram are #love, #instagood, and #fashion. If you choose any of these hashtags, how do you expect to be seen if you’re going up against 2 billion other posts? Not to undermine your capabilities, but if you’re just a beginner, you might want to stay within a small crowd for now.

#6 Post at the right time.

Something about Instagram’s algorithm makes it predictable yet remains random enough that your posts will receive less engagement than expected. This is because you need to be aware of what time you post.

This needs a lot of studies, such as knowing what days of the week people are most active, knowing how your audience behaves, or how people from your region use Instagram.

This may be a heavy load to keep up with. Luckily, you can have AI or automated tools to research for you and allow your content to be posted at the exact best time every day.

#7 Use stories.

One of the best things you can do for your brand is to use Instagram stories. Users love and even trust stories so much that there are 500 million story users every day. It could even boost business because 62% of those users claim that they are more likely to be convinced to purchase from a brand or product if they saw it on an Instagram story.

Instagram stories create and revolve around the fear of missing out that is so prevalent on social media these days. Instagram stories are fleeting, disappearing after 24 hours upon posting. This creates urgency for your audience, knowing that whatever it is you post on your stories will be temporary and that it could be a sweet deal or a cool detail they want to let themselves in on.

However, you should post stories that can entice your audience, and you can do this by …

Making the most and making it quickly because stories last for about 10-15 seconds, and you need that first 3 seconds of engagement, so viewers don’t swipe left.
Post value. If you want users to click on your stories, it must be something that can benefit them.
Sometimes a video or a photo may not fully capture what you’re going for in your story, so edit a bunch of videos together, add some music, and make it look a short cinematic.
Engage with your audience by using the poll, questions, or quizzes.

#8 Use online graphic design tools

There are a lot of online graphic design tools right now, and they can help you automate some of your tasks. Not experienced enough to make stunning visuals for your Instagram? Don’t fret. A graphic design tool like Canva or Pixelied can become your one-stop hub to edit professional-looking images. You can add filters, change background, add texts, or use a template. The good news? Some of these tools are free.

#9 Instagram ads

Instagram ads are Instagram’s way of door-to-door marketing. Those who use Instagram ads can choose the location, age, budget, and gender so that you can guarantee that it reaches your target audience.

As I said in the beginning, exposure is good for business. Depending on the size of your account, you reach about 20% of the global population who are already 13 years old and above. That’s already pretty tempting, and lest I forget, it can also reach a potential of 53 million Instagram users.

If you are having a hard time thinking about making your ads, use an online tool to make your marketing life easier. An online editing tool can help you change background, add a new one, improve photo quality, and mix and match other images to create something that can convey your message to your audience.

#10 Instagram Shopping

Along with all the benefits a business profile could provide, perhaps the best one is the ability to set up an Instagram shop.

83% of people who use Instagram use Instagram for shopping, and that they find new business products and services every day.

You can help yourself be discovered by posting the link to your shop on stories or a post or that you add the view shop button on your profile.

In your shop, every detail your product needs can be exploited so that your users have no problem deciding whether to buy or not. Snap good looking of your products, write great descriptions, and include pricing.

#11 Influencer market

Creating relationships with Instagram influencers will take your brand to the next level because it boosts coverage and introduces your brand to a whole different variety of audiences that may be interested in you.

Moreover, it is found that half of daily Instagram users purchase products that influencers have advertised.

This is a rare win-win situation because you and your influencer can reach a whole different audience, essentially creating bonds of trust while expanding each other’s brand.

Instagram isn’t just a trend. It’s the future.

As we move into the future, it is estimated that 95% of all purchases will be done through eCommerce. This shows that the world is already gearing up to become a digitally-dominated utopia, with people already beginning to be used to balancing their gadget lives to their physical lives. Consider Instagram as your vessel as you enter the dynamic world of digital marketing, and surely it’s a vessel that is here to stay.

Author’s Bio:

Shelly is a digital marketer specializing in SaaS SEO, guest post outreach, and content marketing. She is the co-founder and CEO of SaaSLaunchr, which conducts monthly collaborative blog outreach campaigns proven to increase monthly organic traffic of participating SaaS companies.