Building a brand has become a popular topic to tackle over the last few years. With the surge in the importance and popularity of content marketing, it is no surprise that both aspiring entrepreneurs and veterans are talking about LinkedIn marketing, Facebook marketing and android Facebook analytics, YouTube marketing and YouTube cards, and so forth. If you’ve recognized the value of content marketing to further your brand, this article is for you. We will talk about Instagram marketing and actionable tips you can use to get started.
Why use Instagram?
Here are a few compelling reasons for you to get started with Instagram marketing:
Your competition and target audience are on Instagram
Instagram hosts millions of users worldwide, which means you are bound to find your target audience if you look hard enough. This also means you have to compete with other influencers, brands, and content creators in your niche. If you are a marketer worth your salt, you will check in on your competitors to see what they are up to so that you can up your game and get the results you want.
Given the sheer amount of choice online, it is no surprise that consumers are more discriminant about what they choose to go with, than ever before. In other words, they will compare you to your competitors and choose the best deal they can get. Getting on Instagram helps you boost your brand awareness.
Getting new hires is a breeze
You cannot expect employees to work for you long-term. They are likely to leave your company sooner or later, which is why you need to be on the lookout for new hires. While LinkedIn is the best platform for this, you can find people on Instagram to work for you as designers, video editors, content writers, copywriters, and so on.
Instagram users looking for work tend to put their content out with their profiles made public. The added benefit of getting on Instagram as a brand is that potential employees get a glimpse of how your business works and can decide to join if they want. This saves you a lot of time and effort that you would otherwise have to spend on interviewing candidates.
You can Collaborate with other Influencers
Instagram allows you to forge business relationships with other businesses, personal brands, and content creators. You can collaborate with other influencers and expose your content to an entirely new audience. Navigating the world of business and marketing as a lone wolf is not a winning strategy.
You can keep your reputation intact
Viral news creates interest, and people seem to take such information as gospel. Negative reviews and false news can tarnish your brand’s reputation. Learning how to manage your reputation online is just as important as building it. Since everybody is online, you need to be visible on every social media platform, and especially Instagram.
You can drive more traffic to your website or channel
Posting content on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms to drive heaps of traffic to your website is an effective marketing strategy.
How do you set up and optimize your Instagram account?
Here are the steps to build an attractive Instagram profile:
Set up your account with the essentials
Download and open the app, enter your email address, or login using Facebook. Enter your username, and make sure it is the same on other social media platforms to avoid confusion. Upload a high-quality image of your brand logo as your profile picture. This helps people identify your account immediately.
In the profile section, change your account from personal to business. You can add a URL to the website section. Enter the link to your website or channel that you want people to visit. Besides the profile picture, you need to have a concise bio that clearly explains what your company stands for and offers.
Get followers
The next step is to amass as many followers as possible. If you’ve already established yourself as a business, get old clients to follow you on Instagram. Look for the best service to build an email list and email old clients and current prospects, asking them to follow you and share your profile and content on their respective newsfeeds.
Produce lots of valuable content
Valuable content is the pillar of your online success. Content is king because it can be used to educate visitors, promote products, services, and your brand, drive visitor action, and increase traffic to your page. Can’t afford to pay for ads? Make more content. Want more followers? Make more content. Want more conversions? Make more content.
For Instagram, produce high-quality images and videos with the most important part of your message embedded in the image or video. Use good equipment and film your content in natural lighting.
Add captions to your posts
The image or video is one of half the equation. Supplementing it with a compelling caption can create a lot of interest. Some topics and concepts need substantial explanations, which is what captions are for. Be sure to add a Call-to-Action (CTA) at the end of the caption.
Instagram Stories are your friend
Instagram stories serve as an excellent alternative to news feeds if you want to post a lot of content without spamming your followers’ news feeds. Furthermore, Instagram stories last for 24 hours, which means you can take creative risks and announce sales and promotions with a sense of urgency. If you want to save your Instagram stories, you can add them to your highlights and have people check them out later.
Conclusion
There you have it – there are a bunch of reasons to join Instagram and make the best of this platform to further your brand. The reasons mentioned here are the main ones. While Instagram does have its disadvantages, it brings a lot to the table and is worth your time and money.
