How exactly to Produce a Powerful Instagram Social Media Marketing Strategy

One of the very most powerful marketing tools marketers have today is social media. From Facebook posts to tweets on Twitter, sharing your products or services on social networking platforms is a superb way to improve brand awareness, engagement, sales and leads.

However, many individuals are left scratching their heads as it pertains to marketing with Instagram.

Many of us use Instagram as your own account to create photos of our family, friends, vacations and food - but how manages to do it tie into business? And should it?

With the speed of which Instagram is growing, don't underestimate its value to enhance your brand and marketing efforts.

It has grown into an incredibly valuable marketing platform and even although the 18-29 year old's continue to be prevalent users, the bigger age brackets are catching on and catching up fast.

Some 2018 Instagram stats from Sprout Social are telling:

• 7 out of 10 hashtags on Instagram are branded

• 80% of users follow a business on Instagram

• 65% of top-performing Instagram posts feature products

Should you feel the tug to explore Instagram as part of your social networking marketing strategy, check out these initial pointers to help you get started:

1. Use Hashtags Wisely

That you do not have to cram every hashtag you can consider in one single post, however, you do need at least a few.

A hashtag could be the # sign followed closely by descriptive words about your image as in this example, I used #marketing and #ctaconf, that was the conference I was attending at the time.

When a person clicks/taps on a hashtag or types a hashtag to the search box, it brings up all images that use that hashtag. The user may even contribute to continue to check out that hashtag.

The hope is an individual might find your photo, check out your profile and best-case scenario, follow you and get engaged with more of your posts!

However, when hashtags are extremely popular, the competition to show up in the outcome is fierce. Much like SEO keywords, the very popular a term is, the harder it is to keep at the top of the search results. Thus, my example of using #marketing to be real futile if I wanted to have any traction from that post.

You wish to make your hashtags strongly related your business and location, but additionally engaging enough that a person would type them into Instagram's search box. upload reel to instagram from mac

For example:

• Say you've a pizza joint in Vancouver. You post a picture of your Pepperoni pizza with the hashtags #VancouversBestPizza #NicolosRestaurant #DeliciousDeepDish

• Or you're a Toronto wedding planner. You post an image of a bride and groom's first dance with the hashtags #TorontoWeddingPlanner #LoveWins #WinterWedding

Holidays and special events are a great time to promote your business and gain Instagram followers. Whether it's a sale on Black Friday, a Thanksgiving-related use for the product or even a product shout-out on National Dog Day, they're all ideal opportunities to showcase your business brand in a non-salesy way.

2. Thank Your Audience for Showing Up

That you do not just post a number of photos and hashtags and wait for the likes to roll in.

To achieve Instagram followers, engage with your audience and grow sales or leads, you need to put in the time.

See an example here from video expert Michele Moreno where she responds back once again to all the comments left on her behalf video post.

So if someone leaves a remark or question on among your posts, take the time to reply and thank them/answer their question.

Take a peek at their profile, and if you prefer everything you see, follow them.

Businesses often follow commenters first, in the hopes that they may return the favour.

You can also look for folks who might be thinking about your product, then comment on the photos and/or follow them, but don't spam them with an ask to check out you right away.

3. Interact with the Right Influencers

Influencers are Instagram users who will influence your target market for their popularity and/or social networking following.

Danielle Bernstein is a good example of an influencer who caused a brand. You may not recognize her name, but the 1.8 million followers of her Instagram account WeWoreWhat do.

Bernstein and FIJI Water worked together to create BodyWoreWhat, an advertising campaign offering 8-minute workout videos with her and her personal trainer.

That could be a severe example, and if you have deep pockets you most likely won't be able to attract an influencer with almost two million followers.

But don't despair. From mommy bloggers to local foodies, you can always find an individual who your target market follows, likes or admires. Maybe they'd be willing to review your product or have a photo utilizing it - use your imagination!

4. Don't Just Shill Your Products

Instagram is not the place to simply share product shots all of the time. Consider the ability people have using what you're offering, or the huge benefits it provides people.

Better still, show real-examples. Seeking user-generated content from your own audience is one way to do this. Meaning that users share their photos employing a hashtag you provide.

The web furniture store Wayfair.com does user-generated content very well. They've a user-generated campaign that lets customers share photos of these stylish Wayfair-filled homes using the hashtag #WayfairAtHome.

Make sure you let people realize that their images could be featured on your page and you can increase your Instagram content big time - free of charge!

No matter how you use Instagram for your business, be authentic and true to your brand. It's what the platform is focused on, and it's going to help you grow your business, gain Instagram followers and attract sales or leads.

Susan Friesen, founder of the award-winning web development and digital marketing firm eVision Media, is really a Web Specialist, Business & Marketing Consultant. r. She works with entrepreneurs who struggle with having the possible lack of knowledge, skill and support needed to create their online business presence.