Instagram Marketing in 8 Simple Steps

Do your Instagram posts help you achieve your business objectives? Are you looking for a more effective way to market your business on Instagram?

This article will teach you how to improve your marketing by implementing eight actions that will help you achieve your business goals.

#1: Plot Instagram Posts to Align With Your Marketing Plan and Goals

Instagram should be an important part of your company’s marketing strategy, working in tandem with your content, email, and other social media marketing efforts. Begin by reviewing your company’s marketing calendar and brainstorming relevant Instagram content for each initiative to develop an effective Instagram marketing strategy.

Are you organizing a seasonal event or launching a new product? Plan out your Instagram content for each stage of the process, from teasers to announcements to collaborations. You can create an Instagram calendar on a whiteboard, spreadsheet, or collaborative platform that works best for your team.

Make a note of the goal for each post as you add content ideas to your marketing calendar. This way, you can ensure that your Instagram strategy is in line with your marketing objectives. Your objectives could, for example, be as follows:

Increasing awareness of your company or its products or services
Increasing the number of people who interact with your content
Increasing website traffic from your bio or Instagram stories

#2: Adjust Your Instagram Posting Schedule as You Grow

Should you post every day, a few times per day, or only a few times per week? The frequency with which you post on Instagram is critical to your Instagram strategy. Naturally, you want to post enough content to generate results while not overwhelming your audience or receiving negative feedback.

According to Later’s research, the size of your account determines the appropriate posting frequency. In general, small accounts should publish a couple of times per day, while large accounts with 250,000 followers or more should post about once per week.

The timing of when you publish content is also important. When you post content while your audience is online, they are more likely to see and interact with it.

To see when your followers are online, go to Instagram Insights and select Total Followers. Scroll down to see what day of the week and time of day your followers are most likely to be online. After that, incorporate those times into your regular posting schedule.

Although you can post at the moment, you can save time by planning your Instagram content ahead of time. You can schedule content in both Facebook Business Suite and Creator Studio, allowing you to always publish at the best time.

#3: Modify Your Organic Content Mix to Reflect Your Audience’s Shifting Demographics and Preferences

Once you’ve decided what kind of content to post, the next step is to figure out how to position it effectively on Instagram. It is critical to ensure that the content you post resonates with your target audience to achieve your objectives.

Open the app, tap the Insights dashboard, and then select Total Instagram followers to learn more about your audience. You can see gender, age range, city, and country breakdowns, giving you a complete picture of your account’s demographics.

If you’ve already posted some content on Instagram, you can look at the Insights dashboard to see who has seen your posts in their feed. Tap Accounts Reached for a demographic breakdown and a better understanding of who you’re reaching out to. Keep an eye on this breakdown over time to ensure you’re always producing content that people want to read.

Even if you’re looking for new content ideas, you can look back at previous posts to see what worked well in the past and what to avoid in the future. Scroll to the bottom to see the most popular content. Then, tap Accounts Engaged and scroll down to see the top content based on likes and replies.

Make a list of the posts that performed the best. Do you think your target audience prefers lifestyle or product photography? Were they more receptive to feed posts or stories? What type of copy received the most likes and comments?

Instagram may have begun as a photo-sharing platform, but the social media app is much more than just feed posts. When it comes to maximizing your Instagram reach and optimizing your results, it’s critical to investigate all of the options Instagram provides. Include the following types of content in your Instagram strategy:

Photos: You can create compelling feed posts with single images or carousels of up to ten photos.
Videos: With the demise of IGTV, you can now upload videos to your feed that range in length from a few seconds to 60 minutes.
Reels: As Instagram’s short-form video option, reels are ideal for sharing authentic content to a dedicated tab in your profile.
Live: You can go live from the Instagram app or schedule a live event up to 90 days in advance to communicate directly with your audience.
Stories: Although they only last 24 hours, they are ideal for sharing exclusive behind-the-scenes content or reposts from your followers.
Highlights from Stories: You can save stories to your profile by making a highlight album that is permanently pinned to the top of your Instagram feed.

Maintain a Consistent Style as Your Content Mix Changes

Because Instagram is a photo and video-based social media platform, business accounts must develop a visual style. A consistent style, in addition to defining your brand, makes it simple for followers to identify and engage with your company’s content.

There’s no need to create an entirely new look for Instagram. Instead, your brand’s Instagram style should be consistent with your visual identity on your website and other marketing materials.

Your Instagram style, for example, may include a specific set of fonts, colors, perspectives, or aesthetics. For consistency, you can even apply the same filter to your content.

The @mirohq Instagram account has a distinct graphic style, as shown in the example below. All content, from photos to videos to reels, uses bright colors and branded fonts. The posts are easily identifiable, letting followers know they’re interacting with the digital whiteboard brand.

#4: Keep Your Instagram Copy Focused on Your End Goal

Whatever type of content you post, the visual aspect is only one component of the equation. Effective captions, text overlays, and live scripts—collectively known as Instagram copy—are required to compel your audience to act after viewing your content.

The way you write Instagram copy is determined by your target audience, your company’s style guide, and your objectives. Consider how your followers sound, how your brand voice sounds, and what you hope to achieve. Calls to action (CTAs) in Instagram copy can be used to prompt your audience to:

Leave a comment to get to know your followers and build a community.
To assist your market research, answer a question about their preferences.
Pose a question to you in order to script a live video or generate content ideas.
Swipe left to see all of your carousel’s photos or videos.
Look for tagged products to browse or buy from your Instagram shop.
To visit your website or eCommerce store, click the link in your bio or story.

For example, this @klaviyo post encourages followers to swipe left to see highlights from the email marketing platform’s Black Friday report by using both the caption and a hand icon. The caption also encourages followers to access the full report by tapping the link in the account’s bio.

The reel below by @shannonmckinstrie also employs visual cues to entice viewers to act. The text overlay encourages viewers to read the caption, which contains five practical tips for finding clients on Instagram. Furthermore, the caption asks viewers which tip they intend to try first, which is a great way to increase engagement.

#5: Amplify Instagram Reach With Hashtags

Hashtags are essential for driving discovery and increasing the reach of your Instagram content. Users on Instagram can follow hashtags to see specific themes, and they can also find your content by searching for hashtags.

You can use up to 30 hashtags in feed posts and reels, and up to 10 in stories, giving you a plethora of options. So, where do you begin?

Make it a habit to include at least one branded hashtag in each post to help your account gain traction. Then, include any relevant campaign hashtags as well as a mix of industry, descriptive, location, and viral hashtags.

You can find hashtags to use by entering keywords into the Instagram search bar and scrolling through the results. The app automatically counts the total number of times the hashtag has been used, allowing you to quickly determine whether it is popular or obscure.

To find more inspiration, type a hashtag into the search bar and swipe left to see the most popular content. Then, tap on some of the most popular posts to see what hashtags they’re using.

You can also use third-party apps to identify trending hashtags and track their virality over time. This way, you can be certain that you select Instagram hashtags that are most likely to increase your reach.

#6: Supplement Organic Instagram Content With Influencer and User-Generated Content

You might be able to create the majority of your brand’s Instagram content in-house. However, you are not required to produce all of it. Instead, you might be able to obtain high-quality photos and videos from other creators, such as customers and influencers. User-generated content (UGC) and influencer content both have the potential to improve any brand’s Instagram content strategy.

These types of content may be even more effective than the images and videos created by your team. For many consumers, user-generated content (UGC) is an important factor in their purchasing decisions. That means incorporating user-generated content (UGC) into your content strategy could completely transform your Instagram results.

You’ll need a simple workflow for collecting and crediting UGC if you want to post customer-created photos and videos in your Instagram feed. For example, you can search for UGC using branded hashtags and mentions and then direct message (DM) the original creators to obtain permission to share their content.

You can also share fan-created posts, stories, and reels directly to Instagram Stories, crediting the original creator. For example, the @evernote story below includes user-generated content (UGC) from customer @annavatuone. The original story mentions the note-taking app in response to an interactive question, and Evernote’s story serves as social proof by amplifying the original creator’s content.

Instead, use Instagram’s Paid Partnership tool to establish official business relationships with influential customers. This tool allows your brand and the influencers with whom you collaborate to disclose their relationship, and it allows approved partners to tag your account in branded content.

Do you want to include influencer content in your Instagram advertisements? The Branded Content tool on the platform can also secure permission for paid campaigns.

#7: Fast-Track Results With Instagram Ads

In some cases, you may be able to meet your Instagram marketing objectives solely through organic content. However, if you want to build your brand and generate revenue quickly, Instagram advertising is a good option.

To begin, boost top-performing content directly from the Instagram app. Use Instagram Insights to find your best content, then tap Boost Post to expand its reach. Then select a goal, such as more profile visits, website visits, or DMs; create a target audience; and set a budget.

Create a campaign in Facebook Ads Manager for more complex goals such as lead generation or eCommerce sales. You can run ads on Instagram, Facebook, and the Audience Network, or you can create custom creatives for high-performing placements such as Reels and Stories.

The @falconio ad below, for example, makes use of a creative that is optimized for story placements. The ad uses eye-catching graphics and minimal copy to entice users to swipe up and visit the social media management platform’s website.

If you’re new to Instagram ads, start with a low budget, such as $100. Conduct a test campaign to determine the average cost per thousand impressions (CPM), cost per click (CPC), and cost per result. Use these initial results as a baseline, and then experiment with new creatives, audiences, or placements to see what you can achieve with a larger budget.

#8: Make Consumer Purchases Simple With Instagram Shopping Tools

If your company sells products online, you should incorporate Instagram’s shopping tools into your content. Connect your brand’s Facebook page and upload a product catalog in Facebook Commerce Manager to use them. Then, in the Instagram app, go to your account settings and select Business. To finish the process, tap Set Up Instagram Shopping.

After you enable this feature, users will be able to access your eCommerce catalog via the View Shop button in your Instagram profile. You can also tag products in your photos and stories, allowing customers to begin shopping right away.

Do you want to encourage your followers to buy from your company but don’t offer eCommerce? You can link out from Stories in addition to adding a clickable link in your bio. Make a story and then add a link sticker from the sticker tray to it. Then, to increase clicks, use the text customization option to add a CTA to the sticker.

Conclusion

Whether you want to focus on organic or paid results, a well-thought-out Instagram content strategy is essential for achieving your marketing objectives. You can create a successful Instagram strategy for your business by following these steps, which include planning your calendar, selecting the right content, and budgeting for ads.

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