Instagram has billions of users worldwide which make it the best platform you can really create a buzz on. The platform is not just for personal use; it’s getting updated with more business-specific features. This gives you an opportunity to build your brand on Instagram from scratch.
Apart from this, if your target audience is a group that responds well to visuals, for instance, beauty and makeup, travel, cooking, and fitness, then you can’t overlook the importance of Instagram. The beauty of using Instagram is that this platform isn’t reserved for particular types of brands. No matter what business you want to run, there’s an audience waiting for you.
Having said that, it requires some skills to stand out from the crowd and build a brand that has something unique to offer. Here are some strategies to help you build a brand on Instagram.
1. Optimize your Instagram Profile
Crafting your profile is equally important as everything else. You can follow these best practices to craft your profile :
- Profile Picture – The best practice is to use your brand logo as your profile photo so that people can easily find your brand.
- Account Name – Keep your company name as your account name to increase the chances of people finding you easily.
- Username – The same thing goes with the username. This also should be your business name.
- Bio – Often neglected, you can really capture the attention of your audience through Instagram bio. You can describe your business here or write your tagline.
2. Form an Effective Strategy
Like every other form of marketing, you have to be creative and strategic on Instagram. Build a strategy by considering the following elements :
- Your target audience – It’s the most important step as all of your efforts and posts will focus on your target audience. Apart from this, you can also figure what types of accounts you would be following.
- Plan your content – To gain more followers on Instagram and engage the existing ones, it’s vital to schedule your posts and post them regularly. You must form a plan regarding what you have to post, when, and how often.
- Self-assessment – Make sure you take out time to analyze the results of your efforts. Track all the comments, shares, followers, traffic, and change in sales, if any.
3. Select a theme for your posts
There are a lot of entrepreneurs who post about all the random stuff. Today they post about fitness, the next day’s marketing, and then about any popular trend. This might confuse your audience, and they will end up losing interest in your posts. To avoid this, you have to keep your main theme intact in every post. You can post different stuff online to bring freshness to your account but make sure you balance such posts.
Your branding should remain consistent in all your marketing efforts, so it doesn’t contradict the previous efforts you have made. The branding color, font, logo, and tag line should be the same in every post. Basically, you have to think about what will make your audience intrigued enough to follow you or buy your products.
4. Use apps instead of filters to improve your images
Gorgeous pictures are the key to success on Instagram. No hashtags, captions, or geotagging can save your brand if your images are not up to the mark. But do you know what’s worse than a bad picture? A worse filter to cover that bad picture. It’s a waste to salvage bad photos or ruin good photos with bad filters. You can download such apps that give a nice touch to your pictures, keeping everything natural. Also, it’s always best to retouch your pictures manually.
5. Never forget to hashtag
Brands can get discovered using hashtags. Learning how to efficiently use hashtags will help you in getting more engagement. It’s always wise to search and see what your competitors are using and whether it’s working for them. You can also see what hashtags your favorite accounts are using. The best hashtags are your product name, related industry, expertise, name of the event, or community.
6. Engage with Influencers
Perhaps, it is the most effective way to raise your following count on Instagram – engage with an influencer of your respective industry who already has a great following. Having an Influencer to promote your brand on Instagram can give it more credibility.
There are many ways to get connected to Influencers. You can tag them in your posts or contact them directly. Another technique is not entirely free but very effective. You can offer them a sample of your product or services, and this way, you’ll be offering value instead of just asking a favor.
7. Never forget the power of Instagram Ads
Nowadays, various types of Instagram ads are attracting brands with a budget of advertising. Sometimes a paid advertisement is all you need to pop up in your potential customer’s feed. Though this isn’t compulsory, you can stay ahead of your competitors with this technique.
8. Reply to the comments
Sure it’s not possible to reply to all of the comments for those of you having thousands of followers. But if you’re someone who gets a decent number of comments on their post for, say, 60 to 70, then it’s recommended to reply to all those comments. Not the trolls, of course. Even a simple “thank you,” or a short reply can work wonders for you. Engaging with your audience helps them connect with you and your brand and is key to success on Instagram.
9. Always create high-quality content
Many people are still unaware of the fact that high-quality content is crucial to stay relevant on Instagram. A few years back, it was relatively easy to grow on Instagram by posting any random pictures or content, but now Instagram algorithms have become strict, and you have to rethink your content strategy and come up with high-quality pictures and posts to stay relevant on Instagram.
It doesn’t mean the Instagram algorithm is restricting your business from growing. Still, it is focused on compelling you to work and create the best content for your audience. You can keep the following things in mind while planning your content strategy :
- It’s a good practice to share your brand’s beliefs and values. You can also share pictures of your workplace to let the audience connect with your brand.
- Post pictures of people using your products or services and their experiences.
- Try to avoid Googled pictures and post original photographs as much as you can.
- While photographing your product, be creative and think out of the box to find unique ways.
10. Always Write attractive captions
It’s crucial to write compelling captions to increase your reach among the audience. As mentioned earlier, reach and engagement are two main factors to get success on Instagram.
Here are some points you can consider:
- Always try to write the main words before. Suppose you’re writing a longer caption than 125 characters; in that case, followers will have to tap read more to see the whole caption. Write compelling words first to encourage that extra tap.
- To encourage people to leave a comment on your post, you can end your caption with a question.
- The best practice is to be creative with your caption length. If the image you’re posting is speaking for itself, go on with a short caption. But if your post demands in-depth storytelling, go for it as Instagram allows as long as 2200 characters for captions.
To Sum Up
Instagram is the best social media platform to give an inside peek into what your business is all about. The key is to maintain your brand tone and manner but tell stories that help people discreetly see your value.
Using these tips, you can create a successful strategy to make your brand Instafamous.
