If you aren’t quite sure how to use Instagram, more than half of American 18-to-29 year olds could show you – that’s how many are Instagramming everything from their morning latte to a night out with friends.
That kind of targeted market saturation is something advertisers once only dreamed of. So how can you use that particular spotlight to your advantage?
Figure out what you want your ‘grammers to do, approach them in the right way, and show respect for the artistic spirit of the platform. Here’s how to make it happen:
Know Your Goals Going In
No one likes a blog that rambles on, a product description that never gets to the point, or a social media post that veers off the mark.
Because Instagram in particular is built off of a virtually never-ending stream of abbreviated images and content, you’ll need to work hard to capture and hold the attention of your fans.
For clarity’s sake, it’s best to choose a single motivation from three basic ‘paths’ : building brand awareness and saturation, increasing interaction on a download or program, or driving customers to a website.
When you know what your goal is going into your ad design, your intention will come through and Instagram viewers will be more likely to follow your lead, rather than swiping away.
Got a phrase native to your company or want to hop the bandwagon on a trend? Don’t be shy about hashtags: they’re the creative, searchable fuel that feeds Instagram’s alluring fire. Just don’t overdo it.
Choose Your Weapon
You’ll also need to choose the best Instagram medium for your message: a still photo, a short video or a “carousel” of images that require viewer interaction to progress.
No matter which style you choose, make sure you’re up-to-date on the required specifications for an Instagram advertisement; you’re not going to rack up those valuable likes with a non-ironically blurred photo or a poorly-edited video.
If you don’t have suitable in-house media to pair with your ads, it might be worth staging a mini-photoshoot or investing in a clean backdrop for a few product snaps. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but you only have 2,200 characters to explain it, so make sure your visuals are up to par.
The cost of Instagram ads is reasonably low, ROI-wise, but only if you aren’t forced to constantly go back in and redeploy after fixing poorly-optimized photos and videos.
Make Use of Targeting
When marketing on social media platforms like Instagram, backend specialty features usually arise for one of two reasons: customers are clamoring for it, or clients are demanding it.
Targeting is one of those rare features that took shape from both. The ability to narrow your audience focus to users that are more likely to appreciate your message is priceless, and a one-way ticket to phenomenal content marketing ROI.
Don’t be shy about exploring this feature: it will not only help the ads you’re putting up today, it will help inform the ones you’ll be putting up later, as well. Engaged customers make for more accurate course-corrections, which in turn informs better overall conversion.
Instagram is a powerful tool for increasing brand awareness, reach, and engagement, but only if it’s done correctly!
Make your format as clear as your message and you can look forward to a successful marketing stint on this image-driven social media platform – and that’s some #Instagood truth.
Delaney is a quality writer at WriterAccess who is Inbound certified. Learn more about her extensive qualifications and how our platform can help you when hiring bloggers.
