With growing technology comes new and optimized social media platforms. These platforms are modified daily to keep up with the rapid technological advances we see today.
Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms and is an exceptional app. When used correctly in alignment with its updates and trends, it can help a business grow and excel.
Here are our top five tips and tricks to help your business achieve impactful marketing success.
#1 Create more videos
The digital landscape is changing, and so is Instagram. What was once a place of selfies and cat memes has changed drastically. Awareness of changing trends keeps your marketing from getting left behind.
Take it from the head of Instagram himself, Adam Mosseri. He says, “We’re no longer a photo-sharing app or a square photo-sharing app.”
If pictures are no longer the optimal way to capture audience attention, should you post videos instead? The answer is yes.
It is now known that the most effective way to share videos is not through posts, but instead through reels and carousels. This is because reels and carousels bring the highest engagement time giving Instagram more time to push ads out to their users resulting in more sweet cash. The bottom line is, videos are the future of Instagram and aren’t going away anytime soon, so you should get out there and put your creative mind to work!
#2 Have a posting schedule
Imagine your favorite TV show, The Office, let’s say, has no schedule for when its newest episode is going to air. It could air in the next hour or the next month, but there’s no set arrival leading you to say, “Eh I’ll just watch Friends.” This is more or less what’s happening when you post on Instagram. By not having a posting schedule, your audience could miss out on important information regarding your brand as well as company updates. Not only that but without a posting schedule, you’re more likely to have inconsistency in your posts, possibly going weeks without posting because you have no deadline or just flat-out forget. Having a schedule for everything is important and Instagram is no exception.
Optimize your bio
Think of your Instagram bio as sort of your first impression. If you do not correctly format your bio, it can potentially off-put a future client or customer just as a bad first impression could scare away a future friend.
A satisfactory Instagram bio should explain the meat of your company as well as why you’re worth following. Your bio is your sales pitch as to what you do and how you can potentially help the person reading. As we all know, these first impressions are vital in future interactions where a good first impression can result in a new client or purchase, and a bad first impression can result in that person not wanting to associate with your company due to your unprofessional demeanor. All in all, by the time the person is done reading your bio they should concisely understand what you do, who you do it for, and why you’re worth following. With this information, you should be able to create the best first impression that is the catalyst for the overall growth of your business.
Have linearity in your posts
Imagine you went to watch Animal Planet, the beloved documentary series about wild animals and domestic pets, and instead of seeing a chimpanzee in the wild it was footage of a tamed pet chimpanzee playing the drums… stay with me here. Although they’re still filming an animal, it doesn’t follow the linearity or theme of being in the wild.
When posting on Instagram, the last thing you want to do is confuse your audience about your overall goals and purpose. Although this sounds very obvious, many companies fail to use this tip and will post things that aren’t directly related to their company’s intentions. Before posting you should ask yourself, will this post help inform my audience about the goal of my company and lead my audience to think about my business in a positive and informative light?
Utilizing trends for your Instagram reels
While using popular trends whether it be trending concepts, videos, or hashtags seems obvious, many companies tend to overlook the benefits of it. There are many great examples of companies taking advantage of trends such as Chipotle and Burger King which not only gets their reach out to more people but also a wider variety of people. These interesting and trendy videos are what people like to enjoy watching, and it adds a lot more character and liveliness to your company than a regular social media ad would. Not only that, but social media apps favor trending videos and could send yours out to more people without even having to pay for an ad!
There’s much more research that goes into social media marketing than a person might originally think. Learning some tips and tricks for these platforms can be beneficial in growing your business, as well as creating a diverse audience who will want to follow and stay up to date with what’s going on. It’s time to take advantage of these tips and tricks and see some real progress with your social media marketing!
Need additional strategic help when it comes to social or content strategy? We’d love to chat with you. Feel free to book a free strategy call with us now!
