9 Effective Tips to Improve Your Instagram Marketing Strategy

Instagram is a versatile platform with impressive advertising potential. Considering that Instagram has a whopping 1 billion monthly active users, you cannot undermine the marketing potential of this platform. Rather than limiting its use to mindlessly scrolling through Reels, you can use a powerful Instagram marketing strategy to attract new customers and grow your online presence. Whether your target audience is teenagers or middle-aged, it is a popular platform with widespread users. 

Regarding content style and advertising demographics, Instagram differs from other social media platforms. Therefore, the social media outreach strategies that have proven successful for Facebook won’t necessarily work effectively on Instagram. 

If you don’t have an Instagram account for your business, or you have neglected to create consistent content for the platform, consider this your wake-up call. Your competitors are probably creating marketing content for Instagram, and so should you. 

In this post, we’re summarizing our top tips to improve your Instagram marketing strategy.

1. Switch to a Business Profile

First and foremost, if you’re still using a Personal Instagram Profile, switch to a Business Profile. Switching to a Business Profile is extremely useful for your online presence, from adding a contact button to accessing your insights. With a Business Profile, you will access additional features that aren’t available for a regular account.

2. Dial Back the Promotion

You made an Instagram profile with the apparent intention of promoting your products. But don’t lead with a product-centric approach when planning your strategy. Exclusively promoting your product can be off-putting for your followers and not great for your Instagram marketing plan. Mix it up with humorous, motivational, or informative posts.

Instagram is heavily influenced by pop culture, and you need to take this into account when curating posts. Whether there is a new trend or a viral meme, make sure you participate to become a part of the conversation.

3. Utilize Analytics

Insights should play a significant factor in determining your Instagram marketing decisions. With a Business Profile, you have access to Insights. You can view a range of analytics, from the breakdown of your key demographic to impressions. Using these free tools, you can analyze how audiences interact with your content. 

You can also determine the success or failure of various campaigns. If a particular campaign isn’t driving results, looking at insights will help you decide whether it should be scrapped. 

4. Come Up with a Posting Schedule

Typically, brands post once or twice a day or every other day. Posting once a month is not ideal if you want to keep your followers interested and gain new ones. You must also find the best days and times to post your content. Ideally, your content calendar should be planned for up to one month in advance. 

5. Sponsored Posts

There is an abundance of content created every day on social media platforms. Moreover, Instagram’s algorithm no longer shows posts in chronological order. Because of these two factors, your content may not even be viewed by your target audience. With Sponsored posts or ads on Instagram, you can make your content visible on the feeds of target people, even if they don’t follow your account. 

6. Create Stories & Reels

While it’s not a best practice to post more than once or twice a day on your feed, Instagram has another feature called ‘Stories,’ where you can dispatch more frequently, even multiple times in a day. Instagram Stories don’t have to be as formal as posts, from sharing your twist of a viral meme to Monday motivation. No matter your niche, there are many Instagram story ideas to include in your marketing content.  Instagram Reels is another feature that mimics the incredibly popular app, TikTok. It’s fun to hop on trends and create entertaining or informative content for your audiences. Both should be taken into consideration when deciding on your Instagram marketing strategy. Make sure you get your Instagram video sizes and formats down before setting out to create your content. That way, you can be sure that it is optimized for the format you desire. 

Moreover, Instagram Stories allows you to create interactive content. From polls to Q&As, several tools are at your disposal to invite follower engagement. 

Plus, did you know that you could create your own filters? Instagram filters are effects that are layered over any real-time camera image. Making an exclusive Instagram filter for your brand is a way to get your brand noticed. 

7. Collaborate with Influencers

Instagram is a modern form of media that has given rise to social media celebrities. While mainstream celebrities have significant followers, social media stars boast dedicated followers keen to emulate their lifestyle. So, if an Instagram influencer uses a particular skincare brand, their followers will likely be interested in learning more about it. 

A single mention of your product by a social media influencer can be highly beneficial for your business. Apart from sending PR packages to relevant influencers, you should also consider collaborating with them. You can ask them to post content promoting your products and further your reach. 

8. Plan Your Feed

Instagram is a visual platform. So an aesthetically pleasing feed is essential to impress your followers and should be part of any Instagram marketing plan. Your posts should be individually impactful as well as look cohesive together. Ideally, you should map out your feed in advance with the help of a planning app. Using a feed planning app allows you to review your feed before posting. This is mainly to encourage new visitors to follow your page.  

9. Carefully Pick Hashtags

Hashtags are an essential part of your Instagram marketing strategy and other social media platforms. Moreover, on Instagram, users can follow a particular hashtag like they follow accounts. A creative hashtag can help you reach your target audience and increase engagement for your brand.

But it’s crucial to be careful when including hashtags in your post. Refrain from using generic or irrelevant hashtags. Do your research to find hashtags that match your brand image. Looking at your top competitor’s hashtags is an excellent place to start. You should also test out different combinations of hashtags to discover what number leads to more engagement. 

Final Words

To build a well-rounded online presence, you must work on your website traffic and social media presence. In addition to helping grow your company, Instagram is a powerful tool to drive sales and increase revenue. Like any other modern digital marketing platform, Instagram is constantly evolving. Hopefully, our tips for creating your Instagram marketing strategy will help you grow your following and engagement on Instagram.