Instagram was launched in 2010 and acquired by Facebook in 2012. Since then, It has taken the mobile photo-sharing niche by storm and has attracted businesses from all over the world.
The social network claims that there are more than 15 million accounts with business profiles on the platform.
Business owners who want to improve their social media marketing campaigns turn to Instagram to reach their targeted audiences and engage other users.
Let’s check out some interesting Instagram stats.
- Instagram is estimated to have brought in $1.53 billion in global mobile ad revenue in 2016, which is a 144 percent increase year-over-year and would amount to 8.4 percent of Facebook’s global mobile ad revenue according to International Business Times.
- 100 million users use the “stories” feature daily.
- 95 million photos and videos are shared on Instagram per day.
- Instagram has 1 million monthly active advertisers—up from just 200,000 in March 2016.
- 60% of users say that they have learned about a product or service on the platform.
Success on Instagram takes more than just uploading beautiful images. A successful Instagram marketing strategy is the product of a well-defined brand identity, strategy, and effective community management. Below are some of the ways that can help you come up with a good Instagram marketing strategy for an online business.
Determine the Objectives
Before an online business registers for an Instagram account, one should know what they want to achieve on the social network. It is important to determine first the purpose of the brand in using Instagram.
With the platform’s focus on photo and video sharing, it provides businesses with a unique platform to showcase its products and/or services as well as the people and culture where the business is based.
Instagram is basically a mobile social media marketing platform. It is the perfect place to show in-the-moment or candid visuals. It provides followers a channel that allows them to interact personally with the brand. Engagement on the platform is also more instantaneous and casual than other social media networks.
It can help an online business achieve some of its marketing objectives that include increased brand awareness, recruitment of new talent, feature products and services, share company news, connect with influencers, and drive sales through traffic, just to name a few.
Know Your Audience
It is important to know who your target audiences are. That way you will be able to come up with a strategy involving content that your audience will want to engage with. The more you know about your target market, the better you can personalize your campaigns for their needs.
The best way to know about the audience is to follow them on Instagram. You can use the suggested feature of the platform to find other users like your target customer. This will also allow you to know them more and what they want to see on the social network.
Determine Content Strategy
Content strategy is one of the important elements of an Instagram marketing campaign. If the content is not interesting or relevant to the target audience, you will have a hard time becoming successful on Instagram.
The first thing that you need to do is to find out what you are going to share on the social media platform. These are the kind of images that will make up the majority of your Instagram posts. Some of the categories include product-centric, culture-centric, or a combination of both.
If your brand already enjoys a good customer base, you might want to post content that is created by your loyal customers.
Instagram is a very important channel for all businesses these days. A good social media marketing campaign on the platform can take the business to the next level. All it takes is a little planning, creativity, and a lot of passion.
