Social media is the promised child the 21st century marketing. Since its infancy to what we see today, social media has opened new doors to online marketing especially in the ecommerce landscape. However, every social media platform has a specific purpose hidden behind its unique design. Facebook is quite the all rounder with several features that support posting content with text, videos and several image formats. It has also launched a number of new features such as facebook live and workplace to target all types of audiences form causal to professional environments. Similarly Twitter is another bright platform to engage your users and introduce innovative content for settings trends. The #Hashtag is an excellent source for inviting users towards your twitter presence and exposing your content with a trend setting frenzy.
Since social media is already a crowded universe, the opportunity to represent your brand to the masses requires the right pick of platforms for your company. In this article we will discuss 8 promising tips to get noticed on Instagram.
Instagram is a genius of visual marketing. It is a mobile based photo and video sharing application that runs your content to public or friends according to your preferences. Being an extremely easy to use application which is available for all platforms like unlike other social media networking apps, Instagram instantly stood to popularity without breaking a sweat. It’s an excellent platform for brand engagement and visibility that offers a wide range of options for growth and exposure.
Besides being just a mobile based photo sharing platform, developers have produced plugins for CMS platforms such as WordPress & WooCommerce, which now allows you to display product and consumer photos directly from Instagram on your website. These photos typically boost a brand image by allowing WordPress and WooCommerce brands to highlight their products in real time, customer reviews and usage.
Here is how you can get noticed on Instagram and gain more popularity of your brand.
1. Build Your Profile
First step is creating a well managed profile. This means you have to provide details and info about your company with a link to its website operation (If you have one). Make sure the information length is sufficient and appropriate right up to Instagram standards. A well optimized profile gets more attention than any image stuffed profile on Instagram. Make the best out of your first impression so your page is not viewed only once, but regularly by the followers.
2. Use Hashtags
Hashtag is the basically the enforcer of your content. They are the primary means to search on Instagram trends and get found by others. If you want to enhance your likes and comments on your company profile right off the bat, then using hastags is imperative. However, make sure the element of relevancy is not sidelined while creating posts. One thing that users and Instagram hatesabout hashtags is their incessant use to the extent of massacre. Such practices are highly despised and can ruin your profile as well as your company reputation horribly.
3. Image Optimization
Optimization of images means everything from the using the right color images, to adding filters for better viewing experience. Your aim is to capture the vibe of your viewership and make the best of it by learning about their changing appetites on daily basis. So far as the colors are concerned, try adding images with low saturation and block color every here and there. Also use a blue tone. Statistics suggest that blue tone images are found to receive 24% more attention than the average image.
4. Keep it Coming
Regular posting is not just about shoving content every minute of your work. Consistency is the key to engage your clientele and without a routinely dose of visuals, your following will most likely to wither and die. The community is always on the lookout for entertainment and new posts on a timely basis can get the juices flowing. Make sure your posts are well optimized and modestly uploaded. Flooding your profile will irrelevant or overkill content will diminish user interest and reflect badly on your brand. Posting images 3 times a week is a safe and effective practice.
5. HD Photography
This is no doubt the most underrated practice among many brands using Isntagram as their marketing medium. Since technology has established itself on a whole new level with 4k screens, fast internet access and smartphone technology, the use of DSLRs as your photography camera must be met with importance. DSLR results are just amazing. These cameras can capture even the micro details of a droplet on a leaf blade distant far. Using them to photograph your product inventory and uploading them on Instagram might be the smartest thing you will doin your pursuit to achieve social media exposure.
6. Geo-Tagging
Geo-Taging is quite similar to Facebook tagging. It helps you associate your own store with each image you upload by linking it to you company profile. It gives information about the whereabouts of your store and increases your conversions rates, since users who see you posts might even go to your store and buy you product in the future. It’s highly beneficial especially for small businesses that are targeting the local customer base for their sales.
7. Like /Comment/Share
Instagram is a two sided platform that demands the involvement of its users through interaction. This means giving out your thoughts and sharing what you liked about others as well. This promotes marketing synergy between you and other brands for the common cause. The best method of encouraging communication and facilitating interaction is through Likes, Comments and Sharing posts.
8. Stories
This is 2016’s all the new feature Instagram has just unveiled. It’s quite similar to Snapchat story where you can upload short video clips (10 seconds) for 24 hours until they are erased by Instagram. Although many brands still haven’t figured out how to use it to their advantage, there is unlimited potential to this feature if used properly. You can upload you ongoing events, add ‘How it’s done” videos, show exclusive content and Invite Guest to promote your presence.
Conclusion
Instagram is all about getting the best of your visual content up on the stream. By using these 8 tips your brand will not only get the attention it deserves, but also open new doors to growth in other social media channels .Considering the ease of use and the ROI oriented results we have reviewed from using Instagram for marketing, our verdict for this social media channel is ‘Use it Till it Breaks’!
Author Bio: Paul Simmons is a CMS Extensions Developer with 7 years of experience in PHP development at FMEaddons– an eCommerce development company with Top tier extensions and themes for popular shopping cart platforms like Magento, Opencart, Woocommerce, & Joomla .
