Instagram has over 400 million active users, many of which are businesses. In fact, the number of businesses using Instagram as part of their marketing strategy is expected to continue growing at a rapid pace. Instagram is making its mark on the marketing world and can be a great tool for expanding your audience reach. Here are some things that you need to know in order to capitalize on your Instagram marketing strategy in 2016.
1. Instagram is one of the fastest growing photo and video sharing social media platforms
What does this mean for your business? Well, this fact speaks volumes about the growth and importance of visual content. Your audience wants to be visually stimulated and Instagram is the perfect marketing tool for sharing visual content.
2. You can now manage multiple accounts easily
This new feature is a dream come true for social media managers or anyone who is managing both a personal and business Instagram account. You can now (very easily) switch between multiple accounts without signing in and out.
3. You can view your followers’ likes
This isn’t necessarily a new feature, but it is one that many people are still unaware of and can be used as an analytics tool for your business account. Want to know what types of content your audience is most interested in? This feature allows you to do that, and in turn you can adjust your marketing strategy accordingly.
4. Instagram now offers video view counts
Now, whenever you upload a video to your Instagram business account, you can monitor how many views you are getting! This will help you to determine which videos are getting the most attention, also allowing you to adjust your marketing strategy accordingly.
5. Be prepared for more video features to come
Facebook isn’t the only social media platform that is starting to adjust its features to cater to the power of video. Instagram is expected to keep rolling out even more video features that will cater to your business’s video marketing strategy.
6. Organize filters to match your brand
The Instagram filters are one of the platform’s most popular features. Did you know you can personalize and manage the order of the filters? This is a great tool for marketers because you can choose certain filters that are complimentary to your brand and hide all of the others.
*When editing a photo, scroll to the far right side of all filters and click on ‘Manage.’ You can reorder filters and hide filters that you don’t use.
7. Timing is everything
As with any other social media platform, the timing of your posts on Instagram can make all the difference. Experiment with posting at different times of the day to determine which time is most successful at reaching your target audience and adjust your plan accordingly.
8. Hashtags – think quality and quantity
minipennyblog.com
Hashtags are such an important feature of Instagram, especially for marketing your business. While you may shy away from using too many hashtags, the truth is, posts that include at least 10 quality hashtags generally have the most success. Research some quality hashtags that are relevant to your business and don’t be afraid to tack on a few more to each post.
9. A brand specific hashtag will help to improve your audience reach
Create a hashtag that is unique to your business – this will organize all of your business’s posts into one organized place and will also provide more exposure for your business account to anyone who clicks on that hashtag.
10. Utilize geotagging
Some viewers view photos by location, so adding a location to your images can increase exposure and engagement. You can view a certain location and see all the images posted there, which can be helpful if you have products or services that can be found in different locations. It can also help your business gain local exposure.
For more information about The Storyteller Agency, or to share your vision and story with us, contact us here. And then go out and tell a good story.
