As with all social media marketing campaigns, running an Instagram account is time consuming and requites patience and consistency. This is easier said than done, particularly if you are already run a successful offline bricks and mortar business.
A number of small business owners have come to the conclusion that it makes more sense to outsource their social media marketing to companies like ours, who are experts within the field of social media marketing.
If this is something that you would like to know more about, please don’t hesitate to contact us and we will be happy to show you how we can help.
Additional Tips
- Post regularly, at least daily if you can.
- Cultivate your audience by researching their likes and dislikes, as well as keeping tabs on your competitors.
- Like carefully chosen hashtags to encourage dialogue. Acknowledge comments to keep the conversation going.
- Blue is the most popular colour, while reds and oranges or least popular.
- Lower the saturation levels in your photos by using filters such as Walden and Rose or third party filter apps such as VSCO Cam, and take advantage of natural light
- Textured images prove popular, as do those with plenty of background space. Closely cropped images are less liked.
- Share images from your Instagram feed on Facebook, and upload directly to Twitter for maximum exposure across various channels.
Six Tips for Insta-Success
Your account is up and running. What’s next? These quick tips will have you successfully snapping in no time.
Post Regularly
Instagram has over 300 million active users each month and they share over 70 million photos every day. This means that feeds move fast. If you don’t want your business to become invisible, you need to keep your images flowing. Maintain a high quality to your feed. Your followers are savvy – they probably follow your competitors too – so make sure everything you post is engaging and top-notch. It is very easy for someone to hit ‘unfollow’ if your content doesn’t attract their attention and they will never return again.
Vary Your Content
Think of your Instagram feed as a well-balanced meal. You need a variety of ingredients to ensure your feed is just the right blend of product, people, places and that little something extra, to give your company the edge of your competitors. Style over substance isn’t a bad thing in this case. It is worth giving your images a little of it.
Use Blue
Research shows that images heavy on blue shades gain more likes than those that are predominantly red or orange. Textured images, those with plenty of background, and less saturated images are also winners. Make your pictures stand out by thinking about your composition. Unusual shapes and highly contrasted pictures are eye-catching and attractive.
Don’t Forget To Check Your Hashtag
Before diving in with a clever hashtag, quality-check what comes up when you use Instagrams search feature to look for it. Sending your hard-won customers on an unexpected or unwanted Instagram journey could put them off your brand for life. A bad message can spread as quickly as a good one on social media. Avoid a PR disaster by doing your research first to make sure that nobody gets a nasty shock.
Don’t Go Too Far Off Brand
Although it is a good idea to think laterally about your content, make sure you’re loosely referring back to your product or business most of the time. Keep your company values and ideals in mind. For example, no one wants to see the marketing managers night out with old school friends. However a Christmas party with all of your staff is more relevant (preferably taken early on in the proceedings).
Don’t Delegate Without Instruction
If you are going to hand over the Instagram reins to a colleague, make sure that they are fully briefed on your strategy. All your hard work could go down the pan without clear guidelines as to what is (and isn’t) expected. Keep an eye on how they’re managing your account, and delete anything that doesn’t fit with your brand.