The Do’s and Don’ts of Instagram Marketing
We are currently living in the golden age of Instagram. And because it has reached such popularity among individuals, it has also become a powerful and attractive platform for businesses in varying industries. Almost every business can benefit from utilizing Instagram marketing either organically (without investing money in it) or by incorporating paid advertisement – usually, both. With over a billion active daily users, Instagram doesn’t only offer an additional channel for sales, expanding the reach, and increasing brand visibility for businesses, but also connects them with their target audience and current customers to create a sense of community. However, to make the most out of the power of Instagram, it is crucial to understand the do’s and don’ts of Instagram marketing. In this blog post, I’ll provide some practical, easy-to-execute tips and strategies to help you optimize your business’s Instagram profile, how to use hashtags (yes, they are still a thing), and avoid common mistakes.
Optimize Your Instagram Profile
Similar to your website or e-commerce store, your Instagram profile serves as your business's virtual storefront, and it's important to make a strong first impression. Optimizing your profile is not only important for the impression, but also for the potential reach you’ll have with it. With an unoptimized profile, you are only utilizing a minority of the potential power of Instagram reach. Here are some key elements to focus on when optimizing your profile:
Choose a compelling username, profile name, and profile picture that aligns with your brand identity and purpose.
Craft a clear and concise bio that communicates your value proposition and includes relevant keywords.
This includes elements such as your profile name and your bio. Instagram only allows a certain number of characters in your bio, but by using this amount carefully, you can really make a difference. Your profile name and bio should include enough information about who you are; what, how, and why you are offering the specific services/products you are.
Include a link to your website or landing page to drive traffic and conversions.
Use Instagram story highlights to showcase your best content and provide quick access to important information.
Create Engaging Content:
To capture your audience's attention and stand out from the crowd, it's crucial to create engaging and visually appealing content. Here are a few tips on how to approach this:
Use high-quality images and videos that reflect your brand's aesthetic and resonate with your target audience. Remember to edit your pictures and videos or add some graphic or textual elements to them to evoke more attention.
Tell a story through your posts and captivate your followers with compelling captions. Carousel images are a very efficient way to do this.
Experiment with different formats, such as carousels, individual stills, Instagram Reels, and stories to keep your content diverse and interesting. The Instagram algorithm is currently (as of 2023) also pushing further individual still-images for the first time in a while, so don’t undermine the effectiveness of a single picture.
Incorporate user-generated content to foster community engagement and build trust with your audience.
Master the Art of Hashtags:
There is a lot of debate going on about whether hashtags are still a thing on Instagram. Well, they are still essentially keywords to help the algorithm categorize your content and put it in front of the people who are looking for it. This is how hashtags play a significant role in expanding your reach on Instagram. Here's how you can use them effectively:
Research relevant and popular hashtags within your industry to reach a wider audience. You can look for hashtags from your competitors’ profiles, through Instagram Discover (search), or by finding a profile of someone who could be a potential customer of yours, go through who they follow, and what kind of hashtags these businesses use.
Find a balance between popular hashtags, and post- and niche-specific ones to increase discoverability and engagement.
Create a branded hashtag unique to your business to encourage user-generated content and enhance brand recognition. But be careful and sensible when forming a branded hashtag as they can also be used against you in creative ways if something with your business goes wrong. Branded hashtags are known to pitch in in PR disasters.
Keep an eye on trending hashtags and leverage them strategically to align with current conversations and events in your target area or around the world.
Extra tip (see the video below): Instagram is now promoting hashtags in stories as well. There is one simple way to make your stories searchable and improve reach without having the hashtag list annoying viewers. Here’s how: add valid hashtags to your story as text, edit the color of the text to fit for example the background of your photo or video, reduce the size, and place it in a spot where it’s not going to be visible.
Video tutorial of how to add hashtags on an Instagram story
Engage with Your Audience:
Building meaningful connections with your followers is crucial for long-term success on Instagram. It is knowingly a basic human need to be heard and included, which is why brands that understand the impact of engagement and community building are winning the game. You can start by considering these engagement strategies:
Respond to comments and direct messages promptly, showing your followers that you value their feedback and are actively listening.
Like and comment on your followers' posts to foster a sense of community and encourage reciprocity.
Post stories solely with the purpose of encouraging your followers to engage through questions and polls stickers.
Collaborate with influencers or micro-influencers to tap into their engaged audience and expand your reach. I will write a separate post about influencer marketing later in the blog.
Run interactive contests or giveaways to boost engagement and reward your followers for their loyalty. When running contests on Instagram, always remember to follow their guidelines to avoid having your account shut down.
Avoid Common Mistakes:
While it's important to know what to do, it's equally essential to avoid common pitfalls that can undermine your Instagram marketing efforts. Here are some mistakes to steer clear of:
Over-promotion: Establish a balance between promotional content and engaging, value-driven posts to avoid overwhelming your audience. Remember that you are not the only account they follow, therefore they will go through a lot of content on a daily basis.
Neglecting Analytics: Regularly review Instagram Insights to gain insights into your audience demographics, engagement rates, and post performance. Use this data to revisit and adjust your strategies and optimize future content.
Ignoring Trends: Stay up to date with the latest Instagram trends and features, such as new filters, stickers, or interactive features, to keep your content fresh and relevant. You should also follow accounts such as social media managers or agencies that are specialized in sharing Instagram-related information and news. This will save you a lot of time not having to find out new features and updates by yourself.
Inconsistent Posting: Maintain a consistent posting schedule to stay on your followers' radars and maintain their interest. The Instagram algorithm will notice if your posting is inconsistent or if users aren’t engaging with your content. This may negatively affect your reach and visibility on Instagram.
Hashtag spam: There is a lot of debate about how many hashtags in a post, Reels, or story is too much. Officially, Insatgram lets you add up to 30 hashtags per published post regardless of its form. However, it is not recommended to use this many hashtags at once for multiple reasons. Firstly, using too many hashtags can be annoying to read, and secondly, it may do more harm than good for the reach of your post. Well, how many hashtags should you use then? Some marketing professionals say that the limit should be 10. And in some cases, 10 hashtags can be just perfect and descriptive enough but not too much of your content. Instagram has confirmed that 3 to 5 hashtags per post is the sweet spot for maximum visibility and SEO. More than focusing on the number of hashtags, you should rather focus on their relevancy and quality.
Conclusion:
Instagram can be a game-changer for businesses looking to scale and increase sales. By following the do's and don'ts outlined in this blog post, you'll be well-equipped to optimize your Instagram marketing efforts and build a strong brand with a wide dedicated community.
