5 Tips to Use Instagram for Marketing

by Infinity Concepts | Dec 18, 2014 | Digital

Sure, you’ve heard of Instagram, and you know it’s a hodgepodge of scrolling images of funny faces and food artistry, but have you ever considered it a platform for marketing? YOUR marketing? Here are 5 tips on how you can leverage Instagram as your newest marketing tactic.

1) Use it often. Most social media platforms have optimal times to post to achieve the most engagement, but Instagram users are scrolling through photos/videos at all hours of the day. And because the platform is solely visual, users can scroll through days’ worth of photos in a single visit to the platform.

2) Post more than your products/services. Yes, you want to promote your business, but in order to attract more followers, you want to showcase other things they might be interested in. It’s a great way to display your expertise in your industry — not just your organization!

3) Use hashtags. And use a lot of them. Data shows that while Twitter etiquette is around two hashtags per tweet, 4 — 11 hashtags on Instagram are being used. Hashtags allow your posts to be found in searches that users perform. Get creative with your hashtags and test out a bunch of different words to see what works best and delivers the highest number of new followers.

4) Follow your followers. What better way to keep your followers happy than to follow them back! When they post a picture that relates to your organization, go the extra step and like the picture or post a comment. This will show that you are an active and engaged brand who cares about your audience and only builds stronger fan loyalty.

5) Search hashtags. Get creative and search hashtags that relate to your brand and see if others are using that hashtag in a manner than is suitable to your organization. If so, include that hashtag in your posts. Additionally, see what hashtags your followers are using and incorporate them in your posts. This will help to build a bigger following and even attract a new audience.

Now that you have all the tips, it’s time to start snapping pics! Remember to be creative. Include branded images, but be sure to include others things as well to capture the widest audience. Posting a picture of your beloved pet and using relevant, popular hashtags could open the door for more followers, thus allowing you to market to them in your next post. Voila – insta-marketing!