Instagram is all about your visual content. You want to use your beautiful images to both connect with and convert your ideal audience into loyal customers. In more romantic terminology, your Instagram should not only tell the story of your brand, but it should also carry your audience along with you on your brand’s journey.
So where to begin? How do you shape up your Instagram marketing skills to both grow your Instagram following and continuously keep these followers engaged?
Begin with an awesome Instagram bio
Do you ever come across an Instagram bio where you instantly think, “wow, this biz/person seems pretty cool” … and then you hit “follow” without actually looking at their content? Me too. Just how do these word wizards craft such amazing bios that they immediately grab our attention and pull us in to their bubbles?
Your Instagram bio is THE most important aspect of your profile. It’s the start of your marketing funnel and it gives people a reason to follow you. You only have 150 characters to make an impression so make sure it’s a great one! Try to include these key tips:
- Make certain your bio is easy to find. Try to craft a user name that reflects your brand and is as close to your actual brand’s name as possible. To do this, you may have to be creative by adding a number or underscore if your actual brand name is already taken, but be careful not stray too far.
- Set your account to public, not private.
- Your profile image, whether you use a logo or photo, should reflect your brand. Size your profile picture at 150 x 150 so it can easily be seen.
- Use your bio space to tell your audience who you are and what you do. Be interesting, descriptive and cheeky! Don’t be afraid to show a little personality.
- Don’t be focused on writing complete sentences. Though you should absolutely check your bio for spelling and grammar, it’s perfectly acceptable (if not necessary) to use short phrases.
- ALWAYS insert your website or a call to action that takes your audience to a landing page.
- Insert an emoji or two!
Post at the ideal time
There is no perfect time to post on Instagram that will work for all audiences all of the time. However, studies claim that posts published on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday have the most engagement, while Sunday posts have the lowest interaction measurements. It’s important to understand two key factors: know where your audience is located and what time they are online. You don’t want your photo to get buried in your follower’s feeds because you’re posting at inconvenient times.
I find it helpful to use an Instagram marketing platform like Later to steer me in the right direction and offer some general guidelines. If you have a business profile, you can also check your Instagram’s analytics tools to help you target your audience and achieve maximum growth.
Use trending hashtags
Hashtags are gold. They tie conversations into a single stream and help you gain more visibility. If your account is public, anyone can search for a specific hashtag and arrive at your post. Experiment with using different hashtags for your brand. Which ones work the best? There are a host of useful tools to help track which hashtags will be most useful for your brand. You can also just do a simple Google search to find out what hashtags are used for your industry. And although you can post up to 30 hashtags, I recommend using up to 11 at most.
Use a Call to Action
A strategic call to action can not only be used in your bio, but also within the caption sections of your posts. Engage your audience by telling them what you want them to do. Don’t expect them to guess if you don’t provide directions. For instance, you might say, “double-tap if you agree” or “tell your thoughts in the comments.”
Embrace microblogging
Even though you have up to 2,200 characters for a caption, you don’t have to use them all in every single photo. You can easily get your message across simply by using a few relevant sentences or phrases that describe your photo. In fact, shorter may be better in many instances. Remember that your audience has an incredibly short attention span.
However, Instagram’s newest trend is to use the 2,200 characters as a type of short-form blog post. You can turn this small section into a valuable way to share content and stories with your followers through microblogging. This is an incredibly powerful way to share in-depth information, such as tutorials, recipes, tips and tricks, and so much more. For example:
- Show your followers how to organize a closet or pack a suitcase.
- Let your audience follow along as you make a green smoothie.
- Demonstrate a particular hairstyle, watercolor or cleaning tip.
Engagement is two-way traffic
Engagement is a constant flow of communication and interaction. Respond to comments or at least “like” a comment left on your feed. Even better, send a short note to a follower who has liked or commented on your post. Showing them that you are paying attention and appreciate their efforts will be rewarding for both of you and encourage more proactive communication in the future.
Spend a few minutes and ask your audience questions. Have a short caption contest, ask your audience for their opinion or ask them to choose a favorite photo. Anything that encourages your audience to respond will help generate conversations!
Adjust the size of your Instagram photo
Times have changes and the once square-shape Instagram image has evolved to include vertical and portrait photos. Try using the following sizes once in a while:
- Square images should be 1080 x 1080.
- Vertical images should be 1080 x 1350.
- Horizontal images should be 1080 x 566.
Does a different photo size impact your results and engagement?
Photos are a valuable way to interact with your audience in new and exciting ways. The above tips will help you to provide the perfect Instagram platform that marches in step with your social marketing strategy.