Instagram is a highly useful platform for small businesses, new ventures, and home-based start-ups. In other words, if you have a business, you should have a presence on Instagram. It is one of the most used social media websites for marketing. Incorporating Instagram into your marketing plan is not that of a challenge. Go through these tips to know how to market your brand using this powerful social media website. 

Staying Consistent

Do no stay away from Instagram for more than a day. The biggest mistake you can make in this case is not posting regularly. Your audience looks forwards to your posts, and not being able to fulfill their expectations leaves a bad impact. 

Make a proper schedule of when to post to stay consistent with your posts. You might think posting too little is bad, but in real posting, too much is not the smartest approach. Constant posting of too many images may annoy the followers. Try to strategically schedule your posts by bringing into factors that peak when the engagement is the highest.

Irrelevant Content 

Posting on Instagram only for the sake of content is highly unprofessional. You need to create content that revolves around your brand and gives your followers value. The followers require exclusive content that keeps them interested. Reward them with news that no one else knows, such as new products, services, or what happens behind the scenes. 

Although Instagram is all about photos but captions, play a major part in your content building. Captions connect your photos and audience. If they find something more than their imagination, they will take a closer look and study it carefully. 

Not using all features

Instagram is constantly improving its features and providing more benefits to its users. As a marketer or business owner, you need to pay attention to all these developments. It would be naïve of you to not use them in promoting your brand. 

The photo-sharing platform has recently incorporated e-commerce in its app to ease the shopping experience of users. Instead of navigating to another website to shop, your followers can shop directly from your Instagram profile.

Not replying to comments

It is unethical for any business page not to reply to the direct messages of their followers. Be it comments, messages, or replies on stories. You need to respond to make them feel valued. Put in all your efforts, and never ignore negative comments. With starting a conversation or listening to the followers’ queries, you can turn that person into a potential customer. Communication plays an important role in building relationships; therefore, never undermine these responses.  

Aligning Posts with Brand Image

Instagram has two types of accounts, personal and business. When a company or a brand has a business account, then everything posted on that account should be aligned with the brand image. Posting stuff that is not related to the promotion of the image should be avoided at all times. 

Likewise, a complete bio is essential for the followers to believe that your account is genuine. Make sure the link provided in the bio section right under your name is correct because this is the only link that connects your followers to your website. You can often link the URL to a different landing page as per the interests of the followers. 

Too Many Hashtags

The world of Instagram revolves around pictures and hashtags. You need to work out on your hashtags because the fast-moving feed might bury your content. Hashtags help your photos to remain alive and visible to a wider audience.  

You can also create a customized and unique hashtag for your brand. It will help the followers to find you more easily and keep them engaged too. Hashtags should be brief and unique, and ideally, one picture should not have more than five hashtags. This number is sufficient to increase interactions.  

Static Photos

Do not post pictures that have no life in them. Pictures that are bright and lively are liked more than plain and dull ones. The pictures on your business account should speak for themselves. The best time to capture photos is an hour before sunset. It has the best lighting for some amazing shots. 

You can also use Boomerang to create some movement rather than posting a static scene. In case you think your pictures are not up to the mark, you can use the filters and edit them according to your choice. The Instagram editing tools are the best on the web. 

Instagram community

Do not build walls and live in isolation on Instagram. Keep a close eye on your competitor’s moves to create a strategy that is better than theirs. Building a community on Instagram helps you to attract more followers and helps to build a strong reputation in the market. You can also have your unique identity while still being a part of the community. 

Posting without a plan 

Do not use Instagram if you do not have a proper plan with end goals. You need to be clear regarding what to accomplish with your marketing efforts. You can never succeed when you do not have a goal to achieve. Efforts without a plan go in vain. 

Do not waste your efforts and plan accordingly. Instagram is all about visuals, so your goal should be a recognizable visual identity. The core elements of your strategy should be identifying your audience, creating quality content, analyzing and auditing your marketing efforts at regular intervals. If you plan, you can capitalize on the opportunities at the right time.

Re-gramming (building customer loyalty)

Do not think your feed should only comprise of your content. You can involve your followers by posting their photos on your feed. This is called re-gramming. It is one of the best marketing tactics for increasing interaction. You are rewarding your customer by shining the spotlight on their awesome photo. This builds major brand loyalty with that customer.

Posting in apt Instagram ads

Do not post complex ads on Instagram. If we compare Facebook ads v/s Instagram ads, then the latter category has a more simplified and streamlined audience. They are more about insights rather than detailed ads. You need to work on the content of the ads, as it is more visually oriented. 

No interaction with the followers

Instagram runs on the level of engagement you have with your followers. You have to think of content to make them part of your world. Fun posts, quotes, questions, and polls are some of the ways to get your followers talking. 

When you have identified your audience, you can post according to their interests. The more you will satisfy their curiosity, the better will be your rankings. Make them feel special, and they will keep returning.

Buying Followers

Do not rush into getting popular by buying followers. These inactive followers will be of no benefit as there will be responses. Try and organically grab the attention of people, and it will develop a long-lasting relationship. Do not lose your integrity and reputation for some followers. Cheating is unacceptable. 

If you want to ace the marketing game through Instagram, make sure you have a clear understanding of how things work. Draw up a proper plan that is based on the Instagram marketing dos and don’ts.