Initially, Instagram may not appear to be a powerful marketing tool for consumers. The picture sharing application, which enables you to add filters, write captions and add hasthags to your photos, has been great for brand discovery and fan engagement. However, when it comes to adding links that take you to a ‘buy’ page, it fails for business where Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest can provide. Here are five quick pointers to show how Instagram can be used effectively for your brand.
But wait a second! Instagram has been labeled the “worlds most powerful selling tool!”Forbes recently wrote about how users who post branded products, in addition sponsored posts, are helping boost consumer reach, awareness and tellingly turning all of this into sales.
Mitchell Harper, co-founder and CEO of e-commerce platform Bigocommerce said “Many companies have not taken full advantage of this unique social media platform. You can use your Instagram profile, hostages and strategy to gain traffic to your e-commerce site and sell your products.”
- Emphasize and build the brand within your profile. If you want to optimize the awareness and brand value of your Instagram account, your posts need to suggest so. So make it easily recognizable as your companies account. That does not mean you have to exclusively post pictures of your product all the time, but make sure your logo is present throughout the majority of your posts.
You do have an opportunity to create a tagline in your profile with a link to your parent website. This is the only place on Instagram that allows a functional link. So consider adding a call to action, instructing followers to include your username or write specific hashtags whenever followers post your products. This is a great way to increase awareness and engagement through Instagram.
- Write very good photo captions. With Instagram allowing you to write a description with your posts, think about what might sound engaging and stands as a good representation for your brands image/message. You may include a URL link, but unlike the functional link in the profile, followers will have to copy and paste the link your provide manually to their own web browsers.
- Deploy Hastags. Hashtags will increase your brands visibility and engagement. It sort of acts as a pipeline for the Instagram world to see all your brands images at once. It’s like a specific pool of related images. So use hashtags to brand each post. You may also include other popular hashtags to your photos, so they appear on extremely populated searches.
-Connect your Instagram with other social media accounts. While obviously your followers on Instagram will continue to see your posts on the Instagram feed, as a business, it’s important to link your Instagram with your Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr accounts. This is because most consumers discover products and new brands through these other social platforms. Connecting your Instagram photos to external social sites has been made very convenient for the user, so next time you upload a photo you will see the option to share and make sure you do it.
Interacting with your followers. This point reverts back to almost every blog I’ve wrote regarding social media and marketing your brand. So follow, repost, comment and engage with other users Instagram’s.
This will more likely, initiate them to interact with you and your brand etc. And remember, interact on a human to human level with sincerity. Not as a robot advertising spam. Liking 500 photos within an hour is much less effective than interacting on 10 different photos that are within your target audience and market.
It can take some time to build a good brand following and presence on Instagram, but the only way to really get there is by just starting the process.
As Mitchell Harper concluded, “Take plenty of photos. The more Instagrams you take and share with people, the more opportunity you will have to get your brand out there, to grow and develop new customer relationships and increase sales.”