Instagram Marketing Guide: It’s known that creating a website is a very essential step in any business. But there’s a lot to do after launching your site such as increase traffic and engaging with the right audience.
To reach the right people, you will need to be at the same place where most users spend a lot of their time there – Social Media – specifically Instagram, which is the perfect opportunity that businesses are using to further market their products to their prospective customers. There are 1.6 billion Instagram users and you can be sure that among these, there are thousands who may be in need of the products and services that your business has to offer.
Instagram is an awesome platform for brands to showcase their products and services because here, brands have the option to post photos and videos of everything that they have for their target market. In addition, Instagram has dozens of filters that are tailored to enable brands to make their photos and video creation qualities look better and more appealing.
If you are into business and you would like to know how to get started with Instagram marketing then you have landed at the right place; because here, you will get an in-depth guide that will kick start you with Instagram marketing. When you get everything right on Instagram, you will propel your business to the heights of success. This is owing to the fact that at Instagram, you will have a better chance of rooting your business widely and having a good number of repeat clients.
Instagram Marketing in 6 Steps
- Create an Instagram business account
- Identify your target audience
- Optimize your profile
- Use visually appealing content
- Use all of Instagram’s formats
- Start an Instagram shop
01. Create an Instagram Business Account
The first step to Instagram marketing is to have an Instagram business account and here is how:
- Download the Instagram app for either iOS or Android.
- Sign up.
- Enter your email and phone number, create a password, fill out your profile and move to the next step.
- Go to Settings > Account > Switch to Professional Account
- Connect to Facebook (if you have one): This step is recommended as it will allow you to share posts on both platforms.
- Update your settings:
- Allow comments and messages from your followers to open a new channel of communication.
- Turn on notifications to know who is engaging with you.
02. Identify your target audience
Whenever you are marketing on Instagram it is important for you to know your target audience so that you can know how to attract them and the language you will use to get their attention. You can decide an ideal customer persona through:
- Interests
- Demographics: Age, gender and location
03. Optimize your profile
Your profile will be your first impression on Instagram and so you should have an appealing Instagram bio on your profile. You have 150 characters to show your brand identity and services you offer. You can include these points in the bio for an optimized profile:
- Name
- Category
- Description
- CTA
- Contact info
- Website link
- Choose your logo as a profile photo
04. Use visually appealing content
Make sure that the content you have on Instagram is appealing in such a way that your target customers can relate to it. Come up with content that solves the problems that your clients go through. For instance, if you are selling beauty products, explain in detail how your products can help better the skin by ending acne or add to the general health of the skin.
05. Use all of Instagram’s formats
After you create a website, that is appealing and shows a good impression of your business, now it’s time to take quality photos of the products and services offered by your business. Make sure that the photos are quality because quality photos are naturally appealing. Video creation is also important and so you should take short videos that show the products or services that your business has. As you take photos you need to consider Instagram formats for they will determine the type of photos you will be posting on Instagram. Instagram formats dictate that your photos and videos have a certain minimum aspect ratio. Below are all formats you can use in Instagram:
- Standard image
- Carousel
- Videos
- Stories
- Story Highlights
- IGTV
- Reels
- Live and Live Rooms
- Shopping
06. Start an Instagram shop
After you have had good content, nice photos, and uploaded your video creation, it’s time to utilize more videos and photos for your Instagram shop. Under your business account, you will see the Instagram shop option where your prospective customers can get in to view more of what you have. If you post photos and videos that meet Instagram formats here, the Instagram shop will further elevate your business sales.
