Instagram marketing is already taking the world by storm, and everyone on the platform understands its potential. However, it is not easy to make your mark with so many people on the platform. Therefore, it is super important to learn Instagram marketing before diving into the pool.

A few years ago, putting up pictures and writing witty captions was something that one could do to promote their brand. But now, with the ever-changing Instagram algorithm, things are definitely not as simple as they were before, and there are too many questions left unanswered.

With this guide, let’s try to answer as many of those as possible!

Why Do You Need to Start Instagram Marketing?

This visual-centric platform caters to a large audience of around 1 billion that are happy to engage with the different brands, resulting in high engagement levels.

Recent studies have demonstrated the benefits of Instagram marketing in terms of generating more leads and sales:

• Around 11% of US social media users shop on Instagram
• Nearly 130 million people tap on Instagram Shopping posts each month.
• 80% of Instagram users follow one business profile, and 72% of the users purchased the products they have seen on the platform
• About 62% of the people say that they have been attracted towards the product or brand after seeing it on Instagram stories.

How to Create an Instagram Business Profile

Follow the steps below and create your business profile.

• • On your Instagram profile, click on the three lines at the top right corner and go to settings.
  • Go to ‘Accounts’, scroll down, and click on ‘Switch to Professional Account.’
  • Now, choose what describes you the best, select business type, and enter other details.
  • Choose your business type

• Enter other important details, including your website link, description, and others.
• Connect your Facebook account
• Setup your Professional Account

How Can You Start Instagram Marketing for Your Business?

Instagram marketing is a great way to connect with customers and promote your business. If you don’t know where to start from, here is how you can do it:

1. 1. Switch to Instagram Business Profile

      An Instagram business profile provides entrepreneurs or marketers with various useful features that can help them grow their businesses. For example, an Instagram business profile gives marketers the ability to create and track the performance of the ads.

   2. Create Attractive Visuals

      Carefully designed visuals attract followers like well-curated content. They make a pretty solid overall impression on your audience and show that you are focusing on actually curating an experience rather than just a feed.

      Here are a few pointers to ensure that your pictures stand out from the rest:

      • Choose a theme for your visuals that can be used to create various images. Variety breaks the monotony and creates a wholesome feed.
      • Don’t just copy pictures from visual libraries. Take inspiration from them and use elements, but design your visuals.
      • Use tools like Canva, Vista Create, and others for quick visuals.
      • Ensure that all your visuals are high quality and not pixelated.

   3. Post Regularly

      Posting regularly is super important, no matter what the platform is. This is why setting a consistent posting schedule is super important. No one is going to remember that you are there on the platform if you don’t put out content in front of them.

      However, it is also crucial to remember that no matter what, you should never set schedules that you cannot stick to, even if you are posting once a day, so that all seven days of the week without fail and fuel up your Instagram marketing.

Free Influencer Marketing Cheat Sheet

Time to cash on one of the most viral marketing strategies with this cheat sheet!

Download Now

1. Use Hashtags

   Hashtags on Instagram can be an exceptional practice to connect with others who share your interests or find new and exciting content. You can also use hashtags to find new accounts to follow or get ideas for posts. You can also use popular hashtags to gain more exposure for your posts. Some popular hashtags include #love, #photooftheday, #happy, and many others!

   With Social Champ’s built-in Hashtag Manager, you can make your life SO easy. Just find relevant hashtags and group them to use later on.

How to Market on Instagram: Creating Your Strategy

To be successful on Instagram, you need to have a content strategy. This means having a plan for what you’re going to post and when you’re going to post it. Your account will likely be inconsistent without a strategy, and your followers will lose interest. Here are a few tips for creating an Instagram content strategy:

1. Know Your Audience

   Before you can create content that resonates with your followers, you need to know who they are. What are their interests? What do they care about? What do they want to see from you? Knowing your audience before creating content is the first step to creating a winning Instagram marketing strategy.

   As time goes by, you can also work on maturing your ideal customer and tweak content to cater to them.

2. Create a Social Media Calendar

   A social media calendar is essential. You should work on creating one for your brand even if you are not actively running a campaign at that time. A calendar ensures that you have content ready to go up all the time, tucked together in a grid view.

   This helps you on the consistency front and makes your feed look cohesive.

3. Use Instagram Insights to Track Your Performance

   These Insights are the best way to track your performance as an Instagram marketer. Using the insights,  you can see how many people have seen your posts, interacted with them, and which posts have been the most successful.

   This can help you better understand what content your followers are most interested in and help you create more of what they want to see. These insights can be one of the best practices to boost your Instagram marketing.

   Alternatively, you can go for an Instagram scheduler like Social Champ that helps you monitor your post-performance. You can compare weekly and monthly performance and get beautiful graphs of all your Instagram posts.

Featured Article: A Complete List of Top Instagram Features for Business in 2022

The Most Powerful Instagram Features for Businesses

Using these features can improve your reach, Instagram engagement, and overall ROI.

1. Instagram Hashtags

   Without any doubt, Instagram hashtags are powerful. They can either make your marketing campaign or break it. Using the right hashtags can expand your audience, engage your audience and boost your reach.

   So, one of the best ways to get more eyeballs on your Instagram posts is to use trending hashtags. Here are some best tips to get the most out of hashtags:

   • Use insights to see which hashtag works best
   • Include hashtags on Instagram stories
   • Avoid spammy and banned hashtags
   • Don’t use repetitive hashtags

2. Instagram Stories

   Since its launch in August 2016, Instagram Stories has quickly become one of the most popular features. With over 500 million users, IG Stories is now used more than Snapchat stories.

   So, use Stories to share your day-to-day activities and add creative filters /stickers to your Stories to promote your business. Share the fun and exciting facts about your company and engage with your followers by asking them questions. Alternatively, you can share BTS from your company.

3. Instagram Live

   With Instagram Live, users can broadcast videos of themselves or their surroundings to followers. The live feature also supports real-time commenting, reacting, and sharing the screen with others. While Instagram Live is similar to other live-streaming platforms such as Facebook Live and Periscope, it has several unique features that make it stand out from the competition.

   For example, Instagram Live videos are automatically saved to the user’s story after the end, so followers can watch them later even if they missed the actual session. So get the most of your Instagram marketing with IG live.

How to Market With Instagram: 4 Strategies to Adopt

Various marketing strategies for Instagram are most likely to work even if you are starting from the starch. Here I have narrowed down some proven methods you can implement to fuel up your marketing strategies.

1. Host a Giveaway With Another Business

   Collaborating with another business will help you reach a new audience and make the process even more exciting. Here are a few tips for hosting a successful giveaway with another business:

   • Think of what you want to market the most, something that would allow you to lure in customers and use that as your giveaway.
   • Create a compelling competition that would market your business. Maybe ask your customers to create a post with your hashtags or set a follow rule. To enter the giveaway, each person who comments on the picture to enter the giveaway should follow your account. An exciting but lucrative competition is a win-win for both!
   • Since this social media platform is all about graphics, don’t forget to create an eye-catching post that can pull people in. A dull or irrelevant graphic and post would just go unnoticed among the pool of other pictures!

2. Give and Receive Instagram Shoutouts

   The best way to skyrocket your Instagram marketing is to give and receive shoutouts. Giving a shoutout on your Instagram account is a great way to introduce someone to your audience or to simply show your support for another account. When you receive an Instagram shoutout, it is an honor!

   It means that someone has thought of you as worthy of sharing with their followers and wants to share your account with their audience.

   When it comes to shoutouts, it’s important to be respectful and thoughtful. Ensure that you are only giving shoutouts to accounts that you genuinely like and support. And, when you receive a shoutout, don’t forget to thank the person who gave it to you.

3. Let an Influencer Takeover

   An influencer takeover is one of the best ways to reach a new audience.

   An influencer can also help you build a better relationship with your audience and introduce your business to their followers. By giving them a glimpse into their life, you’re creating a connection that can help to keep them engaged with your brand. Make sure that you go for a relevant influencer who can resonate with your brand.

   Reach out to some of the influencers you admire and see if they’re interested in working with you, work out a fee or outline the requirements that you both want to set.

4. Write Compelling Captions

   To bring your photos to life, you need to write powerful captions that move your audience.

   It’s your chance to tell a story, share a joke, or give your followers a sneak peek into what you’re up to. Captions can be serious, funny, or a little of both. No matter what, they should add value to your post. Here are a few tips for writing captions that will engage your followers:

   • Make the most of the first sentence
   • Play with funny emojis
   • Use trending hashtags
   • Consider your caption’s length

Featured Article:  12 Effective Ways to Use Instagram for Small Business

The Best Instagram Marketing Apps for 2024

Instagram is a powerful marketing platform for businesses of all sizes. But, not all companies have the time or resources to develop and manage an Instagram account independently.

That’s where marketing apps come in. Several great Instagram marketing apps are available that can help businesses develop and manage their accounts effectively.

Scheduling Tools

The influx of social media scheduling tools available in the market can lessen your marketing efforts and save you significant time and energy. Here I have listed some of the best tools to boost your Instagram presence.

1.  Social Champ

   When it comes to the best Instagram scheduling tools, then Social Champ tops the list.

   With Social Champ, you can easily create, edit, schedule, and share your content. Schedule your content for up to 3 years with the bulk upload feature. Know how your post is performing by comparing monthly and weekly performance. Boost engagement levels with trending hashtags and escalate your Instagram marketing, bring all your IG conversations under one roof with Social Inbox, and more.

   Additionally, you can make your posts lively with in-app visual integrations such as Canva, VistaCreate, Wave video, Flickr, and Imgur.

2. Hootsuite

   Hootsuite is my next pick for Instagram scheduling tools. This tool allows you to schedule, publish, analyze and collaborate within one unified dashboard. Schedule your images and videos, create high-quality IG carousels and stories, and edit your content on the go using the mobile app.

   Moreover, you can manage Instagram DM and mention from Hootsuite’s social inbox.

Photo Editing Apps

Several photo editing apps are available in the market, and each has its own unique set of features. To find the right app for you, it is essential to understand what each app offers. Popular photo editing apps include Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, and Photoshop Express.

1. Adobe Photoshop

   Adobe Photoshop is a photo editing app used to enhance photos. It allows users to change the color, add filters, adjust the lighting, and contrast photos. A comprehensive app that offers a wide range of features, including editing photos, creating graphics, and designing websites.

2. Lightroom

   It could be hard to ignore Lightroom when talking about photo editing apps. It allows users to adjust exposure, color, tone, and create presets. The tool’s clean and easy-to-use workspace enables you to focus on what’s crucial for your image. It helps you to create stunning visuals, portraits, and landscapes. Lightroom’s top features include brush adjustment, customizable sliders, professional filters, fixing and blurring tools.

   When choosing a photo editing app, it is essential to consider your needs and experience level. Photoshop Express may be a good option if you are a beginner, while more experienced users may want to consider Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom.

Content Apps

It is sometimes super hard to keep Instagram content on track without having a plan. Therefore, a tool that can help you with layouts is super helpful for your Instagram marketing.

1. Story Luxe

   Try out Story Luxe to make your Instagram stories stand out. It is the best app with multiple features for exceptional story posting. You can add a variety of styles, fonts, textures, and several templates to your Instagram stories.

2.  Layout

   The layout is one of the popular tools for your Instagram stories and posts. It is a feature-rich tool that instantly puts all your nine images in different combinations and creates a collage. You can either select your pictures from your camera roll or click your photos with the camera.

Instagram Marketing Examples

Before concluding the article, we would like to drop down some inspiration. Here are a few Instagram marketing examples that stood out for us:

1. Netflix

   Netflix is one of the most active profiles with over 29 million followers and around 4500 posts. They post exciting trivia, pictures, and BTS information with each movie release. Here is a fantastic example from Ginny and Georgia with a small quiz on how we are most likely to turn out.

2. Warby Parker

   When it comes to hashtags, I have an inspirational example of Warby Parker, who knows how to utilize the power of hashtags correctly, and they ran a campaign, ‘#WearingWarby’’. They have a variety of glasses and know that Hashtags are an integral part of the marketing strategy, especially when your platform is Instagram.

3. Starbucks

   No “Best Instagram marketing campaigns” list is complete with the mention of Starbucks. The coffee giants win hearts with their wholesome and warm Instagram posts like their coffees. Here is an example from their Christmas campaign last year!

To make the most of Instagram marketing,  marketers should come up with relevant and engaging content to attract more audiences using the above tips. So what’s next? Start your Instagram marketing today.

Frequently Asked Questions