Instagram Marketing

What started out as a platform for people who wanted to show off holiday photos or culinary specialities is now a gathering place for businesses, influencer, brands and the occasional private individual. Instagram has become a huge playground for image building and recruiting. Despite all the ease, some important things still need to be considered. Because what looks easy is often hard work.

The increase of brands that have developed a presence on the platform is unmissable. But is Instagram worth the time and should every business be on the platform too? The answer is yes:

• Instagram has over one billion active monthly users and 500 million daily Instagram Stories.
• 60 % of adults use Instagram
• There are 25 million business profiles on Instagram 
• 80% of Instagram users follow at least one business
• 72 % of users say they have bought a product they saw on the platform.

Basic components for Instagram marketing

What points need to be considered when positioning a company on Instagram?

SWITCH TO A COMPANY PROFILE

An Instagram business profile brings with it a number of advantages. For example, followers can click on the contact button to get in touch with the business directly from the Instagram page.

A business profile makes it possible to create Instagram ads without having to use Facebook's advertising tools - although promotion via Facebook Ads is even more in-depth. Also, Instagram provides analytics tools called Insights that provide statistics on the impressions and reach of your posts.

Once the free perks that come with a business profile are unlocked, businesses can use them to track metrics and begin to understand their audience.

Use free Instagram tools

Statistics such as impressions, user data and more can be viewed via Insights.

These tools are great for understanding how users interact with content.

CREATE SPONSORED ADS

Of course, advertising on the platform has become commonplace. If you want to achieve large reach, you either have to achieve viral posts or help it along with money. However, by setting an advertising budget, it is possible to control exactly how much should be spent. 

Before sponsored ads, only users who follow a profile could see updates and photos. Now brands can promote their photos to anyone who fits their target audience to further increase their reach.

Sponsored ads with content that is engaging and at the same time appeals to the target group are ideal. It is also possible to convert existing posts into sponsored ads. This way, top posts can be kept in mind.

Use Instagram Stories

Instagram Stories is the perfect tool for generating leads.

For example, stories are suitable for companies to publish behind-the-scenes content. We use Stories in our account for exactly this kind of content.

Instagram Stories is a practical tool to present yourself as a company and to try it out, as Stories do not necessarily have to be as high quality as regular posts.

Instagram Influencer Marketing

The principle behind influencer marketing is simple. Companies recruit an Instagram account to present their products. When selecting a partner, care must be taken to ensure that the partner addresses the right target group for the product. This guarantees a higher conversion rate. For example, if a company sells dog food, it should turn to an Instagram account that presents dogs anyway.

In this post, a dog food brand is promoted by an account that presents German shepherds. The combination of product and target group is therefore very coherent. However, this tactic should be used with caution. If the product is presented clumsily, the influencer does not fit the brand or overestimates his influence on the target group, this shot can quickly backfire. Companies need to look very hard in advance to see if there is an influencer who is an ideal fit for the brand. Only then does this tactic actually make sense.

Instagram Reels

Reels are a new way of recording short clips that are accompanied by music on Instagram. If this concept sounds a little familiar, practically everyone compares Instagram Reels to TikTok!

Similar to TikTok, users can record 15-second video clips with music and post them to their Stories. Users can choose from a huge music library, take audio from other videos or record their own soundtrack. There is also a handy video countdown timer and the ability to adjust the speed of the video - just like on TikTok.

Instagram Reels für Marketing Zwecke nutzen

Similar to TikTok Marketing, companies can use Instagram Reels to create entertaining content for their followers. For social media marketing, this means: Run unique challenges that encourage your followers to participate. Challenge your community to share your content under a unique hashtag. For a video to go "viral" or at least achieve high reach and engagement, it needs to be special, appeal to the target audience and be easy to emulate. In addition to challenges, Instagram reels can also be used for extraordinary insights into a company. For example, the use of a product can be shown in a creative and unusual way, or a behind-the-scenes insight can be provided.

Since Instagram is actively attacking TikTok with reels, these formats will have enormous visibility in the feed for the foreseeable future. Companies should take advantage of this.

Conclusion

Instagram dominates the social media world. With over 1 billion monthly users, it is the ideal place to share images. Instagram presence is indispensable as a business these days. Additional targeted Instagram marketing measures are a sensible investment for any company. In principle, however, the best marketing tool is always high-quality content that is appropriate for the target group. The decisive factor is usually not the large distribution, but the appropriate address for your target group.

Sources:

• https://t3n.de/magazin/seo-trends-2020-was-wichtig-und-248708/
• https://business.instagram.com/
• https://about.instagram.com/about-us
• https://neilpatel.com/blog/instagram-marketing-tips/
• https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-marketing/
• https://later.com/instagram-marketing/