One of the best ways to increase your online visibility is by being where your target audience is. Every business has an ideal audience they are trying to communicate with, and if you are not where they are, you might just be leaving money on the table. In the online marketing space, Instagram is one platform business owners should not joke with. Research according to Statista shows that as of January 2020, Instagram is one of the most popular social networks worldwide, especially among young adults. The platform reported one billion monthly active users in June 2018. Instagram is also the 10th most popular Google query, according to Hootsuite.
As a business owner, one of the ways to stand out on Instagram is by creating content that speaks to your target audience in a way that is engaging, relatable, and actionable. It is not enough to create content, you must create content that “speaks the language” of your target audience. According to Forrester, engagement which is measured by likes, shares and comments from consumers is 4.21% on Instagram, 10 times higher than Facebook, 54 times higher than Pinterest, and 84 times higher than Twitter. This shows that Instagram is a highly engaging platform once you tick the right boxes.
Did you know that according to Instagram, 90% of accounts follow at least one business on Instagram? Is your business effectively represented on Instagram? Are your content engaging and relatable? How then do you ensure your content is engaging enough to make your ideal audience stop and respond to it? Here are some tips to help you:
1. Put Your Best Foot Forward and Show Up Consistently:
Most people tell you to show up consistently, but it is important to not just show up consistently, but also put your best foot forward. No amount of content you create would matter if you don’t create consistent and quality content. You don’t just post because you want to post, you post because you have something of value to share with your ideal audience.
2. Invest in your visual theme:
When people come in contact with your Instagram profile, how do they feel? Does your brand appeal to their senses or does it feel like just any other brand on Instagram? One of the ways to stand out on Instagram is by making use of a visual theme that is relevant and unique to your brand.
3. Back up your content with solid hashtags:
Hashtags are like filing systems for your posts. They are what help your posts get seen by more people. And so, it is important to be very strategic with the kind of hashtags you use and always keep your target audience and location in mind.
4. Track what is working and what is not working:
An essential part of creating great content is by using data to know what your audience loves and what they do not love. Knowing this would help you create the right content.
5. Always end your content with a call-to-action:
Sometimes if you don’t prompt people to take action, they may not do so. And so, a call-to-action leads your audience to take a desirable action after they have interacted with your content. It could be that you want them to share the post, drop a comment, or tag their friends.
6. Leverage Carousels:
Carousels are now one of the in- things on Instagram. This is because when done right, they provide value, and people love to bookmark them for future reference. Which indirectly increases your content engagement.
7. Make use of emojis:
Research according to Social Insider shows that if you add emojis in the caption of an image post, you get to enjoy an increase in engagement from 2.15% to 2.72%. In the case of videos, it goes up wildly from 1.88% to 3.20%. For carousels, the engagement grows by a slim margin of 0.54%, from 2.52% to 3.06%. However, when making use of emojis, ensure you use the ones that are relevant to your content and brand.
8. Ensure you have a content calendar in place:
A content calendar helps you plan your content in advance and it leaves no room for shabby content. For instance, you can create content calendars on a weekly, monthly, quarterly basis.
9. Make every post your best content yet:
Strive to make every post the best. Doing this would help you increase the standard of your content.
10. Pay to play:
You also need to set out some budget for sponsored Ads. As a business owner, investing in digital marketing is important, and doing so intentionally can be rewarding if done well. If you are not familiar with running sponsored Ads for your business, you can hire an expert to help you do that or you can learn how to do it yourself.
11. Leverage video marketing:
It is no longer news that videos are engaging. As a brand, leveraging video marketing for your business is important to help you connect with your audience better. You can post how-tos, tutorials, brand videos, introductory videos, behind the scenes videos, and so on.
12. Test & analyze new content types:
You can set out a day in the week to test new content types for your brand. For instance, you can try out ‘fill-in-the-blanks’, QnAs, puzzles, etc. that are relevant to your brand.
13. Stay up-to-date:
Stay up-to-date with Instagram’s developments and new features they release. Also, don’t forget to leverage Instagram Stories and IGTV!
Which among the above will you be implementing for your business this year? Here is to your business success!
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