Instagram is a popular social media platform that has and continues to rise in popularity. The picture based social media site is a quick and easy way for users to upload images and receive instantaneous feedback in the form of likes, shares and comments.
No matter which industry you operate in and what you sell- today you are also a media business, largely thanks to social media.
Organisations are now able to reach an almost worldwide target market and have the options to narrow their market by gender, age, social status and so forth. Previously, only the larger and richer organisations could achieve this, however free and popular platforms like Instagram allow a business of any type to reach out to their target audience without it costing an arm and a leg.
If you’re thinking about marketing on Instagram or currently are but not receiving any significant results, here are 5 things you can do to increase engagement on Instagram:
1. Talk about the things that you like
Many organisations or individuals copy other people’s successful business ventures or marketing tactics on Instagram, naively assuming it’ll work for them too. This is entirely wrong. In order for your business to be a success and to increase engagement on Instagram, you have to be in the business of what you are passionate about.
It’s only natural that you’ll talk more voraciously about the things which you like and this will automatically attract the relevant target audience to your page.
2. Be real
You were born an original so make your business an original too. The last thing you want to do on the internet is to pretend to be something that you’re not. People like reading real, seeing real and connecting with real. Regardless of whether you are a business or personal brand, show your audience who you really are and what you stand for. Authenticity is an absolute must, if you are to increase engagement on Instagram.
3. Put yourselves in the shoes of your audience
Before posting on Instagram, ask yourself “if I came across this post on my feed, would I like it or share it with my friends”. Taking a pause to raise this question can seriously enrich the quality of your posts. Essentially, develop the same mindset for your Instagram posts as you would with other aspects of your life when we ask ourselves: “would I want to be seen wearing this?” or “would I want to be seen endorsing this?”. What you post on Instagram has a similar effect on how your audiences see you in the same way your dress sense, for example, would. The only difference being that Instagram is the online version of yourself.
4. Create engaging content
It might sound obvious but they key to increased engagement on Instagram is to have worthy content. Create and post content that your followers can resonate with. Essentially, try and speak their language.
This links back to our first point about talking about things you like. If you are posting about the things that interest you, you will attract followers and audiences who have the same interests. Subsequently, your marketing on Instagram is an effortless process because you don’t need to “think” of what to post because you are posting about your passion, something that comes naturally to you.
5. Remain consistent
The social media and larger digital world is fast paced environment that never sleeps, you may call it the digital New York. Your Instagram marketing efforts have to be consistent, which includes setting a frequency of your postings and sticking by it. Failure to do this will leave you behind and give your competitors an edge. Furthermore, nobody likes to follow an account that has sporadic postings- it just doesn’t look professional.
Moreover, be consistent with the theme that resembles your brand. Imagine if Pizza Hut suddenly removed the red branding on their Instagram posts, it would cause them to lose a part of their identity. The key to increasing engagement on Instagram is to develop a set of brand values and themes and colours around your brand and sticking to it, it will solidify your brand identity with your target audience.
To learn more about how to increase engagement on Instagram or receive a personal appraisal, book your free digital marketing consultation today.
