Fatjon Kabashi
Head of Social Media
Social media marketing has become more than just sharing company images, videos, and reels. A solid online presence needs a bit more work, so planning your strategy with Instagram’s best practices is crucial.
Let’s get something straight: Instagram is constantly changing. Even though you need a consistent marketing strategy, you must be flexible to experiment.
Thanks to its exponential growth, brands and influencers are using Instagram to advertise their products – and so far, it’s going great. Instagram has a 0.83% overall engagement rate, which is much higher than that of other platforms.
Because of this rate, Instagram is an excellent promotional tool for companies trying to increase brand exposure and lead generation. As such, it lets you talk to clients directly, start conversations, develop trust-based relationships, and expand your network.
So, whether you’re starting from scratch or want to sweeten your existing brand, there are many ways to launch successful Instagram campaigns. Here are some insider tips for you.
To promote, advertise, and engage your Instagram followers, you need to know who you’re posting for. Your audience drives everything you do, so it only makes sense to share content catered to their interests.
To do that, start by defining your target audience and the content they might enjoy. You can do this by examining the demographics of the people you’re trying to reach. What is the average age and gender of your followers? Where do they live? What’s their status?
You probably have opinions on what your potential clients like, so start with what you already know. As you improve your content marketing, you’ll start to learn more about what interests your followers. Keep track of the posts that do well, and try to match that same style.
Now that you know your audience, think about how you want them to engage with your brand. Do you want to use Instagram to promote your company, build an audience, or sell stuff?
For example, if you want to promote your brand, you can focus on brand awareness strategies through reels and stories. If you want to focus on sales, you can drive traffic to your store via fun product posts and strong CTAs.
Those seeking a bigger following can do so with creative engagement campaigns that grow audiences and generate leads. The possibilities are endless, but the more specific your goals are, the more reachable they become.
Before you aim for successful Instagram campaigns, focus on your brand style. This includes your company’s logo, brand colors, and general tone to talk to your followers.
If you’re unsure of your brand’s style and voice, ask the following questions:
Once you decide how you want the world to see you, stick with that. Always remember your brand’s colors and aesthetics because this will help you establish yourself on Instagram. Companies that frequently change their style are pretty forgettable, so aim to be consistent.
If you edit your images, keep the filters minimal and focus more on unretouched candid photos. Keep your visual feed constant by sticking with two or three editing options.
Proper design and planning go a long way, so don’t rush to get your brand out there. Research your competitors, analyze your brand, and see what you feel most comfortable with. Once you have a clear idea of what your brand will look like, go to the next step.
Bonus Tip: Having brand guidelines is meaningless if you don’t commit to them. Make sure you create a solid brand image by consistently matching your content to your guidelines.
First impressions matter, and so does your Instagram bio. You only have 150 characters to convince people to follow you, so make the most of it.
Another important thing to do is to fill out every area on your Instagram profile. Ensure you have a high-quality profile photo, correct address, website, and business category. This makes it easier for people to locate you and understand what your brand is all about.
If you work with other businesses or creators, another thing to do is use enhanced tagging. This way, potential clients can see each account’s participation in a post, making them more inclined to follow your account.
Lastly, consider applying for Instagram verification to get the infamous blue check. Social media’s importance for businesses is vital, and Instagram verification significantly improves its success rate. This makes them stand out from the crowd, seem professional, and more.
On Instagram, what people appreciate most is artistic expression and creativity. Everyone can take a boring picture of a product and share it on Instagram, but what’s the point?
When you consider younger audiences, you’ll also find that they prefer brands that are “fun, authentic, and good.” They react best to posts related to active trends and pop crazes that spark conversations. Try to experiment by combining your brand with hot topics currently going on. Don’t be afraid to step out of the box because that’s what works best.
If you’re experiencing creative fatigue and don’t really know what to post, consider hiring local talent. Many young, creative people consume media daily, and they can undoubtedly give valuable insight on how to make your brand relatable.
For more niche-oriented brands, seek out professional social media agencies, as they have the most comprehensive approach. Give them a chance to provide high-quality, original content, and you’ll see how successful Instagram campaigns can be.
Another way to create engaging content is by using Instagram contests. Make your followers craft fun content linked to your brand and offer your products as a reward. You can also launch giveaway campaigns that ask your followers to tag their friends in return for rewards. This promotes interaction and exposes your business to a larger audience.
Instagram Shopping lets clients buy things straight from the app rather than sending them to a third-party website. Because of this, 61 percent of weekly IG users claim that advertising with tags encourages them to shop.
What’s even more interesting is that half of all users on Instagram make weekly purchases on the platform. The average increase in revenue for brands that tag their items in feed articles is 37%. On the other hand, brands that tag two or more articles daily find a 117% increase in sales, so it’s a waste not to use this tool.
If you sell products, tag them across all media types – creative ads, posts, stories, and reels. And don’t just put your items out there and call it a day. Create attention-grabbing posts that make potential clients stop scrolling and check out your product.
Yes, the quality of your image will catch the viewer’s eye and give your post an impression. But it’s the captions that take them all the way and make your followers interact.
Instagram captions let people relate to your business and learn more about what you stand for. They’re also great for explaining products or services, so don’t underestimate their value.
One of the best practices for Instagram is to write engaging captions related to your brand. This helps the Instagram algorithm grasp your post’s subject and improve your ranking.
When someone searches for topics related to your post, Instagram automatically double-strikes it with keywords shown in captions. So, the more relevant you stay to your client’s intent, the better your chances of ranking high.
Guess what happens when you add relevant hashtags to your Instagram post? The post appears at the top of the stream, and you get tons of free exposure. Yes, it’s that easy!
When it comes to Instagram posting best practices, industry-specific hashtags increase both visibility and impact. But there are some dos and don’ts that you must stick to.
When you choose hashtags, go for those with only a few thousand posts instead of those with millions. If you use generic hashtags like #summer, your post will compete with many others, and you’ll probably get no traction. Instead, combine current trends with niche hashtags to create a less competitive phrase to engage your Instagram audience.
If your company is well-known, strive to develop a branded hashtag. Using a branded hashtag has great Instagram benefits, increasing both engagement and visibility. Plus, it’ll add to your prestige, paving the way for more successful Instagram campaigns.
Instagram is not a broadcasting platform. Your followers seek a sense of community and conversation, so try not to sound like you’re giving them a lecture.
Instead, think of ways to engage your audience so they interact with your content. Here, you must put yourself in their shoes and think about how you would best respond to a campaign.
You don’t want a product shoved in your face, do you? Well, neither do your followers.
Giveaways and competitions are fantastic engagement boosters, and the best thing about them is that they work with almost all industries. Contests are tried-and-true techniques that WILL get people to interact with your page, so why not try them?
By challenging your audience and rewarding them in the process, you get their attention and boost engagement. Of course, that’s as long as you refrain from being spammy.
One way to do this is by posting a game or challenge on your profile and asking your followers to respond. The challenge doesn’t have to be mind-blowing but exciting enough to capture and keep your followers’ attention.
You can also post an exciting image or unique content representing your brand and attach a “caption contest” to it. This will make your followers get creative and share their entries, giving you both engagement and exposure.
Set deadlines for your contests to motivate participants to act and respond right away. Once you start sharing your favorite captions and crediting the winners, you’ll see how motivated they’ll become to interact.
Now comes the most critical thing: maintaining a regular posting schedule.
Sure, you can test your luck and post whenever you feel like it. But that’ll most likely lead to nowhere and waste your time. To know the best posting time, you must understand how your target audience behaves on Instagram. This is where content calendars come in.
Content calendars let you create content for all key events, holidays, and marketing promotions relevant to your company. This makes the calendar your ultimate planning tool.
One of Instagram posting best practices is publishing at least four times per week, so you can start there. If you have enough material, go for 1-2 posts each day. This increases your audience’s attention and keeps your feed at the top.
However, ideal posting times change between sectors, so what works for one company may not work for the other. Before planning your schedule, research the best posting times for your niche. Some brands see a higher engagement rate on weekdays, while others mark hotspots on weekends. It all depends on your target audience’s preferences.
Once you establish when your audience reacts best, you can clearly understand your posting schedule. To be consistent, stick to every date on your calendar. You can even plan ahead with Meta’s features or other Instagram scheduling tools to get your posts ready beforehand.
Once you get to know your followers better, you can prepare your material in advance and schedule it to go public later. That lets you entirely use your creative resources and manage time effectively, paving the way for better, higher-quality content.
What if we told you that the most successful Instagram campaigns are 100% based on research? Without analyzing data, we can’t talk about Instagram’s best practices.
Studying the insights of your Instagram posts is the only way to know what your audience interacts with. This data is your guidance, as it clearly shows you how to differentiate yourself from the competition.
The best thing about this is that Instagram has its own built-in analytics, so all you have to do is learn how to read the numbers. This can take a bit of trial and error, but the good news is that agencies can do this for you; letting you fully enjoy your campaign’s success.
Instagram analytics is full of charts and graphs that are easy to understand, download, and export. These insights include information on reach and impressions, engagement rates, demographics, and more.
All this data makes it easy to determine what is and isn’t working on your social media strategy. If you share your marketing efforts on other platforms, you can even cross-check these insights and see where you need to improve your strategy.
By monitoring your best-performing pieces, you can discover what resonates with your audience and spot opportunities your rivals overlook. It also gives you insights into what form of content is most popular, whether images, reels, or stories.
One thing to note, though: you must have measurable goals when evaluating your content’s performance. Some of these goals include reaching a higher-than-average engagement rate. Or, you can aim for a 50% growth in followers for the following year. Whatever you decide to do, ensure you can measure it and have the means to evaluate the data effectively.
At the end of the day, growing your follower base or generating leads through Instagram can be challenging, but it’s fully achievable. As long as you keep an open mind, dare to try new things, study your insights, and be consistent – you’ll be at the top of your Instagram game.
Instagram is still among the best social media tools for businesses in many industries. It offers many tools, insights, and opportunities that let brands and creators engage their audiences and gain from them. And, with our list of Instagram best practices, you’ll be fully equipped to take advantage of everything this platform has to offer.
If there’s one thing you take away from this article, it is to create original and captivating content. You have to distinguish yourself from the competition, and there’s no better way to do this than by being one of a kind.
Lastly, remember to spend time and effort to see what works best for you. As with any marketing approach, concentrate your efforts on what produces results – whether that includes follows, likes, comments, or leads.
And if you find it all too overwhelming, that’s okay. Tactica is here to help you stay in the loop, so reach out and let us handle it all for you.
