According to recently published figures, Instagram already has 15 million users in Germany. Worldwide, 800 million users are active on Instagram every month, 500 million of them daily. The trend is rising. But when it comes to a company’s presence see buyrealgramviews on the popular photo platform, the sheer numbers are just one of many arguments.
There are many reasons for companies to be active on Instagram – from the rapidly increasing popularity of Instagram Stories to the expanded advertising opportunities in this social network.
In this article, you’ll learn how to get the most out of your Instagram marketing. From the first steps to developing a content strategy and building your brand identity, to the right actions to ensure optimal results.
To set up an Instagram account for your business
Don’t have a company account on Instagram yet? How to set up your account.
Username and Bio
Your username on Instagram should be the same as on any other social media account for your brand, so you’ll be easier to find. The other information in your public profile is your website address (a URL you can change as many times as you like to promote campaigns or new content) and a short bio.
Use your bio to describe your business and explain what visitors can expect from your Instagram profile. You can also add brand hash tags for your followers to use.
Here you can find Instagram’s instructions for editing profiles.
Profile picture
The logo of your company is recommended as a profile picture on Instagram. Again, if it’s the same profile picture as your brand’s other social media sites, you’ll be easier to find. Your followers on Twitter and Facebook will recognize you immediately.
Because the Instagram profile image is cut to a circle by the app, you should make sure that the image you choose looks good in this format as well. Your profile picture has a diameter of 110 pixels in the mobile app, but is displayed larger on the web – so choose a correspondingly larger picture.
Follow other users
To activate your presence on Instagram, you should follow other users. Research and follow industry influencers, customers, and others relevant to your brand.
Because Instagram’s demographics are so diverse, it’s a good idea to know exactly who you’re targeting. Search for industry hashtags and make your presence felt by commenting on photos and following people participating in these discussions. You’ll be surprised at how quickly this increases your number of followers.
Promote your account
Cross-promote:
Mention your Instagram username on your websites and in your other social media profiles. You can also post one or two messages and ask your followers on other social networks to follow you on Instagram.
Manage your Instagram presence with your other social media channels
Hootsuite makes it easy to manage your Instagram presence and increase the number of followers. Monitor comments and hashtags, interact with your audience, measure your performance, schedule or publish photos directly to Instagram – all from a single dashboard.
To develop a content strategy for Instagram
Anyone who occasionally scrolls through Instagram, randomly marks a few photos with “Like” and posts a close-up of his dog for the fourth time in the same week can afford this as an individual – but different laws apply to companies.
If you want to build a strong community and achieve real business results, you need a well-thought-out marketing plan for Instagram that answers four basic questions:
How often and when do you post?
Keep a regular publishing schedule, but don’t bombard your followers with too many posts. Find out what works best for your business intelligently by testing posts at different intervals and times and then evaluating the results. Once you’ve found the best rhythm, a shared content calendar is a good way to keep track of the timing and publication of your posts.
Which content topics do you address?
Alternate different content topics to keep your Instagram presence interesting for followers and to help you achieve different goals. For example, do you represent a post-secondary educational institution that you want to make better known in order to attract more students? Then your main content should be about contests, graduate stories and reports about campus life.
Which style guidelines do your posts follow?
Do you use Emoji in your captions? Does your brand adhere to certain grammatical rules? Which hashtags do you use? What kind of photos do you post? Are there visual signals that every post should contain? Your style guidelines should cover all elements of a strong and consistent brand identity.
