How to use Instagram, and why? Sooner or later, it will happen. The General Manager, the Chief Executive Officer, or the Marketing Director, will break into your office and submit this request to you: "we must open an Instagram profile!” They are all there, our competitors, our customers, our suppliers, but above all, there are the potential customers that we cannot reach through other media. It seems to repeat the story of the late nineties when "you have to make a website" because” everyone can see your content."
But, as with any communication plan, Instagram can become an excellent marketing channel for your company, but it is not useful to "jump on the bandwagon" just because there are already all others. It is first of all necessary to evaluate whether and how this Social Network can fit into the Brand strategy and identify what the short-medium term objectives are. Once this is defined, all that remains is to open an account and start working. Let's see the effective ways that each Brand/business should keep in mind when evaluating first and then planning their marketing actions using Instagram.
1. Create engagement
Instagram is not only an image sharing tool, but it is above all a Social Network. And, as such, it does not have the typical Top / down approach of offline communication but, to obtain a minimum of visibility, it is necessary to participate in the community.
This requires a commitment that is important to evaluate right from the design phase, that is, before creating the profile or restyling the profile itself, a commitment that translates first of all in terms of time.
To get an idea of the actions to be put in place, obviously making a superficial list, in general, it is considered essential to post at least one photo a day, research, and follow users in target with the Brand. Check if they are already around the product/service created spontaneous communities and, in the case involving them, comment on the images they like, hit many likes to the photos of others. Also, follow the engaging hashtags and always respond to comments under their own images (even negative ones).
2. Use excellent quality materials
It seems obvious, but it is the most important thing ever. Users upload 100 million photos a day to Instagram to make them dwell on yours; you need to attract the audience, grab attention, involve, and, at the same time, inform, always.
In selecting the materials for the profile, one should try to interpret the presentations of the products or services creatively, offer the followers something that makes a style, a message recognizable. At the same time, do not raise barriers, seek a dialogue with your followers, and ask them to perform small actions (surveys, feedback, etc.).
3. Use Ads
The "sponsored" advertisements of Instagram are proving to be a very powerful and equally effective tool for communication and advertising. To use them, however, it is not enough to have an Instagram account, but it is also necessary to have a Facebook page to which to hook the same.
Instagram has four posting modes:
• Images
• Video
• Carousels
• Stories
Each of the four options responds to a specific communication need:
• Bringing visits to a website: a link sends users to a site or to a specific page (available for images, videos, and carousels)
• App installation: it is used to convince users to install an app on their mobile device (available for images and videos)
• View Video: you can tell a story through a video up to 60 seconds long
• Reaching the Mass: Bringing as many users as possible with the guarantee of a certain impression value through the placement of the Ads in the upper part of the Instagram feed (available for images, videos, stories, and carousels).
In defining the details of the advertisement, much attention must be paid to establishing one's audience, setting the countries to reach, and the interests of the public from "Power Editor."
The sponsor advertisement will be shown in the feed of each user that help you to reach potential followers. Your image should be attractive that grab attention at the first moment. You can also buy Instagram followers if you are short of money, as this is an instant and affordable way to get more eyeballs.
4. Organize the Contests
If proposed correctly, they are another tool to be used to obtain greater visibility and, consequently, followers. It is important to know that to date; the Instagram environment is almost at the limit of saturation in terms of the contest offered to users and communities. Therefore, host contest and offer give away to attract the audience. It is obvious to underline that the more the prize is interesting and of "value" (not necessarily economic), the more participation in the competition is encouraged.
5. Engage Influencers
Another possibility is to find "Ambassadors" of your Brand and ask them directly to promote your products. The Ambassador qualifies as an Instagram user who can act in support of the Brand by promoting it or promoting its products and/or services.
Ambassadors are the so-called "Influencers," i.e., those who use Instagram also as a business tool and are available to work on behalf of brands. As for the selection of a "testimonial," you must be particularly careful in choosing the influencers because the guarantee of the number of followers of the profile is not always sufficient. It is equally important that the chosen ones have a profile in line with the product to be advertised.
6. Statistics
Check the statistics, and they will reveal everything to you. The collection of data is of fundamental importance to evaluate the performance of a profile. Many third-party tools allow you to compile statistics; one of the most complete is Iconosquare through which you can monitor every detail of your accounts, competitors, and Hashtags. These are just some of the practices that, in our opinion, are necessary to put in place to pursue the road to success on Instagram.