Are your target consumers on Instagram but you’re having trouble reaching them? Wishing you got more engagement on your Instagram posts? 

The good news is that we’ve curated some new strategies for you to apply to your Instagram marketing that are guaranteed to power your presence this year.

Why is a strong Instagram presence important for your brand? Well, 70% of online shoppers use Instagram for product discovery.

Maybe this post doesn’t contain a bazillion strategies for Instagram but there are a lot of actionable tips to supercharge your Instagram marketing efforts this year. So let’s dive in.

Consult Your Marketing Goals

Instagram posts should align with your marketing goals as social media compliments the way you do business. Consider the blog posts you plan to put out, which products your brand is pushing, your email marketing strategy and KPIs, and design Instagram posts that line up with your other efforts.

Visit Your Buyer Personas

Consult your buyer personas to identify the types of Instagram posts to craft and schedule.

What are their pain points? What will engage them? What types of information do they seek out? You get the drift.

Optimize Your Instagram Profile

Create a profile that is the name of your brand so Instagram users recognize it as a branded channel.

You have 150 characters to fill out your bio. Use them wisely to talk about who you are, what you do and maybe highlight a specific campaign. You get 1 link in your bio and many brands switch it out to lead people to blog posts, campaigns, etc. 

For the profile image, your brand’s logo makes the most sense. 

Research Hashtags

Hashtags make it so that your posts are found by other Instagrammers than your followers.

You can have up to 30 hashtags on in-feed posts and reels. You can have up to 10 hashtags on stories. With so much potential, where to begin?

We like tulzoo to research relevant hashtags. You can also search within the Instagram app to find popular hashtags.

Create a long list of hashtags that would be followed by your target consumers and rotate through that list with each post.

Create a Cohesive and Unique Aesthetic on Instagram

Since Instagram is so visually driven, you want your feed to look cohesive.

Decide on consistent colors, fonts, filters. Don’t feel like you need to re-invent your Instagram presence, you should already have these aesthetics in your marketing materials. 

Craft Posts That Are Engaging

If your Instagram posts aren’t engaging, you’re wasting your time. But that sentence is kinda vague, don’t you think? Let’s look at some engaging post ideas:

• Tell stories
• Hit on trending topics
• Give industry-related tips
• Be funny with memes
• Ask an interesting question

The more comments, shares, etc. that you get, the more Instagram’s algorithm loves you so engaging posts are crucial.

Follow the Rule of 3 on Instagram

To keep audiences engaged but also to promote your brand, follow the rule of 3 when it comes to your Instagram posts.

One third of your posts should promote your brand, one third should be about interaction with your audience and the other third should be resharing other Instagrammers’ content. 

Caption Inspiration

While Instagram lets you add long captions, limit your wall of text when applicable. Long captions are good once in a while but Instagram is known for the short and quippy captions.

We could write a whole post on Instagram captions and probably will, but for now, check out this definitive guide on Instagram captions.

Partner WIth Influencers

The right influencers for your strategy will produce Instagram content that your target consumers will follow. And with their large reach, they have the ability to put your brand in front of a new audience in an actionable way.

We are fans of the micro-level influencer and they charge about $200 for an Instagram post.

Be strategic and help them with a creative theme for their posts with a smart CTA.

Utilize UGC

Content created by your happy consumers is fantastic content to share on your Instagram channel.

Social proof is what gets conversions. Showcasing a third-party experience with your product or service as opposed to salesy branded content is how consumers love learning about new brands.

Photos Versus Videos

Static photos can be published singularly or in a carousel with up to 10 images.

Videos can be uploaded to your feed. 

Since videos tend to get more engagement than static images, it’s smart to do 75% of your posts as video and 25% as static images.

Videos get twice the engagement of static posts so prioritize them.

Know When to Use Instagram Ads

Sometimes your organic Instagram presence isn’t powerful enough and that’s where ads come in.

You can set your target audience, define your goals, boost current posts or create dedicated ad posts.

Consider A/B testing a few ads with $100 behind each one to see which performs the best.

Understanding Instagram Reels

Reels is Instagram’s attempt at capitalizing on the TikTok band wagon. Reels are short and live in a dedicated tab on your profile.

They’re meant to be fun and engaging so think about how your brand can humanize your image within 15 seconds.

Instagram Story Ideas

Instagram Stories last for 24 hours and are ideal for sharing “behind-the-scenes” and upcoming product launches content about your brand. The fact that they disappear after a day, makes Instagram Stories more engaging.

Stories are great for humanizing your brand. Consumers love to feel like an extension of your brand and you can leverage Stories to keep them in the loop.

Once you have 10,000 followers on Instagram, you will be able to add the swipe up feature which presents you with another way to insert a link onto the platform. 

Don’t Forget About Instagram Live

Going “live” is a newer but popular use of social media. Straight from the Instagram app, you can go live. This is a great strategy for social selling. 

Many brands have influencers host their live event and push a few products during that session.

Offer a discount to create momentum and maximize sales from your live streaming. 

Post at Optimal Times

Optimal post times depend on your audience. However, there is a lot of research about the best times to post on Instagram. Start with the recommended times for a few weeks and then analyze the lift of your posts and adjust accordingly.

The best time to post on Instagram is between 10 am and 3 pm. The best day to post on Instagram is Tuesday. The best time to go Live on Instagram is Monday through Friday at 12 pm.

Read more about posting on social media at the right times here.

Run Giveaways

Giveaways on Instagram will increase your audience and engagement. 

Giving users a chance to win something by performing an action is a great way to get new followers. An entry to win a product from your brand can be a reshare, a like, a follow, etc.

To run your giveaway, we recommend the Rafflecopter widget. 

Show Your Instagram Feed on Your Website

With tools like Instagram Feed Pro, you can show your latest Instagram posts on your website. This attracts new audiences who already have an affinity for your content and your brand. 

Incorporate Instagram Shopping Functionality 

For many brands, Instagram’s Shopping features serve as a great way to bring in sales via the platform.

You’ll need to set up a shop through your profile.  Then you can add product tags and curate products that Instagram users can shop for straight from Instagram. 

Sourcing Images 

It can be daunting to take photos every day for Instagram. Sometimes it makes sense to source them elsewhere.

You can find images by reaching out to your consumers and influencers. You can try a free site like Pexels.

If you’re not strong at graphic design, Canva has an easy-to-use platform with free templates to create Instagram posts.

Promote Your Instagram Presence

To build an audience on Instagram, you already have some resources in place. Consider the following simple strategies:

• Email your list of contacts that your brand is on Instagram and you want them to follow you
• Cross promote your Instagram account on your other social media platforms
• Put your Instagram link in your email signature
• Get your coworkers to promote your brand’s Instagram account
• Follow relevant profiles and chances are, they’ll follow you back

Stay Up To Date With Instagram Insights

Instagram Insights exist within the platform and are available to anyone with a business account. 

It’s free and will give you stats on your posts, audience, engagement and more. This will allow you to identify what resonates the most with your audience and tailor your posts accordingly. 

Final Thoughts: Amplify Your Brand’s Instagram Presence Today

We just threw a lot of information at you rather quickly. If running your Instagram strategy sounds a little daunting in-house, we would love to help. We are Instagram experts and offer free consultation calls so reach out. 

Do you have an Instagram marketing strategy to share? We’d love to read all about it in the comments below!