Businesses can leverage on Instagram with more than 800 million active users monthly and 8 million business profiles. This tells you that if you are a business and are not using Instagram, then you are missing out a lot.
While this social platform can generate sales for any business, it takes more than posting attractive pictures on Instagram to get good results. Here is how to go about establishing an effective Instagram marketing strategy:
Determine your goals
Before you can embark on marketing on the social platform, you need to establish what you intend to achieve via Instagram. To help you along, ask yourself some soul searching questions including who is the target audience, what will the social platform achieve compared to other social sites and how will you integrate Instagram with other marketing channels.
Grow your following
One of the critical steps of a successful marketing strategy on social media is growing the number of your followers. Unless you get numbers on your side, you will struggle to get people to see and respond to your content and brand. And that will have a negative impact on your sales.
Develop a content strategy
By now, you know the saying "Content is King". Basically, content is the foundation of any business' social media presence. The only way you will succeed in driving sales using Instagram is by making your products the star of the show. And the best way to achieve this is via great, practical content that solves real problems in the lives of your followers.
When developing content for social media leverage on stories. People love hearing good stories about your company and brand. Tell them how those products have changed or are changing lives in daily life.
Use hashtags and mentions to enhance exposure
Understanding how to use hashtags and mentions effectively is critical on Instagram. When properly utilized, hashtags help your posts and products gain exposure by creating trends and mentioning other users who are likely to introduce you to their followers.
Run promotions
You have done well so far by establishing a presence, pulling in prospects via valuable content and collaborating with others effectively. Now, it's time to convert prospects into buying customers.
To turn followers into buying customers, consider giving discounts and giveaways. You can ride on hashtag contests which enable users to participate in a contest without leaving the site and offer prizes for the winners. Alternatively, you can engage your prospect via personality quizzes.
While this social platform can generate sales for any business, it takes more than posting attractive pictures on Instagram to get good results. Here is how to go about establishing an effective Instagram marketing strategy:
Determine your goals
Before you can embark on marketing on the social platform, you need to establish what you intend to achieve via Instagram. To help you along, ask yourself some soul searching questions including who is the target audience, what will the social platform achieve compared to other social sites and how will you integrate Instagram with other marketing channels.
Grow your following
One of the critical steps of a successful marketing strategy on social media is growing the number of your followers. Unless you get numbers on your side, you will struggle to get people to see and respond to your content and brand. And that will have a negative impact on your sales.
Develop a content strategy
By now, you know the saying "Content is King". Basically, content is the foundation of any business' social media presence. The only way you will succeed in driving sales using Instagram is by making your products the star of the show. And the best way to achieve this is via great, practical content that solves real problems in the lives of your followers.
When developing content for social media leverage on stories. People love hearing good stories about your company and brand. Tell them how those products have changed or are changing lives in daily life.
Use hashtags and mentions to enhance exposure
Understanding how to use hashtags and mentions effectively is critical on Instagram. When properly utilized, hashtags help your posts and products gain exposure by creating trends and mentioning other users who are likely to introduce you to their followers.
Run promotions
You have done well so far by establishing a presence, pulling in prospects via valuable content and collaborating with others effectively. Now, it's time to convert prospects into buying customers.
To turn followers into buying customers, consider giving discounts and giveaways. You can ride on hashtag contests which enable users to participate in a contest without leaving the site and offer prizes for the winners. Alternatively, you can engage your prospect via personality quizzes.
