In the last 5 years, Instagram has turned into a go-to social network for businesses looking to put their names on the map. Companies love to use Instagram because it gives them a chance to connect with their targeted audience. And with more than?500 million daily active users?it seems like an easy enough task…or is it?
If you plan to use Instagram to promote your business it?s important to stay on top of things. Knowing all the latest trends and statistics, using the right hashtags or when to post are some of the tricks you need to master in order to make this platform your money-making machine.
Here, we?ll give you some useful insights and help you uncover the secrets of Instagram marketing that will take your business to a whole new level.
1. The story behind Instagram stories
In 2017 only 8% of businesses used Instagram story ads as an attempt to engage more customers. Yet, the stats are about to change since 2018 is shaping up to be the year of the Stories. According to statistics whopping?88% of businesses?are changing their strategies and focusing more on posting through stories.
Using Instagram stories quickly became a huge marketing trend. This relatively new feature released in March 2017 gives you a chance to experiment and see what works best for your business.
Still, the most important thing is to create quality content based on clearly established goals and KPI?s. After that, all you need to do is track your success rate through?Instagram Stories analytics. Together with impressions and reach you?ll be able to see your Instagram Stories? exits and replies from the last two weeks. And if you?re interested in generating traffic, try using a third-party tool for counting clicks.
2. Start boosting your posts
Getting familiar with Instagram advertising is something you?ll have to work on if you want to maintain or acquire high engagement. Luckily for you, it?s not that difficult. All you have to do is boost your posts to your followers. That way you can avoid using Instagram ads and special targeting. ?Just take a regular Instagram post and promote it in order to get more likes, impressions and visits. Your post will look like a regular one accept it will have the ?sponsored? sign and a call to action button.
3. Will Instagram profiles become the new home pages?
More and more people are looking for brands on Instagram rather than Google. Instagram profiles are becoming the home pages of the future so it?s really important to focus your attention on Instagram aesthetics as a crucial part of your Instagram marketing strategy.
Having a consistent aesthetic flow and a nicely organized color pallet could do wonders for your profile and attract new followers.
Aesthetic is essential for companies which base their business on visual appeal. For example, focusing on this type of?social media marketing for real estate?could make a huge difference when it comes to outshining the competition. There are many available visual Instagram planners which will help your profile really come together resulting in aesthetically pleasing appearance.
4. Everyone will shop on Instagram
Instagram decided to join forces with Shopify in a form of a?new shopping feature integration.
This new feature will allow Shopify users to tag their product in a photo along with the name and the price of the product. Customers will be able to do their shopping through Instagram without having to switch to another app.
People from Shopify explain that partnering up with Instagram was the next logical step because staying on the same platform will only result in increased number of additional sales. So, if you?re not using Shopify yet, this might be the best time to start.
5. It?s all about Instagram analytics
If you want to run a successful Instagram campaign you?ll have to get familiar with?Instagram analytics. Mastering analytics tools is really important because it will help with constantly changing the Instagram algorithm.
Also, frequently optimizing your content is another crucial factor in generating a high number of impressions and engagement.
And since 2018 seems to be all about Instagram analytics, you can look forward to more advanced versions of the tool not only limited to mobile apps.
If you want to be a successful marketer you need to stay on top of your game. This year is huge for Instagram, especially Instagram Stories so make sure you?re amongst the first who?ll use all its potential and put it to good use.
