“Let’s start an Instagram account for our business, it will be a great I idea they said, we will have 1000+ followers by this time next month they said”
Fast-forward 6 months, does your Instagram account look more like a washed-up cougar in her late 30s in dire need of a facelift? Is that ohhhh sooo hot, tending, booming, millennial hub you had in your dreams 6 months ago, now just a distant memory?
Navigating the world of Instagram marketing is a tricky one, it’s all too easy to get stuck in a rut, posts start getting repeated, hashtags now seem overused, and there is only so many times one can use the Clarendon filter…
If your follower count is plateauing it’s time we gave your account some Botox. Read below for our top 5 tips to make your Instagram account lose 10 pounds and look 10 years younger!
Botox injection # 1: Make your profile a business profile…
Seems obvious right? But you would be surprised how many businesses are yet to clock on. The switch is simple; all it takes is a quick visit to the settings section in your app.
The why? This is also remarkably simple – customers (existing and potential), will be able to contact you directly through the blue ‘contact’ button on your profile. Yep, that’s right… you just made your product or service MUCH easier for clients to purchase!
This addition will also give you access to Instagram insights, this will help you measure post-performance and see what content is resonating with your audience.
Botox injection # 2: Interact with your followers…
Its social media… and it takes two to tango. Don’t set and forget, don’t post and run… every audience interaction on a post is an opportunity for you to connect with your clientele. This means responding to comments, direct messages, and ALSO actively engaging with your followers and other brands on the platform.
If you’re new to Instagram, your page it probably relatively small, it will only take a few minutes to respond to every comment. It sounds trivial, but it’s one of the best ways to speed up the growth of your page and engage a community.
Botox injection # 3: Quality > Quantity…
Social newsfeeds are hot property… and Instagram might just be the most expensive house on the block, if you want to get noticed content quality is paramount, and needs to prioritise quantity. For this reason, I often advise brands to steer away from a templated post structure (e.g. a set number of posts per week).
Don’t post for the sake of posting… EVERY post needs to have why. As for quality … DO YOUR RESEARCH! This is twofold, either through your brands own Instagram analytics where you can clearly track post performance and ascertain actionable learnings about audience resonation, OR simply just by surfing the web… according to Sprout Social, photos with faces garner 38 percent more likes, and photos in general generate 36 percent more engagement than videos.
Those two tips were discovered in about two seconds, imagine what you could learn if you 10 minutes of research a day?
Botox injection # 4: Let’s talk accessories… Hashtag and caption selection….
Let’s get one thing straight – hashtags are life, posts with at least one Instagram hashtag average 12.6% more engagement than posts without a hashtag #shocked.
BUT, hashtags and captions should not look like a toddler was left unsupervised around paint… #moreshocked? In the words of Kory Stevens (founder of Taft), “when hashtags and captions are crafted as carefully as we direct photography, our followers react and engage.” I see so many brands invest large proportions of their marketing budget into content creation (shoots, equipment, editing), yet seem to blindly select hashtags out of an opaque bag #dontbethisbrand
So how do you select the right hashtags? Do your due diligence. Firstly know what hashtags you have used on prior posts (for bigger brands I suggest using an excel sheet to categorise hashtags into themes (e.g. brand, blogger), and to also track frequency of use).
What else? RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH… research the hashtag, related hashtags, industry leaders, your competitors, and market trends.
Captions and hashtags are also critical components to discoverability. Many Instagrammers surf hashtags of interest as a means of engaging with potential followers who are seeking relevant inspiration or information. Take for example a clothing brand. While your primary hashtag may be #fashion, don’t stop there. You need to dive deeper, using hashtags such as #beachfashion or #summerfashion. One way to apply relevant hashtags is to peek at your competitor’s’ posts; if they’re using hashtags that you’re overlooking, you may be missing out on incremental post reach!
Botox injection # 5: Our facelift needs to last until we are 100… make sure you consider the long play.
I am telling you now, like all things in life, your Instagram page will go through periods where growth appears to be stagnant. Your page will also go through bursts of follower growth off the back of an outlier great post… You might even think users have mistaken your page for one of the Kardashians at times. The trick is to remain consistent, stick to your branding, stick to your strategy, stay up to date on platform innovation, competitor activity, and industry leaders. Interact with your followers, and be smart with your accessories.
