14 Tips To Improve Your Instagram Marketing

Instagram is one of the most important social media channels out there. It’s big, it’s active, and it’s used by a wide audience. 

For these reasons and more, many businesses want to use their Instagram accounts to grow their audience, generate brand awareness, and even sell products directly. 

That last point is especially important because Instagram has evolved from a simple social network into an e-commerce platform in its own right. 

The more that you can do to improve your Instagram marketing strategy from using the right dimensions for your photos to finding ways to sell on Instagram the better off your business will be overall.

19 Instagram Marketing Strategies that Work – YouTube
Takeaways
1. Utilize Visual Storytelling: Craft compelling visual content that tells a story and resonates with your audience.
2. Embrace Authenticity: Be genuine and relatable in your posts to build meaningful connections with followers.
3. Leverage User-Generated Content: Encourage your audience to create content related to your brand and showcase it on your profile.
4. Optimize Hashtags: Use relevant and trending hashtags to increase your posts’ visibility and engagement.
5. Engage with Your Audience: Respond to comments, messages, and engage in conversations to foster a community.
6. Collaborate with Influencers: Partner with influencers to reach a wider audience and build credibility.
7. Use Instagram Stories: Utilize Stories for behind-the-scenes, announcements, and interactive content.
8. Consistency is Key: Maintain a consistent posting schedule to keep your audience engaged and informed.
9. Monitor Analytics: Track metrics like engagement, reach, and conversion rates to refine your strategy.
10. Showcase Your Brand Personality: Infuse your brand’s unique voice and personality into your content.

1. Use The Right Dimensions

To make sure your images are a perfect size, head to Instagram.com (not the app) and update any posts that need a new size. 

If you’re not sure what the right dimensions are for your profile picture, cover photo, video, story or posts then check out this table from Instagram which shows exactly how big each image should be:

Profile: 180 x 180 pixels (vertical) or 240 x 135 pixels (horizontal)

Cover Image: 820 x 312 px wide plus 1/3 of an inch off each side if you want to add text/logos/etc. with a maximum width of 1080px wide and 500px tall if you don’t want any text on it at all

Photo post: 1080x1080px max dimensions but can be smaller if needed – recommended setting is 998x992px (you can also use carousels here too!)

Video post: 480pixels wide by 480pixels tall (uploaded as 15fps video at 640×360 resolution). It’s recommended that you upload 1920x1080p videos instead so they’re high definition quality and will look better! 

You can upload up to 60 seconds long videos here so long as they’re less than 15MB in file size limit which should give everyone enough room for creativity 🙂

When it comes to enhancing your Instagram marketing strategy, visualizing your approach can bring remarkable results. Discover our detailed guide on boosting B2C marketing through visualization and unlock the potential of creative representation.

2. Post High-Quality Photos

Posting high-quality photos are one of the best ways to improve your Instagram marketing. To take good photos, you’ll need a camera with a high megapixel count, proper lighting, and camera settings for each shot.

After taking the shots, use an editing app like Snapseed that has filters that can help enhance the images and remove imperfections. 

Then post as many quality photos as possible while also sharing relevant content through captions or hashtags so they get noticed by users around the world!

3. User Your Bio To Link To Your Newest Content

Your Instagram profile’s bio is one of the most important places on the platform, and it can be an excellent place for you to direct potential followers or customers to other great content you’ve created. 

You could include links to a blog post or landing page that explains who you are, what you do, and how people can learn more about your business. Or maybe there’s a cool new piece of content that just went live on your website you could link directly to that as well!

Incorporating proven tactics is essential in the world of Instagram marketing. Explore our insights into common Instagram marketing tactics that are essential knowledge for any marketer seeking to maximize their impact on the platform.

4. Add Links To Instagram Stories

Instagram stories are a great way to build your brand and increase customer engagement. Adding links is one of the best ways to do that because it makes it easy for people to consume more content on your website without having to leave their feed. 

It also allows you to keep building brand awareness by creating a permanent association between your name and certain types of content.

Link shorteners can be used in several different places on Instagram:

In the caption (i.e., where you normally write out a description)

On top of an image or video clip, which will allow viewers who click through from their feed onto the website page where you’ve placed that particular link; this will appear as “Fullscreen” followed by “View in browser” at full size when clicked; or

Underneath either type of clip (whether still images or moving ones), which will take viewers directly into whichever webpage has been linked there.

Again, either fullscreen or minimized depending on how much real estate there is available for such things within an individual multitouch gesture action sequence sequence sequence sequence sequence click!

5. Use All The SEO Tactics You Can

Use The Right Keywords

This is SEO 101, but it’s important to remember that you can’t just use any old word in your Instagram bio or caption. You need to make sure that what you’re putting out there will be relevant for anyone searching for your products or services.

Link your Instagram profile to other profiles where people are likely to find it (like your website). If someone follows you on Instagram and wants more information about your business, they should be able to click through easily without having to hunt around or leave the app itself.

Use hashtags when relevant or appropriate but never overuse them! A good rule of thumb is three hashtags per post; if this seems like too much work, then don’t worry about using them at all (but do make sure they’re used appropriately). 

Using too many hashtags can hurt how often people see your posts because they’ll get lost in a crowd of others who have done the same thing as well as with their content–and no one wants that!

Crafting a comprehensive plan is key to mastering your Instagram marketing efforts. Dive into our guide on mastering your Instagram marketing plan to ensure your brand’s presence shines brightly in the dynamic world of social media.

6. Track Your Instagram Stats Regularly

Tracking your Instagram stats regularly is one of the most important things you can do to improve your marketing. 

If you don’t track them, how will you know if your ads are working? How will you know which posts are getting the best engagement? How will you know what people like about your brand?

Tracking your Instagram stats is easy when using a tool like Social Report. 

All it takes is a few minutes at the end of each day or week, and then once a month we’ll give you some great insight into how people engage with your account so that next time around, even more people see what makes them love it so much!

The first step to improving Instagram marketing is tracking those stats!

7. Ask For Feedback Via Your IG Stories

Another great way to engage with your audience on Instagram is by asking them questions via stories. This is a great way to get feedback from your followers and start a conversation about a topic that interests you.

Whether it’s for a personal or business account, you can use this tool to learn more about what people think of your brand and products.

To make sure that the question is engaging enough for others, make sure that it has:

  • A clear call to action (e.g., “Share your thoughts in the comments!”)
  • A question that can be answered with yes or no (e.g., “Have you ever…?)
  • Relevance to your audience

8. Work With A Few Select Influencers And Ambassadors

You can get a lot of mileage from working with a few select influencers and ambassadors. The key is to find people who are a good fit for your brand, make sure they’re active on Instagram, have a decent following, and know their audience well. 

It’s also worth making sure that you aren’t being too picky about what you are asking them to do some influencers may have lower fees than others, but will still be able to deliver results in terms of increasing awareness or engagement.

Harnessing the power of Instagram ads doesn’t always require a hefty budget. Check out our article on utilizing Instagram ads without spending to discover sixteen effective strategies that won’t break the bank.

9. Share User Generated Content, But Do It Well

One of the best ways to use Instagram is by sharing user-generated content. People love seeing other users’ pictures and videos on their feed, so it’s an excellent way to get them engaged with your brand.

However, there are a few things you should keep in mind when sharing user-generated content.

Use hashtags! If someone is using one of your hashtags on their Instagram post, it means they’ve seen that hashtag used in an ad or caption and associated it with your brand. This can help you reach more people searching for these terms on social media.

Tag the original poster! The person who took the photo or created the video may not be aware of how many people will see it through you if they don’t know about how viral their post can become after being reposted by someone else (hint: everyone!). 

Letting them know where their work ended up will help boost their confidence as well as give them credit for creating something awesome that others want to view again and again!

Use filters wisely – Don’t overuse them just because they’re easy; think about whether or not they’ll make sense within context before applying any filters at all.

Because sometimes less is more when it comes down right now–you’ll end up looking like some sorta weirdo if all those pinks weren’t necessary.”

10. Make Sure You Have An Email List

Building an email list is essential to your Instagram marketing success. You can only promote products or services on Instagram so many times before the platform starts penalizing you, so it’s important to have a fallback plan.

Email marketing is one of the best ways to sell more because people are more likely to buy from someone they’ve heard from/are familiar with than they are just out of nowhere. 

The other benefit? Email gives you a way to communicate directly with your customers without having to worry about being blocked by Instagram or Facebook’s algorithms (which tend not to favor businesses over “personal accounts”).

Your ideal customer probably already follows or likes some of your competitors’ social media pages so how do you get them interested in yours? 

Start by creating an email list where people can sign up for updates and special offers from your store this will help you stay top-of-mind while building trust and credibility with potential buyers who aren’t ready yet but might be soon!

11. Think About Your Caption Length And Character Count

When it comes to Instagram captions, there are hundreds of ways to get the job done well. But there are also a few things you should avoid doing if you want your caption to be truly great. Here are a few tips for avoiding common mistakes:

  • Don’t just repeat what’s in the image.
  • Don’t be the too long or too short aim for about 100 words or less (though this varies depending on what kind of post it is).
  • Make sure it’s relevant! The last thing anyone wants is an unrelated caption that feels like an afterthought and distracts from the work itself rather than enhancing it. If people don’t understand why they’re seeing this particular photo at this particular time.

Then why should they care? A little context goes a long way here because otherwise, all we’re left with is “it looks nice” which isn’t enough when we’re talking about marketing ourselves as artists online!

12. Share Industry News And Exclusive Info In IG Stories First

When you share a story, it’s available for 24 hours before disappearing from your followers’ feeds. 

So, if you have an exclusive product or service launch to promote, or any other newsworthy event coming up that you want to make sure your audience hears about as soon as possible, use IG stories to announce it!

Promote Events There Too!

If your business has an upcoming event or expo for which you need attendees to buy tickets online (or sign up), be sure not only to promote these things on Facebook but also on Instagram where people already know what they can expect from attending.

And won’t have any trouble finding out how much they’ll need to spend in order while also being able to purchase their tickets right then and there without having to go through another website like Ticketmaster or Eventbrite.

Share Exclusive Content!

Instagram stories are great because they give marketers a chance not only to share fun behind-the-scenes photos with fans but also unique content they might not otherwise get access to (think behind closed doors interviews). 

If something like this comes up during one of our marketing campaigns at Buffer Social Media Marketing Services LLC., we’ll post about it here so don’t forget to follow us now by clicking the “Follow” button below 🙂

Businesses are constantly seeking innovative ways to utilize Instagram for success. Delve into our comprehensive list of tips and tactics for using Instagram for business to stay ahead of the curve and make the most of this dynamic platform.

13. Use Polls In Your IG Stories To Learn More About Your Audience

Polls are a great way to learn more about your audience. They can help you identify what they like, don’t like, and want to see more of or less of. 

For example, if you’re creating an Instagram story that features two product options with different prices, ask your followers which option they think is better value for money.

You could also use polls to find out how many people have bought specific items from each collection for you to plan future publications based on demand — so long as there aren’t too many questions being asked at once!

14. Allow People To Book Directly From Your Profile

We all know that people are on Instagram to see beautiful pictures, not to search for a phone number or email address. The best way to make it easy for your followers to book directly from your profile is by adding the “book now” button. 

This feature allows users who are interested in working with you to click a single button, filling out the information they need right there on the spot.

You can also add a “schedule” button next to it that opens up your calendar and allows clients to pick their preferred date and time for their shoot. 

Finally, I recommend adding one more button that directs people who would like more information about booking sessions back through messaging (this way you don’t have strangers just messaging everyone).

Conclusion

Instagram is a great platform for marketers, but it can be hard to know where to start. We hope this list of tips helped you get some ideas on how you could use the network to grow your audience, increase engagement, and drive sales. 

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start Instagramming!

Further Reading

Here are some additional resources for further improving your Instagram marketing strategy:

Keyhole’s Instagram Marketing Strategies

Discover advanced techniques and insights to elevate your Instagram marketing game.

Top 14 Tips for an Effective Instagram Marketing Strategy

Get fourteen actionable tips to create a powerful Instagram marketing strategy that stands out.

Hootsuite’s Guide to Instagram Marketing

Dive into Hootsuite’s comprehensive guide for expert insights on successful Instagram marketing.

FAQs

How do I create an engaging Instagram marketing strategy?

Crafting an engaging Instagram marketing strategy involves understanding your target audience, leveraging visual content, utilizing hashtags effectively, and consistently engaging with your followers.

What role do hashtags play in Instagram marketing?

Hashtags serve as a powerful tool to increase discoverability, engagement, and reach of your Instagram posts by categorizing them under relevant topics.

How can I measure the effectiveness of my Instagram marketing efforts?

Tracking key metrics such as engagement rate, follower growth, website clicks, and conversion rates can provide insights into the effectiveness of your Instagram marketing campaigns.

What are some creative content ideas for Instagram marketing?

Consider using behind-the-scenes glimpses, user-generated content, storytelling, interactive polls, and visually appealing quotes to create engaging and shareable content.

How can I collaborate with influencers on Instagram?

Identify influencers relevant to your industry, engage in genuine conversations, and propose mutually beneficial partnerships to tap into their audience and expand your brand’s reach.