Author: Pranav Thakkar
May 11th, 2023
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More and more businesses are finding Instagram to be a potent tool for marketing their products, staying in touch with their audience, and spreading their brand message to millions of users around the world. Why Instagram? For one thing, it’s consistently been one of the fastest-growing social media platforms since its launch in 2010. Here are a few more eye-popping stats about Instagram that are worth noting:
Those numbers should be enough to get your attention! People come to Instagram to find things they already care about, and to discover new things in which they are interested. Are you new to Instagram? Or perhaps you’re already on Instagram, but you’re struggling to gain followers or find ways to use Instagram for effective business marketing. If any of these apply to you, then this article is definitely for you! Below are some helpful tips for directing more users to your Ecommerce website through Instagram marketing.
The very first thing you should do (if you haven’t already) is to establish a business profile for Instagram. Your business profile is one of the first points of contact a customer may have with your brand, so it’s essential to make a great impression there and help entice people to follow your business. More and more consumers are now using Instagram to search for brands and businesses directly, rather than starting with Google. For this reason, your Instagram business profile can become a second default homepage for your business.
Your Instagram business profile should include:
Choose a photo that represents your company and is easy to identify; an official logo is a good choice here.
Your Instagram bio is every bit as important as your profile photo. It should include clear and concise information about your business, communicated in a creative and eye-catching manner.
The URL section of your bio allows you to place a direct link to your eCommerce website. This is an opportunity you absolutely want to capitalize on, as this an effective way to drive more site traffic through your published posts and stories.
Instagram is all about sharing creative images and videos. From a business perspective, this allows you to attract new followers and encourage more users to engage with your brand. This is a platform which is entirely built around visual content – Instagram literally means “instant visual message” – and that’s something you can easily leverage to your advantage. Here are some examples of content you should be publishing:
When making shopping decisions, people are more readily influenced by product photos and images than they are by static descriptions or even reviews. They will move on to read written information only if they like the look of your product. Otherwise, they’re likely to just keep on scrolling. Thus, it’s imperative to post high-quality photos that display how good your products are, as well as how they can be used. People simply engage better with visual content that grabs their attention and tells a good story.
Pro tip: Don’t just use your Instagram account to try and sell a product; also use it simply to engage with your audience and to seek to establish a greater level of brand connection & trust.
Did you know that Instagram videos receive two times more engagement than other posts? True story! If you really want to grab your followers’ attention, then it’s time to leverage videos. Video is a great way to showcase your products at work, feature a client testimonial, or even share a short advertisement. The key is to grab your viewers’ attention in the first 3 seconds of your clip. A user’s attention span tends to drop dramatically if they don’t find your video interesting within the first few seconds. Want to publish a longer video? Instagram TV (IGTV) is designed for just such a task. Many brands are now using IGTV to publish specific types of video series which they can roll out on an intentional schedule.
Use Instagram stories to pull back the curtain and show some of the behind-the-scenes happenings with your business. You can also include a link to your website, blog, or any specific product page, which viewers can easily access by swiping up on a story. Another great engagement tip is to post user-generated content by sharing stories where your brand is mentioned. You can also create polls, organize a Q&A session, and share other interactive content which naturally draws people in and helps to expose them to your brand.
The use of hashtags is a great way to help expand your Instagram audience. Hashtags serve to help your posts appear in more relevant searches. But hashtags work differently on different platforms, so it will be helpful to regularly research which hashtags are particularly popular for Instagram. Doing so can maximize your reach and get you in front of many more users. It’s also fine to create some of your own custom hashtags, as well. This is particularly advantageous once you’ve established a solid brand presence and have begun to draw a significant number of followers.
To gain more exposure for your business, it helps to engage with – and leverage – followers who already have their own established spheres of influence. Influencer marketing is one of the best marketing strategies for tapping into an entirely new pool of potential followers. Influencers are seen by users to be knowledgeable, genuine, and trustworthy. Gaining a recommendation from an influencer can result in providing a real lift for your business! When choosing which influencers you want to engage, remember these points:
Everybody likes a good game or contest, everybody likes to be a winner, and people definitely like having the opportunity to get some free or discounted stuff! Running Instagram contests and giveaways provides a great opportunity for you to engage more customers, promote your brand, and drive more people to your eCommerce site. It could be something as simple as sharing a photo or posting a story for the chance to win a discount offer or a free gift. It doesn’t cost very much to give it a try, and you’ll likely find that the effort & investment you put in will more than pay for itself in terms of sales generation for your business.
We briefly mentioned user-generated content (or UGC) above, but let’s say a bit more about that now. Leveraging UGC is simply one of the best ways for presenting your business to a whole new group of people who may or may not already know about you. Encourage user-generated content on your Instagram, and make a point of sharing it intentionally. This doesn’t just generate more exposure for you; it’s also a great way to show your current customers and followers how much you value them. Making your followers feel like they’re part of the journey where your business and brand are concerned is a great way to build even more trust and engagement. This will also encourage more people to share their own photos or videos whenever you run a campaign asking your brand followers to “show us how you’re using our products!”
Organic exposure can certainly make a positive impact, but if you’re really ready to grow your business, then you should consider paid advertisements as well. Instagram ads are simple to create, and they’re less expensive than you may realize. And the potential ROI is astronomical, since Instagram ads have the potential to reach millions and millions of users! If you haven’t started an Instagram ad campaign yet, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity for your business.
Here are some tips to remember for creating Instagram ads:
Boosting your eCommerce site or brand with Instagram doesn’t necessarily require a huge budget, but it does call for an effective strategy that works best for your business. Make use of the tips we’ve mentioned, and you should be able to gain more followers, engage more customers, and ultimately generate more sales!
Got some questions? Ready to get started? Or need some help to maximize your business marketing potential on Instagram? We got you, fam. Connect with one of our friendly digital marketing experts today! Just shoot us a message at cibirix.com/contact, we’d be glad to help!
Prashant Yadu is a Social Media Analyst at Cibirix, and he’s now been part of our team for over five years. His particular area of focus for us revolves around Facebook advertising. With the help of his analytical skills and creative ideas, Prashant has helped to generate some remarkable results for our marketing clients. Before diving deeper into social media marketing, Prashant’s work focused on search engine optimization, where he handled both On-Page & Off-Page SEO for business clients. When he’s not hard at work, Prashant enjoys watching movies, listening to music, and hanging out with friends/family.
