A Contemporary Guide to Marketing Social Media Content on Instagram

With Instagram having galloped past the 800 million monthly active user mark, it is now second only to the big daddy Facebook, in terms of popularity. Instagram has emerged as the darling of brands seeking to drive customer engagement in a visual medium. Instagram’s visual mode sets it apart from the rest of the social media, and thus it becomes necessary for the content marketing strategy to benefit from it.

Brands are also enamored with the profile of Instagram users; they are far younger than the rest of users of social media, are far more tech-savvy, and are relatively more affluent.

Make Images Speak Volumes

While the mood of photos posted by users in Facebook is typically casual, Instagram photos tend to be somewhat more purposeful. To be a success on Instagram, it is not necessary for you to be a professional photographer, however, you need to appreciate that when the entire environment is image-oriented; your handling of photographs must necessarily be very creative yet remain true to your brand personality. This is the primary reason why many brands are choosing to commission professional photographers for their Instagram marketing campaigns; poor quality will invariably tend to disenchant your Instagram followers. Some tips:

Do not depart from the basics: Make it a point to only post images that are crisp, high-quality and focus on the subject in such a way that the communication is understood easily by everyone. Even if you are using professional photographers, do not give them too much creative license, as it will only confuse viewers.

Pay attention to details: When you are using photographs to project your brand, you need to be very careful about the details; otherwise, you will end up spoiling the mood you are trying to evoke. Never let unnecessary elements distract user attention. Keep the photo composition simple so that users get the point fast. Another trick in keeping your feed aesthetically pleasing is to visualize your posts with a grid planner in which you can drag and drop photos before posting. You can get this feature among many others when you use Social Studio on your Instagram marketing campaigns.

Timing Is Critical to Success

With more than 95 million photos being posted daily on Instagram, you can well appreciate that Instagram feeds move at quite a pace. This means that users can only see the more recent content and anything older than a few hours is very likely not to be noticed at all. This makes the timing of your posts extremely critical; else the entire marketing exercise will be futile if your target audience does not get to see your posts. Getting to know the best times is a matter of experimentation; prepare a posting schedule and see which times get you the most responses. Another critical element of marketing success is your ability to respond fast to follower queries or comments. Laziness will simply mean a missed engagement opportunity or a disappointed user who will not be inclined to engage with you anymore.

Conclusion

To reach out to and impress the maximum number of users, there is nothing better than collaborating with influencers who have a huge following. Depending on how you engage them, influencers can recommend your brand; however, you must keep them relevant to your audience and be able to monitor their activity.

Author Bio: Harris is a leading blog writer and content marketing professional with thousands of real Instagram followers for his postings.