Instagram

10 Steps to a Winning Social Strategy on Instagram

Instagram started monetising through ads in 2013. Six years down the line, a lot has changed when it comes to user experience, advertisements and social media marketing. There are more competitors to outperform and a larger audience to appease. In the middle of all of this, brands also have to find a path that meets their budget to make sure that they do not expend too much on influencers and marketing campaigns. As a result, social media marketers need a social strategy that always keeps them on the winning side. Here’s how you can make it work for you.


1. Align Posts with your social media goal

Every brand launches a marketing campaign with at least one goal. On Instagram, brands usually work towards achieving one or more of these goals:

  • To connect with your audience
  • Improve brand reputation
  • Increase brand reach
  • Launch a new product or service
  • Get more sales or conversions

By setting clear goals against a marketing campaign, you will be able to measure the true effectiveness of the campaign. If the idea is to connect with your audience or attract new audience segments, then you should create content that is interactive to help improve audience engagement day after day. On the other hand, if it is conversions or sales you’re directly seeking, then you should create content with clear call-to-action and trackable links to measure the number of clicks, conversions or sales you achieve through Instagram.


2. Create value for your audience

Content that educates, entertains and adds value to the end user will always be prized. Instagram’s demographics show that nearly 90% of its users are less than 35 years of age. Therefore content that is engaging, visually compelling, to-the-point and informative will be preferred. When creating content, you must keep this in mind and create posts or stories which your audience can easily relate with.


3. Build a network 

Social media managers can hardly alienate themselves from the rest of the industry. By connecting with fellow Instagram users and following the right brands, you can build a reliable network or community who will share your stories and posts, shout-out about your products and services, and to some extent, act as brand advocates for your profile.


4. Use hashtags insightfully

Hashtags offer an organic way of getting noticed. To reach out to more people, you must look for hashtags that work the best. Don’t fill up your post with hashtags but don’t overlook its effectiveness either.

Check how your competitors are using hashtags and identify the ones that work the most. Use these on your posts and make sure that they are relevant. If your hashtags don’t match with your content, then users will only be annoyed and it can negatively impact your brand reputation.


5. Stay relevant

Staying relevant to your area of interest or niche is critical as it will, over time, build credibility and position you as an authority in that domain. While grumpy cats and cute babies might be irresistible, your audience may not necessarily find it useful when they are scrolling your page for a product, service or information, and are likely to give your feed a miss in the future as well.


6. Plan ahead

Last-minute uploads can lead to errors. Social media posts reach out to a large audience in the tap of a keyword. Errors can quickly show up on the Instagram feed of many of your users and sometimes it can quickly spiral out of control. By planning at least a week ahead, you will be able to avoid a last-minute scramble for a good post and you will also be able to ensure that your posts are free of errors.


7. Use Instagram stories

Stories can help you beat the line and feature early in your audience’s Instagram feed. But stories must be used with some restraint. If you post too regularly on stories with content that adds little value, your audience will not be eager to look up your stories.


8. Explore video options

Show and tell is the future of branded storytelling which is why short-form video formats work well for brands when they have a new announcement or an interesting product launch to publish. On a visual platform like Instagram especially, where audiences prefer to keep scrolling (rather than being directed elsewhere), videos are an effective way to communicate more information in an effortless yet engaging way.


9. Understand filters

Some brands have a favorite filter which they use for all their photos. Others experiment with different filters until they find the most suitable one for their brand. Instagram filters can be fun and brands should play around with different formats, but be sure to have a certain consistency in keeping with your overall brand theme. Keeping your target audience in mind, pick filters which will be most impactful.

Using the right software or having your creatives designed professionally can help you have a more professional feed, without filtering out the fun.


10. Keep an updated profile

Since your audience’s first impression of the brand will be through your profile, you must make sure that your audience gets to see an aesthetically appealing profile with updated posts and a clear bio. The profile picture should always have the brand logo.


These 10 simple steps will help you better structure and plan your strategy on social media, helping you achieve your goals in no time.

To understand how you can start, build and amplify your social media strategy, get in touch with the Teacup Influence & Digital team. Email: info@teacupinfluence.com