Why Instagram marketing is essential
We know well how social media have become a fundamental marketing tool, especially if you decide to use an omnichannel strategy. Instagram, in particular, is aimed at a young audience (but not too young) and allows you to build your strategy especially visually, as well as, naturally, to connect on a more authentic level with your audience. Authenticity is something that is distinguishing modern marketing compared to the classic one, which focused more on sensationalism: nowadays, marketing means above all building an identity and creating relationships: for this reason, no company that wants to have a consolidated brand identity and a loyal audience can ignore using Instagram for marketing and knowing its best practices.
Create consistent and recognizable content
Instagram is the aesthetic social media par excellence. For this reason, among the best practices for marketing on Instagram we must include taking care of the aesthetics of our profile. This, however, does not only concern the quality of the images, but also the use of a common theme between the various posts, be it chromatic, stylistic or otherwise. The profile grid, in fact, must reflect the brand’s identity, as does every single post. Creating this consistent and more or less uniform feed helps make your brand recognizable and memorable.
Example: Glossier
Leveraging UGC power
UGC (= User Generated Content) is a very powerful tool that has emerged in recent years within content marketing strategies. In fact, user generated content is part of those earned media whose programming should always fall within the best practices for marketing on Instagram. UGC is content generated by followers, customers and brand ambassadors, who are encouraged to share their experiences with your product/brand. You can encourage the creation of UGC either by offering contests, polls, hashtags or by paying people to produce them.
When you repost UGC on your profile you will convey a feeling of transparency, authenticity and belonging to a community.
Example: GoPro
Don’t underestimate stories and reels
Although Instagram was originally born as a tool for sharing photos on your profile, it has evolved over the years, and now, among the best practices for using it for marketing, it is necessary to include the use of Stories and Reels. In fact, research shows that stories and reels are the most consumed content on this social network, which makes them very powerful tools for increasing public involvement.
Stories, which last only 24 hours, are perfect for sharing interactive content, behind the scenes, limited promotions and surveys: in short, everything you want to say to your followers without placing them on your profile grid, and everything you want them to use followers interact in real time.
Reels make content more dynamic, since they are videos, and can reach an even wider audience thanks to Instagram’s algorithms that aim to spread them.
example: Red Bull
#hashtag
Hashtags, often underestimated, are what allow your content to be seen even by those who don’t follow you. While everyone uses them, many people use them the wrong way, without strategy or reasoning. In fact, it makes no sense to use the most popular hashtags, which are often too saturated, unless you already have large numbers of followers (above 300,000). Instead, use a combination of niche and trending hashtags. Niche hashtags are relevant to your target audience and are similar to long tail keywords, i.e. they increase potential engagement, while trending hashtags increase the potential of your content to be viewed and produce impressions.
You can also consider creating a unique hashtag for your brand, which over time will help make it recognizable: however, bear in mind that you can’t control what people post with your hashtag.
Example: Airbnb
Collaborations and partnerships
When it comes to your reach on Instagram, there is nothing more beneficial than collaborating with influencers or other brands. Among the best practices for marketing on Instagram, we therefore include the creation of partnerships with industry influencers and companies that for some reason can complement ours. First of all, identify influencers – or brands, especially if there is a good synergy between products – who share the values of your company and create collaborative campaigns: the same commitment for double the results!
Example: H&M & Anamika Khanna
Conclusions on instagram marketing’s best practices
We have therefore seen that Instagram offers unique and tempting opportunities to connect with your audience in an authentic way that conforms to your brand identity. In addition to putting into practice the best practices listed for marketing on Instagram, it is important to measure your results and always adapt your strategies to user feedback, without ever becoming too rigid. Of course, the strategy should be adapted to your brand, so use the best practices for marketing on instagram in a wise way, always integrating them with your unique identity and tone of voice. This way, your Instagram strategy will be a success.