Seven Must-Haves for Actually Becoming a Hit on Instagram
Instagram’s mercurial growth in recent times despite the presence of behemoths like Twitter and Facebook has been nothing short of astonishing. It now spans a tremendous 500 million active users, across several demographics, which makes it tremendously attractive to marketers. That said, a large number of marketing campaigns have failed due to poor planning and poorer execution. There are certain tenets you must always keep in mind to make your brand a hit.
Target Audience
The very first thing you must establish is a niche focus or a group of people whom you are targeting with your schemes. A general presence for everyone to see is never going to be enough. You need to single out a target audience and cater focused content to them that they don’t get anywhere else. This is the single most important decision you make, and the future of your campaign banks on it.
Brand Personality
Random posts won’t get you too far. The users need to identify with you and really understand the thought process behind each post, meaning you must incorporate a human element. The brand “voice” has to be human and also unique and consistent. Set strict standards and ensure your PR team maintains them.
Utility
Your audience won’t keep coming back if your posts make no sense or aren’t worth their time. Try to take a utilitarian approach by making each post useful or informative for them, like business insights, tips on products, new announcements and the like. You could also share fun stuff like quotes and workplace pictures which give them a window into your brand personality. Don’t post just for the sake of posting; keep it relevant and high-quality.
Consistency
The success of the campaign depends on follower retention, so you will have to keep the followers by consistently catering high quality, relevant content to them. You cannot afford to be infrequent or haphazard because that will just confuse them or ward them off. You can phase in different adjustments and branch out with time but it must be gradual. You could also schedule posts through automation services like instamacro and Kickstagram. Consistency is the key to success.
Engagement
Perhaps the strongest pillar of a marketing campaign on a social network is the entire “social” aspect of it. Instead of being a one-sided announcement machine, try introducing as much scope for user engagement as possible. Make the followers feel respected, welcome and appreciated throughout, and you will have a happy consumer base. Involve them on a personal level by launching discussions, commenting on posts, tagging them, responding to their questions or issues and running campaigns like contests or giveaways. Stay active as much as you can, to see your popularity grow manifold.
Go with the Flow
Networks like Instagram and Twitter are all about trends, so keeping track of trending profiles and hashtags should be very close to the top on your list of priorities. Try going with the trends and posting relevant content, but do not abuse hashtags and use too many as that leads to flagging your account as spam. Find only the relevant trends and chase them down. Maintain your integrity as a brand, and it wouldn’t hurt if you could start your own trends as well.
Build a Scalable Campaign
You are in this for the long run, so you better plan for the long run too. It is difficult to get the first few followers, but the figures soon boom for successful campaigns. Based on your levels of popularity, you will have to etch out a solid plan for growth to the next stage or keeping the followers you have gathered already. You cannot follow the same strategy you had for your first ten followers because it is impossible to personally engage thousands of followers, and the larger your audience gets, the more diverse your content would have to be. Keep each of these in mind so that the campaign scales effortlessly with growing audience size.
Conclusion
These methods are all great ways to build a lasting brand presence on the cyberspace. It is important that you use them in tandem and stand by them throughout the campaign so that you have a watertight plan, no matter what. A little patience and a little effort pay huge dividends for your company in the near future.
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