3 Creative Instagram Strategies Every Digital Marketers Should Try
Ever since its inception and introduction to the market in 2010, Instagram has steadily grown to become one of the most utilized photo-based social media platforms in the world today. Its network has garnered more than 500 million monthly active users and is also estimated to be used by about 20% of today’s internet users.
These impressive statistics only goes to show how strong and influential this platform has become, attracting more and more marketers to become active on the platform. As businesses and companies get into Instagram to promote their products and services, Instagram has implemented a number features that make it effective as well as a number of rules that aims to create a pleasing environment for its users.
As Instagram continues to evolve and add more features, it is becoming hard for most marketers to keep up with the trend and stay aligned with best practices. Despite this, marketing on Instagram remains an integral part of digital and social media marketing success.
Why Instagram?
Instagram’s success is basically due to its easy-to-use design, as well as the rarity of ads (back then), making it a more convenient option for marketers who opt to spend funds elsewhere. In addition, since Instagram is a visual medium, people tend to get more acquainted with creatively-composed images as well as well-written post descriptions. As a result, Instagram can even outperform Facebook in terms of engagement (Instagram drives 58 times more engagement per follower than in Facebook and 120 times more than in Twitter).
Instagram, by its very nature, is a platform that welcomes creativity and provides plenty of room for its users to express themselves. But if you’re thinking of using Instagram as one of your marketing channels, you should first conceptualize a strategy before getting started. Apart from basic techniques such as using a well-composed bio description as well as cross-posting, here are some additional tips you should consider trying:
Integrate Micro-Influencers That Connects with Your Brand
Seasoned social media marketers know how valuable influencer marketing is in creating an effective social media campaign. In fact, most marketers go to great lengths to partner up with well-established Instagram influencers, with some even paying ludicrous amounts just for a post from an influencer with tens of thousands of followers. However, the value of tapping some of these influencers can be questionable as it is possible for them to ‘buy’ their followers.
For you to avoid this, you can, instead, connect with so-called ‘micro-influencers’. When compared with established influencers which usually have an average of over 15,000 followers, micro-influencers usually only have about 5,000-7,000 and are very much in touch with their followers. In fact, some of them might not even consider themselves as influencers yet! This is the kind of influencer you should be tapping instead.
Identify these influencers and create an outreach campaign by crafting an influencer kit (this should contain a brief description of your company and your product, as well as some product samples you want them to try) and offering to provide prizes for contests they can run among their followers.
Glossier has managed to advocate their products with the help of their regular customers as their micro-influencers.
Even if people are not directly getting in touch with your brand through your company’s Instagram account, there is a possibility that.
Inspire your Audience with Creative Emotional Campaigns
Sometimes, the simplest ideas can work best for a creative campaign in social media, which is probably the case with Airbnb’s recent #WeAccept hashtag campaign. This did not only provide Airbnb with a chance to voice out their stand on diversity and discrimination but was also helpful in uplifting the company’s image as it has since been facing allegations of discrimination, mostly on the part of their property partners.
The campaign kicked-off with a simple video featuring people of different ethnicities, then continued with a series of portraits in the video, captioned with their stories of acceptance.
Its success can somehow be attributed to the contrast if provided since Airbnb’s Instagram usually only posts photos of unique travel experiences and properties on its website. In turn, the campaign was able to garner tons of engagement. The campaign launch video itself has over 113,000 views and about 600 comments.
Improve your product positioning with Instagram Stories
One of the newest features of Instagram can, in fact, create a unique change in how you are perceived by your audience or even help you cater to a different audience altogether. Instagram Stories, as you may already know, is an incarnation of its direct competitor, Snapchat. Since
If you’re planning to start posting Instagram Stories for your brand, remember to never treat is the same way you treat your Instagram posts. Stories are meant to be viewed within the first 24 hours of its publication, meaning it’s supposed to be time-sensitive. Only publish Stories as it happens, but make sure they still come off as pleasing and interesting.
Take a look at how NYX Cosmetics used Instagram stories to host giveaways.
However, because of this, some brands, tend to become too personal, with some entrepreneurs taking the helm on their Instagram Stories and talking directly to their audience. Refrain from doing this as you might talk about some business aspects that will not be relevant to your audience.
Instead, take this avenue as a chance to capture situations where your product will be deemed useful in order to pique your audience’s interest, then craft carefully thought-out calls-to-action to lead them to a landing page. Promoting new posts as well as running a giveaway can also be done through your Stories.
Creating an awesome marketing campaign on Instagram can be hard to pull off, but with careful planning, unique concepts, and creative ideas, you’re bound to achieve outstanding Instagram marketing success!
About the Author:
John Vuong is the sole owner of Local SEO Search, an SEO in Toronto. John’s mission is to help local business owners improve their online influence so they can dominate their industry. With his business acumen and innate understanding of the local business landscape, John writes blogs that delve on how to customize SEO campaigns based on client needs.
Related Posts
Unlocking The Power Of Authenticity: How To Get Real Custom Instagram Comments For Genuine Engagement →
Branding vs. Creative: What’s the Difference and Why Does It Matter? →
5 Common Cloud Migration Strategies That You Should Know →
