Instagram as a Marketing Tool

Apart from being an online platform where an individual can upload and showcase personal photographs, Instagram is also fast approaching the title of being the most coveted and successful marketing tool.

Statistics conducted in the United States prove Instagram has a higher user rate than Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and also Facebook.

What makes it so successful and powerful? There’s a rise in a visual content aspect round the world and nearly every social interaction is infused with visuals. A photograph cannot only capture a moment, it can also sustain attention and thought.

As a marketing tool, the app isn’t only about taking a bunch of photographs and simply uploading them onto said profile. If you wish to use in a professional manner, there are certain aspects you’d need to consider:

Start from the beginning; you’re going to want to define or outline your goals. What is your purpose of creating an Instagram account? There’s an option when doing so to opt for a hidden profile (personal profile) or business profile. The latter will allow you to have insight towards who many visitors you have, profile clicks, an outline of what gender and age group these people belong to and much more background detail that other apps do not include.

Creating a business profile also means you’ll need a 150 character biography. Use this wisely to state what your entity represents. Be straightforward about what the account is all about and also add contact details, website links and Urls to this space if necessary.

Next come the uploads, the all important photos. As said, visuality is everything so every single photograph you upload has to be picked wisely, matter and connect with your business entity and also aim to have visual impact. Perhaps you could think about hiring a professional to do some editing, add-on or even work it out yourselves. Tools are your best friend and there are various other apps that work alongside Instagram as aid apps. Layout and Boomerang being two of them. Other apps have multiple text options and visual effects that can be added to a photograph or video. Yes, let’s not forget that you could also upload videos. However, videos do not have a success rate as much as a photograph does.

Apart from uploading photos, keep in mind that overall your profile needs to have a sense of style. Someone who comes across your account on Instagram will click onto your profile and have an overall visual of it. It therefore needs to look more than presentable; it needs to look aesthetically pleasing. This is also where the editing skills or even use of basic Instagram filters come in handy. Stick a theme; keeping things somewhat saturated, or even using a light film over every upload so they all have a similar vibe.

With each upload comes the necessity to also make use of hashtags. Like tools, hashtags are also your best friend. Scroll through your ‘search’ feed to have a look at other profiles like yours and have a look at what hashtags they use. Location, product tags are just as important as tagging persons if needed. This ensures that when someone looks up a particular word, location, person or product, your upload has a chance of being visible. And we all know the importance of visibility.

Creating a profile doesn’t mean you simply keep your profile for uploading visuals. You also need to interact and communicate on Instagram. Follow other similar accounts, comment on their uploads, interact and discuss similar preferences and share thoughts and ideas. Collaborate if you must. The idea is to use all aspects of the app to your benefit.

Have a strategy and a schedule. Consistency goes a long way when it comes to Instagram. The more often you upload, communicate and are visible on it, the more chances you have of being noticed and our brand strengthened. Studies conducted in the United States suggest the best hours to upload a photograph and have successful response is during lunch breaks and late hours at night. In Colombo however, these timings could vary, also depending on who your target market can be. Uploads within two weeks can allow you to have a sense of what times are best and what times do not work for you.

Be open to using user generated uploads as well. Let’s take the hospitality industry for example. A particular hotel brand could have a business profile on Instagram. Apart from uploading their own photographs, they could also use guest photographs taken in and around their property, in the area, or even in the country. All they have to do is ensure there’s a way of linking said photograph to their hotel brand and what they offer. Guests are therefore encouraged to visit more, take more photographs and use location and people tags to also be visible to such brands. This is why tags and hashtags are important. It’s all about connectivity.

Aim to build a community that keeps wanting to come back.  

Good luck!