What type of content will captivate your audience and stimulate subscribers' interest in purchasing from you? How can you effectively improve engagement with your Instagram posts? In this article, you will find a couple of effective tips.
Compared to other social media platforms, Instagram has millions of active users who are incredibly engaged with various types of content.
In this environment, businesses have the opportunity to advertise their products and services to a specific audience. Moreover, you can target this particular audience without spending a lot of money on advertising, unlike Facebook or Google ads. This makes Instagram an excellent tool for increasing engagement and boosting sales.
So, whether you want to improve your current marketing strategy or start from scratch, you will likely find the tips presented below useful.
Create a concept plan for future posts
Believe it or not, when they say a concept plan will make your life much easier, it's because it will save you a lot of time in the future. Therefore, creating one is the first step in your winning Instagram strategy.
What does a concept plan consist of? Typically, it includes a list of topics for daily posting. And depending on how far ahead you're willing to plan, you can create a concept plan for a week or even a month.
Keep in mind how many posts you publish each day. When you've just created an account and don't have many followers, it's perfectly fine to post multiple times a day (6-7 posts) to attract as many people as possible. However, once your account becomes popular enough and you have a sufficient number of followers, you can limit the daily number of posts to just 2-3.
Engagement analysis of your audience
The second step is one of the most important aspects of posting on Instagram – understanding your target audience. By analyzing their needs and studying their habits, you can make your posts even more effective.
For example, knowing the peak activity times of your audience can be crucial. Typically, Instagram posts during lunchtime as people have a couple of minutes to check their Instagram feeds. Your goal is to provide people with interesting and engaging content that will hopefully lead them to place orders for your products.
You can achieve this by comparing the time zone of your audience with your own and selecting the best time for posting. This feature can be found on websites like SproutSocial.com or other similar platforms.
Additionally, social platforms provide users with free analytics for their accounts.
Select the best time for posting
By conducting research, you can see that your working hours may differ from the peak activity time of your audience. However, there are several tools you can use to schedule your posts, such as SocialPilot or Buffer.
Create your own Instagram posts
The visual aspect of your Instagram account is crucial as it creates the right impression for your potential customers. Therefore, you need to carefully consider this aspect. Here are some key features to pay special attention to.
Instagram Feed
Just like your store should have two or three main colors, the same applies to your Instagram account: try using the same colors to style your page as it will make it more noticeable.
Next, choose an image editor that you will use to create posts. Photoshop, Figma, or Befunky should do the job. It doesn't really matter which one you choose as long as you find it convenient. Then proceed to create templates for your account. Don't forget to vary them but keep them in the same style.
Instagram Stories
If you want to enhance the visual aspect of your account, create additional templates for Instagram stories. Stories have proven to be one of the most effective tools for any business. Through them, you can engage with your followers and inform them about new products, sales, promotions, etc.
Create the right caption and hashtags
Of course, the visual aspect of Instagram is what catches the eye, but don't forget about the textual information. Here's what you can do:
Write compelling captions
Captions are what provide the main information in a post. However, remember that they should be short, simple, and to the point. Also, include a call to action to further engage your followers!
Utilize Hashtags
Create your own hashtag: for example, you can use the name of your store. This will greatly simplify the search for your account. Additionally, use hashtags related to the topic of your post or your account in general. This approach allows you to find and connect with people who share similar interests.
However, using too many hashtags will make your posts look like spam, which will only annoy your followers. So, keep the number of hashtags to a minimum – 5 or 6 hashtags should be sufficient.
Engage with Your Followers
For any business using Instagram for marketing, establishing a connection with followers is crucial.
To build this connection, check your direct messages and respond to them in a timely manner. By following these steps, you'll have the opportunity to foster friendly relationships with your followers, making your page more trustworthy and reliable.
How to improve email engagement for business growth: a summary.
By following the aforementioned tips, you'll be managing your Instagram account like a pro.
Here's a list of things that will help you become even more effective on this social media platform:
- Know what you're going to post every day.
When you have a consistent daily or even monthly plan, you don't have to spend time thinking about suitable post topics in the future. Instead, you can use that time to further improve your ideas.
- Understand what your potential customers want, need, and love.
You should know these things in order to better interact with your potential customers and make your advertising efforts as effective as possible.
Create Posts at the Best Time
When targeting a foreign audience, it's important to adhere to their local time. This includes posting messages, news, and updates accordingly.
- Make your Instagram account unique and recognizable.
You need to ensure a memorable design for your Instagram profile so that people who visit your page would want to come back and make future purchases.
- Ensure your captions have the right length and capture readers' attention.
When writing captions, keep them short, get straight to the point, and encourage the reader to take action. Additionally, use relevant and related hashtags.
- Connect with your audience.
Establishing friendly relationships with customers is highly important. Don't forget to respond to their questions, engage with their comments, and promptly reply to their direct messages.
By following these tips, you can create an online store that cares about its customers and strives to assist them in every possible way. As a result, people are more likely to prefer your store over your competitors.
