By Patrick Seidl
Since first launching in October 2010, Instagram has grown into the sixth-largest social media platform, having reached 1 billion active monthly users just last year. The home of visual content (photos and videos) surrounding fashion, food and lifestyle content, Instagram is an increasingly valuable social media platform for businesses and nonprofits alike to increase awareness and drive results.
HubSpot recently released a thorough report encompassing what companies need to know to make informed decisions about their Instagram marketing moving forward in 2019. Here are a few top tips to help improve your IG marketing:
- Focus on Engaged Followers over Total Followers – Gone are the days when increasing a company’s total followers is the main goal. Today, it’s all about connecting with the right audiences and posting content that compels them to engage through likes, comments, etc. Why? Thanks to Instagram’s new algorithm, only 10% of your followers see your post organically in their feeds. What the algorithm also does is predict what type of content users like to see – meaning, if they’ve interacted with your posts in the past, they’re more likely to see them in their feeds moving forward. So, what type of content performs best? Similar to Facebook, video content is king – and, on average, receives the highest number of engagements. Provide your followers with multiple video updates per week. Content could include behind the scenes looks at your team preparing for an upcoming event or a short video of a team member discussing what projects they’re working on.
- Incorporate Hashtags – Simply put, hashtags are searchable keywords included in IG posts and stories that categorize content across the platform. And, when it comes to hashtags, it’s not about quantity, but relevance. How do you know what hashtags to use? A great place to start is by typing a keyword that’s relevant to your brand into IG’s search bar (or “Explore” feature) then select the “tags” tab. What shows up is a list of all the hashtags with your keyword, as well as the number of posts that use it. Begin incorporating the top-used #’s into your posts and measure your results.
- Tag Key Partners – Is your business planning an event where you’re collaborating with others? Be sure to tag their company profiles in your posts as well as your stories. When a company is tagged, they receive an instant notification which greatly improves their chances of interacting with your post. Another tip? If you tag them in your story, they also have the option to share your post to their own story, thus increasing your brand’s exposure. The same idea can be applied to a local nonprofit. Tag your business supporters in your sponsorship or partnership thank you posts. More often than not, they’ll engage!
I get it. Keeping up with social media can be an extreme challenge – especially when it seems like every other day there’s a new platform popping up and vying for your customers’ attention. But, with Facebook’s purchase of Instagram in 2012, and their steady roll-out of new features, I don’t suspect the platform going anywhere soon. If your company needs help with your social media marketing, get in touch with us at Fallston Group today.
