Did you know Instagram has 500 million daily active users? And that on average 4.2 BILLION ‘likes’ are handed out every single day? Those are damn big numbers, and they translate into some seriously impressive reach. As far as social media marketing is concerned, Instagram is definitely the way to go. It gets 58 times more engagement per follower than any other channel, meaning you get a whole lot more bang for your buck.  If you aren’t already advertising on Instagram, you should be.

The platform is almost ridiculously easy to use, but getting it just right for your brand can be a bit trickier. Here’s another handy ‘Dos and Don'ts’ list to help boost your Instagram advertising strategy.

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DO:

  •  Make your brand instantly recognisable. You want people to see an image and know exactly who posted it and what their shtick is. Have a logo in images that aren’t directly about your brand, if it helps, but don’t be too ‘in your face’ about it.
  • Post quality photos. Did I make that clear enough? QUALITY. No one is interested in your poorly lit, crooked or blurry photos. This is advertising, people. If you wouldn’t pay for its space in a magazine, don’t put it on Instagram.
  • Utilise videos. Video posts receive 38% more engagement than images so they're worth creating. I'm only reminding you once more... QUALITY. Nobody is watching your video if it was filmed on a potato, they'll scroll right past.
  • Post regularly - 59% of users get on Instagram at least once a day and you better be giving them something to look at.
  • Use your stories. 70% of users watch Instagram stories daily.
  • Come up with a flexible posting schedule and plan. You need to know what you’re posting ahead of time because, believe me, people can tell when you’re winging it.
  • Know your target audience. If you don't know who you're speaking to you'll be spinning your wheels. Tailoring your posts for your audience is key! If you don't know your target audience, check out our Buyer Persona tool at the bottom of this article.
  • Give users something fun to look at, too. Not all content have to relate directly to your product. Post images and videos that make you smile and align with your brand, or photos of your happy customers and staff. Spice things up.
  • Use it to give consumers exclusives – whether that be sneak peeks of upcoming products, behind the scenes content, discounts or promotions. You need to give them a reason to follow you and pay attention to your posts, and pretty pictures won’t cut it every time.
  • Write descriptions that are clear and engaging. This is social media 101, but you’d be amazed at how many brands out there are still getting it wrong.
  • Use hashtags like a pro. Create tags that relate to your product and use industry relevant or trending hashtags to get more reach.
  • Talk to your followers! Follow them back! Repost their brand relevant content, reward them with promotions, get them involved by asking for user generated content, comment on their photos. Engage them. Ask them questions – what do they think of the new colour, or the new look website? Create a conversation. Actually interacting with your customers tells them you’re super personable and they’ll love you for it. But be cool about it. Don’t go overboard. Keep it relevant to your brand.
  • Give your brand a personality. Create a signature style or look and tell a story with your posts.
  • Use Instagram ads.Get some bang for your back! Instagram ad spend is about half the cost of Facebook with Instagram approximately $5 per 1000 impressions while Facebook is roughly $10 per 1000.
  • I can’t believe I have to say this but…. TRACK ENGAGEMENT. Don’t just post and hope for the best. See what has the most likes, check out what tags are being used. And then make it happen.

 

DON’T:

  •  Skimp out on your profile. Make sure you have a great bio, all the relevant links to other social media accounts and your website, contact info, etc. Your followers need to know exactly who you are and how to find you.
  • Make up a tonne of shitty hashtags that no one’s ever going to search and will only end up making you look like you’re trying way too hard.
  • Don’t post irrelevant photos and videos. We get it, your smashed avo on toast looks delicious but unless you’re a café, we don’t need to see it.
  • Over post. Too many posts in a day and people are going to start ignoring you. But also...
  • Under post. Under post and you will be forgotten. Simple as that.
  • Repurpose content from other platforms. Instagram isn’t like Facebook or Twitter or Snapchat. Don’t make the mistake of thinking they’re interchangeable. You need a specific social media strategy for each platform. Instagram is about beautiful images and videos, and you need to make that happen. Tumblr is the exception…
  • Be too self-promotional. Brands that are constantly tooting their own horn are as bad as people who do it. Think about that for a second. People follow brands on Instagram to engage with them, not to be advertised at. That might be your end game, but it’s not ours.
  • No auto commenters or followbots. It’s lazy and ultimately, kind of disrespectful to your followers. Don’t do it.
  • Write giant blocks of text in the description. No one’s going to read them.

Using these simple dos and don'ts you can take your Instagram presence from scraping the bottom of the G-league into the big leagues and gunning for the championship.