Things You Need to Know.
Whether your looking for an Instagram marketing strategy for your business or marketing ideas for Instagram to promote yourself or brand, then our essential Instagram marketing guide is an essential read.
We’ve also compiled an Instagram marketing tools section which you can find here and also an Instagram Marketing Guide For Influencers - click here to check it out.
Instagram marketing is competitive, but not impossible - and can reap fantastic rewards. Use these 22 tips to build a failproof strategy for 2024 and beyond.
With an advertising audience of more than 1.16 billion people, Instagram offers dramatic reach for brands. And the potential reach of Instagram marketing has grown substantially this year - increasing by 76 million people in just the last quarter.
90% of Instagram users follow at least one business, and it’s not just consumer products that benefit. More than 36% of B2B decision-makers use Instagram when researching new products or services.
This Instagram marketing tips 2024 guide will help rev up your Instagram strategy, whether you’re just getting started or you’re already a seasoned pro.
Setting Up An Instagram Business Account
Before you get started with Instagram marketing, you need an Instagram Business account or an Instagram Creator account. If you already have one, skip ahead to the tips below. If you already have a personal account, you can skip to step no. 3 of these instructions.
If you’re brand new to Instagram or are creating a brand new account, here’s what to do:-
Step 1: Download The Instagram App - Or Create An Account Via Desktop
Step 2: Sign up
22 Instagram Marketing Tips For Business That You Can’t Afford To Ignore
1. Use A Business Account
Just in case you skipped over the section above and plan to dive into the rest of the Instagram marketing tips while using a personal account, here’s why you should reconsider.
A business account gives you access to features you can’t use with a personal account, including:-
A creator account has its own set of benefits for influencers and content creators. But for most marketers, a business account is where it’s at. Hop back up to the top of this post and convert your account if you haven’t already done so.
2. Clearly Define Your Goals
All social platforms are tools. But you can’t use those tools effectively unless you know what it is you’re trying to build.
Instagram marketing can mean different things to different marketers. Are you looking to:-
You might even want to combine several different outcomes. But unless you know where you want your Instagram strategy to take you, you’re unlikely to get there.
3. Know Your Audience
A little preliminary research can help you figure out who you can best reach when you’re thinking about how to market on Instagram. For example, Instagram demographics shows that:-
But that doesn’t mean you should only use Instagram to try to reach urban Americans in their 20s. Instead, you need to define your target market so you can create content that speaks directly to that audience.
This will also become critical when it comes time to choose targeting options for your Instagram Ads.
4. Use Marketing Tools
We’ve got a FANTASTIC range of Instagram Marketing Tools on our Instagram Marketing Tools Page- Click here to check them out.
5. Optimize Your Profile
In just 150 characters, your Instagram bio needs to make a great first impression, convey your brand personality, and tell people why they should bother following your Instagram account.
That’s a lot to ask from a small space.
Fortunately, you also get a few other fields on your Instagram profile to showcase what your brand is all about and makes it easier for people to find you. These include:-
6. Choose The Right Profile Photo
For most brands, your Instagram profile photo should be your logo. This helps provide credibility and allows visitors to see at a glance who you are.
Your Instagram profile photo displays at 110 by 110 pixels, cropped to a circle with a 110 pixel diameter. However, it’s stored at 320 by 320 pixels, so you should upload a file that large to make sure it still looks good if Instagram changes how profile pics are displayed.
If your logo is a square, you’ll need to zoom out to make sure the whole thing shows within the circle.
7. Create Visually Compelling Content
Instagram is a visual medium, so your posts have simply got to look great. You don’t need professional photography equipment, but your photos and videos do need to be sharp, well-lit, well-composed, and in focus, at a minimum.
If you’re using images other than photos, like infographics or animations, make sure they’re crisp, clear, easy-to read and eye-catching.
Even more important, your visual content needs to be compelling. Great photos are nice, but if they don’t tell a story or get viewers excited, they’re not going to engage followers.
Not sure what to post? Here are a few ideas:-
Beauty Brand Glow Recipe uses IGTV videos to showcase skincare routines for different skin types using their products. They post previews of the longer videos to news feed, so followers always know when a new tutorial is ready to watch.
Keep in mind that compelling content can extend your reach if people are inspired to share your newsfeed posts to their Stories. So, when thinking about how to market your business on Instagram, focus on creating content that’s worthy of a share, not just a quick like.
8. Establish Your Brand’s “Look” On Instagram
Once you decide what type of content to publish, you need to decide how it’s going to look, for example - colour influences buying decisions and brand recognition.
Your Instagram look should be consistent across your posts, helping followers easily recognize your content in their feeds.
An easy way to achieve this kind of consistency is to use Lightroom pre-sets.
9. Write Great Captions
True, we just said that Instagram is a visual medium - but that doesn’t mean you can neglect your captions. Your brand voice is just as important as your brand look, like your visuals - it should be consistent across posts.
Instagram captions can be up to 2,200 characters long, so you can use them for everything from a quick quip to detailed storytelling. That said, only the first two lines of text appear in news feed without tapping more.
Since people tend to scan captions rather than read them thoroughly, you want to get all the important information into those first two lines.
For the best caption length its recommended:-
If you’ve got more to say, go ahead and say it - but make sure the extra text is worth it.
Your caption should be relevant, entertaining or informative, compelling and on-brand.
10. Use Hashtags Wisely
Hashtags are a key way to increase your visibility and discoverability.
You can use up to 30 hashtags in an Instagram post - but, realistically you probably don’t want to do that. We recommend using between five and nine hashtags per post. More than that can look like hashtag stuffing, a spammy tactic that turns followers off. Worse, if you use irrelevant or repetitive hashtags, users can choose not to see your content for that tag.
To get the most benefit, choose hashtags that:-
11. Engage
If you want engagement on Instagram, you have to engage too. Posting quality content is great, but if you ignore comments and never interact with any other profiles you’ll have a lonely existence on the network.
At a minimum, respond to comments users post on your feed. But also seek out popular accounts in your niche, follow them, and like and comment on their posts. Make yourself visible in a non-promotional way.
If someone tags you in a post, check it out and look for opportunities to engage. Can you re-share their post in your feed or in your story?
Pinning comments from top fans, or simply comments that are likely to spark conversations is a way to encourage more engagement on your posts.
This makes it more fun (and productive) for you to engage too, since you’ll have a greater chance to respond to real people rather than bots or trolls.
12. Make The Most Of Instagram Stories
Half of businesses on Instagram use Stories - and they’re getting great results. A third of the most viewed Stories are posted by businesses. Stories are a key part of a good Instagram marketing strategy.
Instagram Stories disappear after just 24 hours. Followers expect them to be more real and raw than your curated Instagram feed. They provide an opportunity to connect with followers and build relationships.
The best ways to use Instagram Stories for business - strategies:-
13. Use Stories Highlights And Covers To Boost Your Bio
We covered all the official components of your Instagram bio in Tip 5. But there’s a bonus component we didn’t mention - Stories highlight covers.
You can create highlight albums to preserve your top Stories content, so it doesn’t disappear after 24 hours. Your highlight albums appear right under your bio, and you can create custom covers for each.
Used effectively, this adds a whole extra component to your bio, giving potential followers loads more information about your business and why they should follow you on Instagram.
14. Test The Gift Card Sticker And Button
You can now sell digital gift cards directly from your Instagram Story or profile. This is a great way to create a relationship with fans and allow them to support you through difficult times.
You can add a gift card button the same way you add any other call-to-action button:-
In either case, you’ll need to use a partner provider to sell the gift cards, like Square. The options pop up when you try to add the gift card sticker or button.
15. Build Anticipation For A Product Launch With The Countdown Sticker
Another interactive sticker for Stories allows you to create excitement in advance of a product launch or special event. The countdown sticker alerts your biggest fans to mark their calendars when you’ve got something new to offer.
16. Go Live
Instagram Live offers loads of potential ways to connect with fans in a real-time way, to use Instagram Live effectively, we suggest the following strategies:-
Matthew McConaughey invited Dr. Anthony Fauci to chat with him on Instagram Live. It was a good way for Dr. Fauci to get important information about COVID-19 strategies out to McConaughey’s 4.3 million followers.
17. Set Up An Instagram Shop
Remember how we said you should get a business profile? Here’s one more reason why - You need a business profile to set up an Instagram Shop.
This feature - which is not available for personal accounts, allows you to create your own online store within Instagram.
You’ll also get a “View Shop” button on your Instagram profile page, so fans can tap through to your shop without even viewing a specific post.
Even better - there’s now a Shop tab on the Explore page, where users can search for new products or see products from brands they already interact with on Instagram.
130 million Instagram users tap on shopping posts every month, so there is a large audience of people keen to buy from the brands they follow. You can tag shopping products in posts, Stories, and IGTV.
Tip: If you tag products in Instagram Stories, try turning on Auto-highlighting - this saves all posts with product tags to Stories Highlights, so potential customers can view them for more than 24 hours.
18. Experiment With Instagram Reels
There’s another new tab on the Explore page - Reels. These multi-cut videos are Instagram’s answer to TikTok. But they’re not just for dance challenges. Brands are using Reels to stand out from the crowd.
19. Post At The Right Times
Did you know that the best time to post on Instagram varies based on your industry?
Analysis of 258,956 posts from 11 different industries and found that there really is a best time to post, even though Instagram feeds are no longer chronological.
Here are the best times to post for each industry were analysed:-
20. Try An Influencer Partnership
Working with an influencer can help to build your credibility while exposing your brand to a new audience. A survey by CivicScience found that nearly half of daily Instagram users have made a purchase because of an influencer recommendation.
One easy way to get started with influencer marketing on Instagram is to host an Instagram takeover. This means that you invite an influencer to take over your Instagram account for a set period of time, like a weekend, or for a special event.
Tasting Table regularly invites chefs and home cooks to host takeovers of their account, sharing recipe posts in the newsfeed and Stories.
This extends your reach while also giving the influencer exposure to a new audience.
21. Expand Your Audience With Instagram Ads
The surest way to get your content in front of a new audience is to run an Instagram Ad.
Back in Tip 3, you defined your target audience. Now you can use that information to target your ads based on:
You can also upload custom audiences of people you have existing relationships with, and use these to create lookalike audiences.
You can advertise in the Instagram feed, Stories or Explore.
22. Refine Your Strategy With Analytics
No matter how good you already are at Instagram marketing, you can always be better. The best way to improve your results is to learn from what you’ve already done.
And the best way to do that is to study all of the information available in Instagram Insights.
