5 Simple Steps For Marketing Your Brand Like A Pro On Instagram

August 2, 2013 11:34 am // Author: David Moceri

When talking about social media marketing, you have to talk about content. And when you talk about content, you have to talk about photos. There’s no question that visual content yields better results than text-filled content. With photos, you can tap into human emotion and captivate an individual’s most inner feelings. A classic example of this is the cute puppy or cute baby photo. Human beings can’t but help to “oooo” and “aawww” about cute animal and baby photos. That’s why you see so many of them!

puppy

The visual web has taken over, with Instagram helping to lead the trend.

Now part of Facebook and with over 100 million users, the popular photo-sharing app has turned regular users into amateur photographers.

The content that Instagram users are generating and consuming allows innovative brands and e-commerce sites a way to harness the power of photo sharing to increase customer relations and enhance the feedback loop.

Create your account and set up your editorial calendar

As I said before, images are a great way to communicate with your clients, and tap into their emotions. That’s what makes Instagram such a fantastic distribution channel for your most appealing content. Whenever you’re releasing a new product line or hosting an event, a single photo can communicate more effectively than the longest press release.

“But like with other forms of content marketing, you shouldn’t limit it to these events. Set up an editorial calendar (posting at least a couple of photos per week could be a good start) and define what type of content you’ll create. A good example is Nike, a company that regularly displays a mix of their own products, events, sports team gear or customers wearing their product.” ~Business Insider

Here are some quick ideas to get you started:

Shots of your current products
Sneak peeks of upcoming products
Creative uses of your products
Shots of your brand ambassadors and representatives
Behind the scenes shots
Shots of your products in the wild
Sneak peeks of future marketing campaigns/ads
Photos that relate to the lifestyle your brand represents

~ Business Insider

Pick a series of hashtags and focus on these

nike

Hashtags provide a means of grouping such messages, since one can search for the hashtag and get the set of messages that contain it.

“Hashtags are the best way to categorize your content on Instagram, and also the easiest way to build a brand on the service. Don’t just guess and use random hashtags, you should define a few hashtags and stick to them. This will help your followers to remember them and identify them with your brand.” ~Business Insider

The most obvious hashtags to use include your brand name and your products. For example, Nike would use the hashtags #Nike, #NikeSports, #JustDoIt, etc.

Interact/comment on your customers’ photos about you

“Whether you are actively engaging or not, your clients are already talking about your products on Instagram, so there is no better place to start the conversation than there! A great example is how the Greek Yogurt manufacturer Chobani features photos from their customers and uses the comments feature to answer questions they may have.” ~Business Insider

Merge offline/online

“The mobile nature of Instagram enables a level of interaction that simply isn’t possible on other platforms. This gives you the opportunity to engage with your users around specific locations or events, which is a great opportunity to blend your offline brand building efforts with your digital presence.” ~Business Insider

Display photos from your customers on your products

“A few years ago, Google Vice President Jim Lecinsky, wrote a book called “The Zero Moment of Truth” where he explains in detail how the Internet has changed consumer behavior. In this book, Jim shows that since consumers now research online about your brand before buying, you should embrace product reviews and comments about your product as a new marketing opportunity.” ~Business Insider

“The same concept can be applied to Instagram. As the web is becoming more visual, what better way to help your potential customers research your product than showing other happy customers using it?” ~Business Insider

“This type of integration brings several benefits. Your prospective customers can now see how your products look on a regular person, which will help sales conversions. Additionally, featuring your existing clients on your product page is a way to increase their loyalty and therefore repeated sales.” ~Business Insider

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