Instagram now has 1 billion active users per month, as of June 2018. That’s a major achievement for the predominantly mobile photo sharing community! In June of 2013, just over 5 years ago. There were 130 million active Instagram users every month. Since then, it has multiplied by 10.
It’s no surprise that Instagram, with a billion monthly active users, is the second most active social media network. Every small company ought to think about using the platform (E-marketer, 2018). And every month, 800 million people use this service.
8 Instagram sales strategies
You need the perfect profile picture
If you’re a company with an Instagram account, you may wish to use your logo or a simplified version of it as your profile picture. As a result, everyone who visits your Instagram page will be immediately exposed to your logo and branding, which can help with long-term brand awareness.
However, if you’re in the service industry (like teaching, photography, influencer marketing, or life coaching), a headshot might be more appropriate for your Instagram profile.
Do you want to know why? You need to make sure that you introduce yourself to new followers right away if you want to market “you” on Instagram.
Increase your fan base
Instagram provides businesses with a chance to connect with a highly-targeted, visual audience and nurture them into lifelong customers. In reality, Instagram has the most engaged audiences because of its massive user base of over 500 million people who use the platform every day. However, much like any other social media platform, there are smart and inappropriate methods to utilise your Instagram account.
Consistent updates to the content
Your Instagram profile is just as strong as the content you share. Instagram has become a popular tool for many B2C companies to showcase their wares. Competing B2B organisations typically place a premium on corporate culture and employee recruitment. However, the ideal strategy will be the one that highlights your company’s strengths. Create a strategy to consistently provide engaging material to your community based on who you want to reach and what you hope to accomplish.
Use Product Links to incorporate visuals into your narrative
This piece of advice is so obvious that it’s often overlooked. You can’t expect your followers to turn become buyers for your business if you don’t provide them with a convenient means to do so. Images and videos do not support in-line hyperlinks, but you should still provide the URL for those who wish to copy and paste it.
This is why you should keep your URLs concise and easy to understand. Snapchat-like videos may now be uploaded to Instagram and shared with your followers. You’ve had the option to add movies to your feed for some time now, of course.
Locowise found that only 10.81% of Instagram postings in April 2015 were videos. But they still receive 17.51% of all feedback!
Hashtag your caption
Hashtags can be included in the post’s description or comments. Hashtags in a public post will make it searchable on the related platform, if you use one. If you include a hashtag in your message, tapping that hashtag will bring up a feed of other users’ posts that also include that hashtag.
Understanding your target demographic
This isn’t a point that’s unique to Instagram; it’s applicable to nearly every form of advertising. You must have a firm grasp of your ideal “consumer profile” before launching any campaign.
Consider aspects beyond just age and gender, such as degree of education, household size, interests, and income. Identify as many particular likes and dislikes as you can about your target customer. Think about what drives their purchasing decisions and where they’re experiencing pain that your items could alleviate.
Instagram advertising can be more effectively targeted if commonalities among target populations have been identified. These recurring ideas need not pertain specifically to your offering.
Use the “swipe up” function
For commercial purposes, the swipe up function is revolutionary. You may have struggled for a long time to redirect Instagram followers to a certain URL that would take them to your website.
You’ll be able to use this function if your company’s profile has amassed 10,000 followers. Just add a link to a landing page describing the promotion you’re running on your story’s swipe up feature. It makes sense to direct people who click on your ad to the product page where you describe the item you’re selling.
You can attract more visitors to your site and boost sales with the help of these lead magnets.
Promotional contests, sales, and freebies
This one doesn’t need much of an explanation. Instagram is no exception to the rule when it comes to the popularity of contests on social media. Selfies and well-staged photos of products are often required for certain contests.
You might turn it into a public event by allowing people to vote on their favourite submissions. The participants will help spread the word about the contest and your account by sharing it with their social networks.
The more convenient a contest is to participate, the higher the participation rate will be. A “like” or “follow” is often all that is required to enter a popular contest, and this is especially true for product prizes. Keeping the threshold for participation low is a terrific strategy to boost interaction with your postings rapidly.
