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Content, Marketing, Mobile, Social Media

The Top Instagram Marketing Hacks

entrepreneur.com

We all know Instagram is imperative to growing – and maintaining – a business. But some business owners aren’t as savvy when it comes to Instagram marketing. So, we’ve rounded up some of the best marketing hacks to help you grow your business using Instagram!

Hashtags are KEY

Chances are, you’ve seen hashtags on an Instagram post. But how many are you supposed to use? Which ones are the most effective? Hashtags are used in addition to your caption in order for those not already following you to find your page. Users search for relevant, industry-related hashtags and you want to make sure your posts show up.

When choosing and using hashtags, use a mix of both popular hashtags and less popular hashtag, yet extremely relevant hashtags. With this mix, you’ll attract those searching for popular hashtags while also attracting those who are interested in your specific industry.

Try to use at least one hashtag per post. You can even put them in a separate comment if you don’t want to clutter your caption.

Join the Instagram Community

Like any other social network, Instagram is most effective when you use it as a way to form relationships with other users. It’s not just a platform to post snapshots of your own life, it’s a way to form a community with others.

To build lasting relationships, use the appropriate hashtags as well as like and comment on other users photos. It’ll show that you are supportive of other people and put you in front of people who may not have otherwise found your page.

Keep Images & Profile on Brand

A super important Instagram marketing hack is to keep your images on brand. That means ensuring your images are cohesive and closely related to your brand. For example, if your brand is bright and colorful, don’t post dull, lifeless photos. Make sure you keep fonts consistent (or at least in the same font family), too.

Furthermore, optimizing your profile as a whole will ensure you stay on brand. Include a backlink to your website in your bio – it doesn’t have to be static, you can change it if you are running a promotion or campaign.

Use your logo – typically as your profile picture – so users know it’s your brand and include your physical location (or at least city and state), especially if you have a physical location. Use your bio to articulate exactly what your brand is to help users know exactly who you are.

Post Efficiently

While it is ultimately up to you how many times you want to post on Instagram, there is some research behind optimal posting frequency. According to one study, out of 55 brands, most post 1.5 times per day. Interestingly enough, they found that brands who most more than 1.5 times per day didn’t have decreased engagement.

So, don’t be afraid to post more than once or twice a day. Begin with one per day and if that works, try experimenting with two to three and go from there!

Enlist the Help of Apps

While you don’t necessarily need an outside app to be a successful Instagram marketer, it certainly helps. Iconosquare, for example, allows you to access your Instagram account from your computer.

There are also a number of apps that allow you schedule out posts as well as some that help you connect with the right audience and find engaging posts to share.

Use Instagram Ads

If you’re really looking to really rev up your business, consider Instagram ads. Similar to Facebook or Google ads, Instagram ads allows you promote a specific service or product using an advertisement. You can do an Instagram photo ad, video ad, carousel ad, or Instagram stories ad.

You need to have a Facebook page in order to run an Instagram ad but it’s fairly easy! Then, you can choose the type of ad you’d like and set your budget and choose how long you’d like to run it for. Try different types of ads to see which one works best for your business.

Grow Your Following

The best – and most loyal – followers are those that genuinely care about your brand. Sure there are ways to buy followers, but growing your audience organically will have a lasting effect.

One way to organically grow your audience is to post regularly and consistently, use quality photos and content, include relevant captions and hashtags, and engage with your followers!

Use these tips and you’ll be a pro Instagram marketer in no time! And if you’re looking for a little extra help when it comes to content marketing, let Retaliate1st help you! We offer services in social media, performance marketing, content marketing, and search engine optimization to help you take your business to the next level. Learn more about our services here.

June 9, 2017/by chris

Creative, Digital, Marketing, Mobile, Social Media

How To Use Instagram For Lead Generation

Instagram is still considered by many in the pay-per-click marketing word, to be the new kid on the block. With newness comes a bit of fear, so many small and medium businesses have been hesitant to stray from using only Google and Facebook PPC.

But, it can be a huge lead booster if utilized properly. Here’s why?

Using Instagram To Create Leads For Your Business

Visual Marketing is a Dominant Force

Content marketing rules, and will continue to be the most useful form of marketing for years to come. As the internet becomes more available in non-PC forms, phones, tablets, watches, etc., the need to turn to non-text content will be essential.

You can do this with visual content, and Instagram is the perfect place to put your best visuals to work.

Simply, visual attractiveness in an ad or in any piece of content that has the goal of increasing conversions, leads to more opt-ins, engagement, leads, and sales.

It will also get you more shares, and that increases each campaign’s reach exponentially at no cost to you.

Using high-quality, bright pictures, you draw the attention of your followers, and can help lead them on the path to purchase.

Instagram Videos

Now with videos in the Instagram feed, you can really skyrocket your leads and sales through the social media site. Video content on Instagram gets more views, shares, and likes. It stops scrollers in their path. Once you become known for putting out good video, you’ll be well on your wall to dominating your market online.

Young, Money-Spending Graphics

In Television, for years the most coveted demographic was 18 – 54 year old males.

Now, it’s men and women 18 – 34 (with 18 – 54 being not far behind). Instagram is custom made, literally, for those in that demographic. Build a strong Instagram following, and you’ll be tapping into the most lucrative market in the world.

Build Brand Awareness

Instagram allows you to use visual content to reach more customers. Facebook is similar in this respect, but Instagram actually gets more shares.

Post a good video or picture, and promote it. Your target audience sees the cool content, wants to show their friends, so they like and share it. Now, for the price to reach your target audience, you’ve reached them plus the friends they’ve shared with. It extends the life of your ads, exposes your products, services, and your brand to a large, warm-audience. This is key for growing your business, especially if you don’t have an unlimited ad-buy budget.

October 22, 2016/by chris

Content, Creative, Digital, Marketing, Mobile, Social Media

3 Tips to Improve Your Instagram Photos

When it comes to marketing on Instagram, you can subscribe to a lot of theories on what works, but the one common thread among all marketers, and the research, is that your Instagram campaigns live and die with the quality of your Instagram photos.

Better Instagram photos = more views, more likes, more engagement and more sales.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at 3 ways to improve your marketing on Instagram, through better Instagram photos:

How To Improve Your Instagram Photos

Use Your Phone’s Native Camera App

Using your phone’s camera is a better option than using Instagram’s camera. This is especially true if you have a newer version of the iPhone or Samsung Galaxy, both of which come with powerful cameras.

Why is your phone’s camera better than Instagram’s?

You can take photos without filters
You can edit photos much more easily, and much more quickly, in your phone’s native camera app and editing software
You can set your phone’s cam to take pics that are 640 x 640, making them perfect for Instagram without having to crop
Most phones have more powerful zoom, clearer pictures, and better lighting
The free, or near-free, photo editing apps on smart phones are actually pretty powerful, and can help you enhance lighting, focus, remove red-eye, and make your IG pictures clear and eye-catching

Interesting Instagram Photos Excel

Take Pictures of Interesting Things

This should be obvious, but we’ve all unfollowed a brand (or person) that insists on posting boring photos.
No matter what your product or service, there are opportunities to post photos of really dynamic content that will engage your followers.

Before and after pics work well for weight loss products, home improvements, design, graphics, and clothing stores.
Photos of your product being modeled are always a safe bet. Research shows that including a human face in a picture of a product increase views (and sales). Have great clothes you’re selling? Put it on a model that is a slightly idealized version of your customer and do a photo shoot. One shoot can give you a strong catalogue of content.
Cool places – if you are an adventure traveler, restaurant, or you sell lifestyle, pictures of nature, especially breathtaking views, always perform well on Instagram
Food – we all love to look at pictures of food. If the pictures are bright, clear, and the food is colorful. This should be a no-brainer for restaurants. But, next time you’re on Instagram, check out how many clothing and watch dealers use food in their photo shoots. Elegant coffee displays are the focus of a picture, but the watch on the wrist of the woman with her hand poised on the cup is the real draw.

Instagram Photos Of People Are Most Liked

Use Instagram Photos of People

This can be applied to using models, or taking pictures of your staff having fun, working, or doing interesting things.

Remember, Instagram is simply another marketing channel. No matter where you’re selling, people want to buy from people, not faceless corporations. This is why product images featuring faces do so well. It’s also why any marketer worth a damn will tell you to include pictures of your staff on your website’s About page. Put a face on your Instagram and your brand identification (and sales) will grow.

October 8, 2016/by chris

Digital, Marketing, Mobile, Social Media

Increase Sales and Leads Using Instagram

Instagram has become the go to platform for millennial and Generation’s Z and Alpha. As the younger generations become the dominant spenders and marketing shifts towards them, platforms such as Instagram will increase their advertising revenue. This makes it a must for growth hackers to master. Retaliate1st have built multiple Instagram accounts into the millions of users and here we list our 5 ways to increase leads and sales using Instagram.

5 Ways to Increase Leads and Sales Using Instagram

Picture Quality is Number 1

No matter what your business or service is, remember that picture quality is to Instagram marketing what headline strength is to print advertising.

You are competing with some high-quality photos on Instagram. Your business needs to stand out. Bright pictures out-pull darker hued shots.

Pictures with blue and light blue as the dominant color pulled 37% more likes than those set in other tones.

Tell Your Story First, Market Second

Instagram marketing is still relatively new. Users and advertisers alike are blazing new territory. But, one rule that’s accepted by everyone is: no one likes in-your-face marketing in their feed.

It’s been said that Google ads are like a carnival barker, Facebook ads are like having a conversation on your front porch and anyone who walks by and is interested by the conversation is welcome to wander up and join in. Well, Instagram is more like telling a few friends about these gorgeous new shoes you bought, whipping out your phone, and showing them pics. They love them, and want to know where you got them.

Mastering the Instagram Feed

You can do this in your feed and with your ads. Simply tell your story through your visual content (pictures and video) and your captions. Most products will sell themselves if the pictures are of the highest quality. Now you just need to give followers a reason to click (free, sale, exclusive content, etc.)

Track Traffic with Short Links

Measuring ROI on social media can be difficult at times. Measuring traffic from Instagram to your site shouldn’t be hard.

Full links are harder to track than shortened ones, so consider services like bit.ly or TinyURL when posting links in your feed. They’re easier to track, and easier to read for your customers.

Don’t Blow the Bio

Your bio page will get picked up on Google for searches you’re not even thinking about. Instagram is a huge site with a lot of traffic. Load your bio with useful information, and how it can benefit your customer, then link it to a landing page that captures user info. You won’t build a business overnight with this method, but over the long term you’ll attract a lot of leads that would’ve otherwise been lost.

Use Video – But Not Exclusively

Video, if done well, will capture more attention than pictures. It also allows you to bring your copywriting to life, giving your visitor a visual and auditory tour of your product or service.

But, don’t rely on video alone. Despite what cell phone companies’ commercials tell you, not everyone is walking around with an infinite supply of 4G service. Video can be slow to load, eat into data, and simply not work when your user is low on bars.

Don’t lose a customer because they became frustrated with a feed full of videos that they can’t watch.

Mix in pictures with the same message so you attract those who couldn’t connect with you in your video content.

October 2, 2016/by chris

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