Instagram continued its expansion in 2018, with more than 13% of all people using the platform. It continues to be a major source of advertising revenue with Instagram ads expected to earn around $ 11 billion in 2019. With impressive numbers like these, it’s no surprise that many analysts have begun to see Instagram as Facebook’s new engine of growth.
For some time, Instagram has been the heart of the social media scene for marketers. And it is not difficult to understand that given that it has more than 1 billion active users per month, 50% of which follow the brand.
According to Forrester, engagement – measured in terms of likes, shares, and consumers’ comments – is extremely high, with a 4.21% rate.
1. Know how often you have to post
Brands must be proactive to gain Instagram followers and increase engagement rates – but how active?
According to studies, the sweet spot is 1-2 posts per day.
Recommended post times can vary widely according to expert opinion. Some lawyers from 8 am to 9 am or 2 am. At 5 pm 2 pm for his first post for his second. This inconsistency can cause real confusion for content planners.
Instead, discover the Instagram habits of your own followers by using the Insights feature in your Instagram business account. This helps you identify when your followers are most active and allows you to make plans to ensure that your posts continue to appear at the top of their feed.
2. Do not preach, but tell a story
Instagram is replete with mediocre brand messages that seem to have forgotten that the social network should be a “visual inspiration platform”. You should captivate the audience with pictures and videos and not just promote marketing statements.
To increase engagement rates, you should instead become a storyteller and disseminate “micro stories” through your captions, videos, Instagram stories, and profiles. Or try to share user-generated content that matches your brand (see point 15).
Innovative Instagram stories such as Airbnb, Red Bull, Lego, and Nike serve as inspiration. You can also look at these examples to encourage your creativity
3. Make your Instagram branding a priority
Clarity, creativity, and continuity are important for companies that want to build brand awareness on Instagram. The unexpected, random approach simply does not work.
Try to focus on core areas like presenting your profile, create style patterns that give a new look to your images, and master the use of hashtags (see our ultimate Instagram hashtag guide 2019). You should interact regularly with your followers to build engagement and loyalty.
By creating a road-map to your processes and brand strategy for Instagram, you can present your target group with a positive and consistent brand.
4. Use the full scope of Instagram video posts
A picture can say a thousand words, but a video costs 1.8 million. While Shakespeare lovers are odd with such figures, there is no doubt about the effectiveness and popularity of online video content. Instagram recognizes this and offers several video options that the market can use.
From Instagram Stories, which can combine video and still images into a single display (click here for our Instagram Stories Guide 2019), stand-alone 60-second videos that are ideal for long-form functions allow you to Strength should consider use video formats.
5. Use video subtitles and closed captions
Video is increasingly dominating the online space, with the audio becoming a by-product as most users prefer not to activate sound when watching the video. For this reason, subtitles have become so important to marketers that in addition to pictures, key messages can also be spread across the screen.
Facebook research shows that subtitling a video increases the average duration of video recording by 12%
Facebook offers automatic subtitling (but make sure every subtitle is checked for errors) or alternatively you can create your own subtitling file. To learn more about how you can add closed captions, you can click here.
6. Take advantage of Instagram video ad formats
Since 75% of Instagrammers stated that they adopt measures such as “visiting websites, searching for a friend or telling” after the effect of a post, it is necessary to master the category of ad formats on the platform. While photo ads are still an integral part of the platform, the Instagram video format is an increasingly valuable tool to address a selected target group.
The platform offers three major video formats for creating Instagram ads: Single video ads provide the ability to create ads for up to 60 seconds, the carousel provides additional ad space, allowing followers to create additional images.