3 Fast Rules for Marketing on Instagram

With over 500 million monthly users and 95 million videos and images being posted to the platform a day there’s no doubt that Instagram is a content powerhouse. Not only that, it’s estimated that 75% of users will take an action – such as visiting a website – after viewing a post. Having a sound understanding of how to drive results through social is no longer a nice-to-have, it’s a must for marketers and brands alike.

 Let them know where you are

Posts using a geotag can get you 79% more engagement, this tool is especially important if you’re holding an event or marketing a product that’s always in a fixed location (e.g a bar).

Geotags can be placed on images posts and stories – an ad format that is currently delivering cheap wins. Instagram recently launched a story search for hashtags and geotags, meaning that someone can search Bondi Beach and see the story you took of people enjoying an ice-cream at your shop on the promenade even if they don’t follow you. Hello, foot-traffic!

Always be #hashtagging

Simple, free, and effective. Hashtags must be used on your content. Why? Simply Measured found that posts with at least one hashtag average 12.6% more engagement. But they must be used correctly. Finding the right hashtag is an art form; it’s important that your tag has high volume, but not so much competition that your content will be instantly drowned out by all the other posts vying for attention.

It’s also worth considering how many hashtags you’ll use on each post. Instagram allows up to 30 tags per post, but there is some conversation around shadowbanning by Instagram. Shadowbanning is a phenomenon being experienced by some Instagram users that see a dramatic drop in engagement on their profiles. If you use too many hashtags, use them too often, or use hashtags that aren’t relevant to your post and you notice follower count declining, engagement dropping, or photos not showing up in hashtags you may have been shadowbanned.

The rule of thumb here is to think like the platform; Instagram wants to show the most relevant and engaging content to its audience. So if you use #cleaneating but your image is of fast food and the audience doesn’t engage with your post then you may be penalised.

Optimise your bio

Audiences don’t like to work too hard for anything in the online sphere. What I mean by that is I should be able to tell who you are, what you do/sell, and ideally how to reach you by simply looking at your Instagram bio. Use a trackable link (like bit.ly) to drive people to your website. It’s paramount that this link leads to a landing page that has been optimised for mobile. Why? 47% of Instagram users access via mobile and 53% via tablet. There is virtually no one who uses the platform from a desktop on a regular basis.

Other added bonuses you could feature in your bio are a discount code or a branded hashtag that you’d like your audience to use when speaking about your brand/product/service. If you’re stuck for content this is a great way for you to tap into your user base and repost their images. Frank body does a bang up job of this with #thefrankeffect.

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