Digital Marketing Resources
Primarily used as a smartphone app, Instagram allows you to enhance images using creative filters, share your content to other social networks, and link with other popular apps to give your image library the biggest possible audience. Right, okay, I’m using Facebook. I’m using Twitter. Why Instagram?! • It has 400 million active users a month. • Like Twitter, it’s utilised best on a mobile. • It encourages creativity. • It helps generate content for other social networks. • It ties directly into Facebook.
Once you have signed up, upgrade your account to a business account Don’t worry, it’s free! While there aren’t as many features available with an Instagram business account compared to business profiles on Facebook or LinkedIn, your organisation should make the switch when given the opportunity.
And here are the main benefits why: Getting noticed Before Instagram business profiles were rolled out, the only way followers could engage with a business outside of Instagram was to click their website link in their profile. Once you provide contact information for your business account, a contact button will appear in your profile. Instagram users will now have the choice of whether they want to email, call, or find your offices on a map, adding an extra level of authenticity to your organisation’s ever evolving online presence.
Useful Tips
Access to analytics The Instagram analytics tools — which are called Insights — aren’t quite as in-depth as Twitter and Facebook’s free in-house systems, but they’re a convenient way for you to get a quick look at how your content on the platform is working for you. Advertising Originally, ad creation on Instagram could only be accessed through Facebook’s advertising tools. Recent updates have made this straightforward, using the app itself. Now you can promote a post by clicking on it and then selecting Promote. From there, you can select text for a call to action button, choose a specific audience, set your budget, and choose a time period for your ad to run.
• Think creatively about the unique assets and experiences you can access and share. • Post regularly, ideally daily. • Be aware of how your profile looks. Vary light, and dark and colours so that it looks visually enticing. • Reply to comments and users’ questions. • Repost other users’ content, but always ask permission and remember to mention their @name and tag in the post! • Include a hashtag! Adding at least one Instagram hashtag to posts averages 12.6% more engagement than posts without.
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