5 tips for improving your Instagram marketing strategy

27 April, 2017

Guest blog post by Website Builder

As a business owner, you will have recognised the importance of social media for promoting your brand. One platform that is a little more unique, due to its focus on images, is Instagram. But it still holds ample opportunities for increasing brand awareness and converting followers in to customers. The app and website currently has over 500 million registered users, 300 million of which are active every day. These kinds of numbers cannot be ignored!

Website Builder recently published tonnes of helpful facts and statistics as part of an infographic. We’ve taken what we’ve learned from the data to bring you 5 tips for improving your Instagram marketing strategy:

Don’t Overdo It

The old adage ‘less is more’ is particularly relevant for Instagram, and any other social media campaigns, for that matter. This is because there’s a fine line between keeping your brand in people’s minds and annoying them. So how often should you post? Data suggests that the leading brands on Instagram (the Nikes and Victoria’s Secrets of the world) post, on average, just 4.9 times per week – so this is a good guide for how often you should be doing it yourself. Of course, what you post is just as important as how often you post.

Use Filters

Whether you are taking your own images or using funny memes, using filters for enhancement is a good way to ensure you posts stand out. The most popular filter on Instagram is Clarendon, which essentially makes an image more vibrant with a slight cool tint.

Hashtags Are Important

Let’s face it, not all of us ‘get’ the obsession with hashtags. But, if you are to succeed in reaching a wider audience on Instagram, they are important. A hashtag is simply a word that relates to the subject of your post. For example if you were posting about Justin Bieber, then you’d include #JustinBieber. Anyone searching or following that hashtag will see your post, among other posts that have used the tag, chronologically. This is one of the few ways you can reach users that aren’t already following you.

So Are Emojis

Emojis are used by almost everyone on Instagram, with many posts containing multiple emojis in big chains. As a business looking to connect with consumers, you too should follow this behaviour, when relevant. The most popular emoji is the red love heart, followed by the love heart eyes, kiss, crying laughing, and smiley faces. Using emojis gives a friendly and open impression.

Timing Is Everything

Just because somebody follows you doesn’t mean they see all of your posts. You are contending with everyone else they follow, as well as an algorithm that prioritises posts from accounts which the user regularly engages with. On top of that, the user has to be online within a certain time window to see your post at all. That’s why you shouldn’t post at 5am! According to data, the busiest day on Facebook is Wednesday and the best time to post is at 5pm.

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