For brand promoters and digital marketers who want to mark on Instagram, creating a noticeable visual identity on this platform is very important. It is not just about sharing catchy photos, but it needs a purpose-built marketing strategy, including various types of content and add-on promotional activities. You can effectively take advantage of different ways to showcase your Instagram posts through Hashtags, Stories, Shopping on Instagram, InstagramAds, etc.
As of late, Instagram users tend to search or click on hashtags to identify their content of interest on this platform. They tend to dive into Instagram stories also to check the personal side of their favorite brands. This article will discuss a bit more in detail the usage of Instagram hashtags and Stories as your promotional tools.
Individuals tend to use their Instagram to search for hashtags related to their interested topics.Suppose the marketers use the most relevant hashtags on Instagram to effectively drive brand awareness and help customersfind their products and services easily. Usage of good hashtags is very much important for business profiles. For hash success, you may follow these best practices:
- Include a few numbers of hashtags at your main post and put the rest inside the comment.
- Choose only high-quality hashtags, which we can research and find the variations in terms of search volume.
- Pick the hashtagswhich your target audience uses to refer.
- Research to evaluate the quality of hashtags as to where and how these are being used.
- Avoid any repetitive hashtags and use the most relevant ones.
- Make use of Instagram Insights also to track how your hashtags perform.
Let us further explore various types of hashtags.
Branded hashtags are important for all types of businesses as they tend to increase brand awareness. However, this is not just the case, but with branded hashtags, marketers can effectively build a community around it and help more followers connect with you. It can also encourage your fans to post effective user-generated content, easily found by searching for hashtags. You can also think of putting branded hashtags on Instagram bio, which may further result in your customers tagging their posts with the same.
Conducting contests on Instagram is a proven way to deliver improved engagement and attract new followers. All these contests must include a branded hashtag that you derive. You can also use generic hashtags for contests like ‘#contest’, # #contestalert, #contestgiveaway, #giveaway etc.
These types of hashtags are particular to your type of business or industry, aiming at a specific customer base. You can use these hashtags to target your specific audience, who may search for similar items.Some examples of niche hashtags are #fitness, #selfcare, #fashion etc. You may also effectively use hashtags on Instagram to appeal to those target audiences who want to see only posts related to their specific area of interest. You may also leverage Like4Like.com for hashtags to get more likes and follows.
These hashtags are also called theme hashtags, a fun way for people to join the games and challenges on Instagram. You may share a funny GIF for a meme with an appropriate hashtag to enhance the engagement rate. Some examples of popular entertainment hashtags are #photooftheday, #goofymemes, #funcontest, etc.
Instagram stories
A survey shows that about 50% of the users on Instagram say that they visited a website to buy products and services after seeing Instagram stories. Instagram for business suggests that Instagram Stories is a critical tool that marketers need to include in their strategy. Instagram stories can show up on top of the user feeds when they log in. You can also add 15-seconds videos, vertical photos,and small graphics to your Instagram Story.
On posting your Instagram Story, it will disappear after 24 hours. Even though Instagram feeds are filled with curated content, Stories may give you an extra edge to highlight the personal or softer side of your business. You can effectively make use of Instagram Stories to work for you in a better way, for which we will discuss some tips below.
#1. Showcase your products being used by customers
As per Instagram reports, about 58% of the people say that they become interested in a product or brand after seeing it in Instagram Stories. A good marketer can leverage Stories by helping the fans imagine themselves in the real-time situation of using such a product. Share videos of actual users in action while featuring your products. Encourage the followers to sit back and browse through your Stories to compare some before and after pictures.
You may invite the Instagram users to your company office or for some special events to create personalized Instagram Stories. Doing this will show the personal side of your brand and will welcome more people into your space. Instagram Stories can effectively work to share the images of your office party or some event highlights during your project launch or so.
#3. Showcasing customer content
Instagram Stories can also be an excellent place for you to share user-generated or follower-generated content. Your fan followers may trust their friends and value the testimonials they give then your promo ads. Displaying the real-life people using your products and tagging your brand will encourage their friends to trust your brand.
#4. Be authentic when live
When you stream live on Instagram, all your followers may get a notification so that they can choose to tune in to your stream. You should only use Instagram to announce a new product for the winners of your latest giveaway etc. You may also use a question sticker for your live question-and-answer sessions. These questions are more like popup stickers on the website, but this is a fun way to raise a question to which you can respond in real-time. If you find Stories a little strange to you as a beginner, you may use custom templates to get started and gain expertise over time.
Effective utilization of hashtags and Instagram Stories can take you to more heights as an Instagram marketer or brand promoter. As you start to use this day by day, you will identify more tips and trends to fine-tune your strategy and get a better return on investment.
