One important distinction that you must make before jumping into the world of online marketing is that there is “traditional” marketing and then there is “online” marketing. You’ll have to decide which one you want to focus on.
Now, the truth is that both have their perks and quirks. For example, your product may sell better on social media than it does in person but traditional marketing works best when it comes to getting the word out there. Think of PPC (Pay Per Click) Ads, radio ads, and billboards as three examples.
So, to make sure you really know what you’re doing and are using the right platforms, here are six habits that will help you be a rockstar Instagrammer.
1. Consistent, High-Quality Content
According to HubSpot Blogs research, 66% of consumers have watched video content on social media to learn about a product or service. To make sure you’re doing your job correctly, you’ll want to create videos that are helpful, entertaining, and informative. This generally means you should shoot for the best possible quality since you’re going to be sharing your content on social media. You should also make sure that your videos are engaging enough to hold someone’s attention.
2. Create Short But Sweet Videos
While we all love watching hilarious YouTube videos or long-form videos to get to the point, research shows that people are more likely to watch and retain information in short, snappy videos. Additionally, YouTube users are more inclined to share these shorter videos if they find them entertaining or useful. So, if you want to learn more about your product or service, try creating a quick and snappy video to grab someone’s attention.
3. Post At Least Once A Day
The research from HubSpot Blogs found that consumers prefer having content delivered fresh and frequently. In fact, only 17% of respondents said they preferred getting content once every two weeks or less. While that may be ideal for keeping your blog fresh, if you’re trying to grow your Instagram account, you’ll want to post at least once a day to keep your content visually appealing and engaging enough to encourage people to continue following you.
You don’t want to overwhelm your followers with too many posts all at once, but you also don’t want to be posting too frequently either. The key is to find a happy medium that makes your content both engaging and fresh.
4. Use The Right Hashtags
In addition to videos, consumers have turned to hashtags to learn about brands, products, and events on social media. According to HubSpot Blogs research, people on social media use hashtags to connect content that’s relevant to their interests. If you want people to learn about your content on Instagram, use the right hashtags to make your content stand out.
The key takeaway from this is that you should use a combination of words and hashtags that your target audience is most likely to use to find your content. To help you figure out keywords and hashtags, check out these tools:
- Google Keyword Planner
- Hashtagify
- Trendify
- Twittersuggest
- Yahoo Autocomplete
- Bing Autocomplete
5. Include A Call To Action
People hate being forced to do something. According to HubSpot Blogs research, 17% of consumers want free offers or discounts while only 12% want marketing pitches. To encourage your audience to engage with your content, include a call to action in your video’s title or in the first few seconds of the video. This could be something as simple as “Learn More” or “Enter For Free”. You could also try adding a hashtag that encourages people to talk about your content.
6. Measure The Right Things
To determine the effectiveness of your Instagram strategy, you’ll want to look at a variety of metrics. While you may be most familiar with clicks, you should also be checking out the following metrics:
- Likes
- Comments
- Shared Posts
- Reach
- Video Views
- Engagement
- Click-Through Rates (CTRs)
Just remember that while these numbers may indicate the overall effectiveness of your strategy, they may not be indicative of the performance of any single channel. To get more detail on specific metrics, check out this blog post from HubSpot Blogs.
When it comes to digital marketing and social media, constantly measuring and adjusting your strategy is essential to ensure you’re getting the results you want. Don’t get discouraged if a metric you’re seeing isn’t immediately noticeable – instead, look at what it is and how you can use it to better your strategy. For example, if you’re seeing a decrease in click-through rates but your overall reach is increasing, you’re likely realizing that your video content is gaining in popularity but your blog posts are less likely to earn you a click-through.
Your Instagram Marketing Strategy
To help you along the way, we’ve compiled a cheat sheet that will help you form a clear strategy for your Instagram account. Remember: your Instagram account is only as good as your strategy. The better you get at using this tool, the better your account will perform.
Once you’ve followed the steps above, you’ll be able to set up automated daily posts using the Instagram interface or third-party apps like HubSpot’s own Hashtagify. From there, you can determine the ideal combination of videos and images for your audience using the strategy tool’s analytics section. Additionally, you can check out this blog post for more information on generating more leads with video content on your site.