Let’s be honest, social media marketing wouldn’t be complete without Instagram marketing. After all, the platform has a whopping 30 million users. With this in mind, there’s also a lot of marketing competition on our audience’s feeds, which constantly keeps us on our toes. So, how do you cut through the noise? Read on to find out our top tips…
To truly optimise your Instagram marketing, make sure you take advantage of the eight different ad options available to you. This doesn’t mean storming in and throwing money behind each and every ad type, rather, take the time to assess whether two or three could be worth trialing.
You have Image, Video, Stories, Reels, IGTV, Carousel, Collection and Shopping ads in your toolkit, so take the time to get to know the benefits and restrictions of each, before deciding which options are best suited to your goals. Reels can be powerful for brand awareness and reaching those who don’t follow your account, while Carousel, Collection or Shopping ads are better suited for showcasing products if you’re in e-commerce, for example.
Split Testing is a great function in Facebook Ads Manager to help you carry out controlled comparisons. They allow you to test elements such as audience, copy or creative as your variable. After all, you can speculate as much as you like, but the truth is, you won’t know until you test your theory to find out!
Paying attention to simple changes, such as graphics compared to videos or professional shots compared to user-generated content can make a huge impact on your results and can help inform decisions later down the line. By completing split tests, you can get more out of your budget and refine your ads over time to secure ongoing success, to the point where you simply need to repeat ads that create results time and time again.
It’s a simple, yet vital benefit that many miss out on, but making use of your Instagram Business Account Insights is key for anyone who wants to evaluate the data behind their content. At the end of the day, it wouldn’t be social media marketing without solid data to back up your conclusions and tailor our next steps.
The Insights section gives you access to information you can’t always find on Facebook Ads Manager, such as your profile’s gender split, age distribution and follower count progress, as well as a breakdown on how each type of content has performed and the time of day your followers are most active. All of this data is available for you to help you make more informed decisions when posting or promoting your content on Instagram.
Whether you are using Traffic, Engagement or Video Views as your goal, it’s important to design your ads in a way that reflects this. This includes optimising the copy and any creatives you use, alongside the ad set-up and targeting options.
Including a clear Call to Action is important as they guide your audience towards an action that contributes to your goals. You may want to encourage comments or shares if Engagement is your goal, or alternatively, drive link clicks with actions such as ‘Shop Now’ if Traffic is your ad goal. When it comes to social media marketing, clarity is essential, so don’t confuse your audience with jumbled copy and an irrelevant creative. On top of this, it’s important to make sure your ads look just as good on mobile phones, which is easy to forget when working on a desktop!
While ads are important for when it comes to reach, having a solid account profile is essential for showcasing your brand and ultimately, encouraging people to stick around and follow your page. By building a steady following, you’ll not only be able to build engagement and market organically, but you’ll also build trust between your brand and audience.
Optimising your profile is a simple, yet important part of social media marketing in general, not just Instagram marketing! There’s plenty for you to work on, such as a sharp and engaging Instagram bio, which many use to share further links using tools such as Linktree. Having a clear profile picture is another obvious one, as well as adding Highlights to categorise your stories – you can rearrange the order of your highlights depending on what you want to prioritise. On top of this, having a clear theme or keeping content looking consistent and appealing on the grid can be a make or break detail when someone is deciding whether to follow your profile.
As competitor platforms like TikTok continue to change the social media landscape, it’s important to accept that Instagram and others are always looking to adapt and one-up their competitors – and if Instagram is adapting, it means that we as marketers need to adapt too.
A classic example has been the rise of video content. There’s plenty of evidence that showcases how video content can perform better on social media.From IGTV to Reels, each new update has had people quaking in their boots, but have a little faith in experimentation and you may find your results soaring. Be brave, yet logical and always have your end goal in mind.
Want to get going with Instagram Marketing but not sure how? Or maybe you’re already on it but not getting the results you want? Get in touch with us today, our social media marketing heroes are waiting to help!