Instagram is a mobile social media for sharing your everyday moments – photos and videos with your friends and followers. The social platform has now 300 million active users and continues to grow, so for your e-commerce business it can become a good channel for promotion.
To get more information about marketing in other social networks, please follow the links below:
Below are some other Instagram facts by Iconosquare that might be useful for you.
The greatest advantage of this social platform is a user-generated content (UGC). According to the recent report by Digital Think Tank L2 59% of consumers trust user-generated content above other forms of marketing.
What does it mean for me?
It means your ecommerce marketing strategy should be based on communication with your consumers and their involvement into your business promotion.
So, what to start with?
1. Optimize ‘About you’ section
You are given 150 symbols to put all the necessary information about your brand. The #hashtags in bio section are not clickable, but they can be used to aware your consumers on how to tag your brand correctly. Do not forget to add the link to your website here as well, because all the further uses of live links are paid within the Instagram promo package.
2. ALWAYS use the #hashtag
#hashtags are important for all the social networks, but for Instagram they are vital – they show your presence on this social platform. You can categorize photos and videos with appropriate hashtags and make them searchable for your followers and consumers. When found with a tag you can easily redirect consumers to your website or landing page with either using live links (for promoted accounts) or with a phrase ‘follow the link in bio section’.
3. Post interesting content
Become a ‘friend’ to your consumers. Entertain them. Educate them. Make them love your brand.
4. Show the “backstage”
Be transparent. Show your consumers how it all works: people, processes, sales. Make your brand part of a lifestyle and share those lifestyle story with your followers.
5. Find the opinion makers
Depending on a product you sale find a person with a sound opinion in that area and ask him/her to become a part of your ecommerce marketing strategy. For instance, if you sell goods for fitness, ask a fitness model to promote your brand. It is unnecessary should be a top-star in this niche – there is always a person who is less ‘fancy’, but still significant. If your business is local – think about a person from your town or city – such a person feels closer and his/her participation in your campaign will have even a greater result then the use of a top-influencer.
6. Engage your followers in marketing campaign
The ordinary people posting photos with your product create a trustworthy reputation of your brand.
To engage people in such an activity hold a contest on Instagram:
- Ask users to subscribe your page in order to take part in a contest – it will lead to the followers increase.
- Make the use of official hashtag the condition of participation.
- Ask followers to create a specific thematic content (photos, videos) with a brand @mentioning.
- Choose the winner based on number of likes and discussions under his/her post.
7. Use your folowers’ content.
Use the content relating to your brand in other marketing strategies. For instance, Hyatt Regency Hotels use the photos from Instagram for their email marketing campaigns.
8. Instagram promoted profile
Though at this point Instagram works with very few companies on a paid basis – the official website says they are planning to expand globally. Keep an eye on this and if within the marketing budget do not refuse from using Instagram paid opportunities.
9. Use special Instagram tools
There are plenty of tools to help you with your Instagram marketing strategy. Here are some of them:
- Schedugram – Helps to schedule your posts for a concrete time.
- IconoSquare– Analytics and other data on Instagram account.
- Populagram– Helps to find popular @mentions, #hashtags and people.
- Websta – a tool to access Instagram account from a personal computer.
- instaOrders, Soldsie, and inSelly ecommerce tools to convert your followers into costumers.
10. Use successful case-studies
Each business is unique and the marketing story for each business should also be unique. However, learning from those who succeed can provide you with some ideas on how to develop. Here are 9 stories that might be interesting for you.
Please, share your insights on using Instagram for creating a great strategy for your brand.
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