21 best instagram marketing tips for 2021

Author: Ezio Solutions

21 Best Instagram Marketing Tips for 2021

Have you incorporated Instagram in your marketing strategies? If not, you are missing out on something big. It is the most accessed network behind only Facebook. If you are still wondering why your business should be on instagram here are the reasons:

  1. 71% of businesses use Instagram
  2. 90% of Instagram users follow at least one business
  3. Over 2 million active advertisers
  4. 1.16 billion active monthly users
  5. 500 million daily Insta Stories
  6. Many influencers with huge followers are on Instagram
  7. Allows advertising based on age, location, gender, interests, and more
  8. Better brand-follower relationships
  9. Increased conversions

The next question is how to get the best results. Here we have shared some powerful tips and strategies that help to grow your audience and build your brand.

Tips to market on Instagram
  1. Create business profile
  2. Have business goals
  3. Know your audience
  4. Conduct a competitive analysis
  5. Create a calendar for content
  6. Build a consistent brand aesthetic
  7. Post visually compelling content consistently
  8. Use the best Hashtags
  9. Take advantage of free Instagram marketing tools
  10. Post attractive product teasers
  11. Partner with influencers
  12. Write catchy Instagram captions
  13. Generate sponsored ads
  14. Set up an Instagram Shop
  15. Track the metrics and refine your strategies
  16. Focus on video ads
  17. Make the most of your Insta stories
  18. Use countdown stickers to build anticipation
  19. Go live
  20. Stand out from the crowd through Instagram Reels
  21. Grow your follower base

Lets dig deeper into these essential tips.

1.Create business profile

To start with we are sure you will have a business account on Instagram. Even if you are an individual promoting your products it is better to switch from your current profile to a business account. When you have a business profile you can take advantage of:

  • Instagram Insights
  • Instagram ads
  • Instagram Shopping
  • Primary and secondary messaging inboxes
  • Contact information and a call-to-action button on your profile

2.Have business goals

Consider why you are in Instagram. Are you looking to:

  • Create Brand awareness?
  • Establish a strong online presence?
  • Generate new leads?
  • Sell products directly from the app?
  • Establish your brand as an industry leader?

You can even combine the outcomes.

3.Know your audience

Define your target market and create content that speaks the language of your audience. Research and try to figure out whom you can best reach. This is critical while choosing the targeting options for your insta ads.

4.Conduct a competitive analysis

Once you have identified your target audience, start to explore what others are doing in the same field. Search for terms related to your business. Review other profiles of the same industry. Conduct a quick audit of popular hashtags used in your competitors content. Go through the posts that get highest engagements and the captions of accounts that match your business. Use this information to grow your own account better by adding unique content. Always try to find the opportunities that others have missed.

5.Create a calendar for content

Create an editorial calendar to avoid scrambling for last-minute posts. It will help you to manage your Instagram presence. Plan your captions, hashtags, and posting times in advance. Have a record of key events like product launches and exclusive offers. Having a content calendar will help in reposting old content when it needs updating.

6.Build a consistent brand aesthetic

Don’t confuse your audience with random content. Build your brand cautiously. Focus on brand values. Make your posts recognizable. When your pictures appear in the feeds your fans should be able to identify that it is from your brand even without reading.

7.Post visually compelling content consistently

Instagram is a visual medium. That explains why you should use eye-catching images, photos, infographics, animations, and videos. Let them be well-focused, and sharp. They should be crisp, clear, and appealing. Try to tell a story with your photos to engage your followers. But keep it to a minimum.

8.Use the best Hashtags

Use your hashtags wisely. Though you can use up to 30 hashtags only eight to nine is highly recommended if it must be effective. Hashtag stuffing looks like a spam my tactic and turns off the followers. If youre looking to create engagement, use interactive hashtags. Create a hashtag that is relevant and will allow the user to search for your brand easily. For example, Red Bull has scored 299,612 posts featuring their tag, #itgivesyouwings. The consumers can also use this tag to post user-generated content. If you already have a popular slogan then try to make it a branded hashtag.

9.Take advantage of free Instagram marketing tools

Use Insights to view statistics like impressions, engagement data, and more. Get demographic details like age, gender, location, and most active hours. Plus get specific insights for a period, say for a week.

These free perks are invaluable as you can understand how users are interacting with your content and help in boosting the engagement.

10.Post attractive product teasers

Product teasers are sure attention grabbers. You can sell more products using teasers. Don’t be too pushy and try not to sell them directly. The trick is to excite them. Offer a free app which the customers can use to buy all your products. Post teasers with photos focusing on the product.

The posts should be a trigger and should not be forceful. They also help in generating sponsored ads.

11.Partner with influencers

Get a wide reach for your brand. Partner with influencers. They have already built a huge audience and the followers are likely to buy what they recommend. But its an expensive game folks. Kylie Jenner bagged the top spot in the recent stats, charging over $1 million for a product related post on her Instagram profile. So, plan your budget ahead.

If you are a small business, then go for micro influencers. Though they have a smaller following the rate of engagement will be high.

12.Write catchy Instagram captions

Your brand voice is as important as your brands look. Stay consistant. You can use up to 2,200 characters. Only the first 2 lines appear without clicking for More. So, get all the important info in the first two lines. Make them entertaining, effective, informative and on-brand. If you want to say more, go ahead, but it should be engaging like that of National Geographics.

13.Generate sponsored ads

IG ads are quite common. But you can play the cards right by setting a goal and budget. You can display one or multiple ads using the carousel feature. This allows you to target your audience precisely and boost brand awareness. When your ads are engaging the followers stick around.

14.Set up an Instagram Shop

Make it easy for your fans to shop without having to think a second time. Take advantage of the Shop tab found in Explore. Create your own online shop with Instagram. 130 million users tap on Instagram shopping posts every month.

Here the viewers can browse all the products that they have already interacted with. You can also tag your products in your posts, stories and IGTV.

15.Track the metrics and refine your strategies

Learn to improve from what you have already done. There is always a chance to make your ads better. Start by studying all the results available in Insight. Analyze and refine your strategies.

16.Focus on video ads

You can post three types of video ads:

  1. Single video ads – videos that run for 60 seconds
  2. Carousels - combination of images & videos
  3. Stories

How your videos are presented determines their success. Also choose the best time to post on instagram

17.Make the most of your Insta stories

"Nothing sticks in your head better than a story. Stories can express the most complicated ideas in the most digestible ways."

  • Sam Balter, Sr. Marketing Manager of Podcasts, HubSpot

Instagram stories work great to generate leads. Use your IG stories wisely as they come in "slideshow" format and appear in a small area above the newsfeed. The benefits are endless. Since they appear on the top of time liners of the followers, its right in front of their eyes and the worry about the content is less with Insta Stories. Plus, the advantage of using photos, short video, rewind video, live video, or Boomerangs.

18.Use countdown stickers to build anticipation

Create excitement even before the launch of your product. Make sure that your top fans are in the loop. This also gets a flow of orders ready to go as soon as the product is launched.

19.Go Live

Connect with your fans in real-time. It can be:

  • Interviews
  • Chat with clients
  • QA sessions
  • Hosting a workshop
  • Sharing a tutorial
  • Behind the scenes

Partner with an influencer to tap the most from Add a Guest

20.Stand out from the crowd through Instagram Reels

Recently added tab in Explore, Insta reels are not there for only dance challenges. Brands have already started to use these 15 sec video clips to single them out of the crowd. Multi-cut videos can be an excellent marketing tool to get more impressions. They can be amazingly effective campaigns.

21.Grow your follower base

Build a brand follower relationship. To increase your followers quickly:

  • Avoid fake followers
  • Be active
  • Stay on your brand
  • Don’t follow for follow
  • Don’t over post
  • Post at the right time
  • Don’t be pushy about selling
  • Cross-promote your Instagram on your other channels.

What’s next?

Now that we have shared the crucial strategies, your next great step should be following these immediately to increase your Instagram followers. You can also experiment with other strategies like sharing a gift sticker, optimizing your Bio, running contests, introducing interactive hashtags, and collecting user-submitted photos. If this sounds like Instagram marketing is going to take much of your time and you will not be able to focus on your business which is what you are best at, then simply hire Ezio Solutions. We can help you with all types of digital marketing services.

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