If you're a business owner, entrepreneur, or marketer and you're using Instagram, or even thinking about using Instagram to market your business, you could not afford to miss this episode. Today, I'm talking about Instagram marketing - not the way you've been doing it, but a better way, a more effective way, and a way more profitable way. After nearly a decade of doing social media marketing and running a number of different very successful agencies, this is the best way to do Instagram marketing. Hey there, Adam Earhart, marketing strategist and welcome to the marketing show. All right, it is no secret and no surprise that Instagram is one of the most popular social media networks to ever grace this planet.
Here's the deal - as of today, Instagram has over 1 billion users (that's billion with a B) and it's got over 500 million daily users who log on and check things like their stories. People are also spending an insane amount of time on the platform with the average user currently logging about 28 minutes per day on Instagram. And if you're convinced or you have the notion that your target market just isn't active or present on Instagram, I'd like to argue against that because it's a pretty equal split between men and women - something we've seen change over the last couple of years. But here's where things get really interesting for you as a business owner, an entrepreneur, or a marketer.
The most important thing here is to accurately and compellingly describe what you do and why someone should care. You really want to be empathetic to your ideal target market and to your audience, and try to understand - all right, what value would they get from following your account and from consuming your content - and then make sure that you're spelling it out really clearly so they have a compelling reason. Also, make sure to give them a call to action or CTA, which is going to explain what you want them to do next if they want to learn a little bit more about you or a little bit more about your brand or your business.
Alright, the next thing you need to understand with Instagram is that timing really does matter. So when you post your content, it is going to make a big impact on what kind of people see it and how many people see it. And whether the algorithm decides to push it out to more people or just hold it back and not show it to anyone. Now again, just like hashtags, the time of day, the day of the week, all of those things are really going to vary and be dependent on your target market and your market, including your geography and what part of the world that you're in. Different people are gonna log on to Instagram to consume content at different times, so you really want to dive into your analytics.
Alright, another important thing that you need to understand when it comes to marketing your business on Instagram are the two different paths that you can take: the organic path, which pretty much everybody talks about, and the paid path, which not enough people talk about because it's really the more powerful path. But more on that later. You see, when it comes to almost any social media network, there are always those two different ways you can go. You can go the organic route, which is the free route - basically posting all sorts of different content and not putting any money behind it, just posting and hoping for the best.
Alright, so now that you've got the basics covered, it's time to move on to Instagram marketing tools - see some of the tools that are available at your disposal to help grow your business and really leverage the true power of Instagram. Well, seeing as we just talked about the difference between organic and paid, there's probably no better tool to talk about right now than the Facebook Ads manager.
The first and single most important thing that you need to understand about Instagram is that the entire platform, like most social media platforms, is governed by the algorithm. Now, the algorithm is really just a weird math equation that kind of runs behind the scenes that analyzes thousands, if not millions, of different variables, trying to put the right content in front of the right people. That's it - like, seriously, that's really it. And once you understand that, once you understand that the goal of the algorithm is to put the right stuff in front of the right people to get them to spend the absolute most amount of time on the platform possible, well, your entire strategy can change, along with your mindset so that you can approach all of your Instagram marketing with that one single intention - how can I create content that engages the audience and gets them to consume as much as possible so they spend as long on Instagram as humanly possible - which, as I mentioned before, right now is around 28 minutes a day, but it's only climbing.
Q: What is Instagram marketing?
A: Instagram marketing is a strategy used by businesses, entrepreneurs, and marketers to promote their products or services on the Instagram platform to reach a larger audience and increase brand awareness.
Q: Why is Instagram a popular platform for marketing?
A: Instagram has over 1 billion users and 500 million daily users, making it a valuable platform to reach a wide audience. It also allows for visual storytelling through images and videos, making it engaging for users.
Q: What are some essential steps for effective Instagram marketing?
A: Some essential steps for effective Instagram marketing include accurately describing your brand, being empathetic to your target audience, providing a clear call to action, and engaging with your followers.
Q: What are the differences between organic and paid strategies on Instagram?
A: Organic strategies on Instagram involve posting content without paid promotion, while paid strategies involve investing money to promote posts and reach a larger audience. Both strategies have their advantages and can be used based on business goals.
Q: How important is understanding Instagram's algorithm for success?
A: Understanding Instagram's algorithm is crucial for success on the platform as it determines what content is shown to users. Adapting your strategy to align with the algorithm can help increase engagement and visibility.
Q: What are some essential Instagram marketing tools?
A: Some essential Instagram marketing tools include the Facebook Ads manager, which allows businesses to create and manage paid advertising campaigns on Instagram to reach a targeted audience.