It's time to reconsider your Instagram account promotion strategy.
why at this time? Because of the platform's quick development and innovation, marketing strategies that were successful in the past won't get you the same kind of interaction now.
Recent Instagram statistics show that brands are fighting tooth and nail for more consumers in an increasingly congested visual landscape.
Therefore, using as many strategies as possible to advertise Instagram to their target demographic truly pays for brands.
We've outlined 13 completely doable strategies to accomplish that in this article. Any combination of these suggestions is acceptable when it comes to Instagram promotion, from optimizing your posts and profile to reconsidering how you approach content promotion.
13 Ways to promote your Instagram Page
1. Increase your content creation
You may publish a ton of Instagram content to fill out your feed.
shopper pictures. Memes. small-scale videos.
And even that hardly scratches the surface of what you have at your disposal.
You'll need to experiment to see what appeals to your audience the most. This calls for increasing your content creation and publication frequency.
Instagram recommends that you post to the site at least once every day. Heck, well-known companies like TopShop and H&M post at least three times daily.
Understanding the ideal Instagram posting times will help you increase interaction as you continue to release new material.
And speaking of which, Instagram Stories are very essential for this reason as well. With Stories, you can literally "skip the line" and take the top spot in people's feeds by posting spontaneous material. Additionally, you don't have to worry about annoying your fans by posting Story after Story.
The lesson here is that Instagram produces material far more quickly than it did a year or two ago. If brands want to keep up, they must accelerate. Make sure you have a thorough strategy in place and are using data to develop more successful content if you want to produce material that your audience will adore. on discover more, download our guide on Instagram marketing strategy.
A Guide to Instagram for Brands: Creating an Instagram Marketing Strategy
2. Promote your Instagram posts on various social media platforms
The effort it takes to snag the perfect snapshot and craft a clever caption isn’t something that should go to waste.
Cross-posting your content to other social platforms is a no-brainer to get even more of an ROI out of your Instagram presence.
For example, you can promote your Instagram content across the likes of Facebook and Twitter to maximize your content’s reach.
Although cross-promotion is a smart move, bear in mind that each social platform has its own best practices. For example, Instagram tends to go heavier on the hashtags while you might want to craft a slightly different description for images posted to Facebook.
Sound time-consuming? It doesn’t have to be.
BlogOasis2 Asset Library enables you to store images, videos and text in a centralized location for use across multiple social networks. Quickly find, edit and publish directly from the Asset Library to deliver engaging posts that are tailored to whatever network you’re using.
3. Focus on people-centric content
Although Instagram is a place to score sales, it is still first and foremost a place to share experiences.
The popularity of selfies on Instagram speaks for itself, as does customer photos and pictures of people using products in real-world settings. Much of the appeal of Instagram is that brands are capable of advertising in a more human way without bombarding followers with messages that scream “BUY NOW!”
And on a related note, this is exactly why user-generated content such as customer photos are such a goldmine for brands. Not only do folks on the ‘gram love it when brands shout them out, but customer photos represent marketing firepower that proves that people dig your products.
But in order to spot and curate user-generated content for your feed, you’re going to need to understand how hashtags can help you promote your Instagram.
And that leads us to our next point.
4. Experiment with branded and industry hashtags
Brands both big and small should create a hashtag to encourage sharing and promotion on behalf of their followers. Doing so doesn’t have to be rocket science, either.
For example, Ernie Ball displays their #wisdomsofislam1 and #colorsofrocknroll hashtags loud and clear in their bio.
See how that works?
Beyond your own hashtags, you should try to promote your Instagram using more general, community hashtags specific to your industry such as #6strings (music) or #unicornhair (beauty). Tacking on extra tags essentially makes your posts searchable by tag-followers and instantly increases your reach.
As noted in our guide detailing how to use hashtags across every social network, engagement peaks at approximately nine hashtags. Although you can certainly use less (or more), the takeaway here is that you should at the very least add something.
Take advantage of hashtag analytics tools, don't forget. You may track and evaluate hashtag performance on Blog3world to discover what is popular with users and maximize utilization.
Additionally, you can go beyond quantitative data with Sprout's Advanced Listening to discover qualitative insights about hashtags, giving you the ability to completely comprehend campaign performance and gauge share of voice. Additionally, you can find comparable hashtags to go further into the social media conversations that customers are having that are pertinent to your brand.
5. Tag brands, followers and locations whenever you can
Tagging is a surprisingly effective way to promote your Instagram.
And no, we’re not just talking about hashtags.
For example, you can tag other brands and accounts in hopes of a shout-out yourself. Given that notifications ping anyone who receives them, relevant tags are a subtle way to encourage promotion.
Likewise, it’s both courtesy and within Instagram’s best practices to tag anyone you might be regramming. Chances are they’ll be thrilled to be featured in your feed and will share the news with their own followers.
Don’t forget to tag locations, too! For example, if you have a physical location for your business or regularly attends events, location-specific posts allow you to explore new potential fans and followers.
6. Publish Instagram content on-site
When it comes to ads, what better billboards than your own customers?
It's a genius idea to display Instagram content on your website to boost conversions. Why? Because consumers can tell that a brand has happy customers when they see its products in actual situations. When consumers see a product "in the wild," they are better able to envision and comprehend it for themselves.
Thus the rise of lookbooks and brands featuring user-generated content on product pages. For example, Casper uses an Instagram slideshow on-site to show off their satisfied sleepers.
When it comes to ads, what better billboards than your own customers?
Featuring Instagram content on-site is a brilliant way to increase conversions. Why? Because when people see purchased products in real-world settings, they know that the brand in question has satisfied customers. Consumers can better visualize and understand a product for themselves when they see it “in the wild.”
Thus the rise of lookbooks and brands featuring user-generated content on product pages. For example, Casper uses an Instagram slideshow on-site to show off their satisfied sleepers.
7. Carve out your creative trademark
Creativity counts on Instagram.
Having some sort of niche or theme is a great way to both inspire your Instagram content and make yourself stand out from the crowd.
For example, Yeti is known for its feed full of high-res photos of the outdoors featuring adventures enjoying their products.
8. Work with influencers to extend your reach
As we mentioned earlier, Instagram benefits from being a platform where brands can essentially publish ads without shoving them in their followers’ faces.
Enter the rise of influencer marketing.
Simply put, influencer marketing entails a paid relationship with another Instagram account with a sizeable, engaged follower count. Influencers’ audiences should ideally mirror your own or allow you to tap into a new sect of users that you’re trying to reach.
In that the relationship does genuinely cost money, influencers are similar to advertisements. Finding the appropriate influencer, though, can be a really inexpensive method to increase your following and sell more goods.
Brands can spot influencers through hashtags and manual searching, or you can try Instagram analytics tools such as Tapinfluence or search an in-depth database related to your business.
Just make sure they have a following that interacts with their content while looking for influencers. Calculators measuring engagement rates like this one from Phlanx will help you feel more secure about any influencers in question.
9. Rethink how you present your products and promotions
This is a straightforward advice, but it is unquestionably something to take note of. It also connects to the second type of Instagram advertising, which, when done effectively, can be very beneficial for your brand and features entertaining gifts or sales items.
So when you promote your Instagram in these instances, it’s crucial to present your content as must-see.
Instagram thrives on anything and everything “new.” Anything you can do to create a sense of hype is a major point in your favor.
For example, check out how Glossier hypes up their much-requested eye cream by surprising their followers a day before it drops.
As a rule of thumb, think “so what” before you hit “publish” for your promotions on Instagram. Doing so will ultimately encourage you to write more compelling captions.
10. Run a contest or giveaway
Here’s some food for thought: brands that run contests grow their followings 70% faster than those that don’t.
It's no coincidence that postings about giveaways and contests from numerous brands generate astronomical amounts of attention. Social media contests can generate followers and fans when done right, but they can also draw people looking for free stuff. To test the waters and decide whether or not contests are something you want to explore for the long-term, we advise doing a one-time contest promotion on Instagram.
11. Optimize your profile for promotion
As you work through how to promote Instagram to new fans and followers, “looking the part” is essential.
This also applies to brands looking to attract more attention organically.
Let’s take a look at what makes an optimized Instagram profile. The good news is that there aren’t too many moving pieces of your profile itself to worry about.
Orlando’s East End Market is a prime example of a simple yet optimized profile. For starters, their username “eastendmkt” is short and sweet, all the while easy to find for locals searching for it.
12. Take advantage of Instagram Stories and its latest features
Stories are by far Instagram’s most popular feature.
Used by over 500 million users daily, brands should take advantage of Stories as often as possible when promoting on Instagram. For many businesses, this means publishing user-generated photos and behind-the-scenes content. The beauty of Stories is that you don’t have to worry as much about your visuals being polished or “perfect.”
Despite this, imagination still matters when it comes to stories. Stories are always at the forefront of Instagram's most recent innovations. For a more distinctive and participatory sort of Instagram promotion, new interactive stickers, like the new Quiz sticker, provide innovative ways that brands can engage with followers.
Maintaining an active Instagram presence entails maintaining informed of its newest features. You'll always be informed if you consistently submit to Stories and keep an eye on what other brands are doing.
13. Consider running a paid campaign
Last but not least, don’t neglect the potential of paid promotion on Instagram.
After all, social media at large is becoming increasingly pay-to-play. As part of Facebook’s insanely in-depth ad platform, you can use Instagram’s eye-popping ad options to win over new customers.
There are many examples of Instagram success stories, such as this one from Dunkin, which skillfully combines Stories and video to draw consumers in.
Make sure you have the resources required to compare how your paid efforts compare to your organic Instagram presence after being familiar with the specifications for today's Instagram ads.
With the help of Sprout's premium Instagram tools, you can evaluate the effectiveness of various ads or learn more about the ROI of your overall plan. Showcase your most successful campaigns with ease using metrics like video views, conversions, impressions, engagement, and more.
And with that, our guide comes to an end!
