How To Market Your Brand Using Instagram

Instagram is a social network that makes it easy for anyone to share photos and interact with other users by following them. It’s no surprise that this platform caught Facebook’s attention, which prompted them to buy Instagram back in 2012. Many years later, Instagram is now one of the largest social platforms with more than one billion users.

Instagram has grown to such a degree that millions of companies worldwide now have active profiles. Many are using the platform to increase their brand awareness and promote new products in a friendly way without hard selling their customers.

If you’re a startup or an established brand in the fashion industry, you simply cannot afford to overlook Instagram. It’s a prime place to not only reach your target market but also collaborate with major influencers. Getting started with Instagram can be daunting so we put together a guide on how to market your brand using IG.

1. Set Up Your IG Business Account

First things first. Set up an Instagram Business account if you haven’t already. If you already have a personal account, you can convert it to a business account to access additional features. But unless your name is the company brand, you’re better off creating a new account. Once you create a business account, take the following steps to optimise it:

• Include a link to your site

• Add a profile image that reflects your brand

• Include an interesting bio with relevant keywords

Note that any changes you make to your profile aren’t permanent. You can always change add a different profile image or edit the bio to promote a new campaign.

2. Define Your Target Audience

Defining your target audience is the first step to marketing your brand on Instagram. A better understanding of who your audience is will enable you to create more engaging content and build a strong following. If you sell garments, think about might buy your products. Are they a younger audience or more mature? What are their interests and who do they follow on their own accounts?

The more you know about your audience, the better. Develop a customer profile from those who already buy from you and check the analytics on other social channels that you have. You can also research your competitors and analyse who follows them.

3. Create Engaging Posts

Now comes the fun part – Sharing new posts. Obviously, what you share on your business account will be different from what you share on your personal account. You also need to give careful thought into what you share as each post should be engaging and relevant to your target audience.

Utilise what you know about your target audience to create engaging content. You can also review your competitors’ profiles to see what kind of content they create that resonates with their followers. Commit to a regular posting schedule to make your branding efforts more effective.

4. Include Hashtags

Instagram is undoubtedly a crowded space. Using hashtags can help make your content easier to find as they put your post together into other communities linked by a keyword.

Including hashtags is easy. After uploading a photo, write a caption and type # followed by a keyword. So if your brand sells street style clothing, simply add “#StreetStyle” (without quotes). Anytime anyone searches for that hashtag, they will be able to see your post. Include at least one hashtag, but don’t go overboard either.

5. Work With Influencers

Another way to market your brand on Instagram is to work with influencers. Influencer posts mean that you use a well-known figure in your industry to promote your business.

To find potential influencers to work with, search for popular hashtags and look at accounts with active followings. Then make a list of those you want to work with and reach out with a simple pitch. The pricing of a post can vary, but working with influencers can help extend your reach.

Read 6 Super Easy Ways to Get More Traffic and Leads on Instagram