We are in the thick of the Instagram generation. More influencers can be found on the platform, and more businesses are making the leap from Facebook to Instagram. Of course, the former owns the latter, but there’s something about using Instagram that could help you put out your best content and have the engagement that it deserves.
Social Media Examiner’s Social Media Marketing Industry Report for 2018 reveals that Instagram is now second to Facebook when it comes to the top platform choice for digital marketers. It was previously on the fourth spot in 2017. This tells us that people are recognizing the platform’s relevance more than it did seven years ago.
That said, organic activity was also a huge factor as to how Instagram catapulted onto the second spot. Despite the bombardment of ads (which people still find very annoying) and the numerous sponsored posts by random accounts and bloggers, this just goes to show that Instagram is among the platforms that you should be investing your content into.
So if you’re trying to break ground on Instagram, or maybe figuring out how you can get your photos and videos seen and interacted more on the “Discover” section, here are three ways for you to dominate the field and crush it with high-quality IG content.
Experiment With Videos
Videos are all over Facebook. I think the majority of posts you’d see on your news feed are videos of people doing random shit or educational stuff that most people find very interesting despite learning about it in elementary.
Instagram seems to be following suit.
The platform reports that 80% of IG users follow a brand or a business. Another report by Mention says that “video posts receive 2.1x more comments than image posts on average” and that these videos “have the highest overall engagement rate (38% higher than image posts).”
Let’s say you have a newly-opened restaurant. Take advantage of sharing clips of how you prepare a certain dish or do a tutorial on how you bake a cake. It’s also important to note that these videos must drive value to your audience, especially if you are a business. Keep in mind that they should get something that lasts off of that content you just posted, and not just a few seconds of fun.
But just because video is something you should be experimenting with doesn’t mean that you’d focus all your native posts on it. Remember that you should always have a social media content plan to find out what works for you. Monitor your audience’s interaction with your posts and try to tailor your content based on what you glean.
The Way of the Tag
Notice how a photo with more than a thousand likes has so many tags on it. Mention also reports that more tagged users lead to more comments and likes. By tagging a user—especially if it’s a big account—the number of likes will surely go up as the tagged user brings in about 0.5-1 new like from their following.
With that in mind, you might ask, “so where the hell do I place my hashtags now?” Chill, dude. They still work, although not as much as it did before. It’s still a widely-accepted Instagram practice, but tagging users could give that authentic feel to your account. Mention’s report also states that “hashtags alone don’t lead to higher engagement with users over time.”
Take good care of finding out which users to tag on your photo, though. It has to complement the photo or video that you just posted. Take this post by photographer Sterling Grinnell for example:
Since it focuses on minimalism and is a flatlay, Grinnell tagged accounts that have or follow the same aesthetic. Go and try it out for yourself and observe how well your posts would perform. Of course, if you find that hashtags still work for you, then, by all means, stick to it.
Step Up Your Personal Engagement
Have you ever had that one post where random accounts related to your hashtags and photo pop in to drop a comment? That’s where you can measure the power of real-time engagement. Mention’s study found out that most interactions on Instagram didn’t come from those with large followings. Instead, it’s these micro-influencers (people with online clout in a specific niche) that took over the engagement rate. Those that only had less than 50k and 10k followers had the best engagement results in 2018.
These accounts created content that appeals more to their audience personally than big-follower profiles do. That’s why it’s important to understand the needs and the interactions of your audience and supplement that with good, engaging content. Communicate with them. Like their posts. Compliment their content. By doing this, you are building a relationship that’s based on genuine appreciation and the noble desire to connect and create together.
Just because you’re “just a business” doesn’t mean that you’ll have to settle for overly sales-y posts or generic content. Break out of that habit and see how you can do more by being connected and accessible on Instagram. It might not be the right platform for you right now, but it doesn’t hurt to try and build a following, right?
