8 Guidelines for Businesses that Use Instagram for Marketing

Important Instagram Marketing Tips for Business in San Diego, CA

With more than a billion active monthly users, Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms. It’s also a highly visual platform, which is the type of online content many people naturally gravitate toward today. These are just two of the reasons Instagram can be an effective marketing tool. It can be even more impactful for your business if you keep the following tips in mind, brought to you by the social media experts at Saba SEO, a leading San Diego SEO company.

1. Know Your Audience

Before you do anything else, know who you want to view, share, and interact with your Instagram content. Instagram Insights is one of the platform’s features you can use to find who’s already interacting with your account. You’ll also get demographic info you can use to further focus your Instagram marketing efforts.

2. Engage Instead of Constantly Promoting

If you hit your followers over the head with sales content, don’t expect to get results that really matter for your brand. Shift the focus to engaging with your audience, which could involve: 

  • Encouraging photo submissions
  • Holding contests
  • Actively responding to comments

3. Use Hashtags Smartly & Sparingly

The purpose of hashtags is to categorize and organize visual content. However, you’ll have better luck with your Instagram marketing efforts if you stick to relevant hashtags and avoid the temptation to overuse them.

4. Use Social Listening Tools to Improve Your Timing

A social listening tool measures engagement so you can tell when your target audience is more active. While there are surveys that suggest “best posting times,” it’s better to use results from your own research to determine which posting times are right for your business and audience.

5. Use High-Quality Visuals

More than 90 percent of buying-related decisions are based on visuals. And since Instagram is a naturally visual platform, presenting high-quality images is essential. Go a step further and create an underlying theme or tone for your account that enhances your visual content.

6. Find Creative Ways to Include a Call to Action

Instagram only allows one link in the bio section, so you have to get creative when using a call to action (CTA) to give your followers some direction. For instance, one of your posts might show a promo code that directs followers to visit your website to redeem it, which is an indirect way to use a CTA without the need for a link.

7. Use Instagram’s Stories Feature

At the top of the follower’s feed, you’ll find Instagram’s Stories feature. It’s a wonderful marketing tool because it helps you encourage engagement by presenting your message in a string of related images. Story images have the following unique features: 

  • They take up the entire screen
  • They naturally flow from one slide to the next
  • There are no captions, and comments can’t be seen
  • Stories sit at the top of the app so your followers can find ones they want to view
  • Images are erased after 24 hours

8. Partner with Influencers

Influencers are people with accounts that boast a significant number of active and interactive followers. But they must have the potential to actually influence others, so don’t go by the number of followers alone. Tools like Upfluence and HypeAuditor can help you locate potential influencers on Instagram. Just make sure their content is relevant to your brand.

When it comes to social media management, you need an effective strategy. At Saba SEO, our experts can create a customized marketing plan for your business that’s sure to boost your online visibility and search engine ranking. As a leading digital marketing and web design company in San Diego, we have more than ten years of experience in content development, paid marketing, and search engine optimization and a proven track record of success. To create a comprehensive social media marketing plan for your business, give us a call at 858-277-1717 today.