Allocating a portion of your marketing budget to social media is essential in today’s digitally dependent world. Consumers spend hours each day connecting with brands through the screens of their smartphones. Many are spending that time on Instagram seeing what posts are trending under their favorite hashtags or maybe seeing what their favorite bloggers are up to. Depending on the nature of your business, it might be smart to allocate a relatively large portion of your social media budget to Instagram marketing, but here are a few ways to save you some money if you don’t have the resources.
- Bloggers are taking the social media world by storm. These influencers have strategically, and impressively, leveraged Instagram to “celebrify” themselves and build huge followings which has proven to be sought-after exposure for many businesses. Companies can send these Instagram influencers product samples in exchange for posting photos of them using these products and positively reviewing them, giving the business exposure to their large following—it’s a win-win situation!
- There are millions of Instagram profiles for you to reference. Find a strong profile with a decent following and use their posting sequence, structure, and content as a template to guide your content. This is a great strategy to follow as you get comfortable with the social platform and understand which audiences you are engaging.
- Once you gain a decent following, leverage user generated content. Simply invite users to share content relevant to a campaign you’re running for a small incentive. This could be as simple as inviting users to post a picture of themselves using/wearing your product with a specific hashtag. By doing this, they are engaging with your brand, and their following is exposed to your business at the same time.
Instagram is a great platform your business should leverage, no matter which industry you’re in. Interacting with users is free, and engaging with them is a must for your profile to reach widespread audiences.
