A cheat sheet by the Best Instagram Marketing Agency in Dubai to enhancing performance and maximize output.
Table Of Contents
- Is Instagram an effective channel for marketing?
- How to track content performance on Instagram?
- Why are shorter Instagram captions more engaging?
- Is creating carousels on Instagram effective?
- How to build an effective Instagram marketing strategy?
- Why is it important to publish educational content on Instagram?
- Is it a good idea to address the audience’s objections on Instagram?
- Why address mistakes and myths in Instagram content?
Gone are the days when conventional methods like newspaper ads were the only means of advertisement of products and services. The dawn of the twenty-first century brought with it an unimaginable advancement in technology which virtually shrunk the distance between people living all over the world.
The transformation of the world into a global village is attributed to the internet and multiple other communication channels, but specifically social media can be accredited for this marvelous development. Various social networking sites are in the highlight contemporarily, Instagram being one of the most popular of them.
People from around the world are not only using Instagram for socializing, but it has become an attractive platform for businesses as well. Companies actively use Instagram for customer engagement and marketing purposes.
Increasing competition has forced companies to think of creative ways to attract customers and Instagram has undoubtedly been playing a pivotal role in this regard. This blog covers the strategies that can be helpful in effectively using Instagram for marketing.
Why Instagram?
Instagram is a perfect platform because of two reasons primarily, the first being the facility of direct message conversations. The DM feature facilitates sales conversations as it is convenient for people to talk to companies through DMs.
You can even directly react to Instagram stories rather than texting. The reactions like thumbs up, fire emoji, and others not only let followers appreciate your content but also provide an opportunity to actively interact with them.
Moreover, Instagram DMs also have the voice message feature. The voice message feature not only makes it convenient as it takes lesser time, but it also personalizes the conversation between companies and customers.
Secondly, Instagram has a range of creative options for posting content. You can engage your audience in multiple ways, for example, it can be done by creating videos for IGTV, posting on feed, sharing BTS content on stories, and even by creating content for Instagram reels.
Here are a few ways that you can use to build demand for your products or services using Instagram:
Here are a few key tips and strategies that will help you take full advantage of Instagram as a marketing platform.
1. Varying Performance Metrics for Instagram Content:
One of the most commonly committed mistakes by marketers while posting content is to put excessive focus on vanity metrics. In this scenario, their goal is to gain more likes and comments as they find these a suitable standard for evaluating their success.
They judge every post in the same manner and are not mindful of the fact that different types of content are used for different purposes and that a fixed standard cannot be kept for evaluating different content forms. Each post created needs to have a distinct objective and clear weighing metric.
For instance, more likes and comments are expected if one shares his photo to give a sneak peek of his life to the followers. The reason is that this kind of post engages the audience by developing an emotional connection.
But one cannot expect to get too many likes or comments on an informative post or infographic. This type of content is less likely to get more comments and likes but would definitely pocket more shares and saves. This will result in an improvement in both reach and visibility.
If one displays client testimonials, his objective might not be to gain more likes and comments. The goal might be to receive more direct messages or people diverting to the website, etc. Such posts cannot be judged based on likes and comments.
2. Keep the Captions Short:
One needs to be very careful when writing captions. It was considered a good option to write lengthy captions a while ago but this isn’t the case anymore. For instance, if one invests a significant amount of time in writing a long and fabulous caption but the audience doesn’t pay attention to it, all efforts go in vain.
It has been noticed that shorter and concise captions are much more attractive to the readers as well. That is why you should try to keep the captions short or divide them into bitesize pieces while creating carousels.
3. Create Carousels:
Dividing the content into carousels is always a good idea. It will allow you to divide the caption into different slides as well. Put a photo that you know will attract your audience in the first slide and the rest of the content in other slides. When swiping through a carousel, content is present in a slide show format, that attracts the audience and increases readability.
Moreover, the particular part that attracts them would be shared by them. Keep the actual caption short and leave the rest to the carousel. Using this method, you can not only get a ranking boost in the Instagram algorithm but carousels are much more readable and attractive for the audience.
4. Build a Comprehensive Content Strategy
People often think that giving everything away for free will help them in engaging the audience in buying and selling their services and products which isn’t always the case. Many service-based businesses share tutorials that teach the application of their products and services. Although this can help one in achieving a large number of likes and views it isn’t necessarily helpful from the business point of view.
This trains your audience to rely on free content although a video tutorial is never enough to solve a big problem. The content on your Instagram needs to be diverse. If you keep posting content that is based on tutorials, people will never feel a need to buy your paid offering, rather they’ll do it by themselves because you’re communicating the solution for free.
Furthermore, freebie content will appeal to the people who are only interested in free content and you’ll end up cannibalizing the product or service you’re trying to sell.
That is why you should strategize your posting and diversify it using different forms of content. Yes, sharing free value has its own advantages but just focusing on this aspect will not garner results for you. Instagram Marketing Companies in Dubai and around the world are always on the lookout for better ideas to increase the effectiveness of their strategies and it is indeed all about experimenting and finding creative ways to maximize output.
5. Incorporate Educational Content:
Sharing the content that educates your audience will not only build trust but also portray you as an expert. This way you can even give people a sneak peek of what you provide so, around 25% of your content should be educational.
This will also help you build traffic, as you’ll be providing the solutions online and people are always searching for them. Such content has the potential to spread faster and get more views, likes, and shares.
Structure such content in such a way that urges people to explore more. Don’t give away everything and expect people to stick around. Build curiosity by sharing glimpses of what you offer.
1. Addressing Audience’s Concerns:
You should also create content that addresses the objections of your audience. Businesses must create content that directly or indirectly overcomes the audiences’ objectives to gain trust. For example, at times people in the sales pipeline are doubtful regarding your expertise, so client case studies should be created that address the exact problem to let people know that you have the capacity to solve their problem.
Some clients do not want to spend money and they try to find ways to do it by themselves. This can be addressed by creating content that points out the mistakes that they commit while doing it on their own.
This can be done by sharing your client’s experiences that went wrong when they tried doing it by themselves. Create a sense of urgency and need for your services so that people feel the actual need to rely on you.
2. Add Content That Points Out Mistakes and Myths:
Last but not the least, you should create and share content that addresses the mistakes your audience makes and the myths they believe in. Recommending the alternative ways and busting myths will make people trust you more and eventually follow you. This will also lead to people coming to you for finding solutions for certain problems and that is exactly what you need.
It is all about finding the right mix when it comes to building an effective content strategy for Instagram. Once you have every aspect covered, no one can stop you from achieving your objectives.
It is indeed a hefty task and if you think it's too complicated or you are too busy to do it yourself, there are several Instagram Marketing Agencies in Dubai specializing in creating and implementing effective IG marketing strategies. You can always get them on board to do it for your business.
This is it for today’s blog. I hope that you enjoyed reading it and learned a few things about Instagram marketing. Do share your feedback and if you have any queries, feel free to reach out to me and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you
About The Author: Lovetto Nazareth
Lovetto Nazareth is a digital marketing consultant and agency owner of Prism Digital. He has been in the advertising and digital marketing business for the last 2 decades and has managed thousands of campaigns and generated millions of dollars of new leads. He is an avid adventure sports enthusiast and a singer-songwriter. Follow him on social media on @Lovetto Nazareth
