Instagram has more than 800 million active users. It is a social network to which we must pay special attention since it is the network that has experienced the most growth in the last year.

Currently, Instagram has 25 million business profiles. A noteworthy fact, in just 6 months (from July 2017 to January 2018), approximately 10 million company accounts have been created.

Is our audience on Instagram?

Instagram is a perfect channel for our company to have a close relationship with our target audience. But how do we know if our audience is on Instagram?

According to 2017 figures, 55% of active Instagram users are women.

The same application provides us with statistical data on our audience, so we can know the profile of our followers at all times. But to know and obtain more information about our target, we must analyze our audience, monitor the competition and, very importantly, talk to our followers.

Be Present on Instagram

We've heard many times that Instagram was only for B2C (Business to Consumer) companies, but that's not true. Instagram is for both B2C and B2B (Business to Business) companies. It is important to note that if we choose to have a company profile on Instagram, we must take advantage of all its features.

”In general, brands like Instagram, local businesses are obsessed with Facebook, ecommerce businesses crave Pinterest, B2B companies love LinkedIn, early adopters use Snapchat, and no one expects much from Twitter anymore. Unfortunately they are all wrong. The real key is knowing how to use each platform effectively. You can't post educational content on Instagram and expect it to generate traffic, as you can on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter”.

Pete Caputa, Databox

Instagram isn't just a good medium for Brand Awarness (brand awareness), it's much more than that. However, it's important to keep in mind that Instagram can never be alone, like any other marketing channel. Our company's Instagram account must be integrated into a digital marketing strategy, accompanied by other actions, such as create Google Ads ads, a Newsletter, etc. And most importantly, we must always have a general objective for each channel, such as:

• Traffic to the website
• Conversions, such as enrollments or bookings.
• Higher level of knowledge
• Closer relationship with the audience
• Get a new market

Focus on Perfect Communication

86% of users between 16 and 65 years old use social networks according to the annual IAB Social Networks study. Another fact that we must take into consideration is that 8 out of 10 users follow a brand through social networks And, almost 2 out of 5 do it intensely.

Users who follow brands want to be informed and entertained at the same time. This information is very valuable when preparing the content strategy for this social network.

Needless to say, on Instagram, Visual support is the one that rules. What users really care about are high-quality images and videos. However, Companies must learn to sell on Instagram without focusing on sales. If we create a very interesting universe where we don't mention, for example, the price of our products or services, we will be able to capture more attention from our target audience. We will make our audience feel the desire to learn more about our brand and, finally, turn them into a customer. For our company to achieve success, it is vital follow a digital strategy.

In Instagram ads we can create a Call to Action (CTA) to try to attract our potential customers and turn them into final customers. Here are some examples:

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With our content, we will need to create a need and a sense of urgency by exploiting the concept of “FOMO” (Fear of Digital Exclusion, acronym for Fear of Missing Out), both for our target audience and for Instagram users in general.

The better we know the habits, needs, challenges and dreams of our audience, the better we can satisfy them wherever they are. The best way to get to know our audience is to practice Social Listening.

There are different tools, free and paid, to find out what users think about our brand and also the actions taken by the competition. This active listening will allow us Make content of interest for our users, as well as, generate high engagement. It's important to speak and communicate in the language and slang of our audience.

Measuring Results

Needless to say, measurement must be included in our strategic plan on Instagram but how do we measure the results of actions? The measurement will depend on the objectives that we have previously set ourselves with some KPIs. Instagram objectives can be conversions or more “flexible” values that will depend on our general goal, such as:

• Increase in views on our website
• Number of visits to the product or service
• Sale of products
• Increase in number of followers
• Full reach
• Commitment

To know all the evolution of our brand account, we must check and Analyze the statistics that the Instagram company profile offers us.

In order to be able to verify if the actions we carry out are effective, it is essential to control the costs invested in the campaigns. In order to control spending, we must use these two concepts that you will surely already know: The ROI (Return on Investment) and The ROAS (Return on Advertising Investment).

Calculating ROI consists of calculating the cost of a lead or a sale and then deciding if the related marketing costs are worth it. Therefore, ROI is calculated as the ratio between income and expenses.

On the other hand, the ROAS measures the gross revenues generated for each Euro invested in advertising. It's an advertiser-focused metric that measures the effectiveness of online advertising campaigns.

In short, ROI optimizes strategy while ROAS optimizes tactics.

Success Requires Effort

If we want to be successful in Social Media, it's not enough to produce content ad hoc. We must have a content marketing strategy that supports the channel's digital strategy mentioned above. To carry out successful campaigns on Instagram, multichannel marketing actions are necessary., since this social network is perfect for generating high engagement.

To make the most of our efforts and get more out of Instagram, we must take into account the use of Facebook's new algorithm (which also owns Instagram). In addition to uploading content with compelling text that accompanies it, we must use the location, the correct labeling and the Hashtags suitable in all content. The more engagement we achieve, the greater the likelihood that our content will be detected.

Many companies make the mistake of wanting to increase only the number of followers. It's better to have few quality followers that generate interactions with your brand than to have a lot of followers and no interaction. If we interact properly with our followers, they can become loyal customers or even brand ambassadors.

Do you want a guide to optimizing your business account on Instagram?

Optimize and get more out of your brand on Instagram with this Whitepaper.

Instagram for Business Whitepaper

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