Instagram turns 12 this year. The social media platform has come a long way since it started as a simple photo sharing app. Today, it is the 7th most visited website in the world with 2.9 billion total visits per month and is a powerful marketing tool for businesses and influencers.
With direct access to a highly targeted audience, Instagram advertising is a great marketing strategy to grow your business.
"As business experts who work with everything from brick-and-mortar digital startups to established companies, we've often seen that over the past two decades, both organic and paid social media have become more of a pay-to-play environment than social network. Never. . says KK Hart, CEO and senior consultant at Hart Marketing & Communications, a multidisciplinary marketing and consulting firm for independent entrepreneurs.
The social platform has many new features for business marketing, such as shoppable Instagram posts, advanced analytics, and new ways to drive traffic from Instagram Stories.
Share your authentic unfiltered voice
In a place where everything is heavily curated, edited and filtered, Hart suggests doing things differently. “In today's business environment, I recommend using Instagram to focus on two key customer archetypes—potential new brand customers and already engaged customers—to be the brand's unfiltered, authentic voice. It's a proven best practice, regardless of location.”
People respond positively to authenticity and in a digital world where it seems rather strange, this is good advice.
pay organic vs
Whether you grow your social media organically or use paid advertising, each strategy has pros and cons. Algorithms make organic posts very competitive and difficult to maximize because these posts will only be shown to a fraction of your fans, which naturally forces brands to engage in paid marketing options.
Instagram's ad reach surpassed Facebook's last year. Facebook's global ad reach grew just 6.5% this year, compared to Instagram's 20.5% growth.
“This means prioritizing placement and advertising on Instagram, fully tailored to the needs of the ideal client for new sales and the needs of existing clients for up-selling and cross-selling. Often, especially on social media platforms like Instagram, everyone who follows you has a thought process where they already know everything about the business, so there's no pressure to buy. That's completely wrong,” says Hart.
He recommends using organic posts. “Focus on authenticity as a goal, creating fear of missing out and enabling existing customers to see what they can't get on the website or other channels. This is what drives upselling and cross-selling to the most important customers—those who spend their first dollar in business.
Paid advertising is great for reaching new potential customers. “Use paid advertising to increase the visibility of customers who have never bought before. Focus on getting their attention first, then offer an easy way to take the first step, whether it's a lead or email signup, joining a curated community, or asking a question. This allows for a long-term post-transformation focus on a healthy mix of education, motivation and persistence,” adds Hart.
Conversion optimization is important
Conversion optimization is critical to successful social media advertising, and that conversion may be whatever your goal is for a particular campaign. This includes visiting a website, making a purchase, subscribing to an email list, or any other business purpose you may have.
Second, it's also important to segment your social landing pages to make sure you're using them for better performance. Aligning your social strategy with your business goals will yield the best results.
“Conversion optimization always wins. Digitally strive to create a good communication strategy for all aspects of the end-user experience; when a customer leaves Instagram to visit the website, when commenting, what image to use on social media. Have an automated yet personalized process to nurture customers on landing pages and throughout the sales process,” says Hart. "Many companies chase the deep benchmarks of their larger competitors instead of focusing on the unique, core differentiators that set them apart."