Contests: Instagram accounts that actively post about contests tend to grow their followers 70% faster than those that do not.Sponsored ads can be effective if you have a niche brand.Post sponsored content and contest alerts to improve consumer engagement while increasing your following and visibility.Facebook’s Ads Manager and Power Editor are some of the most effective Instagram marketing tools to create Instagram ads in bulk.You can easily set up your Instagram Shop (Settings, Business, Set Up Instagram Shopping) and use features such as product tags to promote your posts.

Promote Your Stuff

Use Story Highlights to direct users to your product storeYou can either use a previous Story from the Story Archive Gallery or tap the heart icon below on your current Story about your business offerings to ensure continuous and convenient access to existing and potential customers to your store.

Story Highlights

<ul><li>70% of Instagram hashtags are brand campaigning strategy-related.</li><li>Prepare different lists of preferred hashtags and keep track of which posts and hashtags perform the best.</li><li>Limit 30 hashtags per post.</li><li>Use relevant hashtags for your business posts that become the reason viewers visit your profile.</li><li>Offer incentives for going through your post and captions, using promo codes and coupons</li></ul>

Play with Hashtags And Promo Codes

<ul><li>With over 500 million Instagram accounts viewing stories daily, it gives you enough scope to: promote your products and services.</li><li>Post content informing your audience about any upcoming events or deals.</li><li>Have casual interactions with viewers to connect with them better and improve your brand’s presence.</li></ul>

Say it with Stories

<ul><li>71% of businesses prefer Instagram as their top digital marketing platform</li><li>About 90% of Instagram users follow business accounts</li><li>2 in 3 people surveyed feel Instagram conveniently allows to interact with brands</li><li>50% show interest in a brand after seeing its ads on Instagram</li></ul>

Instagram Is Hot In Digital Marketing

<ul><li>80% of consumers feel companies have become more accountable due to social media channels.</li><li>Either follow the account to study their strategy or partner with them to understand their techniques.</li><li>The latter option can help you both interact with each other's followers and have a chance to increase your audience reach.</li><li>Find accounts that are relevant to your brand and boost its visibility.</li><li>Reply to comments on your posts, comment on posts of those who regularly comment on yours, and wish your followers on special occasions.</li></ul>

Driving Engagement

<ul><li>Captions can be as small as one-liners.</li><li>Memes generate more engagement and have mass appeal.</li><li>Use them judicially and ensure that it is relevant to your branding and your brand’s purpose.</li><li>Most of the audience on Instagram are millennials who share memes to communicate on social media.</li><li>Create eye-catching content and publish it directly on all your accounts.</li></ul>

Use Memes

<ul><li>Focus on the audience's interests beyond your product or brand.</li><li>Create a user profile while conducting market research of your audience, such as defining their demographics, interests, likes, and dislikes to create a holistic brand image while being relevant to the audience.</li><li>Use Stories or profile pages to directly sell your digital gift cards to build a better relationship with your followers and potential customers.</li><li>Geotags: Instagram allows you to tag your location in your posts.</li></ul>

Lifestyle Content

Provide the link to your website through Instagram bio tools such as Feedlink or Linktree to increase engagement and website visits.Use direct CTAs, mention links in your bio, or share your latest Instagram posts to create interest in readers on other social media platforms.

Make Links Prominent

82% of people reportedly prefer watching a live video rather than viewing a social media post. Use the Live feature to interact with your audience through comments and questions in real-time.Increase engagement and audience reach by announcing live contests and giveaways to drive viewership.

Go Live

If you find it difficult to promote your brand on Instagram or feel it is time-consuming, try revising your schedule or reducing your posts' frequency or reinventing your strategy, but don't quit the platform.Bonus: The best time to post on Instagram is between 6 AM - 9 AM and 5 PM - 6 PM on weekdays and till 2 PM on weekends.

The Bottom Line

<ul><li>To convert to a business account, go to Settings> Account> Switch to Professional account option in Instagram.</li><li>Create a strong Instagram content strategy.</li><li>Prepare a strong content strategy with well-defined KPIs to help you analyze the performance of your Instagram marketing plan.</li></ul>Schedule your posts:<ul><li>Most brands post 1-5 times daily but don’t bombard your followers with posts.</li><li>Create a social media content calendar, as this helps you get a 360⁰ view of your marketing strategy and gives you control over the content you wish to schedule.</li></ul>

Convert Your Instagram Account to A Business Account

Use Reels to be more creative with your content and express more with the combination of multiple videos for seamless transitionsAdd to your brand's personality by making your posts appealing and informative using captions.60% of posts tag other users to gain traction.Repost posts in which you are tagged to increase the engagement and visibility of your posts and, in turn, of your profile.IGTV allows you to upload videos as short as 15 seconds to as long as one hour.Track user analytics with the Insights option. It optimizes analytics based on the frequency of visitors.

Use The Tools

Instagram is everything you need for Digital Marketing

51 Instagram marketing tips to exponentially scale your brand for better engagement, visibility, ROI, and overall growth.