Being social is no longer an option — it’s an expectation. Brands that are looking to earn more business from today’s young consumers won’…
How to Create the Perfect Instagram Posting Strategy
Being social is no longer an option — it’s an expectation. Brands that are looking to earn more business from today’s young consumers won’ get far without having an online presence.
And if you’re not on social media, then you can forget capturing their attention or their trust.
It’s essential to find the social networks your target market is using to see where your brand needs to set up shop. Instagram just so happens to be one of the most popular platforms today.
Nearly 60% of American users are under 30 years old. But it’s not just hot in the US, roughly 80% of Instagrammers reside in another country.
So chances are, you have a customer group that uses Instagram daily. And if that’s the case, then you need a posting strategy in place to help build your visibility.
Ready to make your brand stand out on Instagram? Then continue reading!
Let’s review what you need to do to set up a successful Instagram posting strategy.
Determining Your Posting Frequency
How often you post content on Instagram is critical to growing your list of followers (and getting them to stick around).
You can sometimes attract more users by simply posting a viral piece of content. But if you fail to engage your audience consistently, then they’re going to leave just as quickly as they came.
So identifying your posting frequency is key.
Now, if you stay abreast of Instagram’s algorithm, then you know about the 72-minute half-life of Instagram posts. In the past, your posts on Instagram received half of its total engagement in the first 72 minutes of it being posted.
After this point, it was pushed down in the ranks. However, the algorithm has since changed and now you can find posts in your feed from days ago.
But does this mean you should take advantage and post more? Or relax and post less now that your content has a longer half-life?
Well, this is where your followers come in — after all, you’re posting for them, not Instagram. It’s important to pay attention to what your followers want.
You’ll find successful content strategies that consist of 6 posts per day, while others are generating as many as 30 posts daily, like this brand.
Fashion Nova’s strategy revolves around reaching as many people as possible. So they post content frequently to ensure their followers see their posts no matter what time or day they log in.
Just pay attention to your followers when posting — see if 6 posts daily are enough to keep them engaged or if you need to increase this 5-fold.
Creating Content that’s Engaging
Yes, we hear all the time that you need engaging content to grow your Instagram followers. But what exactly is engaging content?
Well, when you look at the numbers, 95% of US Instagrammers also use
YouTube. So you can make the assumption that your followers love online video.
Thankfully, Instagram offers a Stories feature, which you can use to create video content. Instagram Stories have over 400 million daily users.
While it’s a very popular feature, it’s still underused by brands.
The beauty of Instagram Stories is that you don’t necessarily have to record a video. You can piece together photos, GIFs, or graphics.
The idea is to tell a story, either with or without sound. Use subtitles or music to make the content more entertaining.
As for the type of content you post, it all depends on your industry. Generally, you want to post content that’ll entice your followers.
This may be a juicy Q&A with industry leaders, behind-the-scenes sneak peeks at upcoming products or services, or customer testimonials.
Use a combination of the different forms of content to see which perform the best.
Dell is one brand on Instagram that’s making use of Stories to inform their followers about their upcoming episodes for its podcast “Trailblazers.” At the same time, they’re also driving traffic to their iTunes playlist.
Credit: instagram.com/dell
They use a combination of video content and imagery with the “swipe up” feature, which takes users to outbound links. These are mainly used for sponsored stories and is only available to accounts with at least 10K followers.
Credit: snapchat
So if you’re looking to drive more traffic to your blog or website where you sell products, this can help boost your revenue.
Mix in User-Generated Content
The beauty of social media is that not everything you post has to be your own. Not only does sharing other user’s content save you time, but it helps to boost your visibility and relationships.
The idea is to follow certain users within your niche but aren’t competitors. Now, there’s a proper way of going about reposting content without getting into trouble.
Just follow these simple steps:
- Use hashtags to find accounts with quality content
- Ask permission from the user to repost their content
- Share the content on your feed
When discovering accounts with relevant content, you need to take the time to research their page. See who their followers are and what type of content they post and how often.
If they’re a good match, then you can follow their profile. Once you find a post you want to share, DM the user by clicking on the arrow symbol beneath the post (instead of sending a general DM).
This way, they know exactly which post you’re referring to. Let them know you’ll give them credit for the post. Most, if not all, users will agree because it gives them more exposure.
Another option is to follow hashtags related to your niche to find great content.
The hashtags you follow will present posts in your feed, making it easy to find content worthy of reposting. Just click the follow button and you’re all set. Not sure which hashtags to use? Checkout Hashtagsforlikes to find the most popular hashtags in your niche.
Posting Content that Grows Your Instagram Followers
If you’re already on Instagram but struggle with getting engagement, followers, and traffic, then you should give these tips a try.
Your Instagram account is only as great as the content you post and share. Once you develop a strategy that suits your brand and audience, you’ll be well on your way to boosting your stats.
Just continue to experiment to see what works and what doesn’t.
