Instagram is one of the largest social media platforms for your brand to consider using as part of your marketing strategy. Consumers love to look at it and interact with it, and brands love to be a part of it.
According to Hootsuite, one billion people use Instagram every month and it is the sixth most visited website.
You probably know that there are other platforms as well, such as Facebook and TikTok. The good news is that if you do Instagram right, you can transfer much of what you do and the same workflow to these platforms.
Now that you know you must engage with consumers on Instagram, learn five surefire ways to increase your brand awareness with this platform.
Put in more time and effort, and you’ll likely be rewarded for your hard work and making sure the right people know about your brand and are motivated to want to engage with you.
1. Understand and define your brand personality
If you want to increase your brand awareness on Instagram, your first goal is to understand and define your brand personality. There are several ways to conduct a target audience analysis and ask questions about your brand to better understand it.
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Target audience analysis is a main component of any marketing strategy. It gives you an in-depth view of who your audiences are, what they are not, and just as important, the audiences your brand could reach with some modifications to your approach and strategy.
Try making an elevator pitch about your brand and see what comes out of this exercise.
Include the key points and what you consider to be the most important and valuable information. If you can’t simplify, maybe the brand definition isn’t enough.
You should also work to personify your brand. A brand persona is a collection of personality traits, attitudes, and values that your brand regularly demonstrates to connect with a specific audience segment.
Through impersonation, you can understand some elements of their visual style, color palette, content tone, and create more definition. Research suggests that embodying a brand and giving it distinct human qualities will help people connect with your company.
2. Use Instagram tools
The best part about Instagram is that it has so much more to offer than just posting an image with a caption. There are tools that you can use to help you increase your brand awareness on the platform.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with them and see which sticks are most useful for your brand marketing and what your followers respond to the most.
For example, reels are the ability to jump on popular hashtags.
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It’s a new feature for users to create 15-second video clips with music and share their stories, browse feed, and new reels tab on a user’s profile.
So, be sure to research your hashtags before using them and engaging in the conversation.
Instagram Stories allow users and business accounts to post photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. You can use stories to drive your brand’s reach and engagement. There are also fun stickers that you can include or you can write text on your stories.
You may also want to use the feature to survey your audience. Your options are quite limitless.
There are some best practices to follow, like posting between one and seven stories a day, posting them at the optimal time. By posting consistently, you can better build a personal relationship with your audience.
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In particular, they give your brand the opportunity to drive reach, engagement, and conversions.
If you deal with music or are in this type of industry, you may also be interested to know that you can use this Instagram tool to promote yourself on music pages. You may also want to use live video to engage with your fans and increase your brand awareness with the platform.
Regardless of the type of business you’re running or the industry you’re in, your number one focus should be creating and publishing quality content.
Make your content as high-quality as possible and ask yourself if you would re-share it before posting. Take note of which posts and content get the most attention, and try to emulate this approach in the future.
3. Publish strategically
It is also wise to use strategic posting if you are going to increase your brand awareness with Instagram. You want to be present and be noticed when people look at and use the platform.
So, schedule your posts at the optimal time and have them ready to go, so you don’t have to remember or think about doing it.
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There are a few tools that can help you with this, such as Kontentino, Hootsuite, or Later. You can have all your posts ready and ready to go and schedule them to make sure they get published when you want.
You don’t want to remember these details in your head and then forget to click publish when the time is right. Use these tools to help you manage your time and workload.
You may also want to cross-post to different platforms to help you increase your brand awareness.
Cross-posting is the act of sharing the same post on multiple social media platforms. It keeps you active on channels, saves time, and ensures your content is widely available. It can also help you broaden your reach and attract more followers.
If there is a general rule that you should follow when working with and on Instagram, it is not to post too much or too little content. It can be a huge turnoff for your followers.
You must find a balance and hit the sweet spot if you are to be successful and increase your brand awareness and reach using this platform. Being hyperactive or not close enough can cause you to lose followers and consumer trust.
4. Look for sponsorships
Another surefire way to increase your brand awareness with Instagram is to seek sponsorships.
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The keyword research you do in understanding and defining your brand personality can help you identify the hashtags and influencers you want to use and want to work with.
Don’t use any kind of influencer. Choose the people who make the most sense to promote your brand and have a high reach. Create and sign an endorsement agreement before you start to ensure your rights and also the rights of the influencer.
You want the relationship to be authentic and credible, so take your time selecting the right people for the job.
Once you can identify the influencers you want to work with, move closer to the ‘sweet spot’ influencers for sponsorship.
You may be willing to offer money or something in exchange for them to mention and talk about your brand on Instagram. Be prepared to give them content that they can use that is authentic and draws the right attention to your brand.
5. Interact with followers and communities
Lastly, you should also commit to engaging with followers and diverse communities. Instagram hashtags allow you to effectively create niche communities that you can interact with and be part of.
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One idea is to use social media listening tools to find people mentioning your brand, competitors, or ideas and concepts that you are involved in within your niche community.
You can also participate more on the platform by sharing the posts of other users. Follow people who seem interesting to you and share the posts that you like the most. You will have a much better chance of being shared if you are interacting with multiple consumers and communities.
Be willing and spend time engaging with your customers on the platform to increase brand awareness.
Make them share your brand as a communication mechanism with you. It is an additional way for them to get support and help with the algorithm to promote their brand.
Make sure your bio and profile are complete and up-to-date if people want to see your page and are considering following your account.
Be consistent and use your creativity to take your captions to the next level and get lost in the mix.
Here are some safe and practical ways to increase your brand awareness with Instagram. Take advantage of the tools offered by the platform, post consistently, and be sure to actively engage with your followers and consumers.
It all starts with better understanding your brand personality and defining it in detail. Take advantage of tools and other users or influencers to help you achieve your social media goals.
Be proactive and involved in the platforms you choose to use, like Instagram, because once you start engaging with your followers, they will expect you to be present and share relevant, timely, and high-quality content.
Be sure to track and measure your results to know what is working and where you need to make changes to your strategy and approach.
Be patient because it may take some time before you hit a streak.
Autor: Yash Chawlani
Sigue a @yashchawlani
Yash Chawlani is a digital marketer who has gained significant experience working for regular clients in the industry. He specializes in SEO and social media and helps brands and companies with their top-notch content strategies. You can connect with him on LinkedIn and Twitter.… See full profile ›
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