We can all use a little help when it comes to Instagram, especially if you’re new to the platform and trying to figure out what works best. There is such a competitive instagram market out there within the Northern Beaches of Sydney that we need to stand out from the noise.
Here are 8 tips on how you can use Instagram to create awareness for your brand.
1. Create a consistent brand personality and visual identity
Our first tip for Instagram is this: prioritise your brand’s visual identity.
There’s no point in having an Instagram account if you don’t know what your brand looks like.
Here are the key areas you need to focus on:
Your logo: this needs to be prominently displayed on your Instagram profile, and should be used as your profile image for the best brand-building results.
Your brand colours: give your Instagram content a branded look and feel by using the same brand colours (up to four colours) on every post (from Reels to Instagram Stories).
Your brand fonts: these brand fonts (usually one or two memorable typefaces) should be used throughout your Instagram graphics to help your content stand out from the pack.
Your graphic templates: using a range of branded graphic templates for your feed posts (as well as Instagram Stories) can help to give your content a memorable visual identity. Plus, templates will speed up the time it takes to create content for Instagram, too.
A cohesive, branded visual identity on Instagram will help you build awareness and trust with users to keep your brand top-of-mind with potential Sydney-based customers.
2. Optimise your Instagram Business profile for social SEO
The most important place to focus your attention is your Instagram business profile. Here, you can inject strategic keywords to help more users discover and follow your brand on Instagram. A good tip is to put your location in your IG Name space. That way users know straight away where you are located. For e.g. Jane’s Hair Salon Northern Beaches or James’ Lawn Mowing Manly
Let’s run you through which sections of your Instagram profile you need to inject your SEO keywords into:
Your username: this is how users will search for your Instagram account on Instagram and is known as your ‘@handle’. This username should clearly identify your business name, be easy to spell and not include tricky numbers or symbols that users might forget.
Your account name: this is the name that appears in your Instagram bio. Here, you can strategically inject relevant keywords that are SEO-friendly and searchable (think of keywords related to the products you create, the services you offer or your industry).
Your Instagram Bio: in 150 characters, you have the chance to capture new users and build valuable brand awareness. Your Instagram bio should include:
A one-liner that explains your business and what you do (including an SEO keyword).
Your key products or services, spelt out using hashtags or SEO keywords.
Your category or industry that best relates to your business (such as Shopping & Retail, Business Service, Restaurant etc).
3. Craft a content strategy that speaks to your ideal customers
You need to map out your ideal audience personas and use this to ground your content strategy on Instagram. Figure out what are your key demographics’ needs, goals, and challenges and craft a strategy that allows you to serve them relevant, valuable content aligned to your brand voice.
To get you started, here are a few practical tactics to attract your ideal customers on Instagram:
Tap into content pillars: every type of content you share on Instagram should be crafted to meet a brand or business objective. With content pillars, you can group your posts under themes or topics that are relevant to your audience and valuable to your business, such as:
Content that educates and informs
Content that inspires and entertains
Content that engages and converts
Focus on value-first content: when building brand awareness, you don’t want to focus on the hard sell. Instead, it’s important to design a content strategy that solves your audience’s problems, educates them and inspires them to trust and remember your brand.
Design share-worthy content: the best way to build a loyal and engaged audience on Instagram is to inspire social sharing. So, inject a strategic call-to-action at the end of every caption that calls on your followers to share your posts with their own friends to boost your reach with high-value new audiences.
All it takes is a bit of strategic thinking to ensure every Instagram post you share is tailored to reach and attract your ideal customers.
Still stuck on grabbing eye-catching content? Read this -> How to Grab Attention with High Quality Content
4. Proactively engage with your audience
The peninsula of the Northern Beaches have great local communities. Here are few proactive ways you can foster an engaged online community on Instagram:
Assign a team member to your social media management: having a dedicated community manager in your team is what will ensure you’re dedicating time every day to respond to comments, engage with user-generated content and foster new connections with potential customers on Instagram.
Look outside your existing network: scout out the users that are following and engaging with your competitors, and take the time to comment on their latest posts, react to their latest Instagram Story or even ask them a question via DMs.
Harness platform features to start conversations: using Instagram Stories stickers (such as questions and Polls) will foster two-way communication with your audience and build powerful brand awareness with your current followers.
Being proactive (not reactive) is what will help your brand solidify your relationship with your current followers and expand your reach to new, high-value Instagram users.
5. Strategically use hashtags
Hashtag research is a great way to boost your visibility on Instagram. Did you know that posts with at least one hashtag generate about 12.6% more engagement than posts with no hashtags? And it’s not just your engagement rate that stands to benefit from Instagram hashtags. A more engaged follower base is more likely to share your content with their friends and followers, helping to boost your visibility and brand awareness in the Instagram algorithm, too. That’s why it pays off to conduct hashtag research to help boost your reach on Instagram.
6. Team up with Instagram influencers
So, what should you keep in mind when crafting your influencer marketing strategy?
Select the right talent: selecting an influencer who has an audience similar to your ideal customers is the best approach. So make sure to do your research and find talent that has an engaged community that aligns with your target audience.
Be clear on your messaging: make sure you provide clear guidelines to influencers about what key ideas and messages you need them to communicate (including branded hashtags, product names and brand taglines).
Set up content approval processes: the best way to safeguard your brand’s reputation during an influencer partnership is to review all posts before they go live. This allows you to have the final say over every image and caption that goes out and ensures you catch any errors before the influencer hits publish, too.
With the right partnership, influencer marketing can help your brand get in front of stacks of new users on Instagram to build awareness and boost trust with potential customers.
7. Inspire and encourage user-generated content (UGC)
So, how can you inspire and encourage UGC from your customers?
Run a competition: one of the most effective ways to encourage your customers to create UGC is to give them the chance to win a prize through a competition. Try running a monthly competition for UGC on your Instagram feed, using a branded hashtag to collate entries. With these pieces of UGC on hand, you now have a bank of valuable content you can easily repurpose on your Instagram feed, too.
Offer incentives: similar to our last tip, giving your customers a reason to craft UGC is a great tactic to boost participation. It can be as simple as a discount code or even a chance to be featured on your Instagram feed.
Host UGC challenges: if all else fails, another smart UGC tactic is to set regular challenges for your customers. Make the guidelines clear and easy to follow and use a branded hashtag to track every piece of content your challenge generates, too.
Take a look at this article covering five ways to encourage user-generated content.
8. Run a growth marketing campaign on Instagram
With a few strategic organic Instagram tactics, you can increase your follower base on Instagram with ease, including:
Run a competition: this is a proven strategy to grow your Instagram following organically. Simply offer up a prize to incentivise entrants and make sure a condition of entry is to follow your brand on Instagram.
Host a giveaway: pull together a prize pack that will capture your ideal customers and give them the opportunity to win by following your brand (and tagging their friends in the comments on your post to expand the reach of your account).
With a larger follower base, you’re more likely to generate stronger brand awareness with the exact users who are likely to transform into your customers.
If you are a Northern Beaches business looking to build your brand awareness on Instagram, get in touch with us at Grab Social.