Instagram for Social Media Marketing

Let us not discuss about the differences between Instagram and DSLRs and forget what Instagram has done to photography. If we get into that, we are going to have the pro photographer’s paralysis. Rather than looking at Instagram as a photography tool, we’ll look at it from a social media perspective. The Instagram user base is 100 million strong and when done right, there is a market to be tapped. The number one rule for social media marketing is establishing presence. You need to be there, right in the mosh pit before you even devise a strategy. Let us discuss about using Instagram for social media marketing.

Analyzing the pattern:

It should be noted that during November 2012 alone, there were more than 600,000 pictures that were hash tagged with ‘blackfriday’. You need to figure out the trending hash tags on Instagram. Since it is a free photo sharing site with millions, if not billions of pictures added every day, you need to make it through the maze. If you are adding a photo, make sure that you get the tags right. Add the trending hash tags along with the relevant tag that best describes your photo.

Expand the reach:

If you are adding a picture on Instagram with the hash tags, share the link on Facebook and tweet the URL too. Only when you have a community bumping up your picture, can you reach the top. Pictures on Instagram are like memes; they evolve and tend to go viral. If you don’t get it right, then you are not going to drive traffic to your profile and you need to rethink your marketing strategy.

Have a personal touch to the pictures

If you are promoting an offer and decide to take up Instagram as yet another marketing platform, you are doing it wrong. Say for example, if you have a confectionery store and if you are planning to market and generate leads through Instagram, then it is a wise idea to post behind the scene pictures. If you want to know the effect of behind the scene pictures, then go back and look at the heavy metal bands. Although well presented product photography is aesthetically pleasing, people can connect to you on a personal level through ‘behind the scene pictures’.

Use analyzing tools:

The day of the week and the time of the day that you choose to post on Instagram are very important. You can use tools like SimplyMeasure to analyze traffic and when you get the most number of views on Instagram. If you are posting a picture, have a schedule and stick to it. If your target audiences are in your locality, figure out when the usage peaks. You should also note that this traffic varies from sector to sector. If you are posting a pictures related to financial services, then a Sunday night will be an odd time. If you aren’t sure about this, search for analytical tips. There have been a lot of studies and you even have consolidated charts to help you.

The content and its aesthetics

You’ll have to realize that no amount of marketing strategy is going to help if you have poorly edited pictures. Although Instagram has tools that help you add effects, it is highly recommended that you shoot pictures with a SLR or a decent camera. If that is not possible, shoot it with your smartphone and to repeat, do not add effects. The high contrasts and blown out colors are not pleasing and some of the top rated pictures on Instagram do not have effects of any kind

These are some of the tips that you will need to follow while using Instagram from marketing.