12 Mandatory Tips to Start Your Business Instagram Marketing

Instagram has become one of the most popular social media platforms in the world. In Indonesia itself, it is the 4th country with the most Instagram users in the world. According to Statista's report (2022), around 97.6 million Indonesians actively use Instagram.

Utilizing Instagram as one of the platforms for company marketing is definitely a smart choice. This is not without reason, as according to Digital Marketing Community (2019), Instagram's average engagement rate of 1.60% surpasses its competitors Twitter (0.48%) and Facebook (0.17%).

If you are planning to enhance your company's digital marketing strategy on Instagram, here are some tips you can follow.

Understanding Instagram Marketing

Before diving into tips to maximize Instagram marketing for your company, it's important to first understand about Instagram marketing. 

As a social media platform with a total of 1.44 billion active users in 2022, Instagram has become an effective marketing platform for companies. 

Instagram Marketing Strategies

There are two Instagram marketing strategies you can implement to optimize your company's Instagram account.

Organic Instagram Marketing

Free or unpaid. Such as utilizing features like feeds, reels, carousel, story, live, and shopping tools.

Paid Instagram Marketing

Paid Instagram ads feature (advertisements), including shopping ads and story ads. Additionally, collaborating with Instagram influencers is also a paid Instagram marketing strategy. 

Essential Instagram Marketing Tips

Define Your Instagram Account Goals

Before delving deeper into Instagram marketing, first define the purpose of creating an Instagram account for your company. 

Will it be aimed at sales/lead generation, brand awareness, or recruitment. 

You can use the S.M.A.R.T method for this, specific, measurable, achievable, relevant.

Use a Business Instagram Account

Although you can do many things with a standard profile, a business profile offers more features that can be key to the success of your company's Instagram marketing. 

A business account gives you access to view Instagram insights. You can also add contact information such as email and phone number to your profile. The business or company industry category will also be displayed. 

Strengthen Visual Storytelling Content

To maintain engagement with your company's account followers, create various types of content such as carousels, IGTV, reels, stories, and IG Live. Since Instagram marketing follows an experimental pattern, there is no patented formula for photo or video content to become a hit. 

However, the characteristic of Instagram content is clear, which is photo or video content with visual storytelling. Most people's first impression of a company's credibility is often through their Instagram account. 

Therefore, the first impression when viewing your company's Instagram account will definitely depend on how its feed looks.

Set up Instagram Shop

According to Instagram for Business survey, 44% of Instagram users shop at Instagram shops every week. 

Especially for companies selling physical products (not services), you can utilize the Instagram shop feature to maximize sales. Instagram shop can display the products your company sells. 

The checkout methods vary, it can be through the website, Instagram/Facebook messages, or even through WhatsApp.

Maximize Instagram Ads

Based on the Digital Trends 2022 data by Hootsuite, Instagram ads can reach 1/3 of Internet users or equivalent to 1.48 billion people. 

Instagram ads also impact the brand awareness of companies. From that data, 50% of people say they are interested in a brand or company after seeing an ad on Instagram. 

Create Informative Highlights

You can compile archived stories that your account has created and turn them into highlights. The highlight feature makes it easier for the audience to get information quickly. 

Like a shortcut that is certainly beneficial for your followers. Highlights can be categorized and given a cover picture that displays informative icons from the highlight content. 

To create this, you must regularly create stories. Make sure only the best story content is displayed in the highlights.

Don't Underestimate the Use of Hashtags

Hashtags still have a significant impact on Instagram content. You can add a maximum of 30 hashtags in one post. 

Many Instagram users still search for information or their favorite content through hashtags. So, don't miss out on the latest and trending hashtags on Instagram.

Engage in Live Collaborations

Occasionally, it is necessary to regularly utilize the Instagram live feature. Your company can conduct internal live activities on Instagram or even collaborate with B2B partners to host Instagram live sessions. 

This feature is quite interactive as a way to build engagement with the audience. The topics you choose can vary according to your needs and creativity.

Collaborate with Influencers

Many brands or companies use influencer services to achieve their goals. Of course, finding influencers that align with the company's values/image and budget is not easy. 

There are various types of influencers determined by the number of followers and their account's engagement rate. Influencers will help increase your company's brand awareness because they tend to have loyal audiences.

Respond to All Comments and DMs

Don't overlook responding to every comment or DM that comes to your business account. This can increase your account's engagement rate. 

However, one thing is certain, by providing responsive responses to the audience, it will create a positive impression on the brand image. This will make the audience more willing to continue interacting with your account.

Host a Challenge Giveaway

One way to grow your business Instagram account is by hosting a giveaway. Almost everyone loves free things. Create giveaway requirements that direct participants to follow and like your Instagram account posts.

You don't need to offer luxury items as prizes, you can provide products or services that you offer. To reduce costs, you can also collaborate with other brands/companies.

Create a Unique Brand Voice

Among all the aforementioned points, it will be in vain if not supported by a unique brand image and voice. The content posted on your company's Instagram, besides having attractive visual storytelling, should also represent the company. 

Therefore, don't overlook the brand guidelines. The brand voice will appear in captions, videos, hashtags, word choices, bios, and even how people act during live sessions or respond to comments on your account. 

Start Your Company's Instagram Marketing with WEBARQ

To implement all the above Instagram Marketing tips, it requires creativity and consistency. You must be able to adopt an experimental mindset, which will undoubtedly consume a lot of time if done alone.

Therefore, you can rely on WEBARQ, which has 10 years of experience in the digital marketing world. Over 250 clients with 500 important projects have been successfully completed. WEBARQ is ready to be a partner for the success of your business.

Start your company's Instagram marketing with WEBARQ now by clicking https://www.webarq.com/contact.