Response Post to 5 Keys to Effective Instagram Marketing

Since first launched in 2010, Instagram is a social media platform that continues to grow and adhere to its consumer wants and needs. Many companies and brands use Instagram to promote products and display certain lifestyles by using influencers and celebrities. Experts and professionals of the social media world have found what tips and tricks work best to properly market your brand or company digitally. I found an article on the website Social Media Today that was titled, “5 Keys to Effective Instagram Marketing”. This article caught my attention because I feel as though people are always trying to improve their Instagram feed to make it more aesthetic, engage more users with their posts, and overall gain more followers. After reading, I decided that these 5 keys are the best components that will help to increase your social media marketing skills on Instagram.

Lauren Conrad's aesthetically pleasing Instagram feed

I am going to go through each of the 5 key components to effective Instagram marketing that are listed in the article and reiterate why they are so important for social media marketing. The first key talks about filters and how having great visuals on Instagram is so important. This is so true because Instagram is based off of visuals, pictures, and videos. If a company has poor quality images that are not eye-catching, then users will probably not follow and engage with their posts and profile. A company or brand should make sure that they are using high quality and professional photos that are edited in the correct manner to make the photo aesthetically pleasing to the eye. The aesthetic of the company’s feed should resemble them as a brand and what they stand for.

The second key states to regram your fan content. This simply means to repost on your Instagram feed or story, photos that customers have posted of your products or merchandise. A company should definitely take this into consideration because customers love when their favorite brands recognize their posts, and even better if they “regram” or repost the photo on their feed. In the article it stated that, “your customers' photos are a limitless pool of content that resonate strongly with potential customers and keep your marketing campaigns fresh”. This is true because many brands and products within companies are advertised through the word of mouth of their customers. If someone is talking about one of your products, let them know that you see them, and then even more people will notice your brand and how interpersonal you are with your consumers.

Example of an Instagram feed with a link in bio to their website

Adding a website link to your Instagram bio is the third key component, and this is a great idea because it will help to drive traffic to your website. Many times, users on Instagram will see photos of a brand that they like and they have never visited their actual website before. If the user is really interested in the product that a company is displaying on their feed, then the user can just click on the link in their Instagram bio to be directed to the company website to purchase products and merchandise. This trick will also help to gain sales, as well as traffic. A saying that the article stated that really intrigued me was, “turn your browsers into buyers”, and this is exactly what putting a link in your bio will do.

A popular influencer showcasing her Louis Vuitton luggage set

Key component four states how using influencers is the new way to market your brand and products in the world of social media, especially Instagram. If you don't know what influencers are, they are pretty much social media users who have established credibility and a large audience on Instagram, usually most are celebrities. Many companies reach out to these people and sponsor them to talk about their products in their posts. This allows the company's brand to be reached by a large number of people and ultimately receive more traffic to their own Instagram feed and website. This is a great social media marketing tactic that basically lets the influencers do all the marketing work, and the company just has to decide who they want to sponsor with their products. It is best to make sure that the company chooses people who embody the brand's image and lifestyle.

Whole Foods engaging and interacting with viewers through comments

The most obvious, but most critical fifth key component is to stay active on social media! If a company really wants to gain followers and users then they must post consistently. The article says that "there is distinct correlation between how often a brand posts and the rate of return visitors. It often takes multiple returns to turn a prospective customer into a customer". This is why posting on your feed, returning comments and likes, and answering your viewers direct messages on Instagram is so important. Engaging with your viewers is what will keep them coming back to your profile and talking about your company to their friends and coworkers.