How to Use Instagram for Marketing: Part Two

In our last article we had a look at the basic recipe for an Instagram profile, for instance the posting strategy and understanding the key demographics. Now it’s time for the juicy part – actually creating your business profile! It’s important to be able to optimise your Instagram profile and get the most lift possible from areas such as your profile picture, your content and even your hashtags. So here we have part 2 of how to use Instagram for marketing your business…

Step 1: Drive Value from Your Bio, Profile Picture and Link

Your bio
You’ve only got a few words in your bio to share with your followers who you are as a brand and what you represent. As a general rule of thumb, it’s normally a good idea to include either (or both) of a brand slogan/tagline, for instance, KitKat’s ‘take a break’, and an outline of who you are and what you do.

Your profile picture
Your profile picture ensures that your brand is instantly recognisable when someone views one of your posts or finds your profile. Therefore, we recommend using either your company logo, your logomark (your logo without the words), or your well-known mascot to represent your company in the profile pictures.

Your link
Unfortunately, when you post a photo the link you add doesn’t hyperlink. However, the only link which does work is in your profile. Ideally, you should have a link to drive traffic to your homepage when you’re not promoting something, in particular, to drive traffic toward campaign-specific landing pages. Whatever you choose, just make sure you have a link there!

Step 2: Create Content

Firstly, you’ll need a content strategy. A good starting point would be to focus on your products, like NIKE Running who often have their trainers or running equipment the star of their content. However, if factors such as community and culture are more representative of your brand, by all means, have images which feature them as the focal point. Identify your themes and run with them. For instance, you could focus on user-generated content, or perhaps you prefer fun and light-hearted images. Some brands even incorporate team member takeovers and getting to know the team themes.

Step 3: Create Your Style

A style guide is essential. But what does that mean? A style guide is simply a guide which contains all of the necessary information for a piece of content, from the design and the layout, to the copy and the hashtags. You should consider your colour palette, fonts, filters, captions and hashtags. Make sure you remain consistent within these, as this will increase your overall Instagram aesthetic and make your posts stand out even more.

So there you have it. From the basic recipe to the actual posting, we’ve given you our best guide on how to use Instagram for marketing. Almost every brand can benefit from using this social media platform so jump on board and get posting! ß