By Jess Macdonald
So, you’ve created your company’s Instagram account and are posting regularly, but you’re not seeing any real engagement from your followers. There’s a like here and there, but hardly any interaction, comments, or shares.
You might be thinking “where am I going wrong?”
In this article, we arm you with tips and tricks to level up your Instagram strategy and create unique, quality content that builds up an authentic audience, keeps them engaged, and gets your company noticed.
Make a plan
Before you begin to haphazardly post content, the best way to connect with your followers and successfully promote your brand on Instagram is to set out a clear plan of what you want to achieve.
- Establish your goal
What do you want to accomplish with your social media – and specifically Instagram – strategy? Are you wanting to boost sales? Start a conversation about your brand? Drive memberships/subscriptions? Establish your goals and use them to guide your content and posts.
- Find your Instagram “voice”
You will most likely already have a tone of voice, consistent visuals, and clear messaging across your existing marketing platforms. Whether your Instagram page will follow this personality or establish its own, clarity and consistency are both key to building brand awareness on your social media page.
Focusing on core areas like themed visuals, style patterns, and emoji use will be your roadmap to Insta brand success.
- Set out a schedule
Consistency is key! It’s vital that you post regularly and frequently, to keep your followers engaged and to stay relevant.
We recommend creating a monthly content calendar that will help you organise your schedule and plan your Insta posts. You can also see how everything will look together on your grid and ensure it’s all in keeping with your Instagram voice.
This is also your chance to establish regular posts and jump on platform trends, like #throwbackThursdays or #SundayFunday.
There is no “one size fits all” for how often you should post, or what time of day. Different things work for different brands, so you must uncover your followers’ habits to help you identify when they’re most active on the platform. This will also mean that your brand’s posts continue to appear at the top of their feeds.
Track your progress
To create compelling content that keeps your Instagram followers engaged, it’s a very good idea to track the performance of your posts.
On a constantly evolving platform, you need to keep tabs on what is working (and just as importantly, what isn’t working) with your followers. If your fans aren’t engaging with you, then your channel isn’t going to grow.
Take advantage of Instagram’s ‘Insights’ section, where you can track which posts have performed well, and which haven’t. This is a great tool for guiding your future content. For example, if you’ve posted a video that has received a higher engagement rate than a photo you’ve posted, it’s pretty obvious that your audience responds better to video content.
Build a community
Tracking your posts’ performance and engagement rates is important, but you should also be focusing on the type of community you’re creating for your followers.
Creating a community on your businesses Instagram is one of the top ways to gain brand loyalty, connect with your customers, and earn their trust. You need to be making sure to nurture your relationships with followers – reply to messages, answer their questions, like their comments. Consumers respond much more positively to brands who appear “human” and trust you if they feel like you’re an authentic part of their lives.
Use Instagram’s features to your advantage – such as the story stickers. Ask your followers questions and then respond and share their answers. Run polls or conduct pop quizzes and discuss the results with them. Make them feel heard.
By building this community, you’re enabling your customers to feel like they are part of something, rather than just being a one-time customer or simply following your page with no real connection.
Maximise user-generated content
User-generated content (also known as UGC) refers to content about your brand that hasn’t been created by an official business representative. It could be a social media post, a blog post, a review, a video, or a wiki.
UGC is, basically, content that is created and approved by your audience. It is the holy grail for your social media team! Why? Let’s take a look….
Benefits of user-generated content:
- According to BusinessWire, consumers are 2.4 times more likely to view UGC as authentic compared to brand-created content
- UGC serves as social proof and increases your brand’s credibility
- It’s proof that you have dedicated fans and have built a loyal community
- Low marketing costs involved, as the content is being created for you
Final thoughts
Hopefully this blog post has given you some valuable tips on how to create engaging content for your brand’s Instagram page, and you’re feeling better prepared to get going on your feed.
Our main piece of advice is to remember that Instagram is forever evolving. Working with social media experts, such as the team here at Quick Brown Fox, can help you maximise your channel’s potential and stay ahead of the game.
We can help you grow your brand’s following and create quality content that increases your engagement. #TeamFox will provide you with a complete social media strategy in line with your business goals. Interested? Speak to the team today at hello@quickbrownfoxpr.com.
