In this post, you’ll discover some super powerful and engaging ways to promote your brand on Instagram. Forget all of what you’ve read anywhere else; this post is the real deal!
OK so, I was only kidding. In fact, the more valuable wisdom and tips you can discover about promoting your brand on Instagram, the better.
So, this was my deal back a few years ago. Actually, a good few years back now.
I’ve been using Instagram since 2012, however, it’s only in the last few years that I’ve really paid attention to it and pushed a little more content on my Instagram profile.
Before I started taking Instagram seriously, I was skeptical about whether it was the right platform for me to use to promote my creative services, new content, etc.
Before taking the whole Instagram thing seriously, I underestimated the platform on every level. And what I mean by this is that I always assumed it was a platform best suited for celebrities and lifestyle bloggers.
Never in my mind did I think that Instagram would be any good for entrepreneurs and brands.
If you are trying to grow your brand online and are unsure about Instagram, here are some interesting current statistics you need to know –
Almost all Instagram users follow at least one business profile, that’s 90% if you’re looking for numbers.
Amazing, right?
Let’s fast forward to 2023
Yes, we’re well and truly in 2023. Do I still feel the same about Instagram as I did a few years ago? Considering the more popular platforms that have cropped up over the years, including TikTok?
Well, if Instagram were to disappear tomorrow, I’d be a bit upset and that’s the truth.
I’ve honestly fallen in love with the platform as it has helped me to promote my personal brand business and tap into a whole new audience.
Instagram is not only my favorite social channel, but it’s also the one that I’m most active on. But when I say I’m most active, I don’t actually post daily.
But seriously, I get the most value out of Instagram than any other social media channel right now.
If you have no idea what Instagram is about, that’s OK. I understand that not all businesses or entrepreneurs are savvy with all social platforms.
Instagram is considered to be the largest visual content-based social media platform. It is primarily mobile-app based.
As of December 2021, Instagram reached 2 billion active users worldwide.
(Source)
Have I got your attention now?
Entrepreneurs and businesses: Why should you even concern yourself with Instagram?
If the statistics above weren’t enough, let me try and convince you a little bit more as to why Instagram is good for business.
According to this article on WordStream, 81% of Instagram users use the platform to research a product or service.
And, according to this article on Sprout Social, Instagram’s users have the most percentage of interactions with a brand’s post when compared with Twitter or Facebook. See the image below.
Room for one more stat?
Today, a staggering 90% of top brands have an Instagram account. (Source).
So, with those statistics now firmly in your mind, isn’t it time you really considered leveraging Instagram in your brand and content marketing strategy?
Of course, you don’t need to be a top brand name to use Instagram. You don’t need to be a social media marketing superstar either to figure the platform out. You just need some direction and more importantly, persistence.
OK, so if you haven’t yet downloaded the Instagram app on your mobile device, go ahead and do so.
I have an Instagram profile but I don’t have an audience
If you have Instagram already but are struggling to build an audience, that’s OK, don’t beat yourself blind about it! We all have to start from somewhere.
Even if you’re starting from ground zero. You can start to build your audience up slowly.
Obviously, you can’t build an audience properly, or organically at least, without first posting some quality content, which I’ll talk more about shortly.
In the meantime, though, here are some simple ways to start growing your Instagram followers for your brand.
- Connect your Instagram profile to your brand’s Facebook page. Click here to learn how.
- Link to your profile from all your other social media channels.
- Mention your Instagram profile in your marketing videos, vlogs, and Livestream events.
- Add your Instagram profile to your outgoing email signature. See mine below.
- Do the same for your email marketing newsletters.
- Add your Instagram profile URL to your blog’s author box.
OK, let’s dive into the thirteen ways to use Instagram to promote your brand and content.
13 smart ways to use Instagram to promote your brand and content
#1. Introduce yourself (Add a compelling bio)
Let’s start with your Instagram profile bio.
Now, you can’t afford to NOT make this the best you possibly can. Worst case scenario, you leave it completely blank! Don’t do that.
Make sure you write a short but accurate bio telling folks who you are, what you’re passionate about, and what you do. It doesn’t need to be an essay, just short and sweet,
Also, make sure you add a nice call-to-action and a link to your website or another content platform such as YouTube. This is very important because you can’t add a clickable link anywhere else on your Instagram profile, not even your posts unless you are promoting your content using Ads. See mine below.
#2. Publish quality and relevant content
Before you start adding photos and sharing cool videos on Instagram, here’s a big tip! Think quality and relevancy.
If you’re trying to promote your brand and content to a specific audience with a goal in mind, start by making a list of all the types of Instagram posts you could create that are associated with your niche or subject.
In addition to keeping your content sharing consistent, make sure whatever it is you’re sharing is high-quality stuff.
By this I mean, always use beautiful photos, add cool filters or light effects in your photos, explore with text overlays, and really get creative with it. Make your content unique, make it stand out, and be shareable.
Here’s another interesting statistic –
60% of businesses use the same filter on every single post.
Follow me on Instagram to get some inspiration from my images.
#3. Screen-capture your latest blog post
For bloggers, a great way to share your latest blog post with your Instagram followers is to screen capture your actual blog post using your smartphone.
You can then edit the image a little bit before posting it. Here’s an example below.
You can do better than that, I’m sure, though.
In fact, there’s a great ‘Layout app’ for Instagram that I like to use and recommend for adding a featured image to your blog post screen capture. Check it out here.
If you’re going to implement this strategy for your blog posts, I’d also recommend adding a short description and some relevant hashtags applicable to the topic of your article.
What I also like to do is add a call-to-action and tell people to click on the link in my bio to read the post.
#4. Follow other brands and creators and engage with their content
Posting engaging and “Likable” content is one great way to get noticed and grow your Instagram followers.
Another effective way is to actively follow, ‘Like’, and ‘Comment’ on content shared by users in your industry or contacts.
Do a search on Instagram using ‘people’ or ‘tags’. Find content similar to your own and ‘Like’ and ‘Comment’ away to your heart’s content. Whatever you do, don’t spam. Don’t write boring one-line comments either. Take some time to write something meaningful.
Be patient with this, it takes a bit of time to propagate yourself around Instagram.
#5. Share behind-the-scenes stuff
When you take your followers behind the scenes of your brand or content creation process, some amazing things can happen.
Not only do you add that all-essential ‘human element’ to your brand, but this strategy can also help you gain the trust and loyalty of your followers.
I think that’s pretty important, don’t you?
One of my favorite things to do on Instagram right now is to share some behind-the-scenes of whatever is going on in my business, and my personal life too. I don’t keep these separate. For me, it’s important for my followers and customers to know that I’m a human being.
This could be a picture of myself writing a new post in my favorite coffee shop, a short video of my setup, or, simply a cool picture of something I’m working on, or doing something crazy in my spare time. Here’s an example. It’s a picture of me pretending to be productive!
#6. Get all themed up
A beautiful photo can capture your audience’s imagination and tell your story in a way that no other form of content can.
But why stop there?
Why not experiment and use multiple photos to create an even bigger picture?
Or, how about using some beautiful filters to enhance some of your images?
If you take a look at some of the most creative brands on Instagram right now, you’ll notice that many of them love to have a unique theme or style.
It’s what helps them to stand out from everyone else.
If you’re thinking of getting creative with your Instagram posts, check out Pinterest here for some amazing theme and style inspiration.
One other thing you could do with your own theme is to incorporate your brand identity into your theme.
So, anyone following you on your website or another medium will immediately recognize who you are and hopefully start following you.
Follow me on Instagram and let’s share each other’s content.
#7. Add some videos
Even though photos generate 36% more engagement than videos, with Instagram, you can also create videos that will help showcase your brand.
The videos can be any length up to 10 minutes and even up to 60 minutes.
For showcasing your brand, products, and services, for instance, you might want to use video to quickly introduce a problem that your brand can help provide a solution for. This is just an example.
Or how about creating a short video to share something behind the scenes?
Here’s another stat for you –
In 2021, online videos had an audience reach of 92% worldwide.
Source
#8. What’s your story?
Just like videos, stories are great for sharing time-sensitive information. For example, what you’re currently doing, or working on, etc.
Here are examples of using stories to promote your brand –
- Post a quote of the day.
- Share a memorable picture of the day (Great for travel blogs)
- Share a short video of your product in action
- Share behind-the-scenes footage
- Share a before and after image
- Share a time-lapse of you or your team at work
Check out this amazing post on Social Media Examiner for more tips on how to use Instagram stories to promote your brand.
Keep in mind, though, stories only stay for 24 hours, and after that, they disappear.
The next day you can share a new story 🙂
#9. Let them know what’s coming!
Are you working on something new and cool that you can barely keep a secret?
Maybe you’re writing a brand new eBook or adding the finishing chapters of a brand-new online course.
Or, maybe you’re about to launch a new podcast episode or vlog!
Check this out:
A great way to start creating excitement, hype, and buzz around your new ‘thing’ on Instagram, whatever that new thing might be, is to send a teaser to your audience.
Let them know that something BIG is coming, take a photo of what you’re working on, design some custom banners with some cool text overlay, or create a teaser video even.
Or, maybe you’ve got an event coming up, a Live Q&A Session, or a webinar. Just Instagram it!
#10. Be consistent
Like any serious effort to make any social media platform work for your brand or creative business, you’ve got to be consistent.
There’s no point in feeling all inspired and motivated now and posting content every day, to only drop off the radar a few weeks later. I know, I’ve done this myself a couple of times and seen the impact it has.
Great content + Consistency = more content views and engagement = more followers = more clicks to your website.
According to this infographic on Tailwind, actually posting more frequently increases engagement.
In a recent experiment, I decided to increase my activity on Instagram by posting once a day instead of every three to four days, and what I saw was an increase in both followers and conversion clicks by over 100%.
A great way to be consistent with the content you share and promote on Instagram is to create a Social Media Content Planner.
You can either create one using Google Docs or Excel. I use and recommend CoSchedule for scheduling Instagram content, as well as keeping track of your analytics.
#11. Over-deliver on the value ‘thing’, give, give, give!!!
Regardless of whether you’re sharing an assertive photo, or sharing a cool and funny video, or a story to inspire and invigorate your followers. Whatever you do, just make sure you’re providing some form of “value”. Something your followers can take away. Even if it’s a feeling of positivity.
Instagram is a special place, so think of creative ways to market your brand and content while continuing to provide great value for your followers.
Sure, from time to time post a cool pic of your delicious lunch, or a smooth cup of coffee and muffin! But always think of ways to give some kind of value back to your followers.
This will give them more reason to follow and stay loyal to you, and even check out your bio and click on the link to your products and services.
#12. Use Instagram Ads
Using Ads to promote your content on Instagram is not expensive at all. It’s also optional and a great aid to boost organic reach.
And, the great thing about using Instagram Ads is that you can actually select where you want to send people. In this case, your other content mediums such as your blog, YouTube channel, or a conversion page on your website.
You can also quickly select your target audience by either letting Instagram target people for you, or you can create your own using targeting options.
Recommended: Here is a great article on how to use Instagram ads to promote your brand. The article itself is a few years old but still provides some great tips.
#13. Install the awesome Instagram Feed Pro plugin on your personal brand blog
Last but not least, this is completely optional. Consider installing the Instagram Feed Pro plugin in your blog.
Instagram Feed Pro is a great plugin for adding customized responsive Instagram feeds to my website.
This can help to increase engagement, and get more likes, and followers.
It’s a wrap!
So, peeps, that’s it. That’s my list of tips for promoting your blog and content, as well as your business services on Instagram.
Let’s do a quick recap!
- Create an Instagram account if you don’t have one set up
- Add a great bio and link to your website
- Post quality, relevant, and shareable content
- Screen capture your blog posts, add a description and use relevant hashtags
- Follow, like, and comment on other content similar to your own
- Share behind-the-scenes stuff. Everyone loves that kind of stuff!
- Develop a unique theme or style for your Instagram posts
- Upload some videos
- Start a vlog on Instagram TV
- Share your story, or create mini posts!
- Create excitement, hype, and buzz, and let your followers know that something BIG is coming
- Be consistent
- Provide nothing but amazing value every time
- Promote posts using Instagram Ads, sometimes
- Install the Instagram Feed Pro plugin 🙂
- Remember above all to be consistent, plan ahead, be creative and have fun, and you’ll be rewarded
- You don’t need to have thousands of followers to get the most from Instagram
I hope you enjoyed reading through these 13 tips, and more importantly, I hope you’re going to take action and start implementing a few of them into your Instagram marketing strategy to help you boost the growth of your brand.
I wish you awesome luck.
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