Every marketer needs to stay up to date with the latest tools and features available on social media platforms. Instagram is a great tool for online marketers due to its expansive capabilities and continuing updates. This article will outline the top 10 Instagram features that every marketer needs to learn to maximize their success on the platform. From creating professional posts to gaining increased reach, these features can help you make the most of your Instagram presence.
I. Introduction to Top 10 Instagram Features Every Marketer Needs to Know
Instagram is one of the most popular visual-first social networks, providing marketers with an array of features to help them reach their target audiences. It’s important to know the top features to get the most out of your marketing efforts. Here are the top 10 Instagram features every marketer needs to know:
- Stories – With Instagram stories, you can capture ephemeral content in the form of images, videos, and GIFs and post them to a designated part of your Instagram profile. Stories appear for 24 hours and can appear to users who don’t follow you. This is great for engaging with the wider Instagram community.
- Live Videos – Stream live videos to your followers to further boost engagement. Live videos give you an interactive platform to show your audience what you’re up to, run competitions with giveaways, and answer their questions in real-time. Applications such as Open Broadcast Software (OBS), Zoom, and Facebook Live make it easier to stream professional-quality content.
- Shoppable Posts – With the shoppable posts feature, you can promote and sell products directly on your profile. This allows you to create posts that are clickable and link out to product pages in your store. This is a great way to attract customers and boost sales.
Other features worth noting include the ability of Instagram Insights to track engagement, use of influencers and micro-influencers to increase your reach, and use of UGC (User-Generated Content) to grow your brand’s presence. You can also add links to your Instagram stories, which can lead to more website visits and conversion opportunities. With all these features, you’ll be well-equipped to create a strong and successful presence on Instagram.
II. Instagram Ad Campaigns
Creating a profitable Instagram Ad
Instagram ads may be a great way to reach and engage with your targeted audience. This can be done while staying within your budget, as you are able to set a limit to your daily campaign cost. To maximize the desired results from an ad, the following steps can be taken:
- Creating a well-thought out strategy
- Identifying your target customer
- Choosing appropriate objectives for your ad
- Deciding what type of ad format to use
Each element of the strategy should revolve around a clear, specific goal. Then you should determine who you would like to target as a customer and plan the ad objective accordingly. To make sure the audience will engage with the ad, choose the accompanying ad format based on the desired end result. Ads can come in various shapes and forms, such as the standard photo or video post with the CTA, Sponsored Ads, Carousel Ads and more.
III. Video Creation and Instagram Stories
Video content has grown to become one of the most effective ways to increase engagement and reach on Instagram. There are numerous ways to create compelling videos, such as:
- Creating a storyboard for each video
- Using a variety of video editing tools
- Incorporating motion graphics
- Adding visual effects
Incorporating video into stories, as well as in your feed, can help you stand out from the competition and capture the attention of your audience. Videos can be used as a way to showcase your products and services, provide insight into your company’s culture, or entertain your existing followers.
Once you have filmed your video, you should upload it to Instagram as an Instagram Story. Stories, which are short and can contain animations, can provide your followers with an overview of your business or a quick behind the scenes look at what you’re working on. Instagram Stories allow you to use text and visuals to engage with your audience and have a 24-hour lifespan, which provides you with an opportunity to gain more visibility.
IV. Instagram Live
Instagram Live allows you to broadcast yourself to an unlimited audience in real time. Engaging with an audience as they watch your live broadcast is an incredibly powerful way to quickly build a connection and create a second-to-none experience.
Advantages Of Instagram Live
- Engaging with the audience in real-time creates an enjoyable experience
- It’s instantaneous and spontaneous, allowing you to react quickly to changes in the environment
- Easily share updates and news
Best Practices For Instagram Live
- Prepare for a broadcast in advance and practice to perfect your content
- Choose the location beforehand and get familiar with the environment
- Make sure that the stream looks good by testing both the audio and the video ahead of time
V. Instagram Insights
Instagram Insights is a powerful analytics tool that gives you valuable insights into your account performance. With it, you can understand how your posts are performing, who’s engaging with your content, and when your audience is most active.
The Key Metrics and Insights Instagram Insights can provide you with information such as:
- Post engagements
- Demographics of your followers
- Which posts work best
- Reach and impressions
It can also give you valuable comparisons between individual posts and time periods, so you can benchmark your progress and track changes over time. This allows you to measure things like the reach of an individual post and the engagement rate for posts.
Another advantage to using Insights is that it can give you a better understanding of which content works best for you, who is engaging with it, and when your followers are most active. This allows you to tailor your content strategy to the times and topics that are most effective in reaching and engaging with your followers.
Instagram is an invaluable asset for marketers to reach their target audiences and stay competitive in their respective industries. Keeping up with the top 10 Instagram features every marketer needs to know can help ensure that campaigns are optimized and successful. With these features in mind, marketers can create campaigns that drive engagement, keep users connected, and maximize ROI.
