All social media platforms are awesome because they can increase momentum and brand visibility quickly. Several years back you would have to rely on link building and networking to build brand awareness and increase traffic. Even though these are important now, it’s important to understand how social media plays an important role today in building your business. With that said, I want to explore Instagram and how you can scale it to make sure it works for you and your business. Keep in mind, I have spoken about Facebook and Twitter several times and the strategies I use to make sure I get as much engagement as possible. If you want to view these guides, then all you have to do is a quick search in the search menu to find those. As a matter of fact, here they are now:
- Best Times to Post on Twitter and Facebook
- Most Shared Content on Twitter
- How to Get Targeted Traffic on Facebook
I’ll admit that different content and marketing will work with different niches, however the process is the same. If you can manage to boost momentum on these two networks, then you’ll be able to increase conversions. That’s not all because Instagram has been growing by 10% each year so it’s important you make use of this network going forward.
Let’s get started and explore how you can get Instagram to work for you and build brand awareness.
Start by Connecting
Whenever I setup a new account I find ways to integrate what other accounts I have and those that will add value to my current account. For example, with Instagram, you have the ability to connect Facebook and Instagram so they are linked as one. What does this do? It allows you to streamline the entire process of posting and sharing because you just have to share once and everything will be organized correctly. One thing I’ve always had a problem doing is making sure I keep everything updated so my followers on all my accounts can see what I have posted and shared. However, with so many accounts I sometimes have a hard time automating the entire process. This can be accomplished in two ways.
First, as mentioned you can connect whatever accounts can be connected to streamline the entire process. For example, Facebook and Instagram can be connected so whenever you post on either/or, it’ll show up on both networks. Secondly, you can use apps like Bufferapp.com to automate the entire process however this will only be useful depending on the compatible platforms. With that said, they are many other platforms which have their own tools so do a quick search within Google and start setting them up now.
Social media is massive and can generate enormous traffic to your page so DON’T let this opportunity slide.
Popular Tag’s Matter
Social media platforms have come up with an awesome way to organize the information being shared. Just like search engines knew it was important to organize information because of the amount of content being shared, social media believes in the same thing. The easier people are able to find information and value, the more they will use the networks to post, share and link. With that said, it’s important you use the popular tags that relate to your content because this will help your content get found easily on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The cool thing is adding tags is NOT hard at all because you just have to find those which are always trending and popular. The more popular your tags, the easier your content will be found and MOST likely shared by others. Here are a few tricks you can use right now to find those tags relevant to you:
Compatible Tools – when things start to become popular, you have others who develop tools to streamline certain aspects of research. For example, you have http://hashtagify.me/ that many people are using to find popular hashtags for Twitter. This tool will give you a breakdown of popular #hashtags and those that are increasing within the upcoming weeks. If you do a quick search within Google, I’m sure you’ll be able to find tools for different social platforms.
Competition – one way you can find #hashtags is by looking at what the others are doing especially your competition. They have been around longer and have done their research. This means they know what tags are working and what are not.
Trial and Error – sometimes you’ll be in a niche which is brand new and with very little competition. In this case I encourage all of you to try different things and see which ones are working. Soon you’ll be able to narrow down the tags which convert the best for you and you can use them going forward.
Timing Matters
Keep in mind with almost everything you do, timing matters. This is in reference to the business you are starting, the time you market and the time it takes to grow your business. In reference to social media, timing matters big time because people skim online at different times and it’s been proven some hours are better than others. There are many factors that will determine what time someone decides to come online with the MOST popular being day of week and time during the day. I’ll admit the month does play a role however NOT as big as the other two which I’ve just discussed now. For example,
You’ll notice many people are more likely to come online during the weekdays from Tuesday to Thursday. Next, they are more likely to be online on a Sunday because this is typically a stay home day. Monday are slow because people return to work and are busy going through emails and Friday’s people tend to leave early to start their weekend. The rest of the days during the week people surf because they are done catching up on work and have some time available. Here’s something else,
You’ll notice that people tend to be online during work hours because a computer is so accessible. They will surf during the afternoon starting at lunch going throughout the day. It’s amazing what you can learn by doing a little trial and error. With that said, let’s explore how we can do a few tests to figure out the best time for you to post online.
First, Google Analytics is a great way to track days and landing pages. It’s also a great way to track timing my hour because you can switch the view from within the panel. This will give you DATA into what days and timings have been working over a specific period. Secondly, you can use advanced tracking tools which might cost you on a monthly basis to understand your visitors pattern. I would suggest using Google Analytics however if you have some money to spare then these tools can give you real-time insight into your Instagram engagement. It’s also important to keep in mind that Instagram has their own custom tools which you can use to understand browsing history. Again, some will cost money while others are free to sue through Instagram.
In the end, once you have a view into what converts and how you can optimize your engagement on Instagram, you’ll be able to build brand awareness quickly, and with very little effort since you’ll know what tags and timing works well.
Like Others
Here’s something that many people DON’T know or just simply refuse to take part in because they feel it hurts their overall objective. In order for you to be discovered, it’s important you like others within Instagram. I was always against liking other because it would create competition, but when I started to I noticed something amazing happen. I started to get relevant shares and likes back from people. I guess it’s just like content marketing and linking to others who are within your niche. When you build a link to valuable content from yours, you’ve increased the chances that some of these same people will link back to you.
To increase engagement many platforms like Twitter, Instagram and even WordPress (blogging) alerts the owner when someone links or likes. This gives them a chance to take a look at who linked back and explore their content at the same time. This is something I learned from personal experience because whenever someone would link or like me, I would always go back and check who this person was. In return if I felt they were relevant, I would link and start to follow the because they would be good for growth going forward. If you have been online long enough then you know the importance of building a network in order to increase brand awareness. This is the exact same reason why so many bloggers encourage outreach especially when you are just starting out.
Final Thoughts
It’s amazing how social media has changed the way we interact online. It’s also amazing how this rather free system can help boost your brand within a few short weeks. However, at the same time I’m surprised at the amount of people who don’t jump within Instagram to build momentum and this is slowing down their growth. I encourage all of you to take some time to explore what options you have available in terms of social media and at the same time encourage all of you to join Instagram connecting it to your Facebook account. This will help accelerate growth and will help build brand momentum quickly.