Q & A about marketing on instagram

Instagram is the most used social media application today. It lies right under our finger tip each moment, from the start of the day till you go to bed. It has become an integral part of our lives as it allows us to connect with our loved ones and check on them with having to move physically.

It is looked upon as a "photo, video sharing platform" by many. But what is overlooked is the fact instagram is no longer just that, there's definitely more to it. 

Today instagram has become a social media business hub. It is no longer a mere platform to share photos and videos but a platform through which you could simply start or grow your business. All it takes to do so is a complete understanding of how to use instagram as a medium to grow business and how to market it. Social media marketing is a key ingredient that churns out a widely reached product or services. 

Since this is a growing field and a very new platform for marketing, it undergoes constant reformations with respect to its algorithm, engagement etc. Due to which many questions regarding its fullest potential use to market business and it's products are unknown or unanswered to many. 

Here I have curated a list of frequently asked questions about social media marketing and have answered them to have a deeper understanding about it.

Q1. What is instagram marketing? 

A1. Instagram marketing is basically a technique used by digital marketing personnels and brands to reach their target audiences to market their products or services. It is a simple way to make their brand or products to reach a wider audience online.

Q2. How to build an organic fan base?

A2. Today everyone is looking into the phone surfing the social media application majorly instagram. Everyone is already available to view all that you post and is likely to engage with your content. However just the availability won't suffice, it is the consistent and engaging post that grabs the attention of these available users and encourages them to engage with it. This leads to an enhanced reach and recognition of your brand, service or products.

Q3. How to market business or products on instagram?

A3. Recognizing your target audience is the stepping stone to market your offerings. Instagram offers many ways to market or promote your brand to reach a wider audience. Use of the right hashtags enables a greater visibility, apart from this it allows you to run ads that are set to be viewed by a targeted audience. 

Influencers play a major role in instagram marketing. Influencers have a loyal fan base that is constantly interacting with their content. Instagram influencer marketing help on a longer run. This ensures brand recognition and sales. There can be other strategies that can be brought in order to uniquely market your offerings.

Q4. What is the best instagram marketing tool? 

A4. Before jumping into what instagram marketing tool is the best, it is important to understand that you must first check the marketing app or tool in question. By checking I mean, it should be an official instagram or facebook marketing partner. Official partner apps will allow a safe and seamless integration that would ensure safety of your data and keep hackers at the bay. Other than this an effective marketing app or tool must have all tasks included and centralized which refrains you to switch apps for different tasks. The best official marketing partner is Napoleon cat. It offers scheduling, analytics, reporting, and customer service solutions.

Q5. Major mistakes in instagram marketing?

A5. To err is human. Mistakes are part of life. Making mistakes is fine until you turn them into a learning lesson. Instagram is constantly changing and updating itself with enormous features. Let's point out some of the mistakes that you might make or might have made in the instagram marketing journey.

1. Not using all of the available content creation formats. Instagram provide enormously engaging content creation formats like IGTV, Carousels, IG stories, Reels, swipe up feature,etc
2. Buying followers. This is a big No, as it violates the instagram rules and algorithm. Resulting that account to be permanently banned or deleted
3. Spamming with links to your post. This can be a great turn off for your potential follower as nobody would like the constant notifications rings asking them to view and engage on the posts. Rather you can encourage your existing audiences to turn on the post notification and also to promote your account.
4. Being restricted to just uploading good quality videos and photos with the right set of hashtags. Hashtags can be very useful to garner audience attention and increase the visibility, solely relying on hashtags to bring in the engagement won't suffice or fulfill the requirement. It is important to have a consistent strategy, constant optimization and audience research. This would definitely pay off. 
5. Less use of the caption. Instagram allows you to use 2200 characters to write a brief description. A caption adds an enhanced value to the posted image and increases the engagement possibilities. 

Q6. How to generate revenue through instagram marketing? 

A6. Instagram does not directly provide you with a revenue generating tool like YouTube does. However it can be used to generate a fair share of income but marketing your products and services and by encouraging your audience to buy them. Other several methods are:

1. Instagram ads
2. Add your products to a shopping catalog and then tag them in your photos so your followers can make a purchase. 
3. Drive traffic to external websites or shops with shortened links shared in your bio or Instagram stories.
4. Provide services that can be available online.

Q7. How to create instagram ads? 

Simply share the post you want to boost and hit “Promote”. Set your audience preference, set your expected goal, set your investment range, pay and sit back to see how it is performing.

Q8. What are the most effective types of Instagram ads?

Instagram ads can indeed be a great deal breaker to gain followers and engagement. Following are the types of instagram ads that you can use to carry out an effective marketing of your offerings.

1. Ads in Instagram Stories – you can add clickable links and calls to action to your Stories in order to drive external traffic and build brand awareness
2. Ads in Instagram photo or video posts – you can add CTAs and links to your Instagram photos and Instagram videos; these look similar to regular posts, but have an interactive tab below them
3. Carousel ads – you can use a few creatives and make a carousel ad that your target audience can swipe through a series of content, then convert as desired.
4. Collection ads – they work wonders for telling a story. If you want to combine photos, videos and descriptions, this type may be the best choice for your campaigns.
5. Ads in Explore – using another placement within Instagram for showcasing your campaigns.

Q9. What is Instagram SEO?

A9. Instagram SEO is a set of tools used for optimizing your Instagram account so that your content appears higher in search results. With its implementation and a few quick fixes, your account can become more popular and more engaged.

Q10. What are some Instagram SEO best practices?

A10. Instagrams SEO can indeed be potentially helpful to boost your page recognition and brand popularity. 

Optimize your username by adding your industry or location. This will lead your potential followers to visit your account.

Optimize your name to be searchable. Add a keyword to make sure you’ll be easily spotted in search results. Google Keyword Planner shall greatly help for this purpose. 

Hashtags are like the keywords on instagram. When looking for new hashtags to try out it is important to do a thorough research on what’s trending at the moment.

Make sure that you add a link to your bio. You can either redirect your followers to a single website, or build a mini landing page with Tap.Bio or Linktr.ee where you can insert more links.

Bio tells a lot about you and your brand so take time, work on it and pen down a narrative that reflects a personality that is relatable to the audience. It should include keywords and crucial information about your brand, products or services.

Enjoy the perks of instagram and make the most in growing your business. Kick start it today with the correct marketing strategies.

It's a new era with new opportunities!

Happy Instagramming