Branding is an essential part of establishing and maintaining the identity of your company. Choosing a business name, creating a logo, manipulating a color palette, and fine-tuning your mission statement will all go a long way in making your company easily identifiable by your consumers.
But there is more to branding than simple and singular decisions.
An effective and well-designed social media strategy can make the branding process easier by getting you noticed quickly, and helping you target the demographic who will be interested in what you have to say.
Instagram, in particular, is an excellent social media platform to start with, as research indicates that the more than one billion users who visit the site today are very interested in learning about their favorite brands on the site. If you’re new to the channel, we have some ideas that will help you maximize Instagram’s value in your company’s branding effort, and to breathe life into any marketing campaign.
Prioritize your story
Unlike other social media platforms, Instagram is a “visual inspiration platform.” This provides a unique opportunity for you to tell your brand story through graphics, images and videos that are creative, thoughtful, and engaging. The pictures and videos you create can become a series of “micro-stories” through which you can help potential followers “see” and “hear” you.
Choose a voice that is consistent with how you want your company to be perceived. For instance, you may want to be viewed as friendly or professional, informative or authoritative, service-oriented or technical. Regardless, choose to be heard — leverage that voice to give your consumers a sense of the real you behind the logo and catchphrase, and create a brand that will resonate with your followers.
Use the top 10 best free video editing software and other tools that will create a polished look on your photos, and help you develop intriguing images and captions that will lure viewers into your world. Creating a community means avoiding being too preachy or self-promotional. Instead, focus on creating content that will encourage your viewers to check in on your account daily, then stay to engage or purchase your product or service.
Videos and graphics can capture behind the scenes moments with your product, share interesting people who are enjoying your service, or feature information regarding innovations within the entire industry.
Stay active and consistent in posting
A consistent one or two posts per day is a safe bet for Instagram posting. It’s important to remember that user-generated content is another excellent way to communicate your values, so be sure that the content you share on your Instagram account is share-worthy. When your audience sees that your followers on your social media channels re-share what other people send or say about you, they will take notice. Likewise, when you re-share content that other people send to you, you validate your followers and provide them with an incentive to remain loyal and return regularly to your site.
What matters most is not only knowing your audience and growing your following, but making a positive and lasting impression.
First and foremost, your posting strategy should be designed to connect with customers for the long haul. More than focusing your efforts on simple tactics or opt for one-time-only social media schemes, think of your social media channels as an opportunity to reach and relate to consumers. Finding your voice, sharing your back-story, and communicating your overarching goals, vision, and mission through your posts is more important than paying particular attention to the frequency and timing of those posts.
Understand hashtags on Instagram
Choosing the most relevant hashtags for your Instagram posts can be the key to creating top posts that will drive your brand, instead of sinking to the bottom of users’ feeds. The more specific you’re able to be with your hashtags, the more niche-specific your audience will be.
Developing a hashtag that is unique to your industry, business or brand is one way to get started. Note that the hashtag you create for your brand on Instagram is not your private property and you don’t own it. Other members of Instagram are free to use your branded hashtag without obtaining your permission.
While Instagram lets you use up to 30, a lot of tags under your caption can seem unprofessional. It is for this reason that many of the major brands use seven or fewer tags to get themselves noticed. Remember that the content in your Instagram profile biography isn’t searchable, and hashtags in your bio have zero impact on your search rankings.
Focus your energy on using hashtags in your posts instead.
It’s important to learn everything you can about using hashtags on your Instagram account. Remember that your goal is to find something that markets itself to your users so that it filters their posts about your store, product, or service and anything that directly relates to it.
