INSTAGRAM TRAFFIC SECRETS

Instagram is no longer considered an ancillary social media platform: it is now widely recognized as one of the largest and most crucial social networks for any internet marketer to consider.

Instagram currently boasts over 1 billion active users, which is an incredible amount when you realize there are only 7.53 billion people on the planet. This represents 60 percent of all persons who use the internet, as well as 25 million companies.

This is a massive audience, and it is constantly growing. Whereas Facebook (which owns Instagram) has been slowing considerably in recent years (not to mention dealing with a slew of high-profile controversies), Instagram has been on a roll.

One of the main reasons why many marketers ignore Instagram’s value is that they believe it is less versatile owing to its exclusively visual nature. How can you sell something with only a picture?

In fact, the reverse is true: the visual character of Instagram is what makes it so valuable. As a result, Instagram enables producers to reduce the amount of labour and time they devote to projects.

In other circumstances, it simply takes a few minutes to take a stunning shot – a few more if you’re going to edit it – as opposed to the longer time it takes to create a message or think of anything amusing to say.

You can easily capture huge batches of photographs and then post them on a schedule, or you can utilize stock images and simply write an encouraging statement on top. The point is that the amount of time and effort you put into your account is quite small in comparison to the quantity of value you will receive. It has a high return on investment.

Instagram is a tool that may help you increase brand awareness and loyalty in ways that other media just cannot.

Instagram should be regarded as an absolute priority for any marketing strategy, but it becomes even more potent when combined with a broader marketing strategy that includes other platforms and types of media.

In short, Instagram could be the missing puzzle piece in your online marketing approach. If you’ve already conquered Facebook and Twitter, Instagram could be the last frontier. Alternatively, many organizations who have failed to achieve success with marketing on other platforms may discover that Instagram is the area where they experience runaway success — and there are numerous elements that make this more likely.

INSTAGRAM’S WORTH

Understanding the Instagram Audience

While Instagram’s visual nature is one of its most significant advantages, it also alters the game for producers. This is due to the fact that it will force them to think in a new way.

They should reconsider their strategy. It also has an impact on who will be the most influential.

This form of content is engaging, and it lends itself to a variety of goods.

Did you know, for example, that 80 percent of Instagram’s viewership is based outside of the United States? This makes it an excellent alternative for any company trying to broaden its horizons or that frequently sells outside of the country.

At the same time, Instagram has a more female audience (39 percent vs 30 percent, with the remainder unknown) and younger audience than many of the other platforms. It is regarded as more ‘trendy’ than Facebook, which has become swamped by Mums and Grandmas at this point.

Understanding Your Niche and Your Value Proposition

It should come as no surprise that the top niches on the internet are

Instagram:

• Fitness and health

• Appearance

• Traveling

• Online business/making money

• Clothes

• Lifestyle/Luxury

• Creatures

• Personal relationships

• Video games

• Parenting/Family

• Nutrition

With the probable exception of making money online, all of these areas are highly visual in nature. They are all excellent subjects for photography and eye-catching pictures.

But there is one thing that all of these concepts have in common, and it helps to explain the appeal of the cultures that have emerged on the platform: they all have a very obvious value proposition.
To put it another way, they are all plainly selling a dream.

While it’s easy to blame Instagram for a shallow age obsessed with food, good looks, abs, and phony Rolexes, the truth is that this is merely a reflection of what most of us want.
And this is the essence of all commerce.
You don’t sell hats, you sell warm heads, as the adage goes. That is, no one buys a product because of its physical features. You don’t buy a computer because it’s cheap in terms of plastic and silicon.

BEST PRACTICES, TIPS, AND TRICKS FOR GROWING YOUR AUDIENCE

There are a few various strategies you can use to ensure that your Instagram account is not only fantastic, but also develops naturally. We’ll go about promotions in more detail later, but for now, here are some simple things you can do on a regular basis to ensure constant development.

Description

Content marketing on Instagram is a type of marketing. For those who are unfamiliar, this implies drawing more visitors to your page by offering them with value. Typically, we think of content marketing in terms of blogging, but it simply refers to delivering some form of value through material in order to attract people to listen to you and return. Typically, that content will be guidance, entertainment, news, and so on.

Things change a little when it comes to Instagram marketing. That’s because the key service you offer is very ethereal: ‘inspiration.’ How does one quantify inspiration?

Keep in mind, though, that this isn’t the only type of value you may offer on Instagram. It’s also crucial to consider how you’ll deliver fun and information – which you’ll do through the description.

Instagram has a big word limit: up to 2,200 characters! That implies you can get away with a brief essay or story. The image is the hook in this example, and the writing then gives information and fun, as well as context for the image, which adds even more value.

This is a wonderful example of an account that does this.

@LondonHistorian. This is a British account that provides historical stuff about London, as the name suggests. A follower or user may come upon a photograph of London that piques their interest because they are interested in history, architecture, England, and London, among other things.

Then, by reading the description, they will feel as if they have gained something from the interaction.

Keep in mind that a large portion of Instagram’s growth is due to word of mouth.

So, provide suggestions, facts, tales, and more, and your postings will be more valuable. You don’t have to write an essay every time, but a hundred words will suffice to convey important information.

Oh, and another tip: ask others to share, follow, and subscribe to your content. It’s free, and if it leads to a couple extra activities, it’s well worth it!

Mentions

Also, try to include references to businesses and users in your descriptions. This is as simple as using the @ symbol in your message and filling out the name. If you worked out at a specific gym, including the gym’s Instagram account. If you visited a specific commercial establishment, mention it as well. This could result in a re-post or a shout-out, both of which can be quite advantageous! It also has the advantage of establishing a link between you and that brand in the minds of your followers and visitors.

Hashtags

So we’re halfway through the book and we’ve only just arrived at hashtags! That’s because it’s critical to create the basis, but hashtags, as you can guess, are also a huge part of what will happen.

Hashtags function as search phrases. You can help more people locate your material and quickly identify what your page is about by adding a hashtag.

Hashtags help others locate your photographs not only through search, but also through Instagram’s suggested images. Instagram will base these on hashtags relevant to the user, as well as input from other users with similar interests.

Here’s a quick rundown of what you need to know about hashtags:

• Use a lot of hashtags – You are permitted up to 30 hashtags, and each one of them has the potential to bring in a new reader who is looking for something. Consider it this way: each of your tags is like entering a lottery. Why would you enter only once when you could enter thirty times for free?

• Strike a balance – The perfect hashtag is one that is widely used but not overly so. Use the hashtag to share an image.

babygirl and you’ll be competing with 59,533,397 public postings! That implies your image won’t be in the search results for long, and will be quickly drowned out by the volume of new posts. A hashtag with 10 public postings, on the other hand, is unlikely to be frequently searched. Something with 30,000 or so searches will be popular while also being specific. It’s worth noting that you may see these statistics as soon as you start typing the hashtags into your image or video. Instagram will be updated.

• Use a variety — In addition to having a balanced popularity for your tags, you should consider using a variety of tags. It won’t hurt to include a couple enormously popular tags, and there’s always the potential that one will go insane. However, by inserting some smaller ones as well, you’ll be able to

• Be fashionable – Consider trending topics (try Google Trends at trends.google.com/trends) as well as the most popular subjects in your niche. For example, while fitness is always popular, ‘functional fitness’ and ‘mobility’ are two themes that are now trending in this industry. Similarly, food is usually a hit.

But ‘avocado’ takes the prize. There are also commonly used hashtags in any area that you can ‘steal’ for your own purposes. Of course, if you can utilize a popular hashtag related to something in the news or cultural debate, that’s even better!

• Be consistent – Using the same hashtags on a regular basis is a fantastic technique for communicating what your brand is about to Instagram’s algorithms.

• Don’t use them in your bio – This will prevent your bio from being found using those hashtags, so stick to using only your own branded hashtags here (if any).

Geotag

In addition to hashtags, geotags should be used. Of course, they tag the place where the photo was taken, which can help a lot of people find them. Simply select your photo and then, on the ‘New Post’ tab, click

‘Add a Location.’ If a large number of people attend an event, they may look for further images from that event, which opens up a new avenue for you.

People Are Being Tagged

You may also tag others, which is a wonderful way to catch their attention – and even have your photo appear on high-profile pages (your photo will appear in a distinct category on the users’ page). This is the case.

It’s great for getting the attention of a huge channel or company (and their audience), but it can also be highly obnoxious and get you in trouble if you abuse it.

The best suggestion is to only do this if you have a compelling cause to do so. If you have a photo of that person, make sure you tag them in it. Meeting influencers in person has enormous value for any brand or marketer.

Similarly, if you wish to send a challenge, a response, or something similar, try utilizing the tag. BUT ONLY AFTER YOU HAVE CONSIDERED THE SPIRIT WILL IT BE ACCEPTED. And only on rare occasions.

Presentation & Medium

You may believe that Instagram is mainly about photographs rather than videos, however video postings generate 38% more interaction than images! So you know what you need to do: take out your camera and start filming!

Keep in mind that your videos should be short (up to one minute, but you can link numerous together) and that you should always choose a decent thumbnail from the video to assist express what it’s all about and get people excited.

Other particular formats work really well as well. We’ll discuss memes and other similar choices later in this book, but one nice example is Boomerang, which makes a short ‘bouncing’ video that lasts for a few seconds.

It only took a few seconds. Boomerang is available for download from Google Play or the iOS App Store are two options.

If you want to be artistic, consider employing a pictogram.

• a still image with only one moving element

Consider utilizing a collage for your photographs. These can be created with Instagram’s own tool (Layout From Instagram) or with a third-party solution such as the superb Pixlr.

Finally, remember that when it comes to graphics, taller is better. Because the feed is vertical, having a taller image allows you to take up a larger proportion of the screen and stay on the screen for a longer period of time. If all else is equal, crop your photographs to be tall and skinny!

Timing

The timing of when you submit your photographs can have an unexpectedly large impact on their success. According to research, the most popular images are taken between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays in their local area (why aren’t people working?).

However, if you want to reach a global audience, the best time is 6 p.m. GMT+0 (11am PT). If you post twice a day, make an effort to post at each of these times.

Social

Remember that Instagram is a social networking platform. That is, it is a kind of communication, and it works best when you keep that in mind. Follow accounts, like them, leave comments on photos, and make sure to respond to any messages or comments you receive.

Even better, turn your audience into your own marketing team by holding contests or requiring them to use specific hashtags!

CONCLUSION

So there you have it: everything you need to get started with Instagram marketing! There’s so much to unpack here that you’ll almost certainly need to do some additional reading and experimenting before you find a setup that works for you.

There are numerous solutions available to help you produce more clicks. When it comes to advertisements and promoted posts, there’s a lot more to digest…

The most critical aspect, though, is your value proposition and brand. You must be constant in producing high-quality photographs that communicate to your viewers and make them feel something.

Content that is aspirational, inspirational, motivating, or moving will speak for itself, and if you can make your viewers feel something with each image, they will begin to follow you.

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