Let’s talk about your Instagram strategy.
If you are using Instagram for your business and you are only posting feed posts, you are missing out.
Instagram wants to be the go-to all-in-one social media platform so that people will stay on the app for a longer time. They continue to update and release new features to help achieve this.
Did you know that there are seven areas where you can post content? You can post content in Feed Posts, Stories, Highlights, IGTV, Live, Reels, and Guides. Instagram even has an area where you can save other people’s content similar to Pinterest called Saved Post. The Stories feature was created to rival Snapchat, IGTV rivals Youtube with the ability to add longer formate videos, and newly released Reels feature rivals Tiktok.
Here’s the thing, whenever Instagram releases a new feature or a new area where you can post content, they want you to use that feature. When you start using it right away, the algorithms are in your favour! So if you want to build your presence on Instagram, build your community, and increase sales, you need to do more than just post on your feed.
Where should you be posting on Instagram? Here is my recommendation for posting content on Instagram.
Time to embrace Instagram Reels.
Instagram released this feature in August 2020. Businesses that were early adaptors in using this feature saw exponential growth in their Instagram community and have been able to monetize from this. Instagram wants to see the success of this feature and therefore will favour those that use it.
Reels is a great place to share content to increase your brand awareness since Reels are pushed out to more than just your follower list. Many accounts that use Reels can easily have views 2, 3, 4, or more times their follower list. Also, Reels are shareable content. People can save your Reels and share them on their Stories.
People tend to consume two types of content: content that is quick to consume and video. Instagram Reels satisfies both.
Don’t be overwhelmed at the idea of making Reels. If you are already incorporating video into your social media strategy, you are halfway there. You can still utilize this feature by simply showing up like you would in Stories, Feed, or Lives. You can be as creative as you want or scaled-down as you like based on how it aligns with your brand.
Want to connect with your followers? Use Instagram Stories.
Stories is a great place to make connections and have conversations with your existing followers. You can lead the conversation through the use of stickers, adding a call to action, and asking questions. When a follower responds to your Stories, their responses are in your direct messages and you have an opportunity to really build a relationship with your follower.
Continue Posting For The Newsfeed
Feed posts are still important. Posting on your newsfeed still does help with the algorithms, these posts can still get discovered by new audiences, and they are still sharable. However, it isn’t as important to post as many feed posts as it did in the past.
Your Profile Is A Mini-Website For Your Business
When someone discovers your account on Instagram the natural thing to happen is for them to visit your profile. Your Instagram profile is a representation of your business and is where people formulate their first impressions. What does your Instagram profile say about your business? Are you copying and pasting images or memes from Google? Are your images cut off on the edges? It may not seem like a big deal, but these are subconscious cues you are sending to your audience about how to conduct business. Although you no longer have to have highly polished branded content on Instagram, your posts should still incorporate your brand colours and fonts and have a cohesive look.
It Is Time To Shift Your Instagram Strategy
Social media strategies are made to shift. In order to find out what works you need to: brainstorm, create, test, analyze, and shift. With all the new features and add-ons Instagram releases, it is time to rethink how you post on this platform. If you need help coming up with content or how to post on Instagram without the overwhelm, contact me.
For more tips follow: https://instagram.com/sachapinto.online
Read: Why You Should Get Off Social Media