Instagram SEO (pt 2): 6 More Tactics to Crush Instagram Marketing

In part one of this two-part guide, we outlined 5 effective tactics for dominating the Instagram marketing matchup. In it, we advised that you:

• Create awesome, professional content

• Display your lifestyle with your product/service in the limelight

• Build an irresistible brand image

• Foster engagement; and

• Use hashtags like a boss

It is time to see more advanced tactics that can help you become the cynosure of your niche on Instagram.
 

USE SUBTITLES AND CLOSED CAPTIONS

Instagram allows you to post video content. Yes, video content drives greater engagement than static images, but don't just stop at posting videos. Add subtitles in some of your videos especially if your vocals aren't coming out quite straight. When you transcribe your videos and add subtitles, it helps people to understand you more.

To do this, first, get your transcriptions sorted. You can type the word for word but there are easier options. You can get a rough version by uploading your video on YouTube and then waiting for Auto captions. Afterward, make edits manually, and export the SRT file to your system and save it.

Otherwise, you could run a quick Google search to find a worthwhile transcription service for much more accuracy and speed. You can also search for relevant apps on your phone's mobile application store. Generally, subtitles help you to get your message across to your audience more explicitly. That helps you achieve greater engagement, increased conversion, and more following.

EXPLORE INSTAGRAM MARKETING TOOLS

There are a plethora of third-party tools that can help amplify your Instagram experience. These tools can help you do a bunch of things on Instagram without too much stress, from managing your account to increasing your likes, from planning and scheduling your content to boost engagement.

A basic Google search will bring up a number of suggestions.

HONE INSTAGRAM STORIES TO SUIT YOU

Instagram Stories is a new Snapchat-like feature on Instagram that lets you create photo and video sequences that disappear 24 hours after being posted. This is a great avenue to push your content out in a unique way. According to Statista: "In January 2019, Instagram reported 500 million daily active Stories users worldwide, up from 400 million global DAU in June 2018."

This means millions of people around the world are already taking advantage of this great feature. But how best can you take advantage of it? With Instagram Stories, the first thing to do is to build anticipation. Generate a hype about what you do.

You could be like, "Hi everyone! I’m here in the studio with my dog and we’ve been working on my latest album. Guess what?! It’s dropping hot on Sunday. Make sure you check it out." People will always gravitate towards your content when this sort of awareness is created.

Use this 24-hour content drive to tell stories about your brand. Taking flattering photos or recording videos about what’s going on only helps when it is organized to have a flow that tells a story. More followers are likely to engage with you and possibly purchase your product.

Share experiences your customers have had with your products and the results they got. A screenshot of a chat could go a long way.

VALIDATE YOUR BRAND THROUGH AN INFLUENCER

Social media influencers are individuals that have a massive number of followership, their followers love them so they could easily trust whatever they say. If an influencer mentions your brand or posts about your product, users will more likely trust and possibly buy from you.

Also, partnering with an influencer gives you the opportunity to access their followers and bring your content before a new audience. Ideally, you should be paying influencers, but you can always offer products and services in exchange for their promotion.

Now, it's also important to realize that the ideal influencers are those whose target audience is reflective of yours; those peculiar to your industry and not necessarily about the biggest names out there.

The trick is looking out for micro influencers that have at least 1000 followers that are HIGHLY engaged because influence is not just about the size of the followers but engaged followers. And this type of influencers does not charge an arm and a leg.

Start by doing your research on who has the most influential voice. Organize them into a list for easy referencing. Better still, compile them into a spreadsheet and outline their names, contact info (phone number, email, etc.), handle across different channels and activity section listing what you talked about last (so you don't reach out with the same message twice).

Next, try to build a relationship with them by sharing their content, asking questions, and supporting them the best way you can. This is not the most popular strategy but it works. It'll be kinda weird to reach out to them out of the blue with an ask, don't you think?

Next, you can email them to snag their attention. You can start by telling who you are, compliment their work on social media, state why you wanted to reach out, how your product or service will benefit them, give them your social media handles and hashtags, ask if they have any questions and thank them for making out time to go through your proposal.

Afterwards, be sure to send them testimonials of how there was an improvement because of their involvement. Continue to foster good relationships with them just in case you need them again in the future.

HOST GIVEAWAYS

To spice up your Instagram page and to promote engagement, you could consider hosting contests and giveaways. However, to get the best out of it, you have to first consider what you stand to achieve by hosting the giveaway — it could be more engagement, more followers, sales, email subscribers or brand awareness. Decide and frame your contest around that.

Pick a relevant prize your followers will benefit from; something that is in tune with your brand. Decide how people enter the contest and keep the steps simple. Keep the duration short. Do not stretch it for too long to avoid people losing interest. Lastly, be fair in choosing a winner because people took out time to engage with you.

PROMOTE YOUR INSTAGRAM ON OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM

This is usually underrated but it creates awareness for your brand. You can post a tidbit of wonderful photos showing your products and ask people to visit your IG page to see the rest. If they were captivated, they'll troop to have a look and possibly become your biggest followers.

CONCLUSION

We hope this guide has been able to do justice to questions you might have had about how to build a powerful presence on Instagram. One thing you must do is to actually implement the tactics we've shared with you in both part one and part two of this guide, and it is always better to start now! You might not always get it right but start already, you'd learn along the way.

Don't forget to check out our array of unbelievably helpful SEO and content tools used by top experts all over the world to get better results in their search engine marketing as well as social media marketing campaigns.

If you have missed the First Part of this guide you can read it here Instagram SEO (pt 1): Crush Instagram Marketing with These 5 Tactics.