Photos are a great tool for optimizing your social media presence. While there are several photo-based social media networks that parade their unique features in the digital space, there is one that manages to take the spotlight time and again – Instagram. The Facebook owned app has 150 million monthly active users according to Mashable.
This photo and video-centric social network attracts independent users, organizations, and top brands globally. With elaborate video capabilities and user-friendly mobile features, Instagram has become a social conduit for companies executing brand advertising campaigns, an online photo and video portal, and a platform to increase social ROI. With recent improvements around ads and sponsored campaigns on mobile, Instagram is well on its way to helping businesses extend their reach and establish brand awareness.
Instagram helps businesses measure their social media marketing campaigns to ensure social impact and performance. Here are five tips on measuring your Instagram marketing efforts:
Hashtags: There is a strategic process to using hashtags on social media networks. Consider your brand and service offerings when utilizing hashtags. For example, if you post a photo of a new product, use hashtags that relate to the content of the photo. Also, think about your target customer and the hashtags they’re using when choosing the most appropriate and relevant keywords and categories on Instagram. Make sure to use Hootsuite to track relevant categories and hashtags to build relationships with prospects and partnering organizations.
Engagement: Photos and videos incite a level of interaction that makes image-based content viral. Increase engagement on Instagram by sharing and liking other user’s photos and content. This will increase the reciprocity effect and influence brand development. Want to learn which type of photos drive the most engagement? Here is a neat infographic presented by Curalate that says it all:
Presented by Curalate
Ad campaigns: Take advantage of the featured sponsored ad campaigns on Instagram. According to Business Insider, “Levi’s four sponsored images reached 7.4 million Americans aged 18-35 over a nine-day period while Ben and Jerry’s four sponsored images reached 9.8 million people in the U.S. over an eight-day span.” With such significant results, brands can maximize their social efforts immensely with advertising campaigns on Instagram.
Analytics: Nitrogram is an analytics management tool that tracks your performance on Instagram. The system provides users with the ability to track multiple Instagram accounts including your competitor’s activity. It also lets you monitor or discover relevant hashtags, and also contains a social CRM system that allows you to engage with your followers from the web.
Frequency: Monitor how often you’re posting photos, videos, and content on your Instagram account. Analyze how a post performs by measuring the increase or decrease of followers, comments, and likes on your photos. To develop your audience, it’s crucial that you understand how a post measures up in the digital arena. Also, these strategies will prevent you from posting content that isn’t generating the interest and results you’re looking for.
Are you tracking any metrics on your Instagram account? Let me know what trends you’ve found useful!
