While Facebook™ is the king of social media marketing, Instagram should be treated like a queen, too. For one, Instagram is owned by Facebook™. This means that many Facebook™ users also have accounts on this platform and link them together. Also, you can opt to share your Instagram posts on Facebook™.
For another, Instagram was, from the start, a social media platform dedicated to visual content. This defined the strategy for developing the tools available to its users: from high definition photos to various filters and image editing options, this social media platform is the place to showcase visually appealing products.
Top Brands Are Very Active on Instagram
This does not mean that smaller sized companies are unable to draw large followership. Instagram users are always looking out for interesting and high-quality content. The platform allows them to evaluate the products they wish and to build loyalty with their favourite brands.
The result of these specific types of engagement is the fact that marketing strategies for Instagram have evolved separately from those used on Facebook™. There are fewer opportunities to target behaviours and demographics. However, you have greater chances to get your content and promotions in front of your followers.
What’s New on Instagram?
Just like the other social media networks, Instagram is continually changing and evolving. This continuous change means that marketers must adapt their marketing strategies along the way.
We are here to help you succeed in your marketing efforts, so we have prepared a list of marketing trends that will definitely rule Instagram in 2019:
1. The Advent of Vertical Video with IGTV
IGTV is a new video service launched by Instagram in June 2018 and available only for the mobile app. In IGTV you can only share vertical videos (portrait style). This format is in line with the way smartphone users make videos with the phone camera – by holding them in a vertical position.
At present, IGTV is free for everyone to use to share their content. Most probably, this will not last very long, and brands will have to pay for visibility. However, vertical video is a definite trend for Instagram – a platform that started out and continues to favour mobile phones as primary devices. It takes a different approach in creating videos, be it product launches, ads or behind the scenes images at your offices, so start learning while you can experiment with this type of video for free.
2. Shop Now Tags
Instagram has added a new facility for branded content: the Shop Now tag. This is extremely useful if you want to reach potential clients in the most direct way possible. However, it means that you have to pay extra care to the photos you create and share on Instagram.
These images must be professionally shot and edited, without looking like an ad or a product photo. Instead, you must feature the product in such a way that someone scrolling through their Instagram newsfeed stops and says – “I want this!” The Shop Now tag will help them fulfill their wish, but only if the photo creates it.
3. Promote Your Products with Instagram Stories Ads
Instagram Stories are very popular – every day, 400 million users watch stories created by their friends, by influencers or by brands. Since this format became so popular, the Facebook™ team that manages Instagram decided to introduce the option of paid ads for brands.
Instagram Stories ads are very effective and, considering the increasing costs of advertising on other social media platforms, a good solution for those periods when you have a tighter advertising budget.
4. Augmented Reality Filters
Facebook™ declared its commitment to infuse its platforms with new technologies – augmented reality and virtual reality. One of the ways in which the company kept its promise is by bringing augmented reality filters to Instagram.
These filters help you personalise your content and make them more engaging for the audience. What makes them appealing as a marketing tool is that users have to follow your Instagram account in order to see these filters.
5. Partnerships with Influencers
Instagrammers are the top influencers of the social media network – people with lots of followers who can help boost sales by sharing a photo and tagging a brand in it. Large companies created a new trend this year – treating top influencers to trips around the world, to exclusive destinations, in order to showcase their products.
Smaller companies cannot hope to compete with these brands, but it does not mean that they should not attempt to attract influencers. While you cannot reach top celebrities and fashionistas, you can identify influencers among your own followers or in your niche and form mutually benefitting partnerships.