Instagram is a highly visual platform so you need to be able to create images and videos that stand out and get your viewers attention. You want to be attracting new viewers through your posts but more importantly you want loyalty to your brand.
You first want to understand more about your viewers so that your posts can stand out and get their attention. Build personas around your viewers thinking about their demographics, likes and interests. Also look at competitors’ channels and see how they display their posts looking at the images, fonts, colours. Review the engagement on their posts to see what is working and has attracted viewers attention.
Think about the voice and tone of your content as to the way viewers might perceive you. The voice of your content is your brands personality will you be light-hearted, funny, positive or will it be more professional and a commercial feel. The tone sets the context for your brand. For example, if you are going down a professional route for your voice the tone maybe factual, informative, educational.
Theming your posts on Instagram creates an overarching look and identity. This could be done through a colour scheme, subject matter, font, borders on images, group by shots or a particular Instagram filter. Creating themes helps your content stand out and your viewers to recognise you as they are scrolling through their feed.
Once you understand your identity you now want to look at a content calendar. A content calendar is the ‘what and when’ you are going to post.
If you are new to Instagram the when to post may be experimental to begin with until you gather some data and see the best times viewers engage with you. If you have been posting for a while look back over your analytics to see the best time viewers have interacted in the past so you know when to schedule posts.
To reduce the stress and time of having to post manually and interrupting your day you might want to look at a scheduling tool. This will enable you to create all of your posts for the week in one go and schedule the days and times these go live, the platform will then posts these for you. There are paid and free versions out there to use.
You want to connect with your viewers through the content you produce. This connection wants to generate emotion with your viewers and let the viewer feel as if they are experiencing your content. Here are so points to think about:
Timely - think about events, holidays, occasions coming up that will be of interest for your viewers and how this may be relevant to your brand.
Trending – what’s trending that your viewers will be interested in?
Original – Make sure your content is unique so that it stands out.
Snackable – Your content needs to be easily digestible when the viewer is scrolling through Instagram.
CTA – What do you want the viewer to do when they have seen your post? Give them an action.
Story - Tell a story to engage and captivate your viewers.
You want to be posting different types of content through Instagram and not just always selling to your viewers. This will help to keep loyalty to your brand and be of interest to your viewer. Here are some ideas on the type of content you might post.
Behind the scenes – show them your setup / office / factory so they get a feel for how you are working and feel apart of the company.
Employees – show the personality of your employees or just yourself through the content. This shows viewers there is a real person behind the account.
User generated content – this is where your audience generates content for you. This might be through reviews, feedback or use of your products/service.
Educational – educate your viewers on your business industry.
Influencer posts – work with other people to demonstrate what you have to offer.
Motivational – uplift and motivate your viewers however post these sparingly as it can start to look cheesy after a while.
News stories in your industry – As a news story is trending in your industry create a video explaining more about this matter and an explanation as to what this means will enable you to stand out and show your knowledge.
Holidays / national days that connect with you and your business.
Planning your content and understand your viewers and environment will help you grow on Instagram and increase engagement and most importantly loyalty. Time to get started!
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