5 Steps To Instagram Your Way To The Top

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Let’s get this notion to rest before we even start – You don’t have to be famous on Instagram for your brand to see the best results. 

Learning how to Instagram your way to the top is not just about counting followers. Instead, success comes from a dedicated audience and great content. It might seem overwhelming to think about ensuring a successful outcome when you’re just starting an Instagram marketing strategy, but you’ll find that the same careful planning approach will help you here. 

That’s why I’ve put together a simple but highly successful five-step guide on how to make Instagram a success. Follow these Instagram performance tips to help improve your plan. 

1. Use a branded hashtag 

As a social brand, you need some form of marketability. It’s a thin line between being promotional and being resourceful. 

To avoid being overly promotional but still marketing your brand, consider branded Instagram hashtags. A significant fact to note is that seven out of 10 Instagram hashtags are advertised. This means that your hashtag must be unique, memorable and engaging. 

For example, Thrive Market uses the # letthrive hashtag to promote user-generated content on Instagram. The hashtags work as a source of interaction between the brand and the user. You ‘re just praising the customers instead of encouraging them. 

Instagram Pro Performance Tip: Note to thoroughly check your preferred hashtag because it can often be confused with someone else. Avoid shame and be detailed with your hashtag campaign. 

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Use the Hashtag Analytics Feature To Instagram Your Way To The Top 

It’s important to learn how the hashtags work so that you can make changes before it’s too late. 

You can also see if your keywords are sticking to your Instagram audience. Analyze your results or compare the hashtags to see what fits best. 

2. Have a call for action 

Here’s a question that any company will ask itself about its Instagram campaign – what causes people to follow and connect with your brand? As we mentioned earlier, having gorgeous photos certainly helps to attract users. But how do the viewers realize what the next move is if you don’t have the right call to action? 

Instagram terms are key for a good account. They give your audience everything from the meaning of your goods and services to the critical calls for action to move conversion forward. For instance, Bucketfeet, a shoe manufacturer, uses Instagram captions to highlight collaborations and new or limited designs. 

This caption does a great job of highlighting the limited edition design run to encourage users to purchase now. Literature also provides fantastic opportunities to use the newly created branded hashtags to spread awareness. 

Don’t forget about your link 

Instagram is unique because it allows only one link to be located in the bio user. It’s common practice for your lyrics to direct viewers to a path in your Instagram profile. That’s why your link needs to be as relevant and fresh as possible. 

It’s a very common practice to link to a custom Instagram landing page, which typically includes a lot of easy-to-find links to recent content, products or services mentioned in your feed. You can use an Instagram-specific page builder or create and update your own — either by making sure users have access to a plethora of highly relevant content that matches what they’ve seen in your recent posts and effectively moves them to your marketing enclosure. 

This is what Evernote is doing to promote its latest collaborations and speaking events. In this example , the company posted a connection that guided users to SXSW speaking sessions, but also had a direct button to get Evernote. 

By using a unique landing page, you direct users from a specific Instagram content to an actionable page that matches the purpose of that post. 

3. Plan your content strategy 

You probably already know it’s not enough to post a couple of photos or videos, and wait for the audience to rush in. Instead, you need to develop a content plan much as you would with every other marketing campaign. 

Below are few clear rules for Instagram: 

• Research the best positions in your industry and track your competitors. Find 5-10 competitors (such as similar brands) and document their top positions in the last few months. Mark all commonalities: food linked, vibrant colors, pictures of people and other subjects, to see what fits. You ‘re not only trying to clone other pages, so that’s going to help you get a handle on what’s attracting your eye in your niche. 

• Start building up a plethora of content around a similar theme or idea. You can gain greater continuity in your output and message by preparing enough posts to have at least a month or two of content. Adjust them to your social media calendar and ensure that each post is consistent. 

• Try to be as unique as you can with your content. While that’s easier said than done, Instagram’s creative play works, and there’s plenty of reliable ways to get inspiration for Instagram’s post ideas. 

• Invest the images in photo editing tools. If it’s Adobe Photoshop or VSCO, the content has to be impressive to attract the eyes of the viewer. Beautiful, stunning photography always gets the attention of your viewers. 

It might seem like a lot of work to build content at first, but the rewards are worth it. Good material contributes to more effort. If followers really enjoy and look forward to what you post, you ‘re increasing your chances of converting them to a leader or a customer. 

4. Connect with Influencers in your niche

As we have already described, several companies integrate user-generated content to communicate with customers, partner on content, and support each other’s Instagram. But these people don’t need a million apps, or they need to be a star to help you achieve more exposure. 

Instead, brands need to find their niche social media influencers that can actually increase engagement and debate around your company. Here are the key steps to find influencers on Instagram: 

• Use BuzzSumo to find and follow your industry leaders. This is a perfect way to identify lesser-known influencers with a significant demographic history in your particular industry. 
• Engage with the influencers and don’t run right and press for collaborations. Comment on their content or ask a few questions related to your industry. Then you might ask a big question. 

• Start the little one. More probable than not, high-level influencers have either been approached or are expected to have a collaboration mechanism in place. Start on the smaller side and work your way up to those that have huge follow-ups. 

5. Interact with your followers

If you’re fairly new to developing your brand on Instagram, it’s important to take small steps to create interaction. However, smaller brands may begin to follow their fans or those considered to be “power users.” 

At the same time, use your platform to communicate with and support users if they create content related to your industry. Urban Outfitters routinely publish user-generated content from writers, photographers and partnering designers. 

Some of your biggest fans may already be creating fantastic Instagram material. Try to see how they can work with your brand to work for both parties. 

Stop the Robotic Touch 

No one really wants to talk to an automated message, so avoid a robotic response. Also major brands like Dr. Pepper take the time to respond to followers with fast and fun responses. It doesn’t have to be a full conversation, but answering can make you wonder about your Instagram engagement. 

One in three users will go to a competitor if they are ignored on a social basis. This is meant to mean something to your Instagram business. Unanswered questions leave people’s mouths with a bad taste. 

And make sure you’re ready to make an effort to respond to those in need. If you want recommendations and good reviews, be prepared to use Instagram as a source of information and connectivity. 

Instagram Your Way To The Top: Final Thoughts

It’s smart to nurture and value your connections, because just like your audience, the influencers handle robotic messages all the time. Start building genuine partnerships by showing up at business conferences or calling for joint webinars to be held. 

There are a lot of ways to connect, but if you do it right, your successful Instagram account will be a source of entertainment and information for your fans.

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