Instagram Marketing Strategy 101

In a world where Instagram has evolved from a personal photo-sharing platform to a digital marketing powerhouse with over 2 billion monthly users, brands now have a golden opportunity to engage audiences like never before. Instagram can showcase a brand’s products or services with compelling visual-first content, serving as a critical tool to enhance brand awareness, engage with a more diverse audience, and connect authentically with users on the platform.

Not sure where to start with your brand’s Instagram marketing strategy? Our 2024 Instagram Marketing Guide below can help you begin.

What is Instagram Marketing?

Instagram marketing involves using the power of Instagram to improve brand awareness, engage with users, generate leads, and drive sales. It leverages Instagram’s numerous features to create a multifaceted approach for a brand or company’s overall social media marketing. 

Through Instagram marketing, your brand can engage directly with its users or customers, reach a wider audience, and lead to better quality conversions.

Creating Your Professional Instagram Account

The first step to setting up your brand’s Instagram marketing strategy is to create a professional, or Business, Instagram account. 

Instagram accounts are either personal, or professional, and the platform offers two types of professional accounts: Business and Creator. Creator accounts are ideal for public figures, influencers, or artists, while Business accounts cater to businesses seeking new customers. 

To create a professional Instagram business account:  

1. Download and open the Instagram app on your phone or sign up using the Instagram desktop site. 
2. Log into Instagram if you already have a personal account or sign up to Instagram with your email and phone number. 
3. Go to settings by selecting the three horizontal bars from the upper right-hand corner of your profile. Scroll down to “For professionals” → “Account type and tools”. 
4. Select either “Switch to professional account” if you want to switch the account you’re currently logged into from personal to professional, or select “Add new professional account” if you want to add a separate professional account. 
5. Choose the category that best describes your brand or business.

The importance of using a professional account for Instagram marketing

Professional Instagram accounts give creators and businesses access to valuable tools, analytics, and features. These, in turn, will help guide and inform your overall Instagram marketing strategy. 

When you switch to a professional Instagram account you can access:  

• Data insights: Professional Instagram accounts can see analytics and information about their audience and followers, engagement metrics, and post-performance.

• Promote posts: Boost visibility and engagement by promoting your brand’s posts directly from the Instagram app, to reach a wider audience.

• Instagram shopping: Professional Instagram accounts have the ability to tag products to integrate with Instagram shopping. 

• Contact options: Business accounts can add multiple contact options to their profile, for easier communication with customers. 

Verifying your professional Instagram account

There are two ways to verify your professional Instagram account. Depending on your type of brand, content, and eligibility, you may be able to sign up for one, the other, or both verification methods. 

The two ways to verify your Instagram account are: 

1. Apply for the Instagram verification badge: If you’re a public figure, celebrity, or notable brand you can apply for the verified badge. Scroll down to “For professionals” under your settings tab, select “Account type and tools” and then “Request verification” to get to the application screen.  
2. Sign up for Meta Verified: Meta Verified is a paid subscription that validates your account and provides additional features. Eligible personal and business Instagram accounts can sign up underneath “For professionals” in their Instagram settings tab.

Types of Content for your Instagram Marketing Strategy

A key part of any comprehensive Instagram marketing strategy is utilizing different types of content. A diverse strategy that includes organic posts, paid advertising, influencer marketing, and Instagram Shopping will help your brand expand its reach, engage with new and different audiences, and enhance the overall user experience. 

Organic Instagram Content 

Organic content on Instagram refers to non-paid content that a brand or individual shares on their profile. This type of content is crucial for building an authentic connection with your audience, showcasing your brand’s personality, and engaging users without direct advertising. 

Here’s a breakdown of the types of organic content you can leverage on Instagram and how to optimize your brand’s profile for better visibility and engagement.

Types of Organic Content

Instagram has several different types of organic content that accounts can post. It’s important to diversify your organic content, to better reach your audience and engage with users. 

Types of organic content on Instagram are: 

• Instagram Posts: Traditional photo or video posts that appear on your profile and in your followers’ feeds.
• Stories: Content that disappears after 24 hours, perfect for behind-the-scenes looks and time-sensitive promotions.
• Carousel Posts: Multiple photos or videos in a single post, allowing for a more in-depth storytelling experience.
• Reels: Short, engaging videos set to music or original audio that can go viral and reach a broad audience.
• Instagram Live: Real-time video streams where you can interact with viewers through comments and questions, enhancing community engagement.
• Collaborative Posts: Posts shared with another user or brand, appear on both profiles, which can significantly extend your reach and foster community building.
• IGTV: Longer-form video content that stays on your profile, suitable for in-depth stories, tutorials, or product showcases.

Leveraging SEO on Instagram

Leveraging organic content on Instagram is essential for brand visibility and audience engagement.

Some tips for enhancing the organic reach of your brand on Instagram are: 

• Know your audience: Understand their interests and preferences to create relevant content.
• Set clear goals: Define SMART objectives to guide your content strategy.
• Content pillars: Identify themes for consistent and engaging content.
• Content variety: Use posts, Stories, Reels, IGTV, and Live videos to diversify your feed.
• Optimize for discovery: Include keywords, hashtags, and engaging captions for visibility.
• Engage with your audience: Respond to comments, host Q&A sessions, and encourage interaction.
• User-Generated Content (UGC): Feature content created by followers to build community trust.
• Collaborate with others: Partner with influencers or brands for broader reach.
• Analyze and adapt: Use analytics to refine your strategy based on performance data.
• Stay trendy: Keep up with Instagram trends and features for fresh and engaging content.

How to optimize your brand’s Instagram profile

Your brand’s Instagram profile is the first thing users will see when they search for your account, or a keyword related to your industry. Optimizing your profile will help more users find and engage with your content. 

Here are some tips to optimize your brand’s Instagram profile:  

• Profile picture: Use a clear, recognizable logo or brand image that’s easily identifiable.
• Username and name: Include your brand name and, if possible, a primary keyword related to your business in your username and name fields.
• Bio: Your bio should succinctly convey what your brand does, incorporating relevant keywords. You can also include a call-to-action (CTA) and a link to your website or a landing page.
• Highlights: Use story highlights to organize and showcase important aspects of your brand, such as products, testimonials, or FAQs.
• Content strategy: Develop a content strategy that aligns with your brand goals, audience interests, and the types of organic content mentioned above. Consistency in style, tone, and posting schedule can help in building a loyal following.
• Engagement: Actively engage with your audience by responding to comments and messages. Engagement signals to Instagram’s algorithm that your content is valuable, increasing its visibility.

Paid Instagram Content

Paid content on Instagram refers to sponsored posts and advertisements that reach a targeted audience beyond your existing followers. 

These ads can appear in users’ feeds, Stories, Explore tab, and more. Managing paid content effectively is a crucial part of an Instagram marketing strategy, as it can significantly boost your brand’s visibility and drive specific marketing goals such as website traffic, lead generation, or sales.

Types of Instagram Ads

There are a number of ad types you can utilize for your brand on Instagram. Different Instagram ads can serve different purposes, and reach different audiences, with different user experiences. 

Instagram ad types include: 

• Image Ads: Simple and effective, these are single photos that tell your brand’s story.
• Video Ads: More engaging than image ads, video ads can be up to 60 seconds long.
• Carousel Ads: Allow users to swipe through a series of images or videos in a single ad.
• Collection Ads: Provide a seamless shopping experience, letting users purchase products directly from the ad.
• Stories Ads: Full-screen ads that appear between users’ Stories.
• Explore Ads: Appear in the Explore section where users discover new content aligned with their interests.
• Reels Ads: Short, entertaining video ads that appear in between Reels content.
• Shopping Ads: Highlight your products and enable users to learn more or make a purchase with just a few taps.

Managing paid content as part of an Instagram marketing strategy

Define Your Objectives: Clearly define what you want to achieve. Objectives can range from increasing brand awareness to driving sales. This will determine the ad format, targeting options, and budget.

Targeting: Instagram offers robust targeting options based on demographics, interests, behaviors, and more. You can also create custom audiences from your website visitors or lookalike audiences to reach people similar to your existing customers.

Budgeting: Decide on a budget for your campaign. Instagram allows you to set a daily or lifetime budget, and you can choose between cost-per-click (CPC) or cost-per-impression (CPM) billing.

Creative Content: Develop compelling ad creatives that resonate with your target audience. Ensure that your visuals and copy align with your brand voice and campaign objectives.

Testing and Optimization: Run A/B tests with different ad formats, creatives, and targeting options to see what works best. Use Instagram’s analytics to track performance and optimize your ads for better results.

Scheduling: Determine the best times to run your ads based on when your target audience is most active on Instagram. Use scheduling tools like Metricool to automate the process.

Compliance: Ensure that your ads comply with Instagram’s advertising policies to avoid disapprovals or account issues.

Integration with Organic Strategy: Paid content should complement your organic content strategy. Maintain a balance between the two to ensure a consistent brand message and avoid overwhelming your audience with ads.

Affiliate Marketing on Instagram

Affiliate marketing is a performance-based advertising strategy where brands or businesses reward affiliates for each visitor or customer the affiliate brings to the brand. Affiliates promote certain products or services and earn a commission from each sale of leads they generate through their unique affiliate link. 

Affiliate marketing on Instagram is a popular method for brands to spread awareness while content creators have diverse, passive incomes while engaging with their audience by providing genuine recommendations. 

To begin affiliate marketing on Instagram, follow these steps: 

1. Switch to a professional Instagram account.
2. Find affiliate partners or programs.
3. Promote relevant products that resonate with your audience by creating engaging content.
4. Share an affiliate code or link on Instagram posts, Stories, Reels, and in your bio. 
5. Track and optimize your affiliate posts performances using analytics tools like Metricool.

Instagram Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing on Instagram is a powerful strategy where brands collaborate with social media influencers to promote their products or services to a targeted audience. 

It involves partnering with individuals, known as influencers, who have a significant and engaged following on the platform to endorse products authentically. Influencers create sponsored content like photos, videos, giveaways, and Stories to generate buzz around a brand or product.

Benefits of Instagram influencer marketing

Some of the ways influencer marketing can enhance your brand on Instagram are: 

• Establishes authenticity and trust by leveraging influencers’ loyal followers.
• Utilizes Instagram’s visual appeal for attractive product displays.
• Offers creative flexibility with various content formats customized to audience and brand needs.
• Facilitates compelling storytelling by seamlessly incorporating products into influencer content.
• Provides access to niche markets and specialized communities, enhancing brand reach and engagement.

Types of influencers

Influencers can be divided into different types, depending on their follower count and reach. Choosing to work with influencers that have different account sizes can be beneficial depending on your brand’s marketing goals. 

• Nano-influencers: 1,000–10,000 followers: Nano-influencers often have higher engagement and authenticity due to their smaller following size. They may also be more cost-effective than larger influencers.
• Micro-influencers: 10,000–100,000 followers: Micro-influencers are known for their niche expertise and loyal audience, making them effective in promoting niche products and services to a more engaged following. They often have a more personal connection with their followers, leading to higher levels of trust and reliability in their recommendations.
• Mid-tier influencers: 100,000–500,000 followers: Mid-tier influencers offer a balance between reach and engagement at a more affordable rate compared to macro or mega-influencers. They bring experience and a trusted reputation to collaborations, offering brands the opportunity to partner with influencers who can boost engagement effectively.
• Macro-influencers: 500,000–1 million followers: Macro-influencers offer brands a large reach due to their substantial follower count, making them suitable for campaigns that require broad visibility. They can leverage their reputation to attract followers and drive engagement for brands looking to tap into a wider audience base.
• Mega-influencers: 1 million+ followers: Mega-influencers are highly visible on social media platforms due to their celebrity status and massive follower count. Brands benefit from the association with mega-influencers who can attract attention and create buzz around products or services due to their widespread influence.

Steps to manage Instagram influencer marketing

To get your brand started with Instagram influencer marketing: 

1. Define Goals and Target Audience: Clearly outline campaign objectives aligned with audience interests.
2. Select the Right Influencers: Identify influencers based on brand values, target audience, engagement rates, and authenticity.
3. Conduct an Instagram Audit: Review influencer content consistency and audience interaction using tools like Instagram Insights or third-party analytics platforms.
4. Collaborate Creatively: Work with influencers to create engaging content that resonates with their audience and aligns with your brand message.
5. Measure ROI: Track key metrics like views, comments, shares, clicks, sales/conversions, revenue, promo codes used, followers, and reach to evaluate campaign success.

Instagram Shopping

Instagram Shopping has changed the way businesses connect with customers and drive sales directly through the platform. This feature allows brands to tag products in posts, providing key details like names, prices, and purchase links, streamlining the shopping experience for users.

Benefits of Instagram Shopping

Instagram Shopping offers numerous benefits, such as converting followers into customers more efficiently, creating immersive shopping experiences through personalized interactions, and expanding product reach to a broader audience. Key features like the Shop tab, product tags in posts, curated collections, detailed product pages, and direct checkout options enhance the shopping journey for users.

Setting Up Instagram Shopping

To integrate Instagram Shopping into your marketing strategy, start by switching to a business profile and creating a product catalog. The Instagram Shopping review process may take some time, while Instagram ensures compliance with its guidelines before enabling the feature for your account.

Once you have decided what your goals are, you have to choose how you want to achieve them, so you can develop your strategy and think about what kind of content you want to share on Instagram.

⚡️ Optimize your brand’s Instagram Shopping⚡️

How to Create Your Instagram Marketing Strategy

Now that we’ve covered different content and marketing strategies on Instagram, let’s go over how you can create your own. 

Know your audience

Dive deep into audience research by using Instagram Insights or tools like Metricool to gather data on your followers’ age, gender, location, and when they’re most active. Create audience personas to better visualize and understand the needs and motivations of your target segments. Engaging directly with your audience through polls, questions, or direct messages can also provide valuable qualitative insights.

Analyze your Instagram competitors

Conduct a thorough analysis of your competitors on Instagram to identify their strengths, weaknesses, and strategies. Look at your competitors’ content, hashtags, engagement rates, and follower growth. Notice any content gaps or opportunities they might be missing that your brand could capitalize on. Tools like Metricool can help you monitor competitor brands’ engagement and posts.

Understand the Instagram algorithm

The Instagram algorithm tends to favor content that receives quick engagement from followers. It also prioritizes content from accounts users interact with frequently. 

To stay ahead, engage with your audience promptly after posting and encourage them to interact with your content through likes, comments, and shares. Creating shareable content, such as memes or infographics, can also help increase your content’s reach. Use high-quality visuals, compelling captions, and strategic hashtag use to boost your content’s performance. Encourage user-generated content to increase authenticity and engagement. Regularly check Instagram’s official announcements or credible marketing blogs for updates on the algorithm.

Develop your content creation plan

Create a comprehensive content creation plan that aligns with your brand identity, audience preferences, and marketing objectives. 

Consistency in style, tone, and messaging is key to building a strong brand presence on Instagram. Remember to consider the balance between promotional content and value-adding content to avoid overwhelming your audience with sales pitches.

Time your posts for maximum engagement

Identify the best times to post on Instagram based on your audience’s online behavior and engagement patterns. Remember that the best times to post can vary based on your specific audience and their habits. 

Consider the time zones of your primary audience segments and schedule posts accordingly. Experiment with different posting schedules to determine when your content receives the highest level of interaction. Use scheduling tools to maintain a consistent posting rhythm, even outside of business hours.

Set your metrics to measure success

You can’t develop an Instagram marketing strategy without knowing your goals and objectives. The easiest way to measure a successful marketing strategy is through key metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs). 

These metrics help you not only measure your own brand’s success but also can help you benchmark against your competitors and leaders in your market or industry. As your brand and marketing strategy evolves, so too should your key metrics and performance indicators.

Key Instagram metrics to measure: 

• Engagement rate: How well your content engages and resonates with your audience. 
• Reach & impressions: The number of users who see your content. 
• Click-through rate (CTR): The percentage of users who clicked on a link or CTA. 
• Conversion rate: The percentage of users who completed a desired action. 
• Follower growth count: The rate at which your Instagram followers increase over time.  
• Hashtag & keyword performance: Which hashtags and keywords perform best, drive the most engagement and increase discoverability?

Instagram Marketing with Metricool

9 ways Metricool can help you manage your brand’s Instagram marketing strategy: 

1. Unified management: Metricool consolidates Instagram management tasks like scheduling, analytics, and engagement all in one platform. 
2. Advanced analytics: Discover insights into Instagram post engagement, audience demographics, community growth, hashtag trends, and more.
3. Scheduling & publishing: Schedule and auto-post content, with optimal timing recommendations. 
4. Performance reports (Premium accounts only): Create fully customizable reports for key Instagram metrics.
5. Competitor analysis: Tools to track and analyze brand competitor growth on Instagram. 
6. Team collaboration: Allow role-specific access for team members to better manage brand strategy and community. 
7. SmartLinks: Optimize Instagram’s single bio link for higher CTR and conversions. 
8. Instagram ads management: Optimize ads, track performance, and control budget all from one platform. 
9. Cross-platform management: Manage & schedule content across all the biggest social media platforms. Develop your brand’s social media marketing strategy in one place.

Gretchen Oestreicher , 19 March 2024