Instagram has over 1 billion monthly active users, making it one of the most important platforms for brands looking to expand their reach and drive sales. 75% of users take action after being inspired by Instagram content. With the right strategy, Instagram offers immense marketing potential.
This comprehensive guide will walk you through proven techniques to build your following, engage your audience, leverage Instagram ads, work with influencers, track performance, and turn Instagram into a sales-driving juggernaut. Whether you are new to Instagram marketing or looking to level up your skills, this guide shares the latest tactics and tools to maximize your success. Let’s dive in!
Table of Contents
Instagram Campaign Marketing: From Selfie Platform to Full-Fledged Marketing
Since its launch in 2010, Instagram has been gaining popularity and engaging users worldwide. Instagram is an online photo and video-sharing platform accessed from any digital device. Instagram has a wide range of uses, from public figures to multinational companies. As an individual, you can use Instagram to share your day-to-day activities with your friends and family.
As a business owner/entrepreneur, however, there is much more in this little app for you. Creating a profile for your startup or small business to engage your followers with your company’s latest news and updates is just scratching the surface. An Instagram campaign can greatly enhance your online presence, spread the word about your business and fulfil all your marketing needs.
Because of the genuine nature of the social media platform, many brands have chosen to create Instagram campaigns to enhance their product’s popularity and brand image amongst a select audience. Instagram is especially popular amongst millennials, who refer to it as ‘the Gram’ or ‘Insta’, and spend hours exploring the online world. This makes it very simple for brands to target that age group and their general preferences through current trends and rising hashtags.
As Instagram developed over the years, several features have been implemented to allow more interactions and direct user communication. Features like Instagram Direct and Live Stories have made it much simpler to start successful Instagram Campaigns and prevail a new face to the brand. Hashtags like #TransformationTuesday and #WomanCrushWednesday are used and followed by many Instagram users. For that reason, it would be effective for brands to implement them or other relevant hashtags within their Instagram campaigns.
For public accounts, you can categorize your profile as a Public Figure or a Company to introduce yourself to your viewers initially. From then on, you can view the insights on your pages, analyze the viewership of your posts and the nature of your follower base and assess all recent activity on your page. Using this information, you will understand what your followers like the most and what type of content you should create and post to enhance your Instagram campaign.
Another feature recently added to Instagram is the sponsored posts. As a public account, you can pay for your posts to be shown on users’ timelines, even those not following you. Using this Instagram feature will expose your Instagram campaign to more viewers and gradually increase your follower count. You can utilise behavioural marketing through the users’ Facebook demographics and effectively target specific interests and behaviours.
Key Steps to a Flourishing Instagram Campaign
Whether you’re using Instagram as a branch of your marketing scheme or basing your marketing technique around an Instagram campaign, it’s important to understand the how-to’s of the app and how to successfully attract viewers to your photos and videos. Here are some tips and tricks on making the most of your Instagram campaign and making your followers hungry for more.
- Feel the Beat
To ensure the success and immediate relevance of your Instagram campaign, you need to be able to feel the rhythm of the market and understand the social media world, the trends happening, and the trends to come. Based on your well-founded instincts, you should be able to assess when and how to introduce your Instagram campaign.
Planning and preparation are essential before the launch of any Instagram campaign; it would even make sense to keep some draft posts in the queue when you think your audience is ready for them. Have a plan that maintains the activeness of your account and keeps your audience constantly tuned in.
- Pictures, Videos and more!
Instagram users are already looking for visual content. To step up the viewer’s engagement with your work, why not make it move? Videos will likely resonate with your audience and keep them engaged longer.
Unlike in the past, you are no longer restricted to 15-second videos to share with your audience at a time. Instagram videos can be up to a minute long, and you can create videos to share with your viewers all at once.
However, remember that long videos might not be as engaging since viewers are rapidly scrolling through their timelines, so keep your videos short and sweet!
- Make Your Profile Pop!
When viewers visit your Instagram profile, you want to ensure they click the ‘follow’ button. They are more likely to do that if your profile is exciting and inviting enough, and you need to ensure that. When posting content on your Instagram page, you must ensure that all posts can stand alone and together.
Try to implement a theme throughout your posts; you can achieve this through the filters used in your pictures, the nature of the photos and videos themselves, and even the captions and hashtags you use in your posts.
Your posts could even follow a storyline that shows the series of events. Either way, having an artistic sense of style and formatting will help you maintain the aesthetic of your profile and gain the attention of many consumers to enhance your Instagram campaign.
- Go Live
One of the most recent Instagram uses is the Live feature. Many companies and figures go live to give their viewers a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes of the brand and the management behind the magic. In addition to the live feature, you can save your Live Session to be viewed later by followers who missed it.
When recording a Live Session, there are three factors to remember: genuineness, organization and spontaneity. Be authentic in your recording, and ensure that nothing seems too staged or fake while ensuring that whatever you are showing is presented professionally and clearly.
You can also use this Live feature for other reasons within your Instagram campaign. For example, you can record a part of an event hosted by your brand or show the reveal of the winners from your latest competition.
- Stay Subtle
To harmonise with the latest marketing trends outside the Insta-sphere, ensure your advertisements stay subtle and relevant. Try to make your Instagram campaign appear to target minds, not wallets. Consumers do not like being told what to do and where to spend their money but would rather be free to choose; just make sure they choose you.
On the other end of the spectrum, do not let your Instagram campaign reign too loosely; your brand has a clear purpose to you and your consumers. Sometimes, the simplest means of calling to action would be to direct them towards a ‘Show Now’ button or a ‘Click Here’.
- Engage & Communicate
Through Instagram, you have numerous ways of approaching your audience and countless means of engaging with them. The mainstream posts aren’t enough to cut it anymore. Post Stories and live Feeds, and don’t be afraid to answer Direct Messages from your followers and fans.
An Instagram campaign makes your brand appear approachable and genuine, so use the tools available to fulfil this purpose. Alongside the 24-hour-long stories you could post online, you could add them to your profile to appear forever, but not amongst your posts; these are called Highlights.
Amongst all these tools and features of the social media app, you can personalize your Instagram campaign and showcase the different aspects of your brand in many effective ways.
- Who Runs the World?
Forget what you are taught in school. Governments, banks and businesses do not make the world go round. Kids, teenagers and adults alike are looking towards social media for information, reviews and tips. There’s no shame in asking for help. Social media influencers hold a pivotal role in shaping the trends of modern teenage society, and it’s how they make money; influencers make money off of promoting products and services. These influencers have already built a strong, loyal follower base, so using them to reach a larger target audience for your Instagram campaign would be advantageous.
Depending on the number of followers, social media influencers will either demand money or go by with just free products. Depending on your budget and target audience, you should be able to select from a wide range of local and global social media influencers.
The Instagram Campaign of 2017
See the tools we discussed being used through these real-life examples of Instagram campaigns. As we look back on the past year, we can recognize some campaigns on Instagram that stood out amongst the rest. From the following examples, you can recognize some of the Instagram features utilized in the campaign and attempt to apply the same techniques to your Instagram campaign.
Adidas took video production to another level; their #HereToCreate Instagram campaign sincerely communicated with a broad range of athletes on a deeper level. The campaign features videos that attend to each athlete’s passion and love for their sport. The underlying theme behind each video was Creativity, and the videos posted were mainly targeted at athletes and the love, passion and inspiration they hold.
- RYU Apparel
Who doesn’t love free stuff? A marketing feature that is very popular with Instagram campaigns is contests and giveaways. RYU engaged their followers with the #WhatsInYourBag campaign, where all you had to do was post a picture with the hashtag #WhatsInYourBag showing the inside of your gym bag, and you had the chance to win a prize package from RYU. The brand shared the contest on their page, but it was up to the followers to continue the trend, which really maximised their campaign’s effect.
Relating to the influencer marketing technique we mentioned earlier, you can see this in practice through Glossier’s Instagram campaign. They gave away gift packages to multiple social media influencers to advertise their products. The impact of this was a lot more sincere and natural, as it appeared to the viewers that the brand was not looking for big names or famous faces but real people like themselves.
On the other hand, brands like Fashion Nova chose to target big (if not the biggest) names in the media industry right now. The fashion brand sent their clothes to celebrities like Kylie Jenner, Cardi B, and many more, who are extremely popular in the industry. With Fashion Nova being a relatively inexpensive brand with quality clothing, they aimed to address the concept that you do not have to wear expensive things to look like a model or a superstar.
- Nusr Et
Sometimes fame comes by accident. Nusret, more commonly known as #SaltBae, became extremely popular at the beginning of 2017. After posting a video of him sprinkling salt on one of his delicious meat dishes, Nusret and his restaurant went viral rapidly. Soon, there were memes, video compilations and A LOT of talk about #SaltBae around the internet. Nusret took full advantage of the situation and his restaurant going viral and continued to post similar videos, luring his followers to his restaurant and fine dishes.
Instagram started as a mere photo-sharing platform. Friends would follow other friends, view their uploaded pictures, send pictures back and forth, react and comment with each other. Fast Forward to 2018, Instagram campaigns are one of the best ways to reach target consumers.
Digital marketing platforms are everywhere, literally in the thousands. However, Instagram has had a mass following in its short 8 years with us, making it one of the most efficient communication channels between businesses and their customers. Instagram Campaigns tend to go viral. Within hours of launching an ad, the potential number of people who will view the ad is in the millions. While maintaining its original purpose for its loyal patrons, the photo-sharing platform has increased its activities internationally.
They use sponsored posts and do it well in a way that is not a nuisance to their followers. Small businesses, huge multinational corporations, celebrities, public figures, singers and writers alike all use that app to get in touch with their followers. The presence of a wide array of people worldwide with numerous cultural backgrounds makes Instagram successful. Launching Instagram campaigns is an easy and affordable way to reach your audience.
Here are some suggestions for key topics to cover that align with an “Instagram Campaign of 2023” theme:
- Instagram algorithm changes to note and optimize for 2023
- Emerging Instagram ad formats and features to take advantage of
- New tools and platforms transforming Instagram marketing in 2023
- Key Instagram trends that will shape engagement and conversions
- Steps for planning a high-impact Instagram campaign from scratch
- Creative and Content Best Practices for Instagram in 2023
- Influencer marketing tactics evolving in 2023
- Converting Instagram followers into customers in 2023
- Measuring ROI and optimizing the performance of Instagram marketing
- Growth hacking tips and tricks for rapid Instagram growth in 2023
- Examples of successful Instagram campaigns from 2023 to learn from
- Predictions from experts for Instagram marketing in 2023
The focus should be on providing the latest Instagram marketing best practices, tools, strategies and trends to succeed in 2023.
Instagram Campaign: Tactical tips, recent stats, examples, and best practices.
1 – Setting Up Your Instagram Business Profile:
- Switch to a business profile – this unlocks key analytics.
- Choose the right handle and username that reflects your brand.
- Fill out your bio with important info and a strong call to action.
- Select the appropriate category and contact options.
- Create a clickable link in your bio to drive traffic.
- Add your location and contact details.
- Upload a branded profile picture and header image.
2 – Perfecting Your Instagram Grid:
- Post at optimal times based on when your audience is most active. Tools like Later can identify the best times.
- Maintain a consistent posting schedule, ideally 1-2 times per day.
- Use relevant hashtags in posts and captions to improve discovery.
- Leverage Instagram stories and reels to supplement grid posts.
- Create a cohesive look with visual filters and editing tools.
- Engage with your audience by responding to comments and questions.
3 – Growing Your Instagram Following:
- Run targeted follower campaigns with incentives to get more followers.
- Cross-promote Instagram content on other channels.
- Use relevant hashtags, especially low-competition branded hashtags.
- Partner with micro and macro influencers in your niche to expand your reach.
- Interact and follow accounts in your target audience group.
- Schedule and use Instagram takeovers featuring influencers or brand advocates.
4 – Mastering Instagram Ads:
- Video ads generate 2x more visits and 35% more reach.
- Test different objectives – traffic, conversions, reach etc.
- Take advantage of detailed targeting options – interests, behaviours, etc.
- Split test elements like images, captions, and call-to-actions.
- Retarget website visitors and customers using pixel data.
- Track important metrics – cost per result, return on ad spend, conversions.
5 – Leveraging Influencers and Brand Ambassadors:
- Identify influencers with engaged audiences in your niche.
- Compensate through free products, affiliate commissions, and pay-per-post.
- Set clear expectations on content type, deliverables, and timelines.
- Share branded content and assets for the influencer to incorporate.
- Measure effectiveness through likes, comments, and affiliate sales.
- Repurpose top-performing influencer content on your own channels.
6 – Tracking Performance and Analytics:
- Monitor impressions, reach, engagement rate, and website clicks.
- Analyze best-performing post types, formats, and times.
- See follower demographics – age, gender, and location.
- Follow unfollow and user churn rates.
- Measure conversions and ROI from Instagram efforts.
- Use UTMs to track traffic and sales from Instagram.
7 – Instagram Marketing Tools to Consider:
- Scheduling tools like Later to auto post and find best times.
- Analytics tools like Iconosquare for data and reporting.
- Hashtag research tools like RiteTag to find relevant tags.
- Influencer marketing platforms like Klear or Upfluence.
- Ad and campaign management platforms.
- Social listening and monitoring tools.
Conclusion:
With an intentional strategy and consistent effort, Instagram offers an invaluable platform for engaging your audience and driving serious brand growth and sales.
Use this guide as a blueprint to maximize your Instagram marketing impact. Be sure to continually test new tactics, analyze performance data, and refine your approach over time. Instagram strategy is all about momentum – keep providing value for your audience and the results will grow exponentially.
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Fatma Mohamed // 11th February 2024 
Claire Mulligan // 11th February 2024