One thing that I’ve come to appreciate about marketing is that it’s always changing, but there are always underlying truths that never do.
Here’s a truth: You need to go where the crowd is.
But, where they are is always changing. Last year, they might have spent the majority of their time on Facebook and this year, they might be more likely to use Instagram or SnapChat.
The goals are still the same:
- Develop a relationship at scale with customers and platform users.
- Get relevant users onto your website, email list, or crowdfunding campaign page so that they can begin to go through your sales funnel.
Instagram has over 300 million monthly active users, and according to some sources, nearly 49% of adults in the USA use the app daily.
This is a huge pool that you can draw from when you’re getting to know potential backers leading up to the launch of your crowdfunding campaign or sharing your brand’s story with the world.
We’ve put together a few tips to get you started.
1. The Four Call to Actions
A call to action is simply what you want a user to do or how you want them to interact with you and your content.
For example, the call to action for this blog post is for you to sign up to my weekly newsletter, where I share some of the trending crowdfunding tips and stories that week. My second call to action is to ask you to share this post on social media, and lastly to leave a comment!
On Instagram, there are four call to actions, including:
- Receiving photo likes: Similar to Facebook likes, Instagram likes are a form of virtual empathy, an indication of social proof, and a way to rank better in the “explore” feature in the app, where you can find popular posts that you might be interested in. Here’s what Instagram says about their explore feature: “We may show you photos liked by people whose posts you’ve liked or posts that are liked by a large number of people in the Instagram community.” Once you hit that 11th like, your likes will begin to tally up in a numerical fashion, rather than just showing which users liked your particular photo.
- Receiving photo comments: Comments are another way that users can interact with your content, provide feedback, mention other users, and indicate social proof. But, you can’t just expect that people will comment on their own. You have to ask them to comment. You could have them comment to answer a question, enter a contest, or fill in the blank.
- Gaining new followers: When someone follows you on Instagram, it simply means that they want to receive more content similar to what they’ve seen already and that they give you permission to post in their feed. The best way to encourage this action is through mutual engagement and posting quality content.
- People clicking the link in your bio: For me, this is the holy grail of Instagram. You aren’t allowed to post clickable links in the text of your post, so the one place where people can go to leave Instagram and check out your website, landing page, or crowdfunding campaign page is the link in your bio. Choose that link, the page it links to, and the reason that people should click it wisely.
The first two call to action strategies should be used to build a relationship with your followers, which happens through repeated engagement and by satisfying their needs or wants when on the platform.
That means that if someone absolutely loves fitness, then you would begin to build a relationship with them over time by delivering content that they enjoy and like and comment on.
If they like your content, they’ll follow you, which will allow you to deliver more content.
If someone follows you already, they’ll be more likely to check out and click a link in your bio when you mention it.
Of the individuals who click that link, a certain portion will take the action you desire on the landing page you sent them to, which usually is to sign up for your email list or become a backer of your crowdfunding campaign.
2. Basic Instagram Tactics
Here are a few different ways that you can begin building your brand ASAP and join the Instagram community:
- Hashtags: Including hashtags on your content is the easiest way to have your content associated with a particular conversation and to showcase your personality. I wouldn’t overdo it, but I do tend to see more likes and engagement when I post when relevant Hashtags on Instagram, though a portion of that activity is also from spam bots.
- Mentions: Asking followers to mention one of their friends or mentioning individuals that might like or are featured in your photos is a really cool way of getting more eyeballs on your content. Just don’t do it in a spammy way.
- Consistency: The mother of all progress, consistency is really needed to gather accurate marketing data and succeed on any platform. Not every post is going to be a hit and not everyone is going to be online when you post.
- Trends: You can use trends to discover photos and accounts that are currently popular in the community, which will inform your own marketing efforts and the type of content that you decide to post. Don’t re-invent the wheel.
When picking photos or marketing messages, I like to think backwards. Start with the emotion that you want to evoke in the viewer, reader, or listener. Then, analyze each image, call to action, or post to ensure congruency.
Depending on the emotion that you want to associate with your product or project, you might decide to post quotes, funny images, beautifully designed products, or showcase people that represent a lifestyle.
Don’t forget that your images are also a byproduct of who you are and what you stand for. With so many companies aiming to compete in the Instagram game, the companies that stand out appear to have personality, be human, personalized, genuine, and have a small business feel.
3. Tools and Resources That You Can Use
Automating posts: Buffer or Hootsuite or ScheduGram.
Statistics and data: Iconosquare or SimplyMeasured.
Unfollowing inactive users: Crowdfire or Instafollow.
Adding text on your photos: Over.
Making collages: Pic Stitch
Finding content to post: Piqora or Tagboard or Collecto.
Reposting photos: Repost for Instagram.
