We’re going to spend a few more weeks talking about marketing on social media. Again, I wanna set you up to make sure you keep the growth going when I no longer offer this service. I gave you the 411 on Facebook last week. This week I’m talking about their play cousin: Instagram.
Your Instagram Audience
With every social media platform it’s important that you know the general audience. It definitely matters because one of the best way to sell is to make people feel like you’re talking directly to them. You can’t figure out the best voice and tone without knowing who you’re speaking to !
A remarkable 33% of Instagram’s audience is between ages 25 and 34. 90 million of those users tap on an Instagram product each month. 90% of all users follow a business account. These 3 statistics together make Instagram prime real estate for marketers. Also, fun fact, 11% of parents say they allow their 9 to 11 year olds to have an account although the requirement says 13 and up.
Posting frequency
The unspoken rules for posting on Insta are pretty consistent no matter if it’s a personal account, a creative account or a business account. Whatever frequency you can honestly commit to is the frequency you should choose. And this is assuming that you plan on creating quality content and not just busting out a ton of cookie cutter posts. No matter what, never break your frequency without letting your audience know first.
You may see “gurus” talking about posting just one piece of very valuable content each day. You may see really popular accounts skipping days and it not seeming like they’re losing engagement. Also, you may also see people swear by posting 5 times each and every day. The secret is that every one of those methods work ! It may just take some trial and error to figure out what’s going to work for you. What’s more important is that you find a method and stick to it.
Post Specs
The best sizes are 1080 pixels wide by 566 pixels to 1350 pixels high. The max IG res is 1080 pixels wide. Non-square images were recently added for Instagram ads. You can post a landscape image in a 1.91 to 1 aspect ratio, which is exactly the same as a Facebook link preview image. No surprise there since they’re owned by the same people.
Advertising on Instagram
Ads posted on Insta can be shared on Facebook as well. Additionally, ads can be shown as both posts and as stories. They’ll differ from regular posts because they’ll be labeled “sponsored” and will have a clear call to action attached to it. To date, the overall average cost per click for IG advertisements is $1.20.
Be strategic about your ads. Know exactly what your goal is for it. About 7 times out of 10 it’s best to hold off on ads and grow organically in the beginning.
Content
This is an image and video dominant platform. Right now, reels go hardest. You should honestly upload them as often as you can. Utilize IG TV as well. Carousels also make a huge difference a little indirectly. It helps build engagement if your slides are informative or entertaining. It’s not necessary but it’s a major plus if you have some sort of visual theme or pattern going on with your profile grid.
Instagram Growth
Just like on other platforms, the algorithm changes pretty often. I guess they’re afraid for people to “game the system”. So I can’t guarantee how long this part of the blog will be relevant but it’s definitely relevant right now.
Organic growth on Insta is slow. But remember that no growth hack will help if you’re not already presenting something of value. Go live. Write long captions. Create challenges (it’s a highly interactive platform) and engage with your competitors in the comments. The average engagement rate is 8% for less than 1000 followers and drops down to 5% and 2.5% with 5000 and 100,000 followers respectively. The secret sauce boils down to consistency. Never forget it !
Let’s talk about Twitter next ! Subscribe so you don’t miss it.