Instagram has quickly become one of the most powerful social media platforms for businesses of all sizes. The app has over 2 billion monthly active users, making it the 5th most visited website in the world.
With images, videos, and reels dominating online engagement today, Instagram is the go-to platform for brands looking to gain followers and drive sales.
But with so many brands on Instagram, what’s the best way to get noticed and grow your business? Don’t go at it blindly. You need a solid Instagram marketing strategy to give you a better chance of success.
Whether you are just getting started or need to refresh your strategy with best practices, this ultimate guide has you covered.
- What is Instagram marketing?
- Why should you use Instagram for marketing?
- How to create an Instagram business account
- How to create an Instagram marketing strategy
- Helpful free and paid Instagram marketing tools
- Using analytics in your Instagram marketing strategy
What is Instagram marketing?
Instagram marketing is the process of using the Instagram platform to promote a brand, engage with an audience, and grow your business. Marketing on Instagram involves creating and sharing visually appealing content like photos, videos, Stories, and Reels.
An effective Instagram marketing strategy also means optimising your business profile, using hashtags, and engaging with the community through likes, comments, and DMs.
Instagram is especially powerful because of its massive and varied audience. It’s an excellent tool for brand awareness, customer engagement, and conversions.
By using Instagram’s visual and interactive features, you can build a strong brand and customer loyalty to get actual results.
Why should you use Instagram for marketing?
Businesses use social media almost exclusively for marketing activities. With almost 5 billion people worldwide using social media, it’s where people spend their time.
Instagram is the third most used platform in the world, and over 70% of users find shopping inspiration while using the app.
Instagram also has a wide range of ages on the app, so you will likely find your particular target audience there.
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Here are several other reasons to include Instagram in your marketing strategy.
- High engagement: Instagram has the second highest engagement rate of all social media platforms, behind TikTok. Users interact more with content through likes, comments, shares, and direct messages, leading to more opportunities to interact with customers.
- Visual storytelling: Instagram is a visual platform, perfect for brands that want to tell their story through images and videos. This focus on visual content helps you get your message across more effectively and creatively.
- Brand building: Instagram is a great platform to build and show off your brand. Through consistent posts, Stories and Reels you can create a recognisable and cohesive brand that resonates with your audience.
- Targeted advertising: Instagram’s advanced ad targeting lets you reach specific audiences based on demographics, interests, behaviours, and more. This precision helps you deliver your message to those who are most likely to engage with your brand.
- Influencer partnerships: Partnering with influencers on Instagram can expand your brand’s reach and credibility. Influencers can introduce your products to their engaged followers, create authentic endorsements, and drive sales.
- E-commerce integration: Features like Instagram Shopping let users discover and buy products directly from the platform. This seamless shopping experience boosts conversions and simplifies the customer journey.
- Analytics and insights: Instagram gives you detailed insights into how your content is performing. These analytics help you understand your audience, refine your strategy, and gauge campaign success.
How to create an Instagram business account
Creating an Instagram business account provides many benefits to your brand or business. A business account gives you access to features like paid partnerships, CTA buttons, automated replies, and more.
The biggest benefit is that you’ll get access to Instagram's business analytics tools, which provide valuable information about your audience and the performance of your content. You can use this data to improve your marketing strategy and make data-driven decisions.
It’s easy to switch to a business account (and it’s free). You can create an Instagram business account following these simple steps:
- Download the Instagram app on your mobile device and open it.
- Create a personal account or go to your current one. In your profile, tap the “Edit profile” button under your bio.
- Scroll down and select "Switch to Professional Account.”
- Select "Business" as the type of account.
- Connect your Instagram business account to your Facebook business page (if you have one).
- Complete the profile information and choose a category for your business.
- Review and agree to the terms of service and privacy policy.
That’s it!
How to create an Instagram marketing strategy
Creating an effective Instagram marketing strategy doesn't have to be complicated. Keeping it simple can often lead to the best results when you make regular adjustments based on your analytics. Follow these six steps to create your Instagram marketing strategy.
Before we get to the steps, here are three quick tips to help you keep your strategy simple:
- Start small and scale: Begin with manageable goals and a straightforward content plan. As you grow more comfortable and understand what works, you can gradually expand and diversify your strategy.
- Monitor and adapt: Regularly review your performance metrics to understand what’s working and what isn’t. Use this data to refine your strategy and make informed decisions.
- Engage consistently: Rather than being purely a content machine, focus on engaging meaningfully with your audience through comments, likes, and direct messages.
Alright, on to the steps.
1. Define your goals
Start by determining what you want to achieve with your Instagram marketing efforts. Are you looking to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, generate leads, boost sales, or build an online community?
Knowing your goal is half the battle for any Instagram marketing strategy. Even if you pump out a lot of Instagram content, you won’t be sure if your content accomplishes anything without a goal.
To avoid spreading yourself too thin, choose one or two primary goals to focus on. This will help you concentrate your activity in a few areas and measure success more effectively.
For example, Sephora’s Instagram marketing goal is boosting sales. Its feed is filled with product demonstrations and instructions on how to use them. Followers can then easily purchase products in the Shop tab, which looks and feels as if you’re on Sephora’s website.
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Instagram marketing strategy goals can vary by industry. Don’t fret too much over getting your goals perfect. Whatever your goals are, agree on them with your team, write them down, and let them be your north star.
Remember to set your goals aside for some time. Changing them too frequently can cause frustration and confusion for your team and customers.
If you need some help brainstorming Instagram marketing goals, here are some common ones to consider:
- Increase brand awareness: Enhance your brand’s visibility and reach a wider audience on Instagram.
- Build a community: By sharing relatable content and encouraging user participation, you can create a loyal and interactive community around your brand.
- Boost engagement: Foster interaction with your followers through likes, comments, shares, and direct messages.
- Drive website traffic: Encourage followers to visit your website or landing pages through content and links.
- Generate leads and sales: Convert followers into customers by promoting products and services effectively.
2. Identify your target audience
Now that you know what you want to accomplish when marketing on Instagram, ask, “Who am I trying to reach?” Consider the demographics, interests, and behaviours of your ideal customers.
This step in creating your strategy is typically called creating “personas.” A persona is a detailed, fictional representation of your ideal customer. You create a persona based on market research and real data about your existing audience. What is your ideal customer like? What age group do they belong to? Where are they located? What are their interests and challenges? When are they most active on Instagram?
If you have an Instagram business account, you can find out who is already engaging with your content on the app. This will help you base your personas on reality. Just tap the “Professional dashboard” button and find the “Total followers” options under the Insights heading.
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As you consider your audience, think about the types of content that would resonate with a particular persona. Are they looking for educational content, inspirational posts, or behind-the-scenes glimpses? Understanding their preferences will guide your content creation and ensure it aligns with their interests and needs.
One more note. Depending on your business, you may have multiple personas. Don’t freak out! It’s completely normal. Some marketers find giving each persona a name helpful, which can help bring a fictional character to life. (Your customers are real people, after all.)
Try to stick to 2-3 personas, but make sure each is different and represents a unique audience segment.
3. Research your competition
Take a close look at what your competitors are doing on Instagram. Examine their content types, posting frequency, and overall engagement levels.
- What are they doing well?
- Where are opportunities to get a leg up on them by differentiating yourself?
- What content formats are they focusing on?
By understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors’ strategies, you can identify gaps in the market. That’s your chance to stand out. For example, if they are not engaging much with their audience, you could focus on building a more interactive community. Customer service can often be the thing that leads someone to be loyal to your brand over another.
4. Optimise your Instagram profile
Optimising your Instagram profile is crucial since it’s the first impression for potential followers and customers. A well-crafted profile can attract attention, convey your brand's essence, and encourage users to engage with your content.
This section is pretty thorough. Don’t skip it!
Choose a recognisable username and display name
Select an easily identifiable username. In general, it should be your business name. If that name isn’t available, find one that is closely related to your business name. Or consider adding an underscore or a relevant keyword. Having a username as close as possible to your actual name makes it easy for users to find you.
Your display name–what users see next to your avatar–can include your business name and a keyword that describes your niche or industry. This helps improve searchability within Instagram.
Use a high-quality profile picture
Opt for a clear and high-resolution image that represents your brand well. Typically, businesses use their logo or, if you are a personal brand, a professional headshot.
Instagram uses a small thumbnail for your profile image. So make sure the image is easy to see and recognisable.
Craft a compelling bio
Your bio should succinctly describe your business and the value you provide to your followers. Use clear, engaging language, and consider adding a touch of your brand’s personality.
Include relevant keywords and hashtags. But don’t go overboard. Keep them minimal to avoid clutter.
If you still have room in the bio area, highlight key information such as your unique selling proposition, special offers, or what sets you apart from competitors. Again, simple is better so your bio doesn’t look or feel overwhelming to users.
Include a call-to-action and link
The bio is the only place on Instagram where you can include a clickable link. Use this opportunity to drive traffic to your website, a specific landing page, or a current promotion.
Update the link regularly to align with your latest campaigns or product launches.
Consider using a URL shortener or a link-in-bio tool to make it easy for users to navigate to different parts of your website (we’ll share more about this in a bit).
Restaurant chain Chipotle updates its bio often to include deals and promotions, typically encouraging follower participation.
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Use contact options and action buttons
Provide easy ways for followers to contact you by adding your email, phone number, or address. These appear as clickable buttons directly on your profile, making it convenient for users to reach out.
For businesses that take appointments or reservations, Instagram offers action buttons to link directly to booking services.
Create and organise Story Highlights
We mentioned story Highlights above. Highlights allow you to showcase key content beyond the 24-hour lifespan of regular Stories. Use them to feature important information like product categories, behind-the-scenes content, customer testimonials, or FAQs.
Organise your Highlights into clear, thematic sections with descriptive and engaging covers to make your profile look organised and appealing. You get to determine category names and upload thumbnail covers to maintain brand consistency on your profile.
Maintain a consistent aesthetic
Speaking of brand consistency, let’s discuss it. Your profile's overall look should be cohesive and align with your brand’s identity. This includes using a consistent colour palette, style, and tone of voice across your posts and Stories.
A unified aesthetic makes your profile visually appealing and reinforces brand recognition. It might seem like a little thing, but it will go a long way in building loyalty among your followers.
5. Choose your content themes
Now let’s get to what you probably came here for: creating content for your Instagram marketing strategy.
We’ll highlight several specific Instagram content types and give you some examples of brands that do it well. As you read, consider what types of posts will be the foundation of your strategy.
Also, think about a cohesive visual style that reflects your brand’s identity. Consistency in colour schemes, filters, and overall presentation helps reinforce your brand and makes your profile visually appealing.
Captivating still images
This is where Instagram started and what it is mainly known for. These photos should be stylish, creative, on-brand, and focused on some aspect of your business.
Clean Simple Eats (CSE) is a small business that sells supplements and cookbooks. Its feed is littered with images of delectable recipes using its own ingredients.
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Don’t complicate things here. You don’t need to hire a professional photographer to get these pics! Your own smartphone should be sufficient. Instagram has a ton of native features like filters to spice up your images, but sometimes keeping it simple is the best practice.
Finally, remember to write a compelling caption that draws your audience's attention. It doesn’t need to be long, and it should be relevant to the image(s).
Videos and Reels
Over 91% of social media users prefer video content and are more likely to share videos than any other type of content. Most marketers aren’t professional videographers and don’t have the budget of a mega brand like Nike or GoPro.
But don’t worry. You can share video snippets with your phone to promote your products, events, behind-the-scenes action, or just about anything.
You can use third-party apps like Canva to help you create videos. But once again, Instagram offers so many tools within the app that help you do that.
Reels are another video option that has become one of the most popular types of content on the platform. Thanks to how Instagram's algorithm works, they offer a highly engaging, short-form video format that can reach a wider audience. Reels also allow brands to showcase their products, services, and personalities creatively and dynamically, which can drive higher engagement and conversion rates.
You can easily create Reels in the app. Instagram also has hundreds of music tracks to add to your reel, giving it a nice professional touch.
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Image macros
Even if you’ve never heard of the term “image macros,” you see them all over social media. These are quotes, memes, or any digital media with text superimposed on an image.
The Dad has over 2 million followers, and this account has made a living on this kind of content, delivering humour and poignant messages to dads (and mums).
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Image macros are a fun way to engage your audience. But they can also be incredibly informative. Even if your brand isn’t comedic, you can take advantage of image macros. Think of memes that bring a hard truth to light, infographics, or quotes to encourage and inspire your followers. Image macros are incredibly effective when used in a timely and relevant manner.
Instagram Stories
The final type of content we’ll cover is Instagram Stories. Stories are another popular content type on the app. Stories are unique in that they don’t wait for your followers to come to you but rather go to the front of the line of your followers' feeds in the Stories queue at the top of their screen. Pretty awesome, right?
Stories are great for time-sensitive content like product launches, company updates, live events, or behind-the-scenes. Stories stay active on your account for 24 hours, and then they disappear. However, you can mark a story in your highlights to keep it forever.
Try to create at least one story each day. That will keep your audience engaged by giving them something to look forward to when they use Instagram.
6. Create a content calendar
Use a content calendar to schedule your posts ahead of time. This not only ensures a consistent posting schedule but also allows you to align your content with important dates, promotions, and events.
Based on your audience insights, determine the best times to post to maximise engagement. Use Instagram’s analytics or third-party tools to identify when your followers are most active. Sendible’s Instagram scheduling tool has everything you need to get basic and advanced analytics and start building your content calendar.
Whether you’re a small business or a growing brand, by focusing on these six basic steps, you can create a streamlined and effective Instagram marketing strategy that aligns with your business goals and resonates with your target audience.
Whatever you do, keep it simple. Simplicity allows for clarity and adaptability, helping you to maintain a strong and consistent presence on Instagram.
Helpful free and paid Instagram marketing tools
Instagram has a lot of internal tools you can take advantage of. But if you want to go above and beyond, here are some free and paid tools to try.
Sendible
We might be a bit biased, but Sendible is the best all-in-one social media management tool. Sendible helps streamline content scheduling and grow your Instagram engagement. It also offers robust tools like advanced analytics and team collaboration capabilities. Here are some features we thing you'll love:
- Optimal Times: Sendible continuously learns and adapts optimal times based on evolving audience behaviour and engagement patterns to help you optimise the posting schedule.
- Smart Queues: Add testimonials, quotes, social media holidays, and other recurring posts to Smart Queues to automatically republish evergreen content.
- AI Assist: Leverage AI Assist to create compelling copy that resonates with your audience and ensure a unified brand voice across all platforms.
- Add the first comment: Save winning hashtag combinations to the Content Library. Then add them to the first comment to keep your Instagram posts clean.
- One-click reports: Engagement reports provide one-click access to selected Instagram account performance in one place, easily empowering data-driven decisions.
There are multiple other solutions, such as Canva integration, approval workflows, bulk importing, that we're sure you'll love. To explore them yourself, start a 14-day free trial.
Canva
Canva is a graphic design tool for creating visually appealing Instagram posts, stories, and ads. It’s quickly becoming the go-to resource for content creators around the world. Canva offers a wide range of templates, fonts, and images for basically any kind of content you could imagine.
You can use Canva for free, but you will be limited to using their free design assets. Canva Pro starts at $120/yr. Canva Teams starts at $100/per/yr with a minimum of 3 people.
Adobe Lightroom
If you aren’t satisfied with Instagram’s native tools or Canva, you can take a major step up to try Adobe Lightroom CC. The app simplifies the use of professional photo editing tools and can even be enhanced with downloaded Lightroom presets.
Lightroom starts at $9.99/mo on its own or as a part of the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography package.
Hashtagify
You get discovered on Instagram more easily when you use appropriate hashtags. Hashtagify helps when you don’t know which hashtag to use for your post or Reels. The tool allows you to find and analyse trending hashtags generated automatically by the image you upload.
Hashtagify can also provide personalised recommendations based on the strategies of influencers and competitors.
The tool has three different pricing tiers: $19/mo for Personal, $64/mo for Business, and $249/mo for Enterprise.
Linktree
Used by over 50 million creators, Linktree is the most popular link-in-bio solution. It’s perfect for Instagram bios where you only get one space for a link. Linktree has everything you need to direct your followers to key content, product promotions, or critical updates.
Linktree allows you to design your page with your brand’s colours and logo and offers several layout options on the free plan. Linktree has a forever free plan, a Starter plan at $5/mo, and a premium plan at $24/mo. If you’re an NGO/non-profit, Linktree offers its premium plan for free to your organisation.
Using analytics in your Instagram marketing strategy
Content is king, but it only reigns supreme if it generates a positive return on investment (ROI). For your content to be effective, it must resonate with your audience and drive engagement. This is where Instagram analytics come into play. By tracking and analysing your Instagram performance, you can gain valuable insights that inform your content strategy and help you achieve your business goals.
Instagram analytics provide a wealth of information about your followers, engagement, and content performance. Here’s why they’re essential:
- Understand your audience: Analytics reveal demographics such as age, gender, location, and active hours of your followers. This helps tailor your content to better meet their interests and schedules.
- Measure content effectiveness: See which posts, Stories, and Reels generate the most likes, comments, shares, and saves. Identifying high-performing content allows you to replicate success and refine your approach.
- Track engagement trends: Discover when your audience is most active and engaged. This information is crucial for optimising your posting schedule to maximise visibility and interaction.
- Assess overall account performance: Monitor your follower growth, engagement rate, and reach to gauge how well your Instagram account is performing over time.
How to access Instagram insights
On your profile, tap the menu icon (the three horizontal bars). Then tap “Insights.” At this point, you’ll be able to filter your timeline and view metrics like accounts reached and engaged, total followers, most active times, and more. You can expand each of those categories to see more detailed data.
Using Instagram analytics to inform your strategy
Here are four ways to use this data to help inform your Instagram marketing strategy:
- Refine your content: Use insights from high-performing posts to guide your content creation. Focus on the types of images, videos, or topics that generate the most engagement.
- Optimise posting times: Post during the times when your audience is most active to increase visibility and interaction.
- Target the right audience: Adjust your targeting and content strategy based on the demographics and interests of your most engaged followers.
- Monitor progress: Regularly review your analytics to track progress toward your goals and make data-driven adjustments to your strategy.
Wrapping it Up
Levelling up your Instagram marketing strategy can take some serious time and energy. If you’re starting from scratch or need to reevaluate, begin with our Instagram audit checklist. (Did we mention it’s completely free? Because it is.)
Once you’re ready to get started, be sure to boost your strategy with Sendible’s Instagram scheduling tool. Plan, schedule, and publish posts effortlessly from a single platform. You don’t have to do it alone! Let us help you simplify your workflow, manage multiple accounts, and keep your content calendar organised. Give Sendible a try for free today.
