Instagram is the most popular social photo network, a free mobile application that allows you to take, edit, and share photos in real-time, all with extreme simplicity. Originally it had the peculiarity of the square format, to which a thick white frame was often added; this visual feature vaguely remembered the old Polaroid paper format. Due to the latest updates, you can now enter a size to your liking within a certain height and width limit. The time has come to move on to the strategic phase. With these”5 steps,” you can finally get off to a great start and achieve the success you deserve on Instagram.
1. Define the target audience
Who are you going to reach? The first step to starting any social media marketing activity is to clearly and precisely define your target. Assuming that it is not possible to reach all Instagram users, you will need to focus on that audience segment in line with your corporate values and potentially interested in your products/services. Once you have defined the target, you will have to check its actual presence on Instagram.
2. Establish the objectives to be achieved
Defining too general (to be successful on Instagram) or impossible (to become the industry leader) goals is a serious mistake. There is a model that will help you determine what your goals can be. Goals must be SMART:
S for Specifics: the objectives must be very detailed and not refer to something generic. What did we want to do? How do we want to do it? By when do we want to complete them? Who do we want to involve, and why do we have to reach them?
M for Measurable: you will need to understand in quantitative terms whether the objectives have been achieved or how close to their achievement. The more specific they are, the more you will be able to measure them. (E.g. increase in site traffic, increase in sales, increase in real Instagram followers.)
A for Accessible: the objectives must be designed according to what we have available such as capacity, economic resources, tools, etc. If you don’t take these parameters into consideration, you risk blowing everything up.
R for Realistic: it’s easy to get carried away and moving towards unattainable goals, but remember that goals must be practical and be reflected in reality.
T for Time: They must be limited in a specific period of time.
3. Identify competitors
Another vital activity is competition analysis. What are your competitors doing? Through which activities are they successful on Instagram?
In this delicate phase, a SWOT analysis can be of great help, which will be conducted on the strengths (Strengths) and weaknesses (Weaknesses) of your company, in order to bring out the opportunities (Opportunities) and threats (Threats) that derive from the external context.
Remember that benchmarking does not mean “copying competitors,” but studying the type of strategies used and the content most appreciated by a target similar to yours.
The internal Instagram search engine is an inexhaustible source of information. Just click on the lens in the lower left and type a keyword in the “Search” bar. It will return you valuable information. Start with industry keywords, or with the names of your products.
4. Choose the types of content to publish
Now, focus on creating effective digital content. Many think it is enough to publish beautiful images to depopulate on Instagram, but this is not the case. Without a targeted strategy that takes into account your audience and the goals you want to achieve, you will never be able to achieve the desired success.
5. Identify the most important hashtags
It is necessary to study also the hashtags most used by users and competitors to set a perfect strategy. Hashtags are a valuable ally on Instagram, as they increase the visibility and engagement of our content, facilitating the process of exploration and discovery of users on a specific topic.