Introduction

As of September 2016, the count of users on Instagram was already over the 500 million mark and this shows the sphere of opportunities that exist on this social media platform. Attracting authentic customers through this outlet requires the deployment of proven strategies that can produce the desired results.

Social media marketing researchers have pointed out over time that what matters most is not the sheer number of users but the degree of engagement that a preferred marketing channel can produce on the platform. Here is how proven Instagram strategies for attracting authentic customers can work out for your brand.

1. An Optimized Instagram Business Account

Brand dynamics dictate that every business needs to be separated from its owner. Instagram accounts should not be used for business if you must make the desired impact on your audience and build a brand authority.5 Proven Instagram Strategies for Attracting Authentic Customers and Building a Brand’s Authority

(Using Instagram for business)

Selfies and images of private trips with your family have no place here and you should restrict the broadcast to your personal crowd. Your customers have a specific interest- how your business can meet their specific needs or cater for the services they need. Optimization sentiments favor that you leave personal details out of your business page.

A few steps will aid your Instagram business account optimization and they include;

Direct Link

To provide a direct link to boost your website traffic through Instagram, you can only use the bio section.

Make Your Bio link attractive

To do this, include information that can be catchy to your followers. Most people look through your bio section before following you on Instagram. Your bio can always be modified to promote an ongoing campaign and this where hashtags come in handy.

(One way to make an attractive bio)

2. Your Posts Should Bait Users

They say images are worth the power of a thousand words and as such, the latent power needs to be fully explored to hook customers.

Recent reports by Instagram analysts  point out that images are the popularity-driver of the social media platform. They also highlight the fact that on Facebook , posts with images draw user comments at a rate double what text-only content attract.

To attract more customers and boost your brand, post more product photos and provide a mix of interesting images without necessarily repeating them. This is needed so as not to bore your followers and eventually lose them.

3. Sponsored Posts and Influencers

Sponsored posts used to be the only avenue to advertise on Instagram until the recent Instagram innovations that help businesses. The old order meant that you had to privately meet Instagram users to promote your brand by using their account. Now, the advertising platform on Instagram is available to marketers to explore.

The influencer outreach is possible using sponsored posts as followers of influencers will see the content posted by them. This serves an excellent purpose if you are offering a product for sale. More people can see what you are offering and a chance to wrap –up a sale exists, if a user finds it appealing.

(Making use of sponsored posts on Instagram)

The limitation that comes along with the use of curated content to show posts on Instagram means that what you have posted might not be seen by users. Using the advertising platform, your ads can now be posted directly from your account. You have control over who sees your content and how they appear. This feature is now possible using Facebook self-serving ad platform.

4. An Enlarged Instagram Following

To reach an enlarged audience on Instagram, you need to go beyond posting images that are awesome. Another option you have it to Buy followers on instagram which can give your brand the exposure you are looking for. Some proven marketing techniques need to be put to use and exploring them produces the desired results.

#Hashtags

Hashtags on social media leads to better coverage and makes it easier to be discovered by fans and those looking for your service or product. They also help to elongate the shelf-life of your posts on Instagram as it becomes possible for your content to be aggregated into a community of relevance that remains forever discoverable.

A review of posts on social media with comments and enviable views shows that 88% of posts included a hashtag. The caution here is not to place many hashtags on a post so it does not look inorganic and cluttered.

Optimizing Hashtags

To optimize your hashtags, make sure to use phrases and keywords that define your brand. This requires some research of trending and popular hashtags so that you can take a cue.

5. Measure Your progress on Instagram

Whatever is not reviewed falls short of the chance to be improved upon or enhanced. So don’t leave your Instagram posts to chance. Use tools that can help you measure the metrics so that you can analyze them and see what works. Whatever works well should be perpetuated and you have a chance to find this out when you deploy metric measuring tools.

The best outline of what to track include geography, demography and follower interaction

Follower Interaction

It is wise to find out which of your followers have the most interaction with your brand. To discover who likes, comments or tag your brand will give you room to engage them a bit further. Provide shout-outs and recognition to this class of fans so that you can earn more shares and favorable appeal.

(NASA’s Insta-feed)

Demography and Geography

Demography and geography can be helpful to track as they provide insights that help to determine those that your posts appeal to and the physical regions that attract attention.  These will enable you scale your posts or even modify your ad campaigns so that you can stick to what produces results.

Conclusion

Modern marketing approach to getting the best results are built around the proven Instagram strategies outlined above. To build your brand authority and attract authentic customers, you need to review, deepen and modify your posts for optimal results.