What was the last thing posted your company’s Instagram account? Was it posted after careful thought? Was it created based on your target audience’s interests? If you answered yes to both questions, great job! You most likely have a successful marketing strategy on Instagram and a consistent layout to keep your viewers interested.
As one of the biggest social media platforms, Instagram can be a great tool to drive results for your marketing, so long as you have a solid strategy. However, with nearly a 4X higher engagement rate than any other social network, brands have a lot of opportunities to build communities among their mobile audiences. Today, we’ve got a few helpful tips to help you captivate your audience and get more engagement for your company:

1. Post Consistently

Many brands will post 2-3 photos a day, but there is no “right” number. Your posting cadence should align with your goals for this channel. More importantly: be consistent. Photos should be story-driven, compelling visuals. Short on content? You can also ask for photo submissions from followers or show the behind-the-scenes life of your business. Don’t forget that Instagram Stories allows for 15-second videos, too. Some brands have found creative ways around the time restriction, like breaking longer clips into multiple 15-second videos and posting them consecutively.

2. Offer Deals & Giveaways

A lot of deals and giveaways on Instagram are community-driven. Offer prizes to customers who take the best pictures of themselves with the product. Share a special promo code to reward your followers for remaining loyal to your business. They’ll be thankful for the deal and continue to follow your account for future perks. You can also ask followers to tag friends in posts or take selfies in order to enter contests and giveaways.

3. Work with Influencers

Influencer marketing on Instagram can be highly effective. By working with someone who already has an established audience on Instagram, brands can tap into new audiences and build followings. The most common tactic is to allow influencers to “take over” a brand’s Instagram account for a few days, so that the influencer’s followers will start looking at the account. Influencers often test or promote a brand’s product in each photo or video. Look for influencers who align with your brand’s values and mission, or who’ve shown interest in your company in past.

4. Harness the Power of Hashtags

The best way to start building an audience is to use common hashtags. Not just one or two, either. You can opt for anywhere from 5-11 hashtags per post to start growing awareness. By hashtagging industry terms and common words, you can quickly boost engagement and followers. Include hashtags that align with the content you’re sharing, and go for a mix of really popular tags and more niche-specific ones. The former will immediately get your post in front of a lot of people, whereas the latter will ensure your post remains near the top of results for longer. This goes hand in hand with SEO keywords. Hashtag the keywords you want your company to be searched for!

5. Keep Your Profile Link Fresh

The link in your bio is the best way to drive traffic from Instagram. Top tip: Use a Bitlink for any piece of content in your bio and you’ll be able to track exactly how many unique clicks your Instagram page has driven to your content. To add polish and improve engagement, many major brands use a customized branded domain in for all their Bitlinks.

For savvy social media managers who are constantly rotating their profile link, upgrading to Bitly Enterprise allows you to redirect your link to a new URL without actually changing the link in your profile, making it easy to update and track new campaigns on the fly.

6. Actively Engage Your Followers

The most successful businesses on Instagram don’t just respond to comments, they favorite and comment on other posts as well. By engaging with posts related to your industry or brand, you can create outbound awareness. However, don’t expect immediate results. It might take some time for your efforts to pay off, but don’t worry! Think of this as an opportunity to extend your brand’s voice and connect with potential customers.