From an agency perspective, there is no streamlined path for client success. Like a fingerprint, every company has a unique approach, requiring the agency to use different voices, visuals, and information they present to the public. The only remaining unanimous factor is that every company wants to increase their social presence to remain relevant and to increase sales despite growing competition. It is estimated that Instagram has 400 million monthly users, generation approximately 80 million photos per day. The overflowing content creates a challenge for a company to not be lost in saturated content constantly refreshing through a user’s feed. Despite the competition, many companies showcase a success story through follower and content interaction. If you’re a small business on a budget who is trying to grow your fan base, you can achieve a high amount of followers while attracting new followers organically, with minimal or no paid advertising.
Millennials and young adult are the engines behind social media. They demand immediacy; they want to know exactly what your product is without any gimmicks. Visual storytelling is far beyond artwork, it’s a strategy to differentiation and success. Today Instagram users are largely under the age of 40, so quality content is essential. Many companies believe that paid advertising is an easy way to receive followers, but in the words of social media guru Gary Vaynerchuk, “No amount of paid media is going to turn bad creative into good content” Focus on building content with proper hashtags that will appeal to your target demographic, therefore loyalty then sales will come naturally. While paid social advertising is a nice boost for your content to be put front and center, it is essentially a sail to a ship, but not the ship itself.
Learn who your audience is, and how they interact with your competitors. Create a hashtag guideline:
What hashtags are your competitors using?
Use similar hashtags because their market is looking up these hashtags. Use similar hashtags to be placed front and center of the competitive landscape.
Make branded hashtags.
This is what differentiates your company and content from the others. It also lets fans interact with your company when they post images of your products or comment on your feed. For example, thousands of users interact with Frank Body Scrub using #letsbefrank #thefrankeffect in hopes of being reposted on their page.
Make relevant, unbranded hashtags.
If your company and users are in New York City, hashtag #newyorker #nyc #nycskyline to expand exposure.
Don’t be too specific or clever with your hashtag.
Too specific hashtags hide your content because people likely aren’t searching for that. #newyorkerswearingred likely won’t generate a lot of traffic.
Don’t use more hashtags than words.
To be entirely candid, it comes off needy. Instagram allows 30 hashtags, but 12 hashtags are socially acceptable.
Powerful visuals with strategically picked hashtags can be a potent tactic to gain followers. Posts should be done consistently. Millennials look for stimulating content, and it can be done with a consistent theme, a conscious balance of white space, and a branded personality. By knowing how to interact and reach your target audience, organic marketing can be done efficiently and it shouldn’t have to make a dent in your wallet.
