1. Use high-quality photos and videos

Tip: Make sure you have a clean and appropriate background when you’re shooting and filming. You can use different apps (see Challenge Day 10) to edit your photos. Save on artificial filters because the community is attracted by authenticity and simplicity.

Ask yourself: What suits my company? Which style should I choose and does it match my other posts? What do I want to show and trigger?

The most successful posts are the ones that are easy to understand.

2. Focus on 1 (or 2) topics

By focusing on topics, your Instagram automatically receives a uniform profile and feed. The community clearly recognizes what you stand for and, in the best case, makes things in common with you.

Ask yourself the question: Why should someone follow me? Answer this question strategically to make Instagram successful for your business.

3. Insta strategy for your target group

Ask yourself: What does my target group want to see? How and why does she want to interact? Why should she follow my account? At what time is my target group most active?

Tip: Be clear about what you want to achieve with your account. A structured Instagram marketing strategy makes sustainable posting easier for you.

4. Post

Ask your community to comment with question sets in the post text. Networking is important to keep your users on your account consistently and sustainably.

5. Stay constant and post at the time with the highest engagement rate

Studies show that most users are active on Instagram between 6 AM — 8 AM in the morning and again between 5 PM — 8 PM in the evening. During lunch break, many are also busy with their smartphones and mainly click through the stories. Try out which times work for you.

Tip: With stories, you can stand out in the crowd and draw attention to your account. But don’t forget that the attention span per post is about 3 seconds. Adjust your story accordingly.

6. Use the hashtags which perform best

You can set a maximum of 30 hashtags. But it’s not always the most effective way to set as many hashtags as possible, as the impression of showmanship is created so quickly. Use 5 precise and appropriate hashtags. More on this in Challenge 22.

7. Skilfully promote your brand/product

With a target-group-oriented promotion of your posts, you can gain a lot of reach and interaction. No one knows your target group like you do. That’s why you should always define targeting yourself when applying and not leave it to Instagram.

Another effective way to strengthen your presence is through influencer marketing. 

Instagram is the most relevant social media channel for this. In order to reach your target group exactly, it is important to find an influencer who can communicate with them on an equal footing. Credibility is the be-all and end-all here. The influencer’s number of followers is rather secondary. A carefully selected micro-influencer can fit your brand just as well as an influencer with more than 50,000 followers, if not better.

8. (bonus tip) Interact with your community

Your social network! Build a community so that the algorithm on Instagram impacts the engagement of your account.

Tip: If you want to have more Instagram followers and likes, you should spend at least 1 hour per day being active online to grow quickly and consistently. Share, like, and comment on Instagram posts.

9. Extra tips

• Attractive & clear profile description
• Post pictures in the right format (preferably 1080 pixels wide & 1350 pixels high)
• Analyse what worked well and what was less
• Set Instagram story highlights
• Using Instagram Reels
• Using IGTV
• Use Instagram Live
• Add a location and tag relevant accounts (but not for no reason)
• Request verification
• Set targeted call-to-actions (CTA)

Now it’s your turn. 🙂

Todo:

Plan your Instagram content within your capabilities and available resources. Try to find a good content mix by testing which formats your audience responds to the most.

Have fun with the implementation. We always want to see results. For example, post your example Instagram posts in the comments and get honest feedback.