Creating Instagram Content Like A Pro
Instagram has shaken the social media world. Just in 7 years after its initial launch it gathered over 700 million active monthly users, while almost 250 million people scroll it every day. It is the fastest growth of the audience in the history of social media. That’s why Instagram is so popular for digital marketing — properly executed advertising campaign gains sufficient return. However, you have to create content for Instagram according to the rules, otherwise, your efforts will remain unseen. Here are some tips to help you rock the feed.
Content creation rules
1. Uniqueness
There are lots of photo stocks and some of them are even free, but they have a great disadvantage — those pictures are available to a wide audience. It means that your followers might have seen them before. Creating your own content is the best way of promoting your product. Even if your photo is not of the best quality — it is still better than a popular image that everybody has seen all around the web.
2. The variety of formats
There are not only simple pictures you can post. Don’t ignore all the available tools that Instagram offers — carousel photo albums, collages, and stories. The more different types of content you use — the more interested your subscribers will be.
3. Clear focus
The whole picture you post has to be understandable, clear, and focused on a single element. Messy photos annoy the user’s eye, so they’ll just scroll your post down. You have to catch Instagrammers’ attention and make them somehow engage with your picture, so don’t let them be distracted by a bunch of details.
4. Contrast
Users are scrolling the feed downward and all the pictures they see are more or less same. To catch the attention you have to make a picture that stands out of the row. Colors, shapes, fonts, light and exposure, scale — everything could be in handy.
5. Short text
You can’t add a 500-word description to your photo — nobody will read it. Instagram is created for observing pics, not for reading, so make the text block as small as possible. A short joke, a one engaging phrase, a few inspiring words are enough.
6. Proper hashtags
Users search for posts with hashtags, so the ones you use should describe your content completely and clearly. You also need to add your brand hashtag. Try not to make too many hashtags or “hide” it under “See more” button.
A few words about equipment
A professional photo technique is, of course, the best choice for making pictures for Instagram, but it requires the skill to use it. It could be a better idea to hire a photographer to make stunning photos of your product. If your budget is small — it is better to use even a smartphone camera. An amazing photo needs to be carefully prepared: the light, angle, and background must be perfect. If you decided to buy all the required equipment and accessories — it could be a wise idea to ask a recommendation from an experienced photographer, on a specialized web forum or to find information in various articles.
More recommendations:
Backstage photos
People love to watch how the products are being created. The backstage life of a company always interests customers, so photos that are made during your working process, on different events and celebrations will drive engagement. Show your subscribers the faces of people, working in your company, their everyday tasks and time spent resting — it will help them to feel a deeper connection with your brand.
Timing
Know when your users are most active. If you make a post at that time — they will see it on the top of their feed. If your product is international — don’t forget that people on different sides of the world sleep at a different time. Making posts in the period when the majority is awake is essential.
Engagement
Not only you expect your followers to engage with your post. They also expect you to talk with them, answer the questions and comment on their answers. If you talk to your audience — they feel that their opinion does matter.
Instagram stories and what to do with them
Stories are the only way an author could share a link with users. Instagram offered an opportunity to add clickable links in 2016. Follower still has to hit the “see more” to get a link, but it is better than nothing. However, you can use stories another way too.
Here are the freshest updates:
· Geostickers. Authors get an opportunity to add creative stickers to their stories to show their geo to everyone. Statistics show that content that contains location info gets 79% more engagement.
· Instagram Direct. In 2016 this Instagram messenger was combined with Stories features. Users can choose whether the content they share in a private conversation disappears after recipient reads it or not. You can use it to send your followers proposals that will vanish after reading, so they do not annoy the audience.
· Ads in Stories. In March Instagram officially gave brand owners an opportunity to add advertisements in Stories. Now you can create an ad in convenient Ad Creator tool and add it to your page as simple as any other content.
Besides making content on your own, as a brand owner, you can also encourage your followers to send you their photos and videos or collaborate with an influencer. Using different approaches will widen your audience and strengthen your connection with it.
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