Pretty much everyone has heard of Instagram. It’s one of the most popular social media platforms out there today, and it has over one billion users this year. These numbers are expected only to grow in the coming years. We recommend all of our brands to have a strategy for their presence on Instagram—it’s crucial to make a plan to further your brand when using Instagram. Your loyal followers on other social media channels should be able to recognize you and more importantly, convert! What’s worked in the past may not work now, so we’re letting you in on our insider knowledge on how best to utilize Instagram for your e-commerce brand. Read on for the steps you need to take in order to have a successful Instagram strategy this year for your business.
How To Build an Instagram Strategy In 2022 for your Ecommerce Brand
June 2, 2022
Instagram is the best channel for top-of-the-funnel traffic.
With roughly one billion users, Instagram is a platform you HAVE to take advantage of. You would be able to reach so many potential customers, and the possibilities are endless for top-of-the-funnel traffic that could eventually convert. Top-of-the-funnel refers to the initial stage of a customer’s journey with your brand. First impressions mean a lot, and your Instagram account could be a great (or not so great) first impression for your business. Many businesses aren’t utilizing the potential of Instagram, and it’s hurting their bottom line in the long run.
Having just one ad campaign is also not going to cut it — you’ll need a few to focus on the key areas of your funnel and to help move people along through the funnel. Having a goal in mind can help you decide how to structure your funnel better in the future.
Know your audience
It’s crucial to your success to know your audience. For some brands, targeting an interest-based audience works best. When you know your audience is already interested in and looking at your products or similar products, it can be a good opportunity to capitalize on that interest. For other brands, a more broad approach can be the surest path to success. Whether people already have interest in your product or not, if you market it the right way, it could spark the interest you need and with the right team of marketers behind you, you’ll be on the right path in no time. It’s important for you to understand your audience and act accordingly.
Do your research see what your competitors are doing
Do you know what your competitors are up to? If not, it’s time you start doing your research. Knowing who your brand competitors are is a big step in your Instagram strategy, and taking a look at their ads can help you determine if you’re on the right track. See if they are using videos, images, GIFs, long copy text, short copy text, etc. All of these factors can affect your ads, and it’s really good to experiment with different factors to see what might work best for you. You can check all of that in the Facebook Ad Library tool. Check the date of the ads: Ads that are being run for months or a year are usually Evergreen ads and those are the most profitable.
Outline and test different types of ad creative
Once you have all the information from the research on your competitor’s ads, test different ad creatives, find out what works best for your brand and make more of these ads. There are many different ads for you to try on Instagram. From images, carousels, reels and Instagram stories, you have so many options for content to try and see what functions the best for your brand. It’s not just limited to Instagram posts anymore. Your analytics will be your key to knowing what ads work and what ads don’t work for your Instagram strategy. Remember: Each ad creative can work differently for different audiences. If you have several audiences, it’s best to test what content works best for each.
Create strong copy
Many brands seem to neglect copy. They think as long as they have good shots of their product to use as images that they can write the copy themselves or use the same copy over and over again for the same results. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Having a team of marketers helping you with the content that converts is your best chance of more sales. A writer who understands your brand and knows how to communicate your values is invaluable. Having a good appealing copy, testing different styles of copy (long and short) and having engaging copy that explains the value of your product is the way to go. Remember, prospective audiences don’t know you, and they need to understand your brand and product from only a few sentences on social media.
Understand the trends
Many trends come and go on social media, but one that is gaining some traction lately is Reels, Instagram’s response to TikTok. Reels are a surefire way to grow your number of followers on your Instagram account, since Instagram users are given content from other users they follow and those that they don’t. Experimenting with trends on the rise can help you get started and get noticed. Many brands can leverage their Instagram Reels in their marketing strategy, even if they don’t seem like obvious candidates for Reels to work well for them. Even if you don’t understand Instagram, it can pay off to stay up to date on what’s going on and works well on Instagram.
Collaborate with influencers
Influencer marketing content is on the rise, so be on the lookout for influencers that can be a perfect fit for your brand. They might have already done a review for your product or they have reviewed similar products in the past. Those influencers have many followers, and every post, story or collaboration can bring your brand a high amount of followers, brand awareness and most importantly: REVENUE. Because they have so many followers, influencers can give your brand more of a reach than it ever had before. Collaborating with influencers on Instagram might be the best way to get your brand out there.
Utilize Instagram Shopping
If you haven’t set up Instagram Shopping, you’re definitely missing out on sales from your target audience. It gives your users an easier shopping experience. They don’t need to jump from link to link, everything is within the platform and all they need to do is move between catalogs, check prices and search for what they like. Keeping them on the app is beneficial because they’ll want to follow you to keep up with all of your latest products and updates. Then when they see something they like on your account or in one of your ads, they don’t need to jump to your website. There’s no risk of broken links or a problem loading your website. All of your all-star products can be neatly on display for Instagram users to see and purchase.
Know your revenue goals and allocate your budget
If you are looking for growth over 50% YOY, you should allocate more budget into prospecting (about 75-80%). Retargeting is a very important audience to consider. This is your warmest audience that already knows your brand. They visited but did not purchase for whatever reason… Maybe they got distracted or didn’t want to spend the money at the time, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t convert now. With a little persistence, the sale could be yours! Not every person becomes a client straight away; it’s definitely not that simple. Many of them convert in the further touch points, so make sure to show your ads to people at all stages of the funnel.
Final Thoughts
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