Experts on social media services will always place an emphasis on curating your social media feeds, particularly for Instagram, and for good reason: your company’s Instagram feed is going to be the first thing potential customers will see when they go on the platform. Curating an Instagram feed is an important aspect of any digital marketing strategy that benefits any industry, whether it’s social media for real estate, food and drink, retail, marketing, any everything else in between.
Instagram is one of the best places for any company to market their brand because the platform specializes in two things internet users love: images and video. With Instagram seeing more than a billion unique users every month, leveraging the social media app to market your brand is crucial to success.
The best way to make use of Instagram’s platform is to curate your feed. A curated Instagram feed simply means that your company’s Instagram account is carefully thought-out, with content being created and distributed in such a way that it creates a positive image of your company, all of which is designed to enhance your customer’s experience of your overall brand.
Why Curate Instagram Feeds?
A curated Instagram feed has multiple benefits, but perhaps the biggest one of all is the creation of a brand image. Simply put, a brand image is basically how the public perceives you, your products, and/or your services. With an estimated 1.386 billion active and unique users on its platform, having a curated Instagram feed that creates a positive brand image for your company is a great way to increase your leads and thus increase your chances of conversion.
Instagram might be the 3rd largest social media platform, but consider its competition: Facebook, YouTube, Whatsapp. Facebook is an all-around social media app, and at this point in time, your company should have an active presence already. YouTube, on the other hand, despite being the second largest social media app, is pretty niche in terms of media delivery, which means that you’d have to invest both time and effort in the creation of YouTube-friendly videos.
On average, Facebook has the highest conversion rate of 9.2%, with Instagram coming in at a distant second with “only” 1.85%. That being said, Instagram actually enjoys the highest transaction rate in social media, with the average IG user spending around $65 per transaction, which is an 18% increase from FB’s $55 average and a whopping 41% increase from Twitter’s $46 average.
By curating your Instagram feed, you’re not only making your brand’s image easy to consume, it also helps establish your brand in your customer’s psyche.
Using Instagram for Social Media Marketing
By and large, using Instagram as your primary avenue of social media marketing is not only a profitable move, it’s a strategy that will ensure your company’s brand is recognizable to millions. Of course, this is only if you do it correctly. Here are some basic tips on curating your Instagram feed:
Establish a Brand Image
Before you can market your brand image, you need to actually create one. At its most basic, a brand image is how your customers perceive you. In the context of Instagram, establishing your brand’s image requires a careful consideration of your visual persona, the way your copy speaks to customers, the kind of lifestyle you’re promoting, and the demographic of people you are trying to reach.
Create a Schedule and Stick to It
Consistency is key for any kind of social media feed; you want to post enough so that you pop up on your customer’s feed, but you don’t want to post too much that their feed becomes saturated with your content. In general, posting on Instagram 2-3 times a week is the most recommended posting frequency for many brands regardless of industry.
Content is STILL King
There is no replacement for good content, and on Instagram, it’s more than just a pretty photo (although that does help a lot). Remember that in the 21st century, people aren’t interested in brands per se: they’re interested in the experience that these brands have to offer. Focus on creating content that enhances the customer experience. Pro tip: use relevant hashtags to target interested users, thus skipping a couple of steps in the conversion ladder.
Instagram is Just the Start
All this being said, remember that Instagram –and indeed, your entire social media marketing –isn’t the only component of your overall digital marketing strategy. Turn your curated Instagram feed into a gateway into your company’s larger marketing ecosystem by adding captions, call-to-actions, and bios that link customers to your e-commerce platforms so as to maximize your chances of turning leads into successful sales.
Consult with Top Results Consulting Today
Social media management online requires patience, effort, and a whole lot of expertise. It can be tempting to see social media and digital marketing as something you can just do on the side, but the reality of it is that it requires actual, technical know-how.
Fortunately, we at Top Results Consulting is proud of the social media services we offer, not only because we know what we’re talking about, but because we have a consistent success rate that translates to a long list of happy customers. Contact us today and let’s see if we can come up with a digital marketing strategy that’s fit for your company!
