According to SelfStartR, Instagram is now the dominant choice for e-commerce brands to connect with followers who are ready to spend money. Compared to Facebook, only 32% of users regularly engage with an e-commerce brand. The number is 68% on Instagram, which more than doubles your profit potential.
If your e-commerce brand has global potential, Instagram can help extend your brand awareness around the world. More than 120 million people in the U.S. log onto Instagram regularly, 71 million people are using the platform in India, and over 64 million in Brazil. It’s also worth noting that 90% of Instagram users are under age 35. That’s where the spending power of the current generation is, which is why plenty of brands are constantly refining their marketing strategy to harness that.
How to Increase Brand Awareness on Instagram
If you are ready to start increasing brand awareness on Instagram, then these five steps should prove to be a great starting point.
Post Consistently
Instagram is a dynamic platform, and if you do not consistently post, your engagement levels will drop off and will soon be non-existent. Posting at least three times a week is beneficial, but most influencers will tell you that daily posting is essential to increase your e-commerce brand’s reach on Instagram. Need images to start with? Using ready-made stock photos provide you with a wide range of content to fill your feed with.
Use Video and Live Stream to Increase Brand Reach
Video and live streams speed up the path towards knowing, liking, and trusting a brand. When you put your face and voice out there, your followers will feel like they are getting to know you. As you are most likely aware, people are more likely to spend money with brands they know and trust.
Image shot by Yulia Grigoryeva, 123RF.
While an Instagram live video doesn’t save after you’re done, it does create a sense of urgency that will get your followers shopping online to see what you have to say, which does great things for brand reach. If you want your video to be available after your session, Instagram video allows you to create snippets of video to help you connect with your audience. Once you are finished recording, the video shows up in your news feed.
Strategic Hash Tagging
Create a brand hashtag that is unique to your e-commerce business. Make sure you do a thorough search on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to ensure that no one has already snatched it up.
Photo shot by rawpixel, 123RF.
An excellent branding hashtag will be short and memorable because you want your audience to use it correctly. KitKat provides an excellent example of a brandable hashtag that uses their famous tag line #HaveABreak. It’s instantly recognizable, and the company uses it regularly throughout all of its social media presence. Thousands of KitKat consumers also share images of themselves enjoying the product and using the hashtag.
Make Wise Image Choices
Image by sonjachnyj, 123RF.
Writing excellent copy is always a good strategy, but the most significant influence on building brand awareness on Instagram will come from the images you choose. After all, images are central to the site’s success. Torn between the use of image formats, or just find them confusing? Click here to discover when you should use a JPG or a PNG for your digital marketing materials. If Instagram doesn’t have the image editing features you’re looking for, there are plenty of other options like this free tool and this one to help you edit your images online. The best pictures in your feed will help you promote your brand without making you look too salesy, or just plain hardsell.
Use Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories image by dimarik16, 123RF.
Instagram stories are incredibly popular right now because it includes attractive images with engaging videos. By using pre-made templates for your brand’s Insta stories, you’ll cut down on the time used to make videos from scratch. The best stories for improving brand awareness and increasing engagement will be the ones that humanize your company.
That’s the gist of how you can increase your e-commerce brand’s reach on Instagram. More than a billion people are using Instagram, so if you are not yet using it to increase your brand reach, now is the time to start developing your Instagram profile and become active on the platform. If Instagram is already a social media tool you’ve mastered, try out TikTok for your business instead.