Do you want people to see your brand and products, produce a strong following of consumers who connect to your brand, and get paid? If yes, then Instagram is your key.
Currently, Instagram has over 300 million users monthly which are more than Twitter users. A lot of brands are looking for ways to interface with the Instagram community and get personally invested customers who want to come back for more. But you should not only think about the numbers. It is the netizens using Instagram.
Instagrammers are shoppers. According to Iconosquare, in 2015 Instagram study proves that seventy percent of Instagram users disclosed that they already tried searching a brand on the app. Additionally, sixty-two percent of its users follow a brand because they are satisfied with it.
Posting the appropriate Instagram images could make consumers absorb your marketing message without trying too hard to pitch your sales. Therefore, Instagram is just a tool for appealing to customers without personally promoting to them.
Customers reach to social media for references. That’s why some Searchical SEO Sydney specialists recommend Instagram since it can be helpful in converting passive shoppers into confident consumers. Here are some Instagram’s new features and how to use them for social media marketing.
Live Video & Instagram Stories
In August of 2016, Instagram launched Instagram Stories, which is a new feature where Instagram users share all the happenings on that day. As users share various images and videos, they all appear in a slideshow format. The videos and pictures will vanish after 24 hours, and will never appear again on the user’s feed or grid.
It was November 2016 when Instagram introduced the Live Video feature which is available on Instagram Stories. People just need to tap the “Start Live Video” button and begin sharing their moments for up to an hour.
When a user follows someone, and he or she starts a live video, they will see the word “LIVE” in the profile photo of that person in the stories bar. During the live broadcast, viewers can like and comment as much as they want. Individuals can find new live stories on the Explore tab and search for “Top Live” stories.
Disappearing Photos and Instagram Direct
At the same time, Instagram introduced live video features, and it also presented disappearing videos and pictures for friends and groups in Instagram Direct, adding features to the app that is similar to SnapChat.
To use the feature, people just need to swipe right on the camera to take a photo or record a video, then select the arrow to send it privately. They can pick a group, or they can make one in some just few selections and also send it to friends privately at the same time. Just the same as SnapChat, the images and videos vanish from the inboxes of their friends after they checked them.
Deeper Engagement, Saved Photos, and Stickers
This year, Instagram also organized better control features for its users. Individuals can like comments on a post, manage comments, turn comments off, save posts, and remove followers.
Currently, it is safe to say that Instagram focused on and is testing out ways on how to provide intense levels of engagement for users and those connected people. Most importantly, the deeper the engagement, the more data, and information they will have.
The feature that marketers should focus on the most is the “saved posts” feature. With this feature, users can keep what they like and check it again later. They no longer have to like something, and then they still have to scroll back to find it later.
Saved posts provide an element of emotion, which can be a marketing metric. CTRs or Click Through Rate are only convenient as part of a sales funnel. Unless you have an excellent funnel that can gauge Instagram engagement all the way to a sale, that click through rate is precisely worth just as much as you like. But, with a saved post, we will know that the target audience got affected by your post.
Another significant feature to consider is the stickers that are already available. Same as SnapChat, users can attach customizable stickers based on factors such as their location, the current time, or the weather. Themed stickers will be accessible now and then, and the users can attach as much as they want to their stories. No doubt businesses and brands will look to generate customize stickers.
Takeaway
Keep in mind that Instagram’s social essence functions to grow the more intangible features of marketing, such as lifetime user value, brand equity, and buyer loyalty.
The associations and community of your brand are just as significant as your products, and Instagram is the right tool to market that brand identity. Soon enough, consumers will be coming to you, not the other way around. ref- Searchical SEO Sydney
