Have you ever noticed just how many businesses or brands are starting to make use of social media platforms as a part of their marketing schemes? Are you wondering how they manage to pull it off so well?

These days, there are so many different ways for a business to see growth, and traditional marketing doesn’t seem to fall part of that anymore. Traditional marketing has become expensive and far too localised for what brands and businesses need now, and social media is just the thing for that. Social media has basically replaced traditional marketing for businesses all over the world now and most of this is down to convenience.

While making use of social media platforms for your marketing plan is great but it is important to remember that social media is first and foremost a means of entertainment, meaning that people don’t want to know that they are being advertised to. If a business is new to social media, they might need to follow these basics of Instagram marketing to help them get off the ground.

Use analytics

Many people tend to neglect their account analytics and just hope that what they are posting is going to do well. Well there is actually a way to decipher what content will do well and what won’t, and whether to use a growth service like Growthoid.com or not. This is by looking at the analytics. Through this you can find out what type of content is the most effective when it comes to audience engagement, what the best times are to post, and how often you should be posting in a day. This may take some time and patience but it is well worth the wait if it helps you discover how to optimise your posting and posting schedule. You may be tempted to focus on the vanity of the analytics, but an in depth look can be very helpful in the long run.

Use a business profile

When people think of Instagram, they think is it is a place to post photos. Many people who are new to the marketing side of Instagram may not know that your account can actually be changed from a regular standard profile to a business profile. A business profile is a lot different to a normal profile, while it still offers the same features, it offers a whole lot more on top of that.

With a business profile you can see your Instagram insights, make use of Instagram ads, use Instagram shopping, have primary and secondary messaging boxes, and even add you contact information and a call to action button. These features are games changers when it comes to businesses and brands making use of Instagram because it allows them to not only see how well their account is doing but also promoted it much better and more effectively, as well as giving access to potential customers much more easily too.

Understand the algorithm

Instagram, just like every other social media platform, uses an algorithm which decides which posts will be better received and pushes them to the users. Although the algorithm will typically prioritize more recent posts, the content that people interact with and engage with will be what’s is more commonly noticed by the algorithm, and knowing this is the best way to increase the number of followers you have. This means that in order to fall parts of what the algorithm requires you need to encourage meaningful engagement on your content, and this can be done by you initiating this engagement with replying to comments, liking others posts and following other people.

Have goals

It may seem pointless to have goal for social media because all you basically have to do is post content and hope for the best. This is definitely not the case. Having goals for your social media marketing plans is crucial when it comes to seeing growth both within your brand and your account. Basic goals can include having a certain number of followers or a certain number of likes on your post but you can also think bigger in terms of how much your Instagram account actually grows your brand or how many sales you make just by advertising from Instagram. Having goal is so important because it creates incentive to work harder and encourages you to actually put in the work and not just wait around for something to happen.