Branded Instagram Tips

When it comes to Instagram, many brands do very well with getting the visual aspect of their messaging across to the masses, but there are always tips and tricks for making everything more effective. Having a solid social media plan that includes things like scheduling and a variety of creative content is just the start, but here are some more tips to help your branded Instagram initiatives have even more impact.

Send Direct Messages

Brands will have no issues posting an image or video post for all their followers to (hopefully!) see, but sometimes you need to get a bit more direct for specific things. Using the direct message feature is a great way to get in touch with industry insiders and influencers who might have missed an earlier post or with whom you want to share exclusive content. This will help you build valuable relationships with these followers as well as allow you to do interesting things like get them to post, RSVP or comment on a particular post.

Embed On Your Site

A great way to increase your followers is to embed your Instagram images on your official website. There are plenty of plugins that will show your account and feed in a part of the website in the same way you can embed your tweets. Aside from that, you can also make use of the images you’ve posted on Instagram in website copy or blog posts. Instead of just posting the image itself, embed the Instagram post so the image will show up but curious readers will click through to your Instagram page to see more of your image content.

Tag Influencers

Much like direct messaging influencers, this is a great tactic especially considering the algorithm has changed which accounts you see more or less often. Tagging industry influencers in your image so that it shows up in their “pictures of me” section is a great way to alert them to a post you think they’ll find relevant. Tagging them in the caption or comments might get lost in their notification, and also come off as a bit spammy, so avoid doing that.

Fix Your Follow Ratio

It’s important for brands to go through their accounts regularly and unfollow the users who aren’t following them back. Having more people following you than you are following helps to make the account look more professional.

Make Use Of User Submitted Content

Coming up with interesting creative content on a regular basis can be daunting at times, so don’t be afraid to incorporate user submitted content created by fans and followers or your account and brand. Whether it’s creating a contest or searching posts using a hashtag you created specifically for your brand, this will help connect your brand to your followers once they see you use their content.

Create A Special Hashtag

Having a special hashtag under all your posts will help your followers attach even more branding aspects to your posts. Users can also then use the hashtag to be discovered by you or other users who are fans of the brand.

Stick To One Filter

This is important for keeping everything on your page cohesive. Using one filter helps everything look organized from a visual perspective, and will help users scrolling by quickly to immediately recognize a post of yours just by glancing at it.