Instagram content marketing: 4 best practices for your business on a budget

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Research shows that the average internet user spends only 28 minutes a day browsing Instagram. Facebook still ranks first in terms of the number of users and time spent on the platform, though Instagram could soon overtake the social networking site.

Still, half an hour is not a whole lot of time to make an impression. If you want to maximize your social media exposure, playing to the modern user’s shortening attention span is an absolute must.

Below are a few cost-effective strategies for businesses who want to optimize their Instagram content.

1. Act on Analytics

In our article on consumer data privacy, we learned that 63% of consumers expect personalization in their products or services.

Personalization can help people feel more valued and that their needs are being noticed. Providing content relevant to the interests of your consumers assures them that you’ve taken the time to understand their wants and needs and that you're using the information they provide you for their benefit.

Thankfully, if you have an Instagram Business Account, the analytics tool shows information and statistics related to your profile engagement. This will provide key information on how users are interacting with your content, including how many visits your account gets, which days your profile gets most visits, and where users discover your posts.

If your account has more than 100 followers, Insights can also show you summaries of your follower demographics, which include gender, age, and location.

You can use this information to better understand what your audience is looking for. For example, if you found out that users were more likely to engage with your video content rather than your static photos, you can make sure your next marketing campaign maximizes the use of video content.

2. Find the Best Times to Post

To maximize engagement on your posts, you need to make sure you share your posts when your target market is online. If you don’t have a solid set of analytics you can refer to, understanding the browsing habits of the average Instagram user can give you a better handle on knowing when to post.

The best time to post on Instagram is 6:00 AM in your local time zone. Most content gets posted between 9 AM-1 PM, but users start browsing and interacting with posts much earlier than that.

Sharing your post earlier in the morning lets you capitalize on the existing traffic without worrying about getting lost in a sea of newly-posted content. Getting high engagement early on will also push the Instagram algorithm into bumping your post up on people’s feeds later in the day, giving it more visibility and longevity.

3. Solidify your Instagram “Aesthetic”

Just as a well-designed store drives foot traffic, a visually pleasing Instagram feed should bring in more clicks.

Make sure your feed can efficiently communicate your brand’s visual identity. Be consistent with your stylistic choices for both your posts and your stories. Limit yourself to one to three fonts that reflect your brand’s personality, and find a color palette that evokes the atmosphere you want your brand to convey.

Look at the overview of your grid, too. If it's too cluttered, you might want to curate your posts and share non-curated content in your Stories instead of your main feed.

4. Build a Relationship with your Followers

Research by Forbes shows that 73% of consumers tend to increase spending when they feel connected to a brand.

This number proves that consumers prefer brands that make them feel valued. Building relationships with consumers also translates to better Instagram visibility, as the algorithm takes relationships into account when sorting user feeds. When a user frequently interacts with an account, posts shared by that account will be more likely to show up at the top of that user’s feed.

Start conversations that users can make themselves a part of. The easiest way to do this is through Instagram Stories, as the platform provides many different avenues for interaction.

For example, if you’re in the food business, you can use the question sticker to ask customers for their favorite flavors. This will give your customers a way to express themselves, while also giving you a better understanding of which products most of your customers will like.

You can also use Instagram Direct, the official messaging system for Instagram, to communicate directly with your followers. Users are more likely to buy from a business they can message. There are a few ways you can use Instagram Direct to drive sales, such as by promoting special offers, polling your followers, and more.

Expand Your Reach with Instagram

The best part about Instagram is that it’s extremely cost-effective for a tool that massively expands your business’ reach. While figuring out how to make your content stand out can be difficult, there’s little to lose when trying.

For high returns on your social media marketing campaigns, you need only invest time, attention, and creativity.