Tips on Successful Instagram Marketing

Instagram is one of the biggest social networking sites there is, and the numbers back it up: As of December last year, there are 300 million reported active monthly users. It’s no wonder that these numbers also reinforce the potential of Instagram as a marketing medium. If you’re an entrepreneur of the same mind, you can heed these tips.

Use hashtags – Hashtags play an important role if you’re marketing on Instagram. An analysis of over 120,000 photos reveal that the more skillful the use of hashtags with their accompanying photos, the more “likes” they get. Great hashtags enable the photos—and message—to reach a wider audience. However, be sure not to overdo it. Each hashtag you use should directly reference your company’s name or any other relevant identifier.

Tell a story – You will likely wear out your followers if you keep posting simple product shots that don’t tell much of anything. To inspire and excite, you’ll have to tell a story—for instance, a bakery can take a photo of someone putting together a special wedding cake.

Keep it updated – As with any social networking site, succeeding on Instagram relies heavily on consistent posting if interesting material. Instagram and Twitter, though they may seem totally different, are similar in function. Instagram functions much like Twitter’s real-time feed since it constantly refreshes when a new picture is posted. If you don’t post regularly, you’ll be buried in the flurry of user photos that get uploaded literally every minute.