Why Your Instagram Marketing is Failing (and How to Fix it)

When used properly, Instagram is one of the best social platforms for marketers. Unfortunately, many marketers have a very difficult time gaining traction with it.

If your Instagram marketing strategy is failing, here are some tips to turn things around.

1.      Create a More Consistent Brand Message

The average customer needs to see a brand’s message at least seven times before it is permanently ingrained in their mind. It becomes much more difficult to establish a strong brand image if you don’t share a consistent message.

Look through all of your Instagram posts. See if there are any uniform themes. Here are some things to ask yourself:

·         Do your messages resonate with your overall branding goals?

·         Are your images consistent?

·         Is the message of each post clearly understood?

The answer to these questions isn’t always clear. Sometimes, you need to ask someone with a more objective eye to give their feedback.

2.      Make Sure Every Image is Professionally Styled

One of the nice things about Instagram is that it gives companies a platform to share unique pictures. You can take a picture of your products or workspace and share it with millions of people all over the world.

While it is great to share unique content, it is also important to make sure it is professionally delivered. Instagram has a number of excellent filters that you can use to improve on your images. There are also a lot of great third-party tools that you can use to improve the quality of your images, such as The Gimp, Hyperlapse, Boomerang and Phhhoto. Make sure you utilize all the tools you need to create high-quality images.

3.      Optimize Your Timing

You can’t just share content whenever you feel like it and hope for results. You need to know when your audience is most likely to be tuned in and post content accordingly.

You should start by looking at the posts you shared over time. You can use tools like Schedulgram to see when posts get the most traction. Use this data to optimize future posts to get the most exposure.

4.      Don’t Be Afraid to Buy New Followers

Many companies are reluctant to spend money to buy Instagram followers because they would prefer to have zero operating costs. This is a self-defeating attitude because having followers can make it much easier to grow your followers after that. If you have a decent base of followers, you can exponentially increase your base by sharing great content with them.

5.      Only Follow Relevant Users

It is tempting to follow back everyone that follows you. Don’t do it, though. Your Instagram feed will be littered with people sharing content that has little relevance to your business.

Before following anyone that followed you first, click their profile to learn more about them. You want to see what they share and what they are interested in. If they aren’t sharing relevant content, then you don’t want them on your feed.