Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Flipboard 0 Time to upgrade your Instagram promotion efforts? Making an impact on Instagram is one of the most valuable ways to boost your online presence. Instagram crushed the 1 billion global user mark in 2020 and continues to capture the attention of customers all over the globe today. It’s the place where customers go to research new products and services and is one of the top social media platforms for brand interaction. Of course, if you want to see amazing Instagram engagement from your campaigns, you’re going to need the right promotion strategies to help you stand out from the competition. If you’re struggling to connect with your customers in an increasingly cluttered social media marketplace, don’t panic. Here are some great promotional ideas to try in your next campaign. 1. Boost Your Post Boosting a post on Instagram essentially means turning your existing content into a paid ad. When you boost a post, Instagram helps you to get that content to your target audience, raising your chances of conversions. Instagram even allows companies to boost posts with product tags. To boost a post: Choose a post already gaining a decent amount of attention on your site. Ideally, you’ll want to choose something capable of highlighting your unique product benefits, like a video that shows off your USP. Select a goal for your boosted post, so you can send people to a specific location when they click on your ad. Instagram will add a CTA in the color of your sponsored image to direct people to your website or product pages. Target your audience: You can use Instagram targeting tools to make sure you’re reaching customers most likely to convert. It’s easy to zero in on specific demographics and locations with your ads. Set a budget and duration for your ad. Boosted posts are an engaging way to improve your chances of the right content connecting with the correct people. They’re not as intrusive as a regular ad, and they give your brand the awareness and conversion opportunities it needs. Source: Advertisement.com 2. Run A Contest Or Giveaway There are few things better than contests and giveaways for improving Instagram engagement. Contests are a subtle form of Instagram promotion because they don’t look like traditional ads, but they still help you to capture audience interest and get people talking about your company. Brands that run contests achieve 70% faster growth than those that don’t. So, how do you run a contest successfully? Choose a goal: Decide what you want to accomplish with your Instagram giveaway. If you’re trying to attract new followers, for instance, you might ask your existing fans to @tag a friend to enter the competition. Find the perfect prize: You want to get people excited about the possibility of winning your competition without losing all your profits. Sometimes, you could even consider partnering with other companies to deliver a better prize pot. Decide how to run your competition: Are you going to be asking customers to “like” your post for a chance to win, share their own picture with a branded hashtag, or @tag a friend? When will your competition winner be announced, and how long do people have to get involved? When someone does win your competition, make sure to follow up with them and ask for pictures of them with their winnings. This makes for an excellent Instagram story. Remember to use a great visual to advertise your contest, too, like Birchbox does here: 3. Post A Coupon Or Discount Perhaps the only thing customers love more than the opportunity to get something for free, is the chance to save some extra cash. Posting a discount or exclusive coupon for your Instagram followers is a great way to get them excited about your brand. There are a ton of ways to use this Instagram promotion method correctly, such as: Using a GIF or video to showcase your discount: Animation and video can capture your customer’s attention as they’re scrolling down the page. It’s also a great way to stand out. Post a discount with a time limit: Leverage your customer’s fear of missing out by providing them with coupons they can only use temporarily. You can even post coupon information specifically on your Instagram Stories, so it disappears once the promotion has finished. Make it exclusive: Show your customers there are benefits to following you on Instagram, by making a coupon just for them. Creating a dedicated discount for Instagram users will prompt people to continue checking your account for more savings in the future. 4. Cross-Promote Producing amazing Instagram content to capture new followers and gain attention from fans takes a lot of work. The effort involved in Instagram content creation shouldn’t be limited exclusively to your Instagram page. Why not promote yourself across other environments too? You can cross-promote your content in a range of different ways to improve brand awareness and increase your chances of conversions such as: Within email campaigns: Add images from Instagram to your email marketing messages and allow followers to quickly click on an Instagram button if they want to check out your content after viewing your email. On other social media channels: Instagram has automatic integration with Facebook, so you can easily share content across both of these channels at once. You could also look into promoting your images and videos on things like TikTok, YouTube, and Pinterest. On your website: Remember to link back to your Instagram content on your website. You could even have user-generated content from happy customers on your product pages which links back to a branded hashtag. Cross-promotion instantly improves your chances of reaching new customers in a range of different environments. 5. Explore User-Generated Content User-generated content is one of the best ways to improve your Instagram promotion efforts. Unlike content created by your company, user-generated content immediately connects with your target audience, building social proof and brand credibility. Clients love to see other people using your products and services. The best way to access user-generated content is to: Use a branded hashtag: Encourage users to share their experiences with your brand using a branded hashtag. This will make it easier to find images from your community. Run competitions: You can run contests that encourage people to share images of them using your products and services to increase your collection of UGC. Share reviews and testimonials: Many of today’s customers will happily review a company they feel gave them a great experience. Convert those testimonials into posts for your Instagram feed, and remember to give your customer a shout-out Lush’s #LushCommunity is an excellent example of how UGC strategies can work. 6. Brand Collaborations Finally, customers aren’t the only people you can collaborate with when you’re growing your Instagram presence. It’s also worth looking into partnerships with other, like-minded brands. Brand collaborations involve two companies coming together to deliver new benefits for their target audience. For instance, when Ben and Jerrys joined forces with @blkandbold, @solacilike, and @mvmnt4blklives they created a brand-new ice cream flavor and got their customers talking by supporting an important movement. When choosing your brand collaborations remember: Make it relevant: Try to choose a brand to collaborate with that complements your company, but doesn’t compete with it. For instance, a makeup company could collaborate with a company selling makeup-remover wipes. Show your values: Ben and Jerry’s collaboration was successful because it showed how much they cared about the Black Lives Matter movement. Working with companies that share your values will help you stand out. Promote on both sides: Make sure both you and your collaborating brand work hard to promote shared content across Instagram. You can use standard posts, videos, IGTV, stories, and even reels to grab attention. Find A New Method Of Instagram Promotion There are tons of ways to promote your Instagram account and earn new followers. With the tips above, you should have everything you need to revamp your campaign and get your customers excited about your content again. Remember to pay attention to your marketing analytics to determine which of your campaign efforts are having the best results. Twitter Tweet Facebook Share Email This article was written for Business 2 Community by Rafaella Aguiar.Learn how to publish your content on B2C Join our Telegram channel to stay up to date on breaking news coverage Author: Rafaella AguiarView full profile ›More by this author:5 Sure-Fire Ways to Get Maximum Engagement For Your Instagram Captions50 Best Instagram Captions For Christmas5 Best Practices On Choosing the Best Time to Post on Instagram