How to Market on Instagram: A Comprehensive Guide

Instagram, even though it's not the fastest-growing social media platform, is one of the fastest-growing social media platforms. Since its launch, its user base has skyrocketed to 1 billion. Additionally, Instagram has won the engagement battle—interaction on the platform is 4 times that of Facebook. These statistics explain why so many businesses are eager to join the Instagram marketing trend. But let’s make one thing clear: properly marketing on Instagram is not an easy task. You need to understand the ins and outs of the platform to run campaigns that drive conversions. Good news? This guide will walk you through all the elements of Instagram marketing in a practical, straightforward way.

Fansgurus is a social media marketing platform that includes platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Tiktok, Telegram, Shopee, and more. We provide services like gaining followers, likes, shares, comments, views, live stream engagement, and website traffic. Try it out here: Fansgurus

Let’s start with the basics.

What is Instagram Marketing?

Instagram marketing is a form of social media marketing where marketers use the Instagram platform to promote their business. If “promoting their business” sounds vague, it’s because Instagram marketing can involve many different strategies and tactics to achieve various goals a business might have.

When looking at the various ways to market using Instagram, you can categorize campaigns into two broad types:

• Paid strategies like ads and influencer marketing.
• Organic strategies such as creating content like posts, Instagram stories, and comments, and interacting with other users’ content.

Instagram Marketing: The Importance of the Algorithm

You may have heard the term “algorithm,” which is widely misunderstood. You don’t need to be an Instagram algorithm expert, but a basic understanding of it can help you achieve your goals faster and with fewer headaches.

While some marketers think the Instagram algorithm is their number one enemy, it’s actually their friend. The algorithm’s ultimate goal, like all other online algorithms, is to show each user relevant, interesting, and engaging content.

The algorithm does this by closely studying users' activity and behavior, then using that data to make educated guesses about what kind of content these users will want to see next. If your content happens to pass the “test,” you’re all set for success.

What You Need to Start Marketing on Instagram

Before starting Instagram marketing, make sure you have the right business profile, not just a regular personal profile. This will give you access to Instagram’s business features and Instagram Insights, which we will discuss later in this article. Also, it makes you look more credible in the eyes of your audience.

How to Set Up an Instagram Business Profile

To set up an Instagram business profile, you need to meet two requirements:

• An Instagram account (it can be your existing personal account or a new one you create for this purpose). We recommend using your company’s name for better brand recognition.
• Your company’s Facebook business page. Instagram requires this information for verification purposes, so make sure to create one first. Here’s a step-by-step guide to create a Facebook business page.

How to Market on Instagram: Building Your Strategy

As with any other type of strategy, if you have clear goals, choose specific strategies to achieve them, and track your progress so you can adjust when needed, your Instagram marketing strategy will work best. Let’s discuss that now.

Setting Your Goals

Your goals and objectives are the backbone of your marketing plan. We like to follow the SMART acronym for goal setting:

• Specific: Provide clear numbers and milestones rather than vague goals.
• Measurable: Choose goals that can be tracked and measured through analytics and insights.
• Achievable: Be realistic. Gaining a million followers in a week is obviously not possible (unless you're a chicken).
• Relevant: Align with your industry, business, and prospects.
• Time-bound: Set a timeline for completing your goal.

So instead of saying, “I want more followers,” try saying, “My goal is to gain 500 real followers in three months.”

Creating Your Instagram Content Strategy

As we discussed earlier, you have several publishing options to build your Instagram content strategy. Choosing the right content greatly depends on understanding your audience.

Ask yourself: What are my audience's main demographics? What do they like to do, watch, experience? What attracts and entertains them? How can my brand build trust and inspire them to buy?

Using Instagram Insights to Track Your Performance

Instagram Insights is a free tool that provides valuable insights into your account’s key performance indicators, such as how many views your posts are getting and user engagement.

Powerful Instagram Business Features

Instagram has many cool features that help connect with users and enrich relationships, even if you’re not an avid Instagram user yourself. Let’s look at some features that can help enhance your Instagram marketing strategy.

The Power of Instagram Hashtags

Hashtags are everywhere on the internet these days. When applied to your marketing strategy, Instagram hashtags can send a clear signal to users that your posts are related to content they’re looking for.

How to Use Instagram Stories and Live Videos

Instagram Stories and Live Videos are powerful tools for engaging with your audience, allowing you to showcase products and services in real-time or in more intimate settings.

How to Make Money on Instagram

If you have an active audience on Instagram, you can make money through selling products, joining affiliate programs, or becoming an influencer yourself.

Instagram Marketing Apps

There are some great Instagram apps that help you improve your marketing efforts, including photo editing apps, scheduling apps, and content creation apps.

Instagram Marketing Inspiration Examples

Let’s take a look at some common examples of Instagram marketing to keep your creativity flowing.