Instagram Marketing Advice: A Bufferchat Recap

Rachel Daley from MadeFreshly joined #bufferchat to chat about Instagram marketing!

Catch our weekly Twitter chat, #bufferchat, every week on Wednesdays, 9 am PT/Noon ET/4 pm GMT, for valuable industry insights and networking with nearly 400 other smart marketers and community managers.

When did you discover the power of Instagram for business?

From MadeFreshly:

• We were trying to grow our other platforms and it was SO HARD. But we got more engagement on IG, so we focused there.
• It’s all about knowing your audience. You have to find the platform where they are most active and engaged.

From the community:

• “Instagram made so much sense for me when I started blogging about travel/food, to provide a snippet of what my blog offers.” @Di_Mulan
• “In the non-profit world, pictures and testimonies tell our story. Instagram worked.” @fmbrewington
• “When I realized that I had started following businesses on @instagram — not just my friends!” @danielleirogers

Check out all of the amazing answers to Question 1 here!

Where does Instagram fit in your social media strategy?

From MadeFreshly:

• We use it to inspire creative biz owners and direct followers to our blog by sharing really valuable content.

From the community:

• “Instagram is our key outlet for sharing the diff. personalities @ BrightHaus, it’s one of the best ways we humanize our brand” @BrightHausGroup
• “From a personal branding standpoint, @instagram is where you will build a strong, loyal following” @courtrails
• “It fits with our requirement of speed, easy engagement with our target audience, and the authenticity of the content.” @basecreative

Check out all the amazing answers to Question 2 here!

How do you grow your Instagram audience?

From MadeFreshly:

• 1. Content – Post what ur audience likes 2. Engagement – Actively reach out to audience 3. Exposure – Collab w/ others
• Use Iconosquare to track your most liked/commented on posts. THAT’s exactly what you should post more of. No more guesswork!
• Engagement – Don’t wait for your audience to come to you. Search hashtags they use and like/comment on their photos.
• Exposure – Team up with accounts with similar audiences for contests and shout outs to get seen by more targeted eyeballs.

From the community:

• “Use great photos, post 2-3/day, use hashtags, engage with followers, follow relevant accounts, provide info in bio.” @bangner
• “IG is the one place you can load up the hashtags (8 to 11)…But important to keep them relevant.” @uxcelsior
• “The more you engage, the bigger the following you will build. Instagram users love a little shoutout here and there” @wakefly

Check out all the amazing answers to Question 3 here!

How do you best direct action and get results from an Instagram post?

From MadeFreshly:

• Make it as simple as possible and give followers the next step to take for the result you want. EX “Click the link in bio”
• CTA’s (call-to-actions) are crucial. Don’t just assume. TELL people to “click the link in bio” or “tag a friend”

From our community:

• “Post images that your audience can relate to, makes them want to interact” @sales_prodigy
• “Always evolving. We research our audience then create content for them, ask questions, makes statements that engage” @idealwild
• “I use @Iconosquare to know when to post according to my history. # are a must as this how users find pics to like!” @cecile_rainon

Check out all the amazing answers to Question 4 here!

How do you measure success or engagement on Instagram?

From MadeFreshly:

• What’s a successful post? Depends what u want out of each. Don’t try to do too much. Have 1 goal for each (likes, follows, etc)
• But literally, @iconosquare keeps track of your most liked/commented on posts, best times to post, etc. All the juicy stuff.
• Some people were asking about apps to help manage multiple accounts – this should help http://qub.me/x431p2

From the community:

• “Interactions, types of responses, COMMENTS are king though! Use @iconosquare peeps!” @WWMLD
• “If you track trends, see what’s working best, & do it right, you’ll know notice you’re being liked (& re-rgrammed!).” @ExpWriters
• “Depends on your goal. If you want people to click on a link use a custom bitly link so you can track” @kaychatz

Check out all the amazing answers to Question 5 here!

What brands or individuals are great to follow for inspiration?

From MadeFreshly:

• We studied @foundrmag religiously. 0 – 110K followers in 5 months! Trust me, READ THIS: http://bit.ly/1GHBnxy .
• @meandering_mari @frankbod @garyv @izzigadgets are all definitely worth studying too.

From the community:

• “Just a few of my faves are @starbucks, @fmtproject, @jillianharris, @hillsong, @wholefoods” @linoseimensah
• “So many good ones! @cmagazine @charitywater @socality @madewell1937 are all crushing it w/ engagement & community building.” @denisechan26
• “I go to @SueBZimmerman for tips and tricks and absolutely LOVE @social_studio” @kaychatz

Check out all the amazing answers to Question 6 here!

What do you see as the future of Instagram?

From MadeFreshly:

• Using geo-locations to show events or places to eat where u are, w/out being annoying could be really engaging and targeted.

From the Community

• “I hope to see a variety of mediums and layouts – allowing wide/tall images was a great start!” @hecpara
• “I can’t wait until IG creates a desktop version & allows ppl to pre-schedule posts, so that we can use @Buffer on it :)” @theawoods
• “high engagement + no more limits on sizing + growing influence + avenues for creativity = powerful storytelling 4/ ANY brand!” @stephe_lee

Check out all the amazing answers to Question 7 here!

Thank you so much for everyone who joined in on this great chat!

Catch #bufferchat each Wednesday at 9 am Pacific/noon Eastern and join our Google+ community for the latest news. We also have launched a brand-new Slack community to continue these awesome conversations all week long! Join 400+ people there!

Do you have any comments or answers to these questions? Leave your thoughts in the comments! We’d love to hear from you!

Image sources: UnSplash