5 Ways to Make Your Brand Standout on Instagram

Nowadays, social media is absolutely saturated with businesses just trying to increase their brand’s viewership. Platforms, such as Instagram, are filled with advertisements for products, giveaways, following sprees and other interactions between producers and consumers. Although all of this follower engagement is surely to benefit businesses who are partaking, what happens when virtually everyone is online?

Despite the sheer number of businesses active on social media, having an Instagram presence doesn’t magically grant successful ad campaigns and more followers. However, with competition always rising, the pressure to produce fresh content has never been higher.

To put it simply, here’s the big secret: quality above all. Businesses need only ensure that their Instagram account provides content that matters to their viewers, and here’s 5 ways to accomplish that sought-after goal.

1. Audience Characteristics

Social media marketing, at its core, is just a back-and-forth between producers and consumers. Businesses provide content to showcase their brand, and followers show their support to brands that have captured their attention.

The actions of one ultimately affect the other, so marketers definitely need to understand their audience to be successful on Instagram. Being aware of an audience’s interests and times of activity, for example, can drastically increase a business’s advertising effectiveness, if they use the information wisely.

There are a number of ways businesses can familiarize themselves with their audiences. Simple surveys asking for feedback are transparent and easy to create. Analyzing likes and comments to determine follower interests is a little more unwieldy, but it can still give a decent idea about the general audience demographic. By far the most powerful method is Instagram analytics.

With the help of a number of third-party applications, businesses can extract in-depth information about audience interactions and their overall Instagram performance, so as to help them better understand the success of their marketing approach. Whichever method businesses choose, knowing your audience is critical.

2. Explore Different Topics

There are always Instagram accounts dedicated to a single type of content. Be it puppies, sports highlights, or hilarious fails, these accounts have achieved successful following by capitalizing on a single interest; for most businesses, however, marketing to only one community is less than ideal.

Instagram offers countless connections between businesses and people with numerous interests, both popular and niche. Although selling to one set of people can be profitable for a time, sustaining interest on Instagram goes a lot smoother when your content resonates with a greater number of people.

Businesses can increase their overall viewership and connect to more people by exploring different topics in their posts. This can be as simple as collaborating with another brand or as complex as designing a new, specialized product and revealing it on your Instagram page. Whatever the move, businesses should strive to be dynamic with their content.

3. Connections to Other Platforms

Many businesses have accounts on all the social media giants: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, and others. Instead of dividing attention between these accounts, why not use their individual strengths to bolster the others? For example, posting short clips in Instagram and providing a link to your YouTube page can increase traffic to both profiles at the same time.

Each social platform has its own strengths. While Instagram is the undisputed king of visual content, Twitter handles short messages and updates very well. Facebook has amassed tons of users in its lifetime, while Snapchat is fun, popular with younger audiences, and easy to use.

Playing off the different strengths of these various accounts can not only benefit them individually, but it can also drive Internet traffic between profiles, thereby increasing total brand visibility.

4. Masterpiece Visuals

It’s no secret that the driving force between Instagram is visual content. Photo and video are the lifeblood of this platform, and users who can conjure stunning or impactful content generally attract the most followers. However, creating masterpiece visuals is much easier said than done, but businesses can implement a few practices to elevate even standard photos to new heights.

First, since Instagram supports photo and video, mixing things up is always welcome. Posting short videos can break the monotony of a single stream of images. Also, apps like Boomerang can help businesses get artistic with their videos too. Second, playing with color schemes can create a more visually appealing aesthetic.

While black and white is always a safe bet, staging photos with a prominent color theme can create more stunning displays. Lastly, keeping photos original is always better than going overboard with filters and edits.

Businesses can garner enough viewers without oversaturating their content with color or distorting shadows. Some degree of editing is alright, as long as it’s subtle.

5. Consistent AND Impactful Content

Many businesses fall into a cycle of content creation that it becomes more of a numbers game than a concern for quality. Focusing on the sheer number of posts created too can lead to a burnout of ideas and cause some inconsistent posting frequency, which is never good.

First and foremost, businesses should understand that their posts should be quality above all else; reaching a certain quota of ideas is not nearly as important for sustaining a successful marketing strategy.

Second, even consistent posting isn’t ideal if the material populating your page is subpar or too hurried. Businesses trying to market themselves should find a healthy balance between meticulous content production and a reasonable posting schedule.

These two elements mixed with an enticing brand make for a promising marketing approach on Instagram and social media in general.