Understanding Instagram Marketing

And How To Apply Targeted Keywords On Instagram

(This is a brush-up of an old article I have ghost written a while back for a client, still has some noteworthy points for beginners on Instagram marketing)

Everyone that’s got a product to sell knows how important marketing is, without which people will never hear about a product or service. Marketing is the business tool that introduces your merchandise or services in front of an audience, if done right, total strangers will be willing to purchase from you after a good marketing campaign, soaring your profits.

Think of marketing as the catalyst that drive sales, so things like advertising, cold calling, Instagram marketing and creating promotions (such as issuing coupons) are all different forms of marketing techniques because they help bring awareness of a product or service to an audience and convince them to buy.

One of the major forms of marketing though is online marketing, it’s been around since the inception of the internet, it comprise of the notorious social media marketing under its wings. Besides social media there are other marketing techniques that are online related such as content marketing, email marketing, search engine optimization, affiliate marketing and so on. All of these mediums make good use of visuals and written content such as pictures, videos and tweets to advertise and market their presence, but regardless, the way by which online marketing works is through the use of targeted keywords, it is the holy grail of online marketing.

Obviously because it’s how search engines such as Google let people to find you on the web. Keywords are specific words that are placed intentionally within a written content, they communicate directly with the search engines which allows them to bring up your site or content in its search results after a user’s query using those specific words. So for instance a person searched ‘cars’, a lot of car websites will come up but not football videos in the search results, because the car websites optimized their website content with the keyword ‘Car’.

This may all seem too overwhelming at first, but with the help of a good copywriter this shouldn't be a problem, he will help you scale your business online.

Back then something called meta-data and meta-tags are used to detect the keywords you wish to specify to the search engine but now it’s unnecessary as search engines detect them automatically. Usually the more times the keyword appears the better its chance at the top of the search results, but search engines have complex algorithms now, they hate it when businesses use a keyword repetitively that may result in the sanction of the website, it takes skilfully written content to achieve maximum result.

With well targeted keywords, you will get better ROI and can increase your reach since people can find you easily.

That’s just a highlight of how important targeted keywords can be in online marketing, but we are just going to concern ourselves with Instagram marketing and how to effectively use targeted keywords on the giant social media platform, with Instagram’s lack of traditional search function and obsession with hashtags it’s more difficult than it sounds to get to do really well, marketing on the platform that is.

How Big Is Instagram Anyway?

Instagram is the second largest social media network behind Facebook, it has over a billion monthly active users. With so many people on the social network it’s no wonder businesses and startups are wisely joining to take advantage of the large audience so they can showcase their products to them.

Instagram reportedly has over 25 million business profiles. So it’s worth it to hop onto the bandwagon too if you are not already on it.

Marketing on Instagram

Instagram is a very interactive social network, its users spend hours on it and are more prone to comment, like and share, in general, engage better with posts on their feed, probably because of its visual superiority. Its unique filters made it possible for average people to post really high quality looking images.

Marketing on Instagram has basically the same principles as marketing anywhere online, you need to constantly expand your reach, target a set audience, generate and increase traffic, acquire new leads, sell, and of course increase revenue, a.k.a. make profit. Instagram made it possible for businesses to have a distinct advantage when using their social network by providing them with business tools of which is an insights data comprising of demographic details of your followers.

Another of the business tools is the ability to use paid ads. But I cannot go on about all the different marketing tools made available by Instagram, that should be another topic for another day.

Now, in the course of marketing your products or services online we understood that targeted keywords play an important role, it enables businesses to be found when a user searches the web. But since Instagram has a non-searchable content, meaning you can’t search for a word or phrase from a post as you normally do on Google, you got to employ the use of hashtags, Instagram’s alternative for keywords.

The Keywords of Instagram: Hashtags

Hashtag is the keyword of Instagram. By tapping on one you will be taken to a page where only posts that made mention of that particular hashtag will appear.

Hashtags was meant as a way for communities to find their peers across the globe with the same interest. So if for instance you are looking for knitting enthusiasts (it is thrilling I know), you will find hashtags such as #knitting #knittinglove #knit #knittingpattern #knittingaddict #knittinglife #knittingwithLove to mention a few. It’s a perfect way for the observers of the sport to connect with each other and that is where marketing comes in, by mentioning a hashtag such as #bike, or #biking and #instabiking, you will be able to reach and attract an incredible number of people that love bike riding to your bicycle accessories store profile account.

Instagram enables you to have up to 30 hashtags in one post, if used well businesses should be able to target hashtags that point to the location of their business (e.g. #Chicago), target the interests of its audience or followers (e.g. #knittingLove), and target hashtags related to their industry.

So this made hashtags the keywords of Instagram, they are specific and lead you to what you are searching for on Instagram. Therefore, use it to drive customers to your profile.

Below are some effective ways to use hashtags for marketing on Instagram, even though very briefly explained it contains the basics and foundation of using hashtags on Instagram.

3 Effective Ways To Use Hashtags For Instagram Marketing

1. Create your own hashtags

Create hashtags unique to yourself and your business, brand specific hashtags, it makes you stand out. Nike uses #justdoit and HP uses #KeepReinventing, why not you?

2. Use hashtags on every post

Use it for every time you post, you stand to gain more engagement from every post from new followers and the old ones alike.

3. Use Trending hashtags

Instagram is all about the hype sometimes, and what’s trending is always where everyone’s attention is at, at any given moment. So, never be left out on trending issues in your industry or the latest fads and sensations your followers/target audience are into.

Use those trending hashtags to connect with more new people and to stay relevant with your audience’s interests.

So Far So Good

We have just uncovered how massive Instagram is and of course it’s marketing potential, how well targeted keywords will go a long way in connecting your brand or business with the right audience. With all its business tools Instagram marketing is probably the most avid social marketing tool in the universe.

It connects you with your brand supporters and lets you showcase your products to your target audience in a visual and engaging way.