Instagram has become a giant in the world of advertisement over the past few years, with more and more businesses, both big and small utilizing the platform. Instagram now has over 1 billion monthly users, to give that perspective, that’s some 400 million more people than the entirety of North America. If you’re in the business of selling, you need to make the most of the exposure Instagram can bring to your company. Here are 10 effective marketing tips to promote your product on Instagram in 2019.

With pop culture and social media now so intrinsically linked it is no wonder that Instagram has an incredible influence over how specific markets do business and sure enough influencer marketing and the phenomenon of the ‘social media influencer’ is something that has become commonplace in 2019.

1.   Understand the audience and tailor the page to their preference.

In the world of marketing, this has to be the oldest trick in the book, but that’s not to say that it isn’t one of the most important things to remember in 2019 too. Identifying your primary customer audience is critical in whether your business is likely to succeed, and understanding how and where to target this audience has the potential to increase your popularity exponentially.

Being the person who founded your business, you are hopefully the individual who is most likely to know precisely who you need to be appealing to. However, understanding how to reach your target audience best isn’t always as simple as it seems. When it isn’t simple is the time when you will need to take your time to do the research, and this could mean looking back through your past sales without Instagram.

Once you have identified your audience, you need to attract them with a clean and clear statement of intent in your bio, with a link to your website. Nobody wants to take the time to read through an “about us” page worth of information while surfing Instagram, have a on-line statement about who you are. The profile picture needs to be recognizable, add the company logo or latest product (but make sure the product is proudly displaying the logo).

2.   Work out the competition and evaluate their customers and or fan base.

Also old but gold, identifying your competition is an early but essential step towards understanding how to best operate on Instagram. Being able to spot and track the posts of potential rivals gives you the ability to see both what you do well, and things you could improve on. Understanding your strengths in the market is something that you should look to attack,

The internet has made it easier to see what your rivals are doing well on the surface, due to the upfront nature of Instagram marketing, there is no need for deception.

Equally, you should be looking at the people who your rivals are interacting with, if they are critical, take note of why, if they are complimentary do the same. You can also target their customers, putting in the time to reach out to competition’s customers can win you a lot of new followers and make people give you the attention you want.

3.   Post at peak times.

Sometimes in life, it is the small things that can make the most significant difference and making sure to post your content at peak times is one of those things! You need to be able to understand when it is your target audience is most likely to be online and make sure to post in those windows. There are a countless number of websites online which have information regarding when is best to post, regarding things such as the customer’s age and timezone.

By tailoring your content only to be delivered at certain times, you are narrowing your focus on the groups who you want to attract. While this may sound like it has the potential to very work heavy, Instagram has a unique scheduling tool that means you can create posts at any time and schedule them for a specific time and date of your choosing. Make sure to make the most of this scheduling tool; all your rivals will be.

4.   Prove your worth through customer interaction.

As the adage goes, ‘seeing is believing,’ and this is certainly no different when it comes to promoting your products on Instagram.  There is a lot to be said for the impact of ‘social proof’ on the levels of purchasing.

According to 15 Writers, “social proof” is producing evidence that your product is being used and enjoyed by your customers. The best way for you to maximize this potential is to encourage customers to take pictures of themselves using your goods, incentivizing customers to send you their photographs is one of the cheapest forms of promotion you are likely to come across. Encouraging customer interaction builds a level of faith, and your followers are much more likely to feel comfortable purchasing from you if they know that others have enjoyed your product.

5.   Be consistent in brand voice.

It is imperative to develop and then maintain an appropriate ‘voice’ for your company. Consistency in the tone of your posts not only presents itself as professional, but it allows for your followers and customers to become comfortable in understanding your values as a brand. Your customers will come to expect a specific tone from posts, and by continuing with this tone will affirm their belief in you.

Inconsistency can lead to the breakdown in faith in you as a company; inconsistency represents several issues for your followers and presents itself as unprofessional and unreliable. Customers want to know that when they part with their money that they are going to get exactly what they’ve paid. If your brand voice wavers — and changes on Instagram, the level of trust is going to diminish. Then your client won’t feel as secure about what to expect.

Security for your client is one of the reasons it is essential to pre-plan your posts, additions to your Instagram page that are rushed for the sake of adding new content are going to come across as exactly that to your audience. Pre-plan, keep calm, and maintain consistency.

6.   Work with other popular Instagram accounts.

Instagram has become a platform where influencer marketing now dominates a large part of the online community. Celebrities, who have a significant following on Instagram often use the platform to promote specific products or services; their online reach can have a profound effect on how a product is viewed.

Aside from celebrities, there are several people known as “influencers.” these people often have a broad online audience too; these influencers can be collaborated with to promote products. It is vital that you research which online influencer is likely to have the most significant impact on your clients. Choosing the right Instagram account to collaborate with can be extremely beneficial. However, influencers can often cause controversy, so it is crucial that the values of the influencer themselves doesn’t contradict the values you hold as a company or brand.

It is essential to realize that aligning yourself with the wrong people for your follower base can damage the standing you have with many followers. Research is critical in all decisions made for promotion on Instagram, and it is certainly no different when choosing an influencer with which to work.

There are multiple websites where you can browse through the various Instagram influencers, and they will outline what types of people they are most popular with. It is up to you to take your time and consider many different options, if you are unsure there will always be people who can offer help should you need it.

7.   Understand that the market is subject to change.

Failure to adapt to changes in the market can be one of the key reasons for business failure. Maintaining a keen and up to date knowledge of which direction your specific market is heading in is crucial. It would become increasingly difficult to properly promote a product if your understanding of the current climate was fixed and outdated. You can stay up to date with online trends by remaining vigilant and continuing a similar level of research to that you needed when first launching your Instagram page.

Any promotion of a product has to be aware of what is currently happening in the news, and I strongly suggest never trying to promote something heavily without checking the headlines first.

Due to the nature of the internet age, it doesn’t take long for thoughts, feelings and perceptions to get out of hand if they are misconstrued. Always be sensitive to the potential ambiguity of your posts and always double check your hashtags.

8.   Take time and care when promoting products, be as professional as possible.

The best way to promote a product on Instagram is to do it justice in the pictures you post of it. Instagram, first and foremost, is a picture sharing platform, so there is no point in attempting to market a product if you have no intention of doing it justice in the photos you take.

If the pictures you are using are of poor quality, then it says less than favorable things about you as a company. Followers and customers want to be able to see professional style photos of what it is they are supposed to be buying. It might take time to learn how to make the photos the type that speaks to your audience. If you don’t want to invest in a photographer — there are hundreds of huge companies from whom you can learn correct photographic dynamics. Do your research on how each brand promotes its products and recreate those feelings in your own style to suit your brand’s voice.

9.   Be aware of trends in the social media world; be up to date with pop culture.

Depending on the amount of time you spend online, you might not realize the power of internet trend culture, and the popular culture references shared online in the form of memes. Staying up to date with the latest online jokes and memes is a positive way to plan the promotion of certain products. Not only will it highlight to your followers that you have your proverbial finger on the pulse, but it will also show them that you know what they’re interested in and care about being as relevant as possible.

A recent example of this was the fallout to a last Game of Thrones episode, where a takeaway coffee cup appeared in a scene in the fantasy show causing a considerable reaction amongst the show’s fan base. Hundreds of businesses identified it as an opportunity to use the show’s popularity to their own advantage and produced adverts both joking about and featuring the infamous coffee cup.

10.  Be hype-heavy with new releases.

When you are keeping track of effective marketing tips or you are releasing a new product and service, you need to let people know, in a BIG way. What does “a big way” mean to you? Look at posts. These  posts need to build up to the day that the product is released.

A lot of companies also limit the initial release of the product for the first two weeks, making it seem as if the product is rarer than it actually might be. Scarcity of a product drives a fan base wild and creates a push for purchasing. The desire to purchase something that is deemed limited edition or rare is stronger now than it ever has been, and this affects consumer habits tremendously.

Creating competitions or interactions around the release of a specific item also makes the fan base pay attention to your statements. If there is a genuine incentive to follow when something is being released, such as winning something or receiving a product pre wholesale release, then people are going to get excited about your brand.

Promoting your brand or product on Instagram doesn’t need to be difficult, and if you follow the rules in this article, you will begin to develop genuine interest from people around the world. The most important rule when dealing with Instagram is to be consistent, and if you are honest with yourself and work hard, then you will develop a loyal fan base on the platform.

Anna Clarke

Anna Clarke is the owner of online writing company 15 Writers. She is a successful entrepreneur with over 20 years’ experience in freelancing, academic dissertation writing consulting, specialising in Business, Economics, Finance, Marketing and Management.