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Instagram is a social network of perception. It is easy to promote goods and services with good visual content (online shops, equipment, electronics). 54% of internet users make a purchase after seeing a product on Instagram.
Targeted advertising is aimed at a specific audience – users who meet pre-defined criteria. So what do you need to do before and during an Instagram advertising campaign?
If you are going to invest your time and money in Instagram advertising, ask yourself: “What do I want to achieve? You need sales, of course. If you’re an aspiring dropshipper and working ‘solo’, will Instagram be the only tool you have for small business marketing? Your decision will determine both the look and feel of your business profile and the next steps in its development and promotion.
Our article will also be of interest to those who have been using Instagram in their business for a long time, as it will help you carry out a complete audit of your account.
Instagram profile
Create a business account or convert your existing account type to a business account. Business accounts have additional features that allow you to grow your profile, track the effectiveness of your content, and do business.
A business Instagram profile should include
- Nickname (the main name of the account in Latin)
- Avatar (profile picture)
- Profile name (associated with the person/company or reflects the specifics of the business)
- Instagram bio – useful information (150 characters): brief description of the company’s activity; main offer; UTP (unique selling proposition); CTA (call to action).
- Story highlights – collections of saved stories (about people; business and services; prices and special offers; top service; testimonials).
- Contact details (phone number, email, address)
- Link (to a website or landing page)
Content and search on Instagram
It’s important to be systematic when it comes to topics and profile content. Publish stories, videos, feed and carousel posts at the optimal time to interact with potential customers. Post visually appealing content, share what will be interesting and useful to your subscribers. Use high quality images and videos. Remember that hashtagged posts attract more attention.
Carousels – posts with multiple photos – have become particularly popular since 2023. When scheduling posts and releases, remember that content is better received on Mondays and Fridays. By regularly testing new content and creative in your ads, you can find the main triggers and understand how your target audience responds best.
Search on Instagram is done by
- Keyword search – Profile name
- by nickname
- by keyword via hashtags
Instagram posting times
Instagram audience behaviour is fairly predictable and depends on the day of the week. On weekdays, engagement increases in the morning (7-8am) as people wake up and check their phones. There is a slight spike at lunchtime. On Thursdays and Fridays, there is a sudden increase in activity after 4 p.m. And on Saturdays and Sundays, engagement drops significantly, but user engagement increases on Saturday mornings and Sunday evenings.
Marketing on Instagram
Conduct market research to determine your competitive landscape and target audience. Analyse who your product is for and the geographic, demographic and behavioural characteristics of your potential customers.
Well-crafted and thoughtful ads, textual content and eye-catching photos attract attention. Keep an eye on the competition. Analyse their best. Keep subscribers interested: run competitions, announce promotions and offer discounts.
Principles of targeting on Instagram
The purpose of targeting is to weed out untargeted audiences and focus on potential customers. The most common uses on Instagram are:
- Demographic targeting. By audience characteristics: age, gender, salary, education, etc.
- Geographic targeting. It focuses on the location of the potential customer.
- Behavioural targeting. It is based on the behaviour of potential customers and their purchasing behaviour. The platform collects data on users’ habits and preferences, the pages they view, save and bookmark.
Testing on Instagram
Testing, analysing and tweaking content and ads is a key part of working on Instagram. Experiment with targeting parameters, offers and ad designs. This will help you find out which option is interesting to your target audience and which brings in more orders.
Use analytics and track conversions. This will allow you to evaluate the success of your targeted advertising and determine which components of your business are working best. Based on this data, you can optimise your advertising and increase your ROI.
Stelvel Ltd conducts market research and analyses markets of interest to partners and customers. Stelvel’s specialists build a promotional strategy on Instagram and formulate tactical tasks: they think through advertising creatives, create content, analyse response and process transactions.