Today, even politicians and big brands are taking advantage of Instagram’s wide reach. Instagram has over 300 million users posting videos and images to their profiles daily. It’s no wonder that even celebrities and non-profit organizations are using the platform as a mainstay in their marketing efforts. Here are the steps that you can implement to turn your amazing videos and photos on Instagram into profits. You can make money on Instagram using the following steps.
1. Grow Your Followers
Being successful on Instagram, similar to all other social media platforms, is always going to be a direct result of having a significant following. But what’s “significant”? It can be as little as 5,000 followers, though a better starting number is 10,000. The more followers you have, the more sharing opportunities will arrive and the more traffic (and leads) you’re bound to receive for whatever you’re selling. Growing your following should be your first goal when starting your new account. It doesn’t matter what you’re selling; if you grow a big enough following, you’re going to find people that are interested in what you have to offer. It’s simply a numbers game.
2. Create a Share-Worthy Profile (not a boring one)
Unlike other social medial platforms, Instagram’s number one purpose is to allow users to share really great images and videos. You can do everything else right in terms of marketing and promotion, but if your profile isn’t engaging (and if your images aren’t eye-catching), you’re going to struggle with gaining a following and getting shares. Now that they’ve added features such as video and story-sharing, there are even more options to create really great content for your visitors.
When creating your profile, be sure to keep your brand’s image in mind. If you take a look at some of the most popular Instagram accounts, you’ll notice that they have a certain theme and style of imagery consistent throughout their profiles. When users visit your profile, they should automatically know what your brand is all about. Always add a link to your site in your bio and reference it in your comment section.
3. Get Familiar with Video Creation
Marketers are predicting that Instagram will be primarily a video-sharing platform in the years to come, due to the overwhelming high engagement rates associated with them. Think of creative videos to make for your audience, and always be sure to vet them before releasing them on your profile. If you need assistance, check out the YouTube channel of top brands in your industry, or visit Vine to see what types of videos are currently trending.
4. Find Trending Influencers
Influencer marketing is a great way for small, upcoming brands to leverage the following of social media influencers without having to spend the big bucks often associated with Pay Per Click (PPC) ads or other promotional activities. Depending on the influencer’s number of followers and their industry, you can easily find someone willing to promote your products for under $1,000. Having the right influencer promote your product can result in both new followers and direct sales. It’s worth the outreach effort. Search by hashtags and you’ll quickly find several users with significant followings that you can consider.
5. Make Things Easier by Streamlining with Apps
It seems that a new app pops up almost daily for social media platforms. Savvy marketers are more than willing to try them out, and so should you! Taking advantage of apps can save you time (and money, if you’re outsourcing your social media management) on the daily tasks needed to grow a following. For example, Kicksta allows you to select profiles similar to yours and essentially siphon off their following by engaging with them. Repost is also worth taking a look at, as it allows you to repost content from other users while giving them credit for the post. You can also auto-post content using apps such as Hootesuite.
Finally, once you’ve done the work to grow your following, your traffic and sales numbers are bound to increase. It’ll take consistency and some ingenuity at times, but Instagram is one of the best ways that you can get leads and sales for your business.