How can your business build a bigger following on Instagram? Should you just keep posting and adding hashtags? To raise brand awareness, some businesses choose to follow the celebrity way of instagramming: posting a lot of photos and then hoping for more likes. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case now.

Due to the social network’s consistent growth, regularly posting images on your feed is no longer enough. There is more to Instagram marketing than just posting a lot of photos or using the right hashtags. Success on this platform means dealing with a competitive landscape.

You’re not the only brand that’s after over 800 million users; by stepping up your Instagram strategy to another level, you have a better chance of attracting consumers.

Whether your business in New Jersey is targeting locally or expanding its market internationally, a winning social media marketing strategy will involve establishing an Instagram game plan that’s clear and effective—and optimization is the key.

But where do you start?

Take Advantage of Stories

It has been a year since the debut of Instagram Stories, and users love it. As of April 2017, 150 million people use the application daily—roughly 30 million more users reported by Snapchat during the fourth quarter of 2016. Thanks to Stories, people can easily update their followers about recent food trips, purchases, and other interesting aspects of their lives.

Your brand can do the same.

Give your business more visibility by using Stories and adding hashtags or locations. Doing so lands your brand on the Explore feed as new “rings.” Using a hashtag also enables the target market to see Stories happening near physical locations. If you want to expand your reach, share your Stories via public accounts to ensure appearance in Search & Explore.

Adding a location, hashtag, or location-based stickers will place your story on location or hashtag pages, says the social network.

Targeted Content Matters

Content is a key element in your IG strategy’s success. It is important to know the type of content that will pique the market’s interests.

Start by studying your current customer base and profiling them according to age, gender, and location. Search hashtags also to determine currently trending posts in the Instagram community. Once you gather enough data, you’ll have the ingredients to a perfect post.

While creativity matters, keep your Instagram content always related to the brand. Choose a niche team to target, so followers will know what to expect. Doing so also encourages them to depend on your page for posts that are interesting and enjoyable.

Mind the Links

Unlike Facebook and Twitter, Instagram is limited when it comes to links. Your number of followers dictates the linking strategy. If you have 10,000 followers, you can add links as part of your daily Stories; otherwise, you can place the link in your Instagram bio.

With the latter option, instead of inserting the home page link to your website, enhance the user experience by adding a link that leads to something relevant or of value to the target market (e.g., free consultation, guide, webinar, or e-book).

Boosting your brand’s status on Instagram is a challenge you can overcome. With proper optimization techniques and strategic focus, becoming Instafamous is more straightforward than you think.

The Aspire Digital social media team is ready to help you get the leverage you need and engage your market on social media. Call us today and see how we can transform your current strategies.