6 Instagram Testing Strategies for Social Marketers

We constantly recommend testing your social content, but which attributes should you be testing against each other? If you’re looking for some new ways to test and optimize Instagram content, then you’ve come to the right place.

Specific Link in Bio vs. No Specific Link in Bio

Are you struggling to find a way to convert to get your Instagram followers to your website? Whether you sell sweaters or B2B software, this is likely a relevant concern for your brand.

Here’s one way to test how well Instagram is working as a website traffic driver for your brand.

For one week, post a different picture or video each day which directs followers to your Instagram bio, where you include the same Bitly link to a specific landing page for the entire week.

The following week, make the link in your Instagram bio a generic link to your brand’s main page.

Note the difference in traffic to the landing page from the first week to the second week, and use this as a starting baseline for growing your traffic from Instagram to your site.

Tags vs. New Followers

Instagram is a great place to encourage user-generated content, whether by contests, compelling content, or a mix of both. A lot of brands ask followers to “double tap” (Like) and tag their friends for a chance to win a prize.

This is a great way to gain brand awareness and, subsequently, followers — but only if it is tested well to make sure it’s effective.

Here’s what you should do to see if the the people being tagged in your comments actually become new followers: First, make a list of all Instagram users tagged in your Comments section.

Next, wait two weeks (you don’t only want to see how many new followers you’ve gained — you want to see how many you’ve retained) and then take a look at your follower growth over that time period, from the start of your contest on.

More specifically, dig into the data and come up with a list of all the Instagram handles of your new followers. Compare this list with the list of folks tagged in the Comments sections of your contest posts.

Come up with a ratio of people tagged: new followers. This will help you set a baseline for future benchmarking.

Product vs. No Product

Every brand active on Instagram should think about a test comparing posts which feature products and posts which don’t.

This is a test you can run over the course of two weeks. One week, post a picture or video of your product once daily. The next week, post a picture or video that doesn’t include or even reference your product at all once daily at exactly the same time of day.

Then, run a report to find out which week generated the most engagement, follower growth, engagement as a percent of audience, and/or other metrics you’re interested in. Pay particular attention to the highest performing posts in both the product and non-product categories.

One Product vs. Another Product

Another useful way to test product posts is by comparing one product against another product.

This is a test you can run over the course of weeks, months, or any other length of time which fits appropriately into a campaign cycle. During one time period, focus solely on one product. The next time period, post picture and videos that include the other product. Complete this for as many products as you wish to include in the test.

In your final chosen time period, post a medley of product pictures from each of the previous time periods.

Lastly, run a report to find out which week generated the most engagement, follower growth, engagement as a percent of audience, and/or other metrics you’re interested in.

This Day vs. That Day

You probably get the most Instagram engagement on the dates and times when you post hte most content.

But are you missing a sweet spot for engagement on Instagram by not posting at the right times? The only way to find out is to test.

This test can be run over the course of one week, but it will require a lot of content. Post a photo or video once an hour, every hour, from 9AM-9PM, every day, for a week.

By finding the repeating spikes in engagement over time, you’ll be able to understand when your followers are most likely to engage with you and when they’re not paying attention.

This Takeover vs. That Takeover

This test is especially useful for brands who are trying to leverage influencers on Instagram.

If your brand does “takeovers,” where an influencer takes over your account for a day or week, then you should be testing your takeovers against one another. This will show you which kinds of influencers are most relevant to your Instagram audience.

Here’s what we recommend: run a period-over-period report for the two weeks that two different influencers took over your Instagram account. Look for strengths and weaknesses in both takeovers, and keep this in mind for future campaigns.

What Did We Miss?

Which testing strategies have you used on Instagram? Let us know on Twitter and download our 2015 Influencer Report below for a little extra food for thought.

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6 Tips for Instagram Marketing Mastery

Since its inception back in 2010, Instagram has become one of the fastest growing mobile applications to date.  Considering it has an estimated 150 million monthly active users worldwide, it is clear that this filter-enabled picture displaying social app is showing no signs of slowing down.  With the simple evidence being that prospective customers are already present and active on the platform, the benefits of companies using Instagram as a marketing tool are beyond valuable.

One might assume that managing an effective Instagram account entails taking an interesting photo, sitting back, and watching the ‘likes’ and comments ensue.   While this method might be efficient for personal accounts and may even help gain a follower or two, it does very little in maximizing optimal visibility in a target market for companies.

The biggest hurdle?

What might be the biggest hurdle for the more business-minded individual is the understanding that Instagram is not just about selling.  In fact, using your account as a megaphone to promote your product or service is a surefire way to lose followers and leave you feeling like you are shouting into a deserted room.

By having a dynamic Instagram account, new visitors will feel persuaded to start following you in order to get instant updates on their coveted personal feed.

The fundamentals for Instagram success

The fundamental strategies when regarding customer experience are:

1. Learning to listen
2. Creating engaging conversations
3. Posting ingenious images

By making sure you are practicing these essentials, you will develop a healthy Instagram account that will draw in new visitors and eventually establish an entertaining hub for followers to come back to time and time again.  For businesses to truly get the most out of Instagram, below are six tips for Instagram marketing mastery to help establish your account as an authority in your niche and create a fun, open relationship with your customers.

1. Connect your channels

An important—yet sometimes overlooked—feature is the Bio section at the top of your profile page.  It is crucial that this section contains all the information pertinent to a new visitor who wants to know who you are, what you do, and where they can find you.  Also, since this is one of the first locations a new visitor will view, make sure you add a little personality into the description to entice them to stay a while and thumb through.

Linking your social channels is an excellent way to expand your reach to new or existing communities. If your business already manages a blog that has some online traction, make sure you are embedding photos and videos from Instagram in order to create an avenue for traffic to flow between.  Furthermore, be sure to capitalize on Facebook’s integration of Instagram to reach wider audiences.  Making your Instagram account visible on your Facebook page is a simple yet extremely effective method that will unify communities and increase the amount of engagement and sharing.

2. Post quality, personable visuals

Below is a list of the most followed brands on Instagram, found on Mashable.

Chart by Statista

What all of these brands have done successfully is to integrate photographs into their strategy. However, if you look closer, you’ll notice that the Ellen Show, Forever21 and the other brands are not posting professionally lit visuals that would normally appear as an advertisement in a magazine.

Instead, the photographs are personal, if not a bit gritty. Instead of being aloof, these companies are using visuals to build a personable identity that readers can bond with.

Let’s look at Sneaker News, a blog that provides up-to-date intelligence on hot commodities like LeBron 11 and Jordans. While this online publication is well-known among sneaker aficionados, it doesn’t pull the same weight as the other bigger-hitters on the above list, making it the true “dark horse” of the winner’s circle.

However, because of its ability to leverage simple photographs and comprehensive understanding of what its followers desire (insights into the trendiest looks that is accurate down to the hour), Sneaker News has forged a bond with readers and established itself ahead of competitors so followers repeatedly visit and share the posts. Check out their Instagram here.

3. Use #hashtags

Hopefully by now you have become acquainted with the ‘lingo’ associated with certain social media practices.  Hashtagging pictures on Instagram means you are filing that image in a larger folder where the contents all share the same hashtag.  This is a no-brainer for businesses that aim to be associated with industry-related keywords and trending topics.  During the beginning stages of your account, try to use the most popular, yet relevant, hashtags that will draw visitors to your account and hopefully increase your following.

How many hashtags?

A recent study from Track Maven found that posts made by Fortune 500 brands that used five hashtags received the most interaction.  If your business has already jumped on the hashtag train on other social channels, be sure to enforce them on Instagram, as well.  For instance, if you have already built hype around your #bestcompanyever hashtag on Twitter, keep the trend going on Instagram to help solidify the reputation.

Photo: Marketing Profs

4. Be interesting and genuine

Perhaps the most important tactic that will ensure a prosperous Instagram account is posting attention-grabbing images and videos.  If your showcase appears somewhat mediocre or low quality, the likelihood of creating new followers and maintaining an existing community is slim.  Because Instagram is a ‘social’ network, make sure your account has a heartbeat.  Followers want to feel as if they are gaining an insider’s look at your business and get turned off if it feels disingenuous.  Capture photos that reflect the lifestyle of your customers, while staying relevant to your brand.  Try to keep a balance of fun pictures—such as company outings, pictures of cute animals, or funny pop-culture references—mingled with your promotional business photos.

One common trend is to post pictures of happy employees in their work element or at company events to show that your business doesn’t take life too seriously and workers truly enjoy being a part of your team. Don’t be afraid to shake it up with a few videos here and there. While photos continue to be the bread and butter of the app, the video aspect is growing.

According to Ad Week, 40% of the most shared videos on Instagram were created for marketing purposes. Lastly, try to follow your followers back.  It not only shows that you reciprocate their support, but it also allows a new opportunity of being noticed by other connected communities.

5. Host a contest

An optimal strategy to ignite engagement is by hosting a contest.  This can be done directly on Instagram and shared throughout all linking accounts to ensure visibility.  By asking followers to include one common hashtag so they are stored together, the creative possibilities of contest ideas are endless.  Delivering perks to followers in the form of giveaways and contests will form a buzz around your account and help establish a priority to review your page.

6. Plan your posts

The frequency of posts, or your “feed speed”, is an important factor to take into consideration when leveraging customer experience.  There is a fine line between agitating your followers with a daily clogging of their newsfeed and posting so infrequently that your followers forget you exist.  That fine line is where your company will thrive, and can be sustained through a flexible posting schedule that will allow you time to track what works and decide which direction to take next.

Post at peak times

Try to assess peak times of the day your followers seem to be most active while planning your posts.  With the goal of having your images seen by as many users as possible, consider holding out until after work hours, and even weekends, since these are dense activity periods.

 Wrapping it up

When contemplating whether Instagram could be an effective marketing tool for your company, ask yourself two questions: Is my target audience active on it? Are my competitors successful with it?  If the answer to at least one of these questions is yes, then there is no doubt you should be using Instagram to promote your product or service.  Though it does require some planning, testing, and tracking to make sure you are on track with the latest trends, Instagram is meant to display your company’s creativity and lightheartedness.  Show that your business has an eye for capturing interesting images, a sense of humor, and a passion for engaging with customers, and start ‘gramming!

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8 Ways to Get Likes and Followers on Instagram

If there’s one thing on social media that makes everyone happy, it’s getting more likes and more followers.

So you’ve created an Instagram account. You’re excited about sharing some awesome photos or videos that you’ve taken that reflect your brand (whether it’s your personal brand, or managing the account for your business), and you are enthusiastic about earning some love from fellow Instagram users. After connecting your Instagram and Facebook accounts, you’ve seen your following grow—maybe you have around a hundred or so followers, but then it plateaus. It’s around this point in your Instagram game that you might think, “Man, this is impossible.”

Well, today, I have some good news. We’ll go over a few pretty simple ways to get your Instagram account some major cred in the form of likes and followers.

Here are 8 ways you can get likes and followers on Instagram

#1: Have a theme

Many successful Instagram accounts have a certain theme that carries throughout each of their photos. Ask yourself, just what is my thing? This could mean you are completely location based, like NYC-based photographer@alice_gao. Or maybe you are a small restaurant that wants to highlight its delicious menu—if that’s the case, find inspiration from @tattebakery.

Whatever your thing may be, stick to it. Your followers want to see consistency, and in turn, will trust your account for meeting their expectations. Just think, if you’re following a high-fashion account, you’d probably be thrown off by suddenly seeing an image of a blueberry muffin!

#2: Post awesome content

The key to getting more followers and likes on Instagram is posting really amazing content. For followers to continue coming back and double-tapping your photos, they need to be confident that you will be consistently putting up high-quality photos and interesting captions. However, giving your audience what it wants to see doesn’t mean you have to post the same kind photos over and over again… let’s be real, it can be a bit boring. Switch up your angles and subjects while keeping true to the brand you established in #1.

#3: Tell a story with your caption

After taking a killer photo, editing it, and getting it ready to send out, it can be easy to let the caption slip. But don’t fall into the trap! Captions are an incredibly important element of your photo. Telling a story with your captions gives your followers a little bit of insight into you as an expert, and the context of the photo. The best combination though, is having an amazing photo and a great caption to go along with it. Photographer Alex Guiry not only tells a story with his stunning photos, but gives his audience a behind-the-scenes narrative that leaves them wanting to see and hear more.

#4: Stick to a schedule

It’s important that your followers know when to expect a new photo. As we discussed before, consistency and rhythm is key. A lot of this will be based on how much content you have to post. If you find yourself swimming in beautiful images and begin posting daily, you’re going to have to keep it up by queueing up a photo for each day. Setting up a content calendar for your Instagram account will do wonders for keeping things organized, and this can really make a huge difference for your follower and like count.

The last thing you want is to update your account once a day or once a week, and then disappear for weeks. While taking a break from social media might not seem like a big deal, it will get in the way of building a loyal following and community.

#5: Engage with followers

Your followers want to know that there is a real, live person behind the amazing photos on their feed. What better way to show them that you aren’t just an Instagram obot than by reaching out and engaging. It’s a great way to let them know that you appreciate their comments and their likes.

How about checking out some of their accounts as well, and sharing the love by liking any photo that catches your eye? This doesn’t mean going and like-spamming your followers’ accounts, but building a relationship by acknowledging their talent and presence on Instagram in return for their appreciation of your photos.

#6: Hashtags… But not too many hashtags

Lately, hashtags have been seen as one of the best tools to help get more views on your post. While it’s a great way to have your content seen by users who aren’t following your account, it’s not always the best strategy for getting more loyal followers. Using broad hashtags such as #love or #dog won’t get you as much exposure as you’d hope, because these photos are quickly buried by more recent photos from other users. By using more unique, targeted hashtags (#dogsofinstagram) that speak to the theme of your account will do far more good than using a ton of broad ones. While using hashtags is a great way to reach strangers, they should be relevant to the content you are posting. Using too many hashtags may seem like you just trying too hard. Find the perfect balance by using two or three hashtags that define what your photo is trying to convey.

#7: Branded hashtags

Branded hashtags are becoming a major thing on Instagram. Many brands are leveraging branded hashtags to engage with a theme relevant to their audience. Brands encourage their community to tag their own photos with the hashtag, whether the product is featured or not. By creating a branded hashtag, you can create serious brand loyalty between you and your community. Your brand will benefit by increasing your exposure to new customers, and your customers will benefit from the love they see from your brand engagement. It’s a great way to motivate the Instagram community to engage with your brand, and showcase some user-generated content on your brand’s page.

#8: Use the Explore tool

Using the Explore tool opens up your feed to new and exciting photos that you most likely wouldn’t have found on your own. By engaging with users that are outside of your following (through likes and comments), you are getting a whole new level of visibility for your account!

Want to get your photos onto the Explore page? There are two factors that can influence your chances: the amount of engagement a photo gets in likes and comments, and the amount of time it takes to get that engagement after the photo was first posted.

When you actively comment and reply to your followers, you are creating an engaging conversation, which will help increase the amount of comments on your photo. This positive reinforcement alone means you have a higher chance of having your photo featured on the Explore page.

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The 7 Steps to Create an Awesome Contest on Instagram

Do you want to learn how to run a successful contest on Instagram? Well, you’re about to find out…

With more than 300 million active users, Instagram has fast become one of the most popular social media platforms to date. The simple notion of snapping a photo and sharing it with the world has turned into a $35 billion idea, and it just goes to show how powerful visual communication can be. Running a social media contest has plenty of benefits such as building brand awareness; gaining more followers; and increasing your leads, but since Instagram is a new playing field for many businesses, it can be hard to know where to begin.

If you want to run a successful Instagram contest but don’t know where to start, take a look at these 7 steps to create a contest on Instagram.

Step 1: Plan a strategy

Creating a strategy is the most important step as it will help bring clarity to your campaign. Start by setting out achievable goals so you have something to work towards. Whether it’s increasing your followers by 50% or gaining 100 leads, you need to set out credible goals so you can measure how successful your campaign has been, once it’s over.

In the planning stages it’s also important to think about the T&C’s. How does a person enter your contest? There’s plenty of options including like-to-win; tag your Instagram name; enter their email; follow your page; or use a unique hashtag within their photo.

Once you’ve considered your contest type, think about how long you want it to run for. It should have an expiration date so you can encourage a sense of urgency, but make sure you run it long enough to get the most out of your campaign. This infographic suggests the best duration is between 25 – 60 days, but so long as you are putting in the right promotion, you should see the results you want.

Step 2: Check out the competition

Another crucial step to take before you jump head first into a contest is to snoop out the competition. Has your competitor run a similar contest? What theme did they use? How successful was it?

This kind of data can help influence the steps that you put in place for your own contest. You can take inspiration from their strategy and use that as a foundation to make yours better!

Step 3: Decide on a theme

Marketing is all about telling your brand’s story, and Instagram is the perfect tool to help you do that. You should choose a theme that will reflect your brand’s story, making it creative and inviting enough for people to want to join in. This can be the difference between 10 likes or 1000, so take your time and consider who your audience is and the type of content that they are likely to post.

Take Tiffany & Co as a great example. They chose a theme around ‘true love’ and encouraged fans to submit photos of what they defined true love to be. As an iconic jeweler that oozes romance, this theme suited their story perfectly.

Not only does this type of User Generated Content campaign (UGC) encourage people to engage with your brand, but it also helps to promote your products on a broad scale, helping to create a winning campaign!

Step 4: Choose your hashtag

When people enter your competition you should make sure they add a unique hashtag to the post so you can build up a stream of photo’s to pick the winner from. Sure, it needs to be relevant to the theme of your campaign as mentioned in step 3, but it should also be memorable and easy to search for.

Remember that you’ll want to utilize the hashtag across all of your social platforms, so keep it consistent with your brand. It may be tempting to use a popular hashtag such as #win, but this will be harder to judge the entrants as you’ll find many posts that are not relevant to your contest.

If you want to do some hashtag research on your competitors then check out Talkwalker as it’s a great tool that lets you analyze and compare hashtag campaigns.

Step 5: Design awesome artwork

Now you’ve got the basics out the way it’s time to put the wheels in motion and there’s no better way than to start designing the artwork. Take advantage of Instagram’s ‘arty’ style and get creative with your banners.

To make your contest a success, include an example photo of what you want participants to upload, simple instructions on how to enter, the competition hashtag and ask a question to encourage your audience to get involved.

Take a look at Mark Jacons #CastMeMarc as below as the perfect example…

Step 6: Promote across all channels

Clearly you want to bring more exposure to your campaign so start cross promoting on all of your social platforms. In addition to sending out emails to your database, try and reach out to influencers and write a blog for them which mentions your contest within the post.

You should also add your promotional banners to your blog, Twitter, Facebook pages etc and start posting about it when your audience is around.

So when should you post?

Well according to this post, users will interact with your Instagram pictures regardless of when you post them. But if you’re promoting it across other channels then research shows that the best time on Facebook is 1pm – 4pm, and on Twitter it’s 1pm – 3pm. It’s also good practice to check out your social media analytics to find out when your audience is most engaged.

Step 7: Measure your success

Once the contest is complete and you’ve notified the winner, it’s time to measure the success of your campaign. Did you reach the goals that you made in step 1? Third party apps such as Iconosquare will not only help you run an Instagram campaign, but it lets you check out the metrics of the campaign too.

Don’t forget to use the data that you’ve gained from your contest to your advantage. Write a blog post about the winner and include their photo; send an email to all who took part; and keep engaging with your new followers!

The rest is up to you!

Hopefully that has given you every step you need to run a contest, so now the rest is up to you. With 60 million photos uploaded to this platform everyday, it’s clear that Instagram offers a valuable opportunity to any business. Think carefully about your strategy and your contest theme, to help bring the exposure your brand needs. Good luck.

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