Instagram is just the right place for brands to communicate with their customers on a more personal level. Posting itself allows you to open up your business communication and show personality, which in turn builds brand trust and loyalty, but you can take that relationship further by interacting directly with followers or addressing their concerns publicly and privately. Instagram receives 58 times more engagement (likes, shares, comments etc) than Facebook and 120 times more engagement than twitter. If you want to strengthen brand-customer communication, your business simply must be on Instagram.
There are many ways in which you can foster engagement with your audience. A new infographic from WebsiteBuilder is full of interesting stats and facts that you can use to do this. Here are just some of our own top tips, using the info we gleaned from the graphic:
Go With The Data
On Instagram, posts with faces receive more engagement than images of products. This suggests you should showcase your products with a model or even better, people from within your business. The love heart is the most popular emoji, so use it when you can. Hashtags work, but only when you use a handful (don’t overdo it). Top brands post on average 4.9 times per week, so try not to go over this number.
Encourage fans to share their stories
To get in touch personally with your customers, ask them to share their stories. Create a separate hashtag and post the inspiring or quirky stories to your Instagram profile. This will allow you to get a feedback on the influence of your products on your customers’ lives. It will also inspire other fans on Instagram to popularize the hashtag and in turn, your brand.
Share user generated content
On Instagram, users trust user generated content 50% more than the curated content posted by brands. If you’re stuck for ideas, promote the content of other users who have been engaging with your brand. Search for hashtags related to your brand and browse through the images of your followers. When you find something relevant for your audience, ask the owner to feature the photos and share those on your Instagram profile.
Engage in playful conversations
On Instagram, it is not enough to blindly post. The comments section is important for brand communication because it is the best place to interact with your fans. Brand managers should read the comments section and reply to the comments in a playful manner. Your fans will be delighted to see that their favorite brand is taking the time to engage in one-to-one conversations.
Create quirky Instagram stories and live videos
While marketers use Facebook and twitter for professional communication with the audience, Instagram is a more fun-filled place for engagement. You can let go of the strict professional attitude and create a visual personality for your brand with quirky videos. The live video option is great to present something useful and entertaining for your audience available at the time of broadcast. You can interact with them through the comments and make them feel like they are a part of something special.
Leave a Comment