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Writer's pictureEidree Chapin
Apr 24, 20237 min read

How To Promote Your Instagram Posts

Information in this blog post was obtained from Hubspot, Hootsuite, and Sprout Social.

Image Courtesy of Wix

Once you have made you have created your Instagram content, the next step is to promote it. Promoting your Instagram content correctly can drive more engagement with your followers. You might also have the opportunity to further your reach through this to attract new followers. For help on creating Instagram content check out my other blog post, Instagram: What Should You Post? By following these steps, your Instagram content will be sure to be seen.


Ways to Promote

According to Spout Social, there are 13 different ways you can promote your Instagram page:

  1. Increase your content production: Review your analytics after each Instagram post. Once you have done this, you can find which types of posts work best with your followers. You might also find which times work the best to post on Instagram to ensure your audience is viewing your posts. To experiment with this, you will need to post more frequently with different types of content.

  2. Cross-Promoting: Post your content on different platforms. You should not use the same post for each platform. However, you can promote your latest Instagram post on other social media platforms. You can accomplish this by posting on your Facebook story to encourage your followers to visit your Instagram page. This will drive traffic from your other accounts to visit your Instagram profile.

  3. People Content: The main idea of Instagram that your followers enjoy is seeing experiences. Your followers will enjoy seeing a person’s face in your Instagram content. This can make the Instagram post more personable. It is also highly likely that the person in the post will share it on their personal social media posts. This can be beneficial if their followers find your content to be interesting. If they do, there is the possibility they will follow your page.

  4. Branded Hashtags: Brands should create their own hashtag to use on social media posts. This will encourage followers to use this unique hashtag to use it on their own personal posts. You should also use hashtags that are related to your specific industry. This will make your hashtag searchable by followers and non-followers, which will increase your reach on potential customers.

  5. Tagging: Whether it is a tag for a business, followers, or a location, you should always complete this step. By tagging other brands, it is a possibility they might share it on their feed. This will not only let their followers know that they support your business, but it can also increase followers from their account to yours. As for your followers, they would be very excited to see their tag on your Instagram post. Locations should also be tagged. Even if the photo was taken in your business location, you should still tag it to ensure your followers know where it is located.

  6. On-Site Content: Post your customer's pictures on your Instagram. These should be real-life experiences customers have had with your product. This will help potential customers understand your products better when they can see them in use.

  7. Creative Trademark: Having a theme for your Instagram content will be very visually pleasing and make you unique compared to other accounts. People are more likely to follow your account if they see it is organized and all of your posts are something they find interesting.

  8. Influencers: Partnering with an influencer can be very expensive. However, if your company has the budget to do it, they should. There are also several influencers that will be better suited to your company both being cost-effective and relatable. Followers are more likely to use and purchase your product if they see their favorite celebrity posting and promoting it.

  9. Rethink Your Presentation: For promotions, it can be very beneficial to your company if done correctly. You should promote it as a must-see. You should try your best to create new hype. This could give followers an idea of something your company is about to release. They will be very engaged in the following days until your new product is released.

  10. Contests and Giveaways: You should first try a one-time contest on your Instagram page to see how beneficial it can be for your company. When a contest is done correctly, it can be a very large asset for gaining new followers and more engagement.

  11. Enhance Your Profile for Promotion: Your username should be short, easily remembered, and related to your company name. You should also include your company email and phone number to ensure your followers will be able to reach you easily.

  12. Instagram Stories: This is a great way to promote your latest Instagram post. Your followers are more likely to see your Instagram story before your actual post. Several businesses also use this to share their user-generated content that other people have tagged your business in.

  13. Paid Campaign: If this is in your company's budget, it might be a good potential tool to use. You can pay for ads that will strike your viewing eyes. From this, your followers might be more engaged with your company as you will be providing quality ad posts.


Create Instagram Ads

Although you can pay other companies for ads, it might be more budget-friendly to create your own.

Image Courtesy of Wix

According to HubSpot, here are some steps to help you create quality ads that will get noticed by your followers:

  1. Create Your Campaign: There are several tools you can use to create Instagram ads including ads manager, power editor, and Facebook ads API. Before you choose which tool to use, you will want to determine the size of your company.

  2. Objective: You will have to determine the objective you want to use for your ad. These include boosting your posts, increasing website views, increasing engagement, app installations, app engagement, and video views. Depending on what type of post it is, will determine what type of objective you will have.

  3. Target Audience: Next you will want to determine whom you want your posts to reach. Your product will determine this as it will have to relate to the customer. This can be classified on several different things, location, age, gender, or interests.

  4. Placement: With these ad tools, you will want to make sure you have selected Instagram for your platform. However, you can use the other options for posting on different platforms.

  5. Budget and Schedule: You have the option to set either a daily or lifetime budget. A lifetime budget will set a budget for a period of time when a daily budget can be changed rather regularly. After you have created your budget, you will then need to create a schedule. You will need to decide when you want your campaign to begin and end. You can also specify when your ads will be posted.

  6. Create Your Ad: This is when you will create the ads you will be posting. You will want to be creative and unique. Creating these posts can be very difficult but it will become easier with time. Depending on what type of post you are creating, it will differ in size.

  7. Page Links: You will want to link your Facebook and Instagram accounts together. This does not mean you will be posting the same content on both platforms. Your ads will be linked back to your Facebook when you post them on Instagram. Next, you will want to link your company's website to the ad. Instagram does not allow you to add a link to your caption. However, this ad will show up as sponsored and can be tied to your website.

  8. Review Performance: After your ads have been posted, you will want to review the results of the posts. Through this, you will see performance, engagement, and clicks that occurred from your ad. It will take into account popular hashtags being used while also using engagement results to determine where it will show up on your follower's page.


Instagram Algorithm

The algorithm of Instagram can be very beneficial to understand to help promote your Instagram content. According to Hootsuite, Instagram algorithms can rank content and determine when an Instagram post will show up.

Image Courtesy of Wix

The purpose of this algorithm is to show Instagram users things they will relate to most and to make their pages unique compared to others. This algorithm is based on three different aspects:

  1. Relationship: If both accounts follow each other or if they interact with each other regularly on Instagram. It is more likely a person will see your content if they have reacted to it in the past.

  2. Interest: This is determined by the content of the post. If your follower has an interest in what you have posted or has an interest in a topic you are posting about, it is more likely they will see it on their feed whether they follow you or not.

  3. Relevant: This is based on if your post is relevant in time. If it is a new trend, it will likely be posted toward the top of everyone's feed. Recent posts will also show up towards the top of the feed versus older posts.

To improve your Instagram promotion, you can use several different things. Making original content is a great idea to make sure your posts are seen. If it is unique, more people will be likely to see it. The next tip is to schedule your posts at the correct time to ensure your post will be reached by several Instagram users. Lastly, it is important to be interactive with your followers. If they comment on your post, comment back and answer any questions.


Although it can be difficult to start advertising your Instagram content, it will improve through trial and error. You will need to find what works best for your followers and for your business. Just remember to use these tips to help make sure your posts are seen and gain engagement.



Resources

Barnhart, Brent. “How to Promote Your Instagram: 13 Ways That Actually Work.” Sprout Social, 3 Jan. 2023, https://sproutsocial.com/insights/promote-your-instagram/



Hirose, Alyssa. “2023 Instagram Algorithm Solved: How to Get Your Content Seen.” Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard, 12 Apr. 2023, https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-algorithm/

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