Category: Instagram

When Instagram revealed Instagram Reels on 5th August, 2020, many people thought it would be a copy of TikTok. It’s not. Instagram Reels was first launched in Brazil in 2019, and is now available in over 50 countries.

With over 1 billion users every month on Instagram, brands can leverage this new addition to the platform to reach large audiences, get more Instagram followers, and boost sales. Instagram Reels lets you share 15-second bite sized videos on the platform. Unless you’ve turned your profile into ‘Private,’ the content you share will also be available on the Explore tab. This is great news, as 50% users utilize the Explore tab to find new content, people and brands to engage with.

What is Instagram Reels?

Instagram Reels is the latest addition to Instagram’s range of content sharing tools. TikTok already proved that people love sharing video content. And Instagram Reels has proved to be just as popular.

Instagram Reels is not the same as Instagram Stories. Both features are available on the platform, and there are slight differences between them. Instagram Reels gives you access to a greater range of editing tools.

You can add music to your content, add multiple clips to create one bite-sized video, and make use of AR and other filters to spice up your videos before you post them.

Instagram Reels gives you access to:

• Music: Go through Instagram’s library of music to find something that fits your video perfectly. You can also add original music to your content. Adding your original music to the Instagram library gives other users the opportunity to use your music. You get attribution, and your music gets heard by millions of other users.
• Effects: Instagram Reels provides access to a wide variety of filters and AR effects you can use to make your videos look more appealing.
• Playback: Slow down your videos or fast-forward them using the playback feature.
• Timer: The timer tool lets you take hands-free videos. Just set the timer, and Instagram Reels will automatically set the timer. The shoot your video without worrying about starting or stopping the video. The video should be within 15-seconds, after which the timer will automatically turn off.

If the length of your videos are lower than 15-seconds, you can add multiple videos to fill up the time. You can also upload videos you’ve shot outside the app, and edit them through Instagram Reels.

How Do You Use Instagram Reels?

Instagram Reels is a feature that’s available next to the Instagram Stories button within Instagram. To locate it, you have to tap the camera icon locate on the top left corner of your Instagram screen.

Keep swiping on the menu at the bottom of the screen until you reach Instagram Reels. When you reach Instagram Reels, you’ll find the various available features on the left side of the screen.

When you’re ready to record your video, all you have to do is click on the camera button. You’ll also notice a progress bar appear at the top of the screen when you’re shooting your video. This progress bar shows you how long you have left before you reach your 15-second time limit. To stop recording your video, you’ll need to click on the camera icon a second time.

Once you’re done recording your clip, you’ll gain access to various editing features. You’ll also notice the ‘Align’ feature. This is useful if you’re combining various video clips to create a new video. The Align feature lets you seamlessly transition between two video clips, to create more cohesive content.

When your video clip is lower than 15-seconds, you can add more videos to your clip to create a longer 15-second video. You can add another video by clicking on the camera icon again after you’ve finished shooting your initial video. You can add as many video clips as you like, as long as the final video is at or under 15-seconds.

Once your 15-second video is ready, it’s time to hit the ‘Next’ button so you can move on to editing! If you’ve reached the 15-second time limit while shooting your video, Instagram will automatically direct you towards Instagram Reels’ editing tools.

If you want to upload your own videos to Instagram Reels, then simply click on the ‘Upload’ button.

The editing tools available to you let you trim, align, add music to and use filters on your videos. Once your done, you can publish your video. You can either save your video as a draft, share it to your Instagram Story or publish it on your newsfeed. Content uploaded to Instagram Reels from public accounts appear on Instagram Explore as well.

How Can You Use Instagram Reels in Your Instagram Marketing Campaign?

Instagram is one of the most popular ways to digitally market your brand. Owing to the rise in video content on the platform, courtesy Instagram Stories, IGTV and now Instagram Reels, more and more people are both posting and viewing video content on Instagram.

There has been an 80% increase in the time people spent on viewing videos. Various brands have already leveraged Instagram Reels to promote their content. Louis Vuitton, Balmain, Sephora and other brands utilize Instagram Reels to get more Instagram Followers and Instagram Likes. TopShop has been showcasing their catalog, to a lot of success, on Instagram Reels.

Here’s how you can incorporate Instagram Reels into your Instagram Marketing strategy:

1. Create an Instagram Marketing Strategy for Instagram Reels

Having your content bucket ready before you start posting your video content can help you post on a regular schedule. There are various kinds of content you can promote using Instagram Reels:

• How to videos and tutorials
• Tips and tricks
• Promotional content and sneak peeks
• Behind the scenes videos
• Showcasing your catalog
• Revealing launch dates
• Collaborating with influencers, and more!

Since there are so many options available to you, you need to sit down and ideate upon how you want to promote your brand. The ideal Instagram Reels strategy should fully utilize the features available. Content that brings you more Instagram Followers and garners more Instagram Likes can help you with your brand’s growth and visibility.

2. Use Your Content From TikTok

One way to promote your brand with regular content is to repurpose the content you’ve already made for TikTok. Multi-platform branding helps you reach real Instagram followers. Don’t worry about your Instagram followers overlapping with TikTok. Authenticity and being real and approachable is what gets you noticed on Instagram. If you already have high-quality videos ready for posting, why not make full use of it?

3. Start a New Challenge

Challenges are popular on Instagram.

Sephora collaborated with @ryanbpotter to create a new makeup challenge, to great success. If you’re a new or up and coming brand, then you can consider collaborating with an influencer. Challenges are a great way to get noticed on the platform.

To create a popular challenge, you’ll need to also think of relevant hashtags. If you can work with one or more influencers to promote your challenge, you’ll be able to popularize it even more.

4. Collaborate With Influencers

Influencers are big on Instagram. These days, micro-influencers are more often approached by brands and businesses. A micro-influencer typically has around 50,000 followers on the app. The benefit to working with a micro-influencer is that they build closer relationships with their audiences. The content they share has high engagement rates. If you can find a micro-influencer who has Instagra followers that fall within your niche, you’ll be able to organically grow your account with real Instagram followers.

Micro-influencers are also more affordable than top influencers or celebrities on the platform.

5. Showcase Your Catalog

Brands like TopShop have already done this to great success. One of their videos received more than 1.7 million views. If you own a fashion brand for example, creating a mix of people wearing your clothes within a single 15-second clip can help you show off multiple outfits within a single post.

You can also share content created by other users. Nike did this with @colormecourtney, when she wore different Nike products and put up that content on Instagram.

6. Go For Popular Kinds of Content

If you want your Instagram Reels videos to become popular really fast, then you can create content that naturally generates more leads. For Instagram,
How-to videos are the most popular, followed by behind the scenes content. Make short videos on how people can engage with your products, and you can gain more real Instagram followers.

Instagram Reels is still a new feature. Brands are learning how to use it to promote their content, and you can get ahead of them by maximizing lead generation through Instagram Marketing on Reels. Remember to create authentic content, and to engage with the people who connect to your content. Consider posting content on a regular basis, and keep to your Instagram Marketing schedule to consistently grow your Instagram account. With Instagram Reels, now you have a new way of getting more real Instagram Followers and getting more Instagram Likes.

Today, Instagram is one of the largest platforms for business and professional growth. To achieve true returns, your Instagram page must be available where its target audience resides. However, earning genuine and real Instagram followers can be a truly daunting task. Growing your Instagram page and business requires a lot of patience and consistency. Along with that, you also need to be aware of the various tools with which you can optimize your account on Instagram. Although you will find various kinds of Instagram tools to help you, the easiest and still super effective medium of enhancing page visibility remains hashtags!

According to research, a post that has a minimum of one hashtag receives 12.6% higher engagement as compared to other Instagram posts that do not have hashtags. However, adding random and irrelevant hashtags is not the advisable thing to do. Instead, you can spend a little time building an appropriate hashtag strategy for your Instagram handle that helps you reach the right audience. Wondering how to do the same?

Don’t worry! We are here to help you! We have the perfect guide which will help you in growing your Instagram account and earn many Instagram likes and followers. So, what are you waiting for? Check out what hashtags to add in 2021 and how to use them wisely below!

Importance of using hashtags on Instagram

We know it’s more than a decade since Instagram announced the use of hashtags but ever wondered why this trend is still popular? It is because it is still one of the best ways to attract unique viewers to your page. Attracting new people to your Instagram account will eventually result in an increase in engagement, Instagram followers, and customers. To put it simply, the use of hashtags will result in growth on Instagram.

The basic purpose of hashtags is to help Instagram users discover relevant content. It is necessary for you to make sure that you use the right hashtags. This will help you clearly define who you are and what the post is about. Right hashtags will place you before the right audience.

Top 90 Hashtags to use on Instagram in 2021

Finding the correct hashtags for your posts can require a lot of thought. Before you start brainstorming, we have some top 2021-centric Instagram hashtags. You never know, you may find some relevant hashtags here itself!

• 1. #smile
• 2. #beauty
• 3. #picoftheday
• 4. #life
• 5. #tbt
• 6. #girls
• 7. #hair
• 8. #likeforlike
• 9. #cute
• 10. #landscape
• 11. #vsco
• 12. #luxury
• 13. #sun
• 14. #beautiful
• 15. #sky
• 16. #love
• 17. #instagood
• 18. #instadaily
• 19. #friends
• 20. #repost
• 21. #nofilter
• 22. #food
• 23. #fashionblogger
• 24. #foodporn
• 25. #family
• 26. #black
• 27. #london
• 28. #cool
• 29. #goodmorning
• 30. #inspiration
• 31. #drawing
• 32. #blackandwhite
• 33. #holiday
• 34. #workout
• 35. #work
• 36. #blue
• 37. #pink
• 38. #handmade
• 39. #me
• 40. #gym
• 41. #art
• 42. #flowers
• 43. #wedding
• 44. #lifestyle
• 45. #lol
• 46. #party
• 47. #baby
• 48. #instagram
• 49. #igers
• 50. #design
• 51. #fun
• 52. #photo
• 53. #amazing
• 54. #summer
• 55. #nature
• 56. #style
• 57. #follow4follow
• 58. #music
• 59. #motivation
• 60. #like
• 61. #travel
• 62. #fitness
• 63. #tagsforlikes
• 64. #instacool
• 65. #sea
• 66. #nyc
• 67. #home
• 68. #yummy
• 69. #night
• 70. #funny
• 71. #healthy
• 72. #dog
• 73. #sunset
• 74. #ootd
• 75. #photography
• 76. #instamood
• 77. #happy
• 78. #follow
• 79. #fashion
• 80. #followme
• 81. #beach
• 82. #hot
• 83. #bestoftheday
• 84. #pretty
• 85. #like4like
• 86. #instalike
• 87. #l4l
• 88. #swag
• 89. #cat
• 90. #model

The above-mentioned hashtags are the most popular ones on Instagram overall. However, you may find some of them out of context for you. In that case, we also have the most attractive hashtags specific to your requirements. Look at them below!

10 Best Hashtags for Quotes on Instagram

We know how popular quotes are on Instagram. If you are confused as to what hashtags you should add to your quote posts, check out the Top 10 quote hashtags on Instagram below!

• #quotestoliveby
• #quotes
• #quotesoftheday
• #quotesofinstagram
• #dailyquotes
• #quotestags
• #quotesaboutlife
• #quotesdaily
• #quotestagram
• #quote

Popular quote hashtags according to the genre:

• #motivationalquotes
• #lovequotes
• #inspirationalquotes
• #lifequotes
• #successquotes

10 Best Instagram Hashtags for Dog Lovers

If you are a dog parent or simply a lover of dogs, we have the best Instagram hashtags for you!

• #dog
• #dogsofinstagram
• #doglovers
• #dogs
• #doglovers
• #doglife
• #dogsofinsta
• #dogstagram
• #doggo
• #doggy

10 Best Hashtags for Music on Instagram

Singers, musicians, and music lovers- this list is for you! Find the best hashtags for music posts below!

• #music
• #musicvideo
• #musician
• #musicproducer
• #musically
• #musical
• #musicians
• #musicislife
• #musiclover
• #musicproduction

10 Best Hashtags for Business on Instagram

Considering how Instagram is helping businesses flourish, make sure to mention these hashtags in your posts to increase your visibility on Instagram.

• #business
• #businessowner
• #businessman
• #buinesswoman
• #businesstips
• #businessquotes
• #businesscaoch
• #businessowners
• #smallbusiness
• #businesspassion

10 Best Hashtags for Handmade Products

Handmade products are truly unique made with so much patience and hard work. They deserve the love and appreciation of the people and these Instagram hashtags will help you to achieve them!

• #handmade
• #handmadewithlove
• #handmadegifts
• #handmadeisbetter
• #handmadeaccessory
• #handmadejewelry
• #handmadecards
• #handmadesoap
• #handmadefont
• #handmadejewellery

10 Best Instagram Hashtags for Makeup Artists

Instagram is a wonderful platform for makeup artists to showcase their skills and attract potential clients. Try using these wonderful hashtags and see your Instagram age bloom!

• #makeup
• #makeuptutorial
• #makeuplover
• #makeupjunkie
• #makeupartist
• #makeuplooks
• #makeupbyme
• #makeupaddict
• #makeupoftheday
• #makeupforever

10 Best Instagram Hashtags for Travel Bloggers

Instagram is home to many travel bloggers. You can distinguish your page from others by using the right hashtags! Check out some of them!

• #travel
• #travelphotography
• #travelgram
• #travelling
• #travelblogger
• #traveltheworld
• #traveller
• #traveling
• #travelblog
• #travellife

10 Best Hashtags for Artists on Instagram

For all the budding artists who wish to grow their fan base, these hashtags are for you!

• #art
• #artistsoninstagram
• #artoftheday
• #artwork
• #artofinstagram
• #artist
• #artcurator
• #artgallery
• #artcollective
• #artstudio

10 Best Instagram Hashtags for Fashion Bloggers

Want to rule the entire fashion community around the globe? Get more visitors tour content using these cool hashtags!

• #fashion
• #fashionblogger
• #fashionstyle
• #fashiondesigner
• #fashionista
• #fashionphotography
• #fashionblog
• #fashionaddict
• #fashionpost
• #fashiongram

10 Best Instagram Hashtags for Bloggers

No matter what blogger you are, these Instagram hashtags will suit all categories.

• #blogger
• #blog
• #bloggerstyle
• #bloggers
• #bloggersofinstagram
• #bloggerlife
• #blogging
• #blogpost
• #bloggerlifestyle
• #instablog

Different Categories of Hashtags on Instagram

While these were some of the most commonly used hashtags on Instagram for different purposes, it is equally important to understand the various types of hashtags available and how to use them. Broadly, there are three categories.

1. Community Hashtags

As the name suggests, community hashtags help you find like-minded people and connect with them. This is a valuable way of finding the correct audience, build engagement and enhance your community.

Depending on the type of page you run, you can use a variety of community hashtags. For instance:

• Hashtags that give an idea of your product or service, like #footwear and #massage
• Hashtags that reflect your niche, such as #foodblogger or #fashiondesigner
• Hashtags of your community on Instagram, such as #artistsofinstagram or #bloggersofinstagram
• Hashtags to use on special occasions and events, such as #newyear or #christmas
• Hashtags based on locations, such as #nyc or #london
• Hashtags related to the activity you do, such as #handmade or #becreative
• Hashtags that are acronyms, such as #lol or #ootd

It is always a good idea to incorporate different kinds of hashtags to your posts to broaden your target audience and expand your visibility on Instagram.

2. Branded Hashtags

Branded hashtags are the unique hashtags of a company or an organization. It can be the name of the business, a tagline, one of your advertising campaigns or of a product. These hashtags are mainly aimed at connecting the brand themes with the audience. It is generally used for marketing and campaigns.

Through branded hashtags, you can also get a glimpse of the activity associated with your company and where is it getting featured. While you do all this, do not forget to follow your hashtag, otherwise you may lose out on some new content.

3. Campaign Hashtags

Unlike community and branded hashtags that are meant to have a long life, campaign hashtags are used for a very short period. This is because campaign hashtags are used for promoting specific time-bound campaigns. For instance, movie promotions, product launch, partnerships, and so on. Using these hashtags are a great way of engaging the audience in a given campaign.

Apart from these, you should also keep in mind certain basic things. First, do a little research on who your audience is and where you will find them. Second, be aware of what your competitors are doing and what is working for them. Take benefit of the research they have done and save some time of yours. Lastly, check out what Instagram influencers do that help them attract thousands and millions of followers. Some of their activities may prove beneficial for you as well!

To conclude

We have supplied you with information regarding what hashtags to use in 2021 and why you should use them. So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and start growing your Instagram family!

Instagram has grown into one of the most active social media platforms in the world. In 2020, the platform had over 1 billion users. For businesses, that’s a huge number of people that you can immediately reach and target market to in an effort to grow your business and drive conversions.

The key behind succeeding as an Instagram brand is to generate the right kind of visual content. As a platform, Instagram is uniquely positioned as a platform where people share, engage with and enjoy visual and video content. Brands quickly made a note of Instagram as a driver of business growth early on, and today, multiple businesses actively compete to sell their products on Instagram.

With a high number of users who regularly use the social media platform, your brand too can quickly take off. Find business success by implementing the right strategies to boost your content on the app. Unlike traditional marketing or marketing through other social media channels like Facebook or Twitter, Instagram marketing is different.

You’ll need to find the right combination of high quality visual content, hashtag use, as well as consistency to increase traffic to your content. But when done right, Instagram offers lucrative growth opportunities unlike any other social media platform.

But why Instagram?

1. A Visual Catalog For Your Products

72% of users report buying a product after seeing it first. Instagram shop is a platform where visual content is the primary focus. From Instagram Stories to carousel posts, you’ll be relying on visual content to showcase your catalog. For businesses, this is good news. All you need is a good photoshoot and regular content to drive business growth. Compare this to paid advertising campaigns that both require financial investment on your part, and offer no real data on how that campaign will play out.

Much of what you post on Instagram is free, and you won’t have to pay to post, unless you’re specifically looking to promote specific content. This saves money that you can relocate to promote your brand through other marketing strategies, such as through better photoshoots, concept art and even marker research.

2. Availability of Useful Tools

Promoting your brand on Instagram is made easier by the fact that the platform itself will equip you with the tools you need to reach your target market. Aside from posting on your feed, you can also utilize Instagram Stories, IGTV, or carousel posts to bring in people to your Instagram shop. These create multiple ways that you can promote your products or services.

This lets you be creative about the kind on content you create. You aren’t just limited to posting pictures on the platform, but are actively encouraged to use multiple formats to drive engagement rates and interact with your audience. Tools like Instagram Analytics further assist you by providing you with data on how your posts are performing. This helps you make better decisions in the future about what kind of content you should create, and what kind of posts you should promote.

You can also turn individual posts and stories into shoppable posts. Users can simply click on the post and buy your product or service through Instagram itself.

3. Fast and Lucrative Growth Opportunities

Statistics show that over 90% users follow at least one business account.

That means that a huge number of the 1 billion and growing active user base in Instagram is a potential customer. Out of these, 71% of active users are young adults under the age of 35 with disposable income.

For businesses, disposable income is crucial for sales and growth. People are more likely to purchase from your brand directly on Instagram, and then create promotional content for you themselves. This is done through user-generated content where people showcase your product, very often tagging your brand in their posts as well. Simply put, if your product or service is good and your audience likes it, they’ll promote it themselves.

User-generated content is a great way to engage in word of mouth marketing. This form of marketing is known to drive sales figures and can have real impact on your business growth. Look at this this way - you’re running a fashion brand on Instagram. A user loves a dress you’re selling. They purchase the dress from you, wear it themselves, and then make a post about it on the app. They tag your brand in it, a common courtesy on the app, and immediately all their friends and followers can see what they look like in your dress. If they like what they see, the chances of them visiting your page go up exponentially.

This is how multiple smaller brands have grown on the app through the years, with many smaller brands now reaching high sales figures as well.

4. Users Spend More Time on Instagram

The concept of Instagram shop is growing because Instagram users spend as much as 53 minutes per day on the app.

That number is greater than time spent on various other social media platforms, like Facebook. This number is crucial, as every time a potential customer opens their Instagram feed, they are exposed to promotional content as well. The kind of promotional content they find depends on their preferences, habits, and posts they’ve previously interacted with. In fact, Instagram itself helps 80% users make purchases through the app.

This is done by showing users content and promotional posts that they’re more likely to engage with. Your work on Instagram should be more focused on creating content that users engage wit and adding relevant hashtags to your posts. Instagram will take care of various aspects of your growth for you.

So how do you sell on Instagram?

1. Optimize Your Profile

The first thing a user will see when they land on your profile page is your profile picture and bio. These need to be tailored to appearing professional and interesting. Don’t put up a stock photo or a low quality graphic as your profile pic.

Similarly, don’t let your bio go to waste. These two spaces are core areas that you can use to generate business growth.

Your profile pic should be your brand logo. Ensure that the dimensions match Instagram requirements and that it looks good. A badly cropped logo or using a random picture as your profile pic are warning signs that may throw off customers.

Your bio is also essential. Aside from being your one shot at giving your target market some idea about what your brand is about, it’s also the only space where you can add links. Instagram doesn’t allow you to add links to posts. But through your bio, you can add a link to your website. You can also update this link to increase traffic to any sales your brand is having, or drive traffic to websites or content you specifically want to draw attention to.

2. Know the Right Hashtags

Hashtag marketing is the lifeblood of Instagram marketing for brands. Knowing what the right hashtags are will immediately let you reach people that are more likely to buy from your brand. At the same time, using the wrong hashtags will drown out your content among a sea of other content from businesses and users.

If you aren’t sure about the kind of hashtags you should use, then there are various online hashtag and keyword search tools that can help you. An even simpler way is to do it yourself. First identify your industry and niche. Now type in keywords relevant to your industry to see which hashtags are trending there. Look at your competitors - what are they doing? What kind of hashtags are they using?

It isn’t enough to just use any hashtag. The more popular and on-trend the hashtags you choose are, the greater the number of people from within your target audience that will see your posts.

3. Post Regularly, Engage Consistently

Instagram is at the end of the day, a social media platform. This means that you need to actively engage with you users on a consistent basis to drive growth. This has the double benefit of also building brand loyalty. But posting regularly can feel like a rush if you don’t have a content bucket in place.

Creating content ahead of time, such as pictures and videos, stories and tutorials, together with captions, saves you time and energy on the day when you have to make the post itself.

Having a month’s content ready ahead of time allows you to focus on user engagement and market analytics over creating new posts every single day. On Instagram, you also need to moderate the content you’re posting to create an aesthetic feed. As a visually-driven platform, a pleasing feed will attract more customers and increase your Instagram followers. Organic growth on Instagram is generated through Instagram likes and comments.

If people like your content as while, you’ll generate more real Instagram followers. You should absolutely avoid purchasing followers on Instagram. This clearly shows in your posts and makes your brand look bad. A profile with 100,000 Instagram followers, but only one or two like per post and no comments is a clear warning sign. To get real Instagram followers, you need engaging content that’s curated to look aesthetically pleasing.

You can also consider posting about what people care about. Data shows that over 70% users want brands to speak up for social causes.

Be a part of protecting the environment and gain even more real Instagram followers by being a part of the contemporary zeitgeist on the platform.

4. Use Instagram Analytics

Finally, actively use tools available to you to promote your content. Your analytics will show you the optimal times when people are engaging with your posts. Try to post often during peak hours to generate more traffic and engagement.

If you find that certain content is performing well on the app, then promote them through paid advertising to showcase the best of your brand to your viewers. Ask influencers to promote your products for you, in exchange for a small sum or a sample of your products or services.

Instagram is a powerful platform that lets both small and large businesses grow. And it’s set to only get bigger. Grow your brand today by turning to Instagram to sell and promote your business.

With more and more people joining the social media bandwagon, it has become imperative for every business to have a strong social media presence. Not only does it help companies stay connected with their audience, it also helps them access their needs and boost their brand’s popularity.

Having a user base of 1.16 billion, Instagram is definitely one of the most popular social media channels that give brands an unmatched opportunity to reach out to their global audience. Loaded with interesting features and benefits, it, over the years, has proved out to be one of the best digital channels for both users and digital marketing companies alike.

Out of all its interesting features, Instagram TV or IGTV has taken center stage and proves to be the perfect channel to promote your products and engage with your audience. It can be used to establish deeper connections with your target audience and enhance awareness about your brand. In fact, the addition of IGTV has opened up various new avenues for a good business Instagram marketing strategy.

What is IGTV?

IGTV, also known as Instagram TV, is a feature on Instagram that allows users and businesses to share long-form videos to showcase their products and services. You can also use it to create self-help DIY videos and promote your brand. Originally launched as a stand-alone app, IGTV can help you take your marketing efforts to the next level. It offers you the easiest way to create and share high-quality video content with over a billion Instagram users. Thus, offering you the opportunity to gain much-needed traction through the new and still-evolving Instagram channel.

Why Should You Be Using IGTV to Promote Your Business?

Video marketing has gained a lot of traction in the recent past. Companies find creating videos interesting and way more rewarding. Not just that, consumers too prefer watching videos to learn more about different products and services. And with IGTV proving out to be one of the most popular video sharing and viewing tools, there’s no doubt that it should be included in your social media marketing strategy.

So, if you’re looking for ways to turbocharge your marketing campaigns in 2021, Instagram’s IGTV can give a kickstart to your video content journey. Here’s why you must embrace IGTV if you want your brand to become a global internet sensation. Let’s dive in together.

1. It’s a Powerful Way to Reach Out to Your Audience

If a picture speaks a thousand words, a video speaks a million. There’s no surprise that audiences love video-based content. In fact, high-quality dynamic videos have always proved to grab your users’ attention for a longer span of time. They are far more interesting and engaging than even your best-written pieces of content or uniquely captured images.

So, if your goal is to sell your products and services through effective storytelling, there’s no medium that’s better than creating high-quality videos and sharing them with your target audience through IGTV. In fact, as per the latest finding, promoting your brand through IGTV can help you increase your user’s purchase probability by about 97%. Interesting, isn’t it?

2. It’s the Easiest Way to Showcase Your Products and Services

IGTV videos allow you to better market your products and services. You can use the power of this platform to:

• Introduce your business to your audience
• Promote your products and services
• Explain the features, benefits and applications of your products
• Let your audience know about your latest offers and deals
• Create explanatory self-help and how-to videos
• Build a powerful user community

3. It Offers Businesses More Room for Creativity

IGTV has been specially designed to support long-form videos – something that other platforms cannot do. On IGTV, regular users can create videos of up to 10 minutes in length, while verified users can host videos that are about an hour long. This gives businesses more room for creativity and offers more opportunities for engagement and conversions. Additionally, you can also include clickable links into your IGTV videos for directing your Instagram followers to your landing pages for boosting your web traffic and sales.

4. It Allows You to Host a Series of Videos for Various Themes and Topics

IGTV allows you to create a series of upbeat videos on a particular topic to keep your audience engaged and hooked onto your channel. You can create and organize a number of videos that play automatically one after the other. Thus, making it easy for your users to find and view related content, instead of haphazardly sifting through the videos to find what interests them. It’s a perfect way to stay consistent and relevant to your message, tone and business. Your video series could include various how-to videos and demonstrative content that aims to educate your users about your products, offering better chances of engagement through Instagram likes, shares and comments. Video series are a great way to:

• Build your brand
• Organize your content in a much better way
• Keep your users engaged
• Stay clear and consistent with your message

5. Gives More Opportunities for Network Building

Creating IGTV videos is a serious business that allows you to build an ever-lasting relationship with your connections and users. By creating long-form videos, you can help address your users’ challenges, difficulties, interests, and more. Such videos are sure to grab your users’ attention and help them resolve their issues, making them your ardent fans and followers.

How to Use IGTV to Boost Your Marketing Campaigns

Now that we know the various benefits of incorporating IGTV videos into your 2021 marketing strategy, let us take a look at various ways to use IGTV to promote and establish your brand among your real Instagram followers. Here’s how.

1. Design Videos Based on Your Demographics

Relevance is the key to digital marketing, and it holds good for IGTV videos too. Understand your audience’s needs and then create an effective strategy to create videos that help serve their requirements. You must also keep your users’ age, gender and other specifications in mind to ensure the content you create is relevant to them.

2. Keep Your Messaging Simple, Yet Clear

Remember, the attention span of your audience is probably just 1 minute. You have to grab their attention within that 1 minute to ensure they stay hooked onto your video for long. So, keep your video content simple yet engaging. Also, keep the messaging clear and consistent.

3. Keep the Volume of Your Videos Welcoming

Make sure the volume of your videos is not alarmingly high, something that scares your audience and forces them to stare away from your channel. Keep the volume of your videos pleasing to the ears – neither too high nor too low. The volume should be such that your viewers can easily watch and enjoy your content in a public place, with or without their headphones.

4. Consider Creating a Videos Series

Instead of creating a long video that’s difficult to watch and comprehend, you must break your video tutorials, demos and tips & tricks into a set of small video series. The benefit of video series is that they can be easily watched and enjoyed by your audience even when they are running short on time.

5. Optimize Your Video Content with Descriptions and Hashtags

Adding relevant tag lines, descriptions and hashtags goes a long way in improving the visibility of your IGTV videos on Instagram. By adding trending hashtags in the video description, you make sure your content is visible to not just your existing Instagram followers but to other relevant audiences as well. You can also include necessary links in your description to embed a strong call to action that tells your users what they should do after watching your video.

6. Keep it Real

Make sure you keep your IGTV videos simple, interesting and real to help people easily connect with you and your brand. Give your audience a personal touch. Show them personalities who keep your business up and running. Also, don’t be afraid to share your struggles, challenges and failures to help your users understand you and your brand in a much better way and develop a deep connection with you.

7. Ensure Your Brand is at the Center of Everything You Create

Make sure all your marketing efforts are geared towards the ultimate success of the brand. Never deviate from your purpose and ultimate goal – to promote and establish your brand in the digital space. While sharing cute videos can help you get more audience, they probably won’t bring you any business growth or revenue.

The Final Take

Still in infancy, IGTV is definitely a powerful digital medium to promote your brand and build a strong community of followers and customers. IGTV combines the power of both YouTube and Instagram and allows businesses to keep their audience hooked to their products and services. Its powerful features make this one of the most desirable platforms for companies to promote their business. So incorporate it into your 2021 Instagram marketing strategy and increase your social media engagement many times.

Is your business hit by the coronavirus pandemic? Do you want to expand your business through social media? Yes, your Instagram account is a powerful marketing option for business growth. You should realize the potential of Instagram and make the most out of it.

If you look at it closely, it is not an ordinary leisure platform. The world of colorful photographs and short videos are indeed the most compelling advertisement platform you will ever come across. In a way, your Instagram followers are also potential customers. It offers multiple options for putting across your content for persuading your customers. Instagram as a marketing tool is free yet very powerful. Let us explore some tips for your business promotion through Instagram.

Instagram marketing – Turning a crisis into an opportunity

The coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns changed our lifestyles. It has hit businesses as well. But the power of social media could transform this into a great opportunity. Across the globe, local businesses could continue operation with the help of social media, especially Instagram. As per reports, during the lockdown, there was a 25% increase in user engagement on platforms such as Instagram.

Additionally, the growth in marketing content is around 72%. Your local business can benefit a lot from Instagram marketing. A loyal set of Instagram followers is the key tool for seizing this opportunity. In short, every Instagram like is a potential lead for your product/service sales.

From home-made food to trendy clothes, multiple small businesses benefit from Instagram. You can also reach out to your prospective customers through this platform. Thorough knowledge of various post options on Instagram will help you to maximize its use. This, in combination with proper brand creation, will fuel your business growth to a large extend. Moreover, this is a user-friendly and low-cost alternative in comparison with other marketing alternatives.

Instagram for business – Introduction

From its original aspect of image sharing, the Instagram platform is now also a complete marketing companion. Small and household businesses find it a very accessible option that can connect with many people. In the present scenario, local businesses use it as a primary source for product launches, marketing, and sales campaigns. Most such businesses work in the segment of fashion, food, and lifestyle products and services. If you want to achieve business growth using the Instagram platform, understanding these features will be very helpful.

Business-friendly features on Instagram

The business-friendly features on Instagram are as follows:

• Business Profile: Instagram has an option for creating a business profile that is linked with Facebook. This offers special features such as an ads manager for promotional campaigns.
• A Catchy Bio: Instagram bio section is your main identity. Once a customer likes your product, then the next step is verifying your credibility. A well-written bio with proper hyperlinks and contact details makes it authentic.
• Stories: Insta stories are a great way to quickly connect with your followers. You can flash new updates and promotions with very little text. It is also a very interactive feature.
• Instagram Live: this feature makes you a celebrity with live interaction with your followers.
• IGTV: beyond Insta stories, IGTV helps you to post long-format video content. Use this feature to tell the story of your brand and behind the scenes from your product making.
• Posts: normal Instagram posts let you spread the word with your Instagram followers. Your followers can like and share them. Multiple Instagram likes will increase the visibility of your post.
• Direct Message: the private messaging service is a great tool to interact with your prospective customers. You can discuss bulk discounts, special pricing, etc. It is also an apt place for receiving customer feedback.

Tips for business promotion through Instagram

Social media presence is your business’s virtual identity. With the pandemic, the line between online and offline identity is fast shrinking. You need to cement your online business identity by keeping up with the latest trends.

• 1. Consistent Brand Building: Having a lot of Instagram followers is always good for your business. They can be converted successfully into your customers only when you post regularly into their feeds. Ensure that you have good brand identity materials such as captions, logos, and related creative material. Follow particular color schemes and themes so that people recall your brand. Brand recall is a major factor that determines your business growth. Always follow a proper schedule for posting content. You can make use of services that offer real Instagram followers for a small fee.
• 2. Quality Content: Constantly put up high-quality photos and videos in your feed. Overall it can come together to create a compelling narrative about your business. Always use a professional camera to capture your content. Being a visual platform, it is always advisable to use minimal text. Make sure that your photo or video itself communicates with the customer. Plan and schedule your content in multiple formats that can be used in posts, IGTV, stories, etc. Let your post bring in more Instagram likes and obtain enough visibility. Remember that on Instagram, the CTA (call to action) is your photo or video. The content should be so engaging that the customer takes a buying decision at the first glimpse.
• 3. Hashtag Promotions: Hashtags are a great way to promote your business. You can explore the trending hashtags concerning your product. Using appropriate hashtags increases the visibility of your posts. A hashtag campaign is also effective for post promotions. This can be done by engaging your customers to post about your product using a particular hashtag. You can arrange giveaways and small gifts for people selected from this list. This will encourage more people to participate in the hashtag campaign.
• 4. Constant Engagement with Followers: For successful business promotion, you should know the preferences of your followers very well. Naturally, every Instagram follower expects a quick response from their connections. For an Instagram business profile, instant response is of utmost importance. Every Instagram page follower considers this a sign of genuineness. In the absence of customer helplines and toll-free numbers, Instagram messages can act as a customer care response. You should acknowledge the likes and comments for your posts. Engaging your followers with various contests is a great way to promote your products. At regular intervals, plan hashtag and repost contests.
• 5. Customer Testimonials: Good feedback from your customer is the best advertisement you can ever get. Remember that it is free of cost, and you should always capitalize on it. Broadcasting positive customer sentiment can be more effective than any of your ordinary promotional posts. Identify a few of your loyal followers and request them to post a video or photo of your product. Ask them to post it tagging your business profile handle. This is going to work wonders for your brand.
• 6. Influencer Collaborations: The rise of influencers is a phenomenon that is unique to social media marketing. Unlike celebrities, they are common people with a huge follower list. They are very effective in promoting various products through platforms such as Instagram. There are many such influencers across multiple domains such as fashion, lifestyle, technology, etc. Pick the right influencer based on your business domain. Don’t forget to do a background check. After finalizing an influencer, plan a photoshoot or promotional collaboration with them. You can also send them your products for review or on a payment basis.
• 7. Use Analytics: Analytics is a great tool that can instantly tell you the effectiveness of your campaigns. With the advent of social media, it has become a common man’s tool. Various social media plugins and online tools will help understand important matrices such as engagement rate, number of likes and comments, etc. This will help you understand the patterns and preferences of your followers. In the case of deep analytics, you can take the help of agencies that decipher the hidden gems within your social media stats. It can be effectively used for future planning and content creation that is best suited for your business growth.
• 8. Instagram Shopping: E-commerce sites provide us the comfort of buying a product at a single click. Instagram shopping is a unique feature available on the business profile. It allows the customer to ‘click buy’ within the Instagram app. The feature also comes with separate options for product launches and promotions. This will be a very useful option for growing your business.

Conclusion

Instagram is a powerful tool for your business. Capitalizing on the right features on Instagram can take your business to the next level. It offers seamless connection capabilities that transcend physical boundaries. In a way, local businesses with small marketing budgets should leverage the strength of Instagram. Quality and consistent content posting will help you to reach out to the maximum number of prospective customers. But for a wider reach, you need to have a large number of Instagram followers. The organic way of increasing the follower count takes a lot of time. You can make use of websites that provide real Instagram followers for your account. This will surely boost your business growth.

With the market becoming saturated with Generation Z followers, a new group of potential buyers is starting to enter the market. Welcome the new Generation Alpha, referred to the ones who were born in 2010 or later. Let us first take a look at this generation Alpha and why it is becoming increasingly important for influencers and marketers to gain the attention of this generation.

Importance of Generation Alpha

It is easy for many to term this new generation as ‘just kids.’ However, doing so could seriously hamper your chances of marketing to them and gaining their attention. Their potential and importance can be understood by the following facts about them:

• The last alphas would be born in 2025. By the time that happens, their number would increase to two million globally.
• Generation Alpha is the wealthiest and the most formally educated generation of all the generations till now.
• They have a high influencing power on the purchase decisions of not just their own homes but also of their friends.
• They are the kids of the ‘millennials’ generation who have now entered their prime spending years.

Now that you are convinced of the importance of gaining Generation Alpha followers on Instagram, let us now look at some important tips that need to be kept in mind.

Tips to be kept in mind

Following are some important pointers that need to be kept in mind when devising a strategy to gain more generation Alpha followers on Instagram:

• They have been born and brought up in a world of social media. They had never known a world without social media, unlike the millennials, who still remember a time when it wasn’t available. Younger generations are more likely to be found on Instagram rather than Facebook or Twitter.
• Since their love affair with technology started at a very young age, generation alpha is more likely to watch streaming services rather than TV. To grab their attention, augmented reality features are a great way. Linking additional information about other users rather than another website also helps in driving their purchase decisions.
• They are born influencers and are already paying attention to other influencers. Even though influencer marketing was invented by millennials, these kids have already They are born influencers and are already paying attention to other influencers. Even though influencer marketing was invented by millennials, these kids have already perfected the art of the same.

Ways to get more Gen Alpha followers on Instagram

Instagram is one of the most popular social media channels in the current generation. Let us take you through a brief overview of some ways through which you can get more Instagram followers from this gen.

• 1. Interview and research: As with any other population demographic, ample research needs to be done by interviewing kids to better understand them. This helps in creating a persona based on their psychographic makeup. This is an important part of the influencer space as it showcases their purchasing power. This, in turn, becomes an important guide in the marketing strategies of the companies.
• 2. Experimentation with Instagram Video: According to a popular survey, most of the respondents of this age group admitted to watching YouTube videos at least once a day, either for information or fun. This is why the contextual rise of the popular YouTubers with content appealing specifically to this generation. For those interested in marketing and gaining more followers on Instagram, video content is a great option. Do make sure that the subject of the video is a Gen alpha’er. This will help in engaging with your target demographics in a better way.
• 3. Investment in Instagram Analytics: To understand the performance of your Instagram content and channel, do invest in the right analytics. While Instagram itself offers certain analytics features, there are several other third-party platforms that also help you in your endeavor to reach out to your target audience. The importance of these analytics can hardly be undermined. In fact, there are certain tools that even can find the ideal time to post to reach and get more Instagram followers. Others help track the performance of specific content so that you can understand what resonates and what does not with Generation Alpha.
• 4. Collaborating with other influencers: There are already several Gen alpha influencers popular amongst their peer group whose accounts are managed by their millennial parents. Their popularity can be gauged by the fact that more than half the children between ages six and 16, during a survey, admitted to buying a product influenced by their favorite Instagram followers. Finding and collaborating with an influencer who is a bona fide celebrity in your target group will help you connect to an otherwise hard-to-reach generation demographic.
• 5. Creating mobile-first content: This is especially for those brands who are trying to connect to this upcoming age group. Gen alpha is the mobile-first generation who has been using a smartphone from very early on. To drive them to your company website from your Instagram handle, it is important to optimize your website for the mobile platform. If this is not done, then the Generation Alpha follower who has reached the website through Instagram will find the experience unpleasant and leave.
• 6. Positive vision: Do remember that whatever this generation watches is closely monitored by their millennial parents. They are concerned about the impact of these social media channels on their kids. They care about their kids making a difference when they grow up, and they prefer brands that care for the same too. To appeal to your target audience, create content that offers a clear and positive vision of how the brand intends to help them make the world a better place.
• 7. Cross-promotion on YouTube: As discussed earlier, Generation alpha has grown up watching YouTube videos for both education and fun. It is their first and foremost go-to platform. Brands and influencers looking to grow their real Instagram followers from this generation should also pay attention to this. They should invest in creating YouTube content so that they meet their target group at a place they are most likely to hang out.
• 8. Educate your followers: Since generation Alpha is still in the growing up phase, their education is still going on. The content they watch is closely monitored by their millennial parents. Therefore, it makes sense for the brands and influencers to use their Instagram handle to educate their followers regarding their service or product in an unbiased and informative way.
• 9. Mine other brands for inspiration: There are certain brands and influencers that are most popular among the members of Gen Alpha. For example, brands like YouTube, Oreo, Doritos, and Nike top the list. Analyze and research the content shared by these brands on their Instagram and consider making them your ideal. Making similar choices, albeit related to your own industry, will help you tap into their interest area.

Things to keep in mind

Social media plays an important role in guiding the habits and purchase choices of Gen Alpha. Even though peers remain the top-most influential factors, social media is not very far off. 25% of this generation respondents in a survey reported wanting to buy what their favorite influencer said on their channel. Videos are considered to be the most persuasive format for pushing a certain message across. However, do remember not to focus too heavily on self-promotion.

• You need to be viewed as a brand that cares for more than making money. After all, parents of Gen alpha look for content that helps in informing and entertaining their kids while supporting a social cause.
• You can even try to include stories about other people. Sharing sites never get old and also inspires meaningful discussions and conversations.
• Another thing that you need to avoid doing is faking the number of Instagram likes or followers. This is an outdated social media engagement strategy that can throw off your data and even get you banned from the platform. They defeat the purpose of social media marketing and can compromise your reputation. Instead, focus on reliable analytics so that you can discover the motivations of your audience.
• Do not let Facebook and YouTube become your entire world. Remember, they are just additions to your Instagram handle.
• Do ensure that your brand image is that of a multicultural and inclusive brand. This will avoid the risk of losing young audiences of different cultures and personalities.

As Generation Alpha is taking over the global social media channels, Instagram influencers worldwide need to make certain changes in their social content. This will help them in capturing the attention of this ever-elusive group. People and brands that keep updating their social media approach can win over this generation easily and reap the rewards in the near future.

Instagram Stories offer a powerful way for you to establish a personal connection with your Instagram followers. Those who view stories of businesses, especially are more likely to send them direct messages based on stories viewed. Because Instagram is a massive platform that is constantly evolving, it is necessary for you to emotionally arouse your audience if you want to create a lasting impression and boost business growth.

The addition of the GIFs feature to Instagram Stories in January 2018 made it possible for brands to grow their number of real Instagram followers by helping people to establish a personal connection with the brand. Consumers today are looking for more than just a product or service to buy. They want to connect with a brand that speaks to them. They want more than just a sales message promoting a product or service. They want brands to showcase their personality in a way that moves them.

GIFs are one of the many Instagram features that can help you connect with the right audience and build a loyal base of Instagram followers. More Instagram followers will eventually translate into more comments, Instagram likes, and other engagement metrics that can boost your business growth.

What are GIFs?

A GIF or a Graphics Interchange Format was first introduced in 1987 by Steve Wilhite, although its growth in popularity today makes it seem like something that is far more recent development. GIFs are short, animated images used across devices and media. They’re typically used to represent a particular state of being and are packed with humour.

Instagram’s GIF features in Stories has been made possible through a collaboration with GIPHY so that there’s a library of animated stickers and moving images that you have the option of choosing from.

How to add GIFs to Instagram Stories?

Posting GIFs to your Instagram Stories is extremely easy.

First, take the picture or video you want to upload to your Instagram Stories and click on the sticker icon you see at the top right hand corner when you open the Stories section. Clicking on the sticker icon will open up a menu where you’ll be able to see hashtag, poll, question, location, as well as the GIF feature.

Clicking on the GIF feature will give you access to a library full of GIFs made available through GIPHY. A search bar will pop up where you’ll be able to see all the trending GIFs and type in a more specific GIF you’re looking for to share with your Instagram followers.

Choose a GIF you like and then drag and reposition it as per your needs. You can even resize your GIF or pin it to a position by tapping and holding it if it’s being used in a video.

That’s it – it really is that simple!

Why you should use GIFs for your brand

Connect better with your audience

GIFs bring in the much needed personal touch and emotional connection that Instagram followers of today are looking for. Through GIFs, you can communicate the personality of your brand. This will help you attract the attention of your audience and build a larger base of real Instagram followers who can contribute to more Instagram likes and other engagement metrics.

Remain digitally relevant

GIFs have shot up in popularity as the latest trending feature to be used across several media. Using GIFs will help you remain relevant in the ever changing digital world and show your audience that you care about keeping up with the changing trends. They’ll also help you showcase a little bit of fun and make your Instagram followers fall in love with your brand. In the long run, this will help you boost sales and overall growth of the business.

See a growth in engagement

When your Instagram followers feel more connected to you, they’re likely to engage with your brand on Instagram and off of it. On the platform, this would translate into more comments, Instagram likes and other metrics which will only be interpreted by Instagram’s algorithm positively. Such engagement is likely to increase your discoverability on the platform.

Retain your Instagram followers

When you creatively engage your Instagram followers using GIFs, you’ll be able to retain them in the long run. Text heavy content isn’t comprehended well by people. It’s also more easily forgotten. GIFs make use of movable images to attract and retain your audience. You’ll be able to have a greater impact on your real Instagram followers in this way.

Save time and effort on making creative graphics

With Instagram’s GIFs, you get access to thousands of ready-made GIFs that you can use meaningfully to boost business growth without having to spend a lot of time working on creative graphics. You can save your efforts for other aspects of your Instagram marketing strategy.

hey can add to the story telling process

Take your Instagram followers on a journey with the content you post on the platform and level it up by adding the right GIFs. Whether it’s a GIF to signal a celebration, represent an emotional state, or a reaction GIF, adding it to your stories can be a game changer for your brand.

How you can use GIFs to boost growth

Promote products or events creatively

Using GIFs with your Stories can help you glam up your brand’s products and services. They’re more engaging and are likely to capture the attention of your Instagram followers so that you can show off the nature of your products or services.

Create multiple effects

If you’re tired of using the same old effects available on the platform, you can make use of GIFs in your Instagram Stories and explore some effects. You’ll be able to resize the chosen GIF and even invert it to adjust it to the story you’re posting. Whether it’s a winter snowfall effect or rain, you can pick what you want and add it to your story.

Direct the attention of your audience to CTAs

A lot of people just swipe through Stories on Instagram without paying any attention to their content. You don’t want that to happen for your brand. CTAs are important in any marketing message, but they can only achieve their desired results when your audience’s attention is directed to the CTA. GIFs can help you direct the attention of your audience with a CTA. They stand out from the rest of your story and can successfully grab the attention of your Instagram followers.

Bring text to life

If you’re planning to post a story that’s text heavy, you’ll want to add a GIF to it to increase its engagement. Adding tiny sparkles, stars, or other shiny content to your text can help it stand out and ensure that you grab the attention of your Instagram followers. They’ll be more likely to read what you have to say this way and may actually remember it instead of your message just getting lost in a pool of text.

Get your audience involved

You can even make use of GIFs to get your audience involved and get access to user generated content. Post a trending GIF that’s in line with the theme of your brand or marketing message you want to convey and ask your Instagram followers to join the trend.

React with GIFs

GIFs on Stories can also be used to post brand reactions. Whatever mood you’re in, you can make your Instagram followers a part of your journey by posting reactions along with your Stories. It could be a dance, a celebration, or an emotion, whatever it is that you’re looking for, you can be sure that GIPHY will have it.

Pin GIFs to Stories

If you’re planning to post videos to your Stories, you can keep a surprise for your Instagram followers by pinning a GIF to your video so that it appears only during the portion of the video that you’ve selected. To do this, tap and hold the GIF and pin it at the portion of the video you want to. You can even resize it as per your liking.

Take your photos up a notch

You could even use GIFs to make your selfies and other pictures more interesting on your Stories. While this shouldn’t be used often, it is a good way to take your Instagram followers behind the scenes and show off your quirky side. Your Instagram followers will appreciate the personal connection displayed through such content and will be more likely to engage with you in the long run.

Conclusion

GIFs can help you change the game for your Instagram Stories. They’ll be able to grab the attention of your Instagram followers a lot faster and help them connect with your brand in a fun, humorous way. With the appropriate placement of GIFs on image or video stories you post, you can communicate an overwhelming emotion, state of mind, or even just add a humorous touch to your Stories. Try out the GIFs feature for your Instagram Stories and see the difference it makes to your marketing efforts on the platform.

The year 2020 saw a lot of ups and downs, with the pandemic affecting the whole world. The digital world saw an upsurge in the number of users as people began to depend more and more on it for everything, from education to livelihood and entertainment. While the real world came to a halt, the digital world experienced growth like never before.

Instagram has become a rave and has constantly been growing. With an increasing database of users, the social media platform has constantly been updating to offer the best services to all users. One such update or feature is the ‘Instagram Live Badges’ that was introduced in May 2020 to help the creators and influencers, in particular, make money.

What is Instagram Live Badge?

Instagram users all over the world started using the social media platform for several reasons. While for some Instagram followers, the purpose was entertainment; for others, it was for their livelihood. Influencers on the platform are offered an opportunity to make more money, and the Instagram Live Badge is a feature that will support them immensely.

The creators have always been the core of the Instagram community. They have inspired people around the world with their talent as they have built their personal brand from the ground up. Instagram Live Badge is a feature or monetization concept that allows users to make money through live streaming. Instagram has rolled out the feature to nearly fifty thousand creators. The feature lets the users monetize their streaming with fan badges. The concept is similar to Twitch and TikTok and allows real Instagram followers to ‘tip’ the creators and influencers during their live stream.

Creators are committed to turning their passion into a livelihood, and Instagram is committed to the creators because they believe that every creator is unique. To offer a mix of monetization tools to passionate Instagram users and to influence more to emerge, the social media platform introduced Instagram live Badges. It was introduced by Instagram as a way for its users to make a monetary contribution directly to their favorite creators. Users who contribute receive a badge in exchange, which is displayed next to their name when they comment on a live stream.

How do the badges work?

Instagram felt the need to improve the lives of creators and offer them a tool they can benefit from. Given the uncertain circumstances faced by many people around the world, a monetary tool would help creators make a decent living. Instagram announced the introduction of Instagram Live Badges as a new way for their creators to grow revenue on Instagram live and IGTV.

Creators have embraced Instagram Live, and their dedication saw an upsurge in the usage of this platform. The increase in the views was influenced by creators such as dancers, fitness instructors, chefs, artists, and more. Instagram Live helped these creators as well as businesses to stay connected with their followers, and the badges helped them generate income.

Did you know that fans who have contributed to the purchase of the badges on Instagram Live will stand out in the comments throughout the live video? Purchasers can also access additional features that include placement on the creator’s list and a special heart. They also receive a thank you for contributing to the creator’s work. It is vital to note that there is no obligation towards Instagram users to contribute to view the content. Only those who choose to contribute to the content are rewarded with a badge.

The Instagram Live Badges are available in three different levels, and it is based on the number of hearts that are available to purchase. In addition to Instagram likes, Instagram followers will see three different options to purchase a badge. These options are available during the live streaming of creator content. The three options include the following.

• 1 heart for $0.99
• 2 hearts for $1.99
• 3 hearts for $4.99

It is reported that creators will receive 100% of the contribution made towards them. They will also be able to see how many hearts a real Instagram follower has purchased and who is supporting them, thanks to the visual icon in the chat stream.

How can you get Instagram Live Badges?

Not every person in the world is given an opportunity to turn their passion into a profession. It is a rare opportunity that many fail to experience. Everyone needs to make money and a profession aids in their livelihood. To sustain as a creator or an influencer on Instagram, and continue their passion, monetary benefits was the rightful path. That’s exactly why Instagram created the badges.

In the initial stages, Instagram rolled out the badges only to a selected few creator, and they continued to roll it out to creators. The feature was tested using a small group of creators after which it was offered to a group of 50,000 creators. Instagram users all across the world are eagerly waiting for Instagram Live Badges. It is believed that Instagram Live Badges will be offered to the US, UK, Brazil, Mexico, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, and Spain markets first. If you are a resident of any of these countries, you may be the lucky one to be one of the firsts to experience this feature on Instagram.

The Instagram Live Badges feature could have been a part of your Instagram account sooner than now. Most creators who filled in a form were offered the badges when it rolled out. You can get early access to other new beneficial features of Instagram by filling out a form on the social media platform. The monetization opportunity is the newest feature on Instagram and an opportunity for influencers on the platform.

Why is Instagram Live Badges good for the influencers?

Gone are the days when Instagram likes, and comments were the only signs that an influencer has made a mark on, or positively impacted the followers. With the increased number of users, the social media platform has experienced growth and has added new features to help the users stay connected, at the same time feel appreciated. The Instagram Live Badges was one of them.

Once the feature Instagram Live Badges was rolled out on trial, the social media platform experienced a 70% increase in views within a month. The creators were already creating content to be posted on the platform with or without Instagram live Badges, and the feature helped them create revenue for their stream with the content they already had.

The feature helps creators and Instagram followers stay connected as well. It not only helps them generate revenue with their content, it also aids in bringing them closer to their real Instagram followers. While most people believe that staying connected and generating money are not the only benefits offered by the badges, it doesn’t just stop there.

Did you know that when influencers stream on Instagram, they do it with a purpose? The connection between them and their Instagram followers is personal. They create a strong bond wherein their followers trust them and the brands they promote. The badges can offer them exclusivity on the social media platform, and in turn, create a sense of pride.

As much as it is believed that badges were introduced to support creators, how does it support the influencers? Influencers are a huge part of Instagram. There are people like us who, with their talent, have a huge impact on our lives. These influencers can be anyone, from a professional dancer to a home chef, a mother, and more. Influencers on Instagram have built trust among users. They play an important role in the lives of their Instagram followers who believe in them.

There is no restriction imposed on the influencers. They can promote any brand they believe in. In fact, they are the brand ambassadors on the platform, and their followers see them as someone they can trust which gives them a feeling of success. Indeed, there are mega-influencers or celebrities, public figures on the platform as well who tend to take the limelight. But when you talk about real Instagram followers, they tend to be dedicated towards the influencers as they can easily trust them to be one of their own. The followers can use Instagram Life Badges and show their support to the influencers, which will also help to build a sense of a VIP community.

Instagram Life Badges plays a huge role in the lives of the creators. Once this feature is rolled out to all users, it can positively influence the lives of influencers as well. Influencers, especially those who promote small scale businesses, can enjoy the monetary benefits and promote businesses that cannot invest in promotional activities.

Instagram Life Badges can influence and support more than just the creators. A lot of businesses can benefit from it as well. It can also help the social media platform grow as it is the single best place in the digital world that lets users tell their story, grow their audience, and make a decent living.

If you’re trying to live a decent life in the twenty-first century, then it’s impossible without gramming’ it. Yes, you heard me right. Instagram is the ultimate social media platform to share your life with others online in a fun and entertaining way. You post stories and posts, follow interesting people, shop unique items, and visit places online that you couldn’t ever dream of in real life. It is hard to go by a day without constantly refreshing your feed. So, if this is how addicting the app can get you, employing a good business idea will broaden your reach to a large number of followers.

Speaking of Instagram followers, the more, the better. Delivering exactly the right kind of content is the key to growth on this platform. Using ads and maximizing the features like Instagram likes and sponsored posts are a few ways to gain some real followers. But people don’t have similar tastes. So, it is important to mix things up a bit. Be it filters, stories, or captions, make sure you know how much to share in a way that doesn’t seem annoying. Let’s face it. We have all been victims to annoying Instagram users online, which is exactly what we want to avoid while converting our audience into lakhs and millions.

Posting stories online is fun. You expand your reach instantly. You let the world know what they have been missing out on. But there is a fine line between sharing and bombarding when it comes to Instagram stories. You know what I’m talking about. You’ve either done it or been through it. In simpler words, don’t nag and these 10 story types are the worst of all. So make sure you go through these and save yourself some awkward unfollowing.

1. The travelling streak

We all know this person. They post videos of driving with some cliché background song like their life depends on it. And it’s not a single story. This series of on-the-road stories go on till they finally reach the destination. (Considering the fact that they even got through with the constantly unsafe posting while driving). We all know that driving and texting don’t go hand in hand. But still, we do it for the ‘gram. Stop, nobody cares. Your safety is more important. Plus, enjoy the ride without constantly pulling your phone out. Also, the destination stories are going to pay off more than the driving ones.

2. The never-ending solo debate

If you have ever found yourself staring at a bunch of incoherent texts on a story, just tap away. It’s another one of those never ending debates. Usually such stories start off all right, but slowly as you keep tapping away, you find out that this has no end. Being openly emotional on a public platform is not good for your account growth. Your Instagram followers don’t need to learn about your political standpoint or personal viewpoint over an issue in a ranting series. It is unprofessional and creates a negative impression about your page.

3. Bombarding Boomerangs

A few years ago, Instagram dropped the boomerang update on us out of nowhere. Back in the day, everything and anything was being boomeranged and posted as a silly story. Understandable since everyone wanted to give a go at it. From friends and places to food and picnics, boomerang was the cool ticket. This trend died as soon as the next new update came. That’s how Instagram works. No one missed it nor tried to bring it back. But believe it or not, even nowadays, a handful users online just can’t shake off that trend. This is not only boring but way outdated. So if you want to keep your followers real close, don’t boomerang everything.

4. The food maniac

The fourth story type is the food addict. Let’s put an end to this, shall we? Food is love. Everyone is on board when it comes to food. But if you keep posting zoomed-in pictures of delicious food on your story every day, you’re bound to receive some hate. It is the unnecessary amount of jealousy and hunger that rises from such stories which is the real issue. Some of us may not have had anything to eat for hours, or some may be even on a diet when you walk in with your tasty little food posts. It is super annoying so don’t do it. Respect the quote “Less is more.”

5. The “Check out my new post” story

As we go further down this list, we address the more maddening ones. One out of those is the “Check out my new post” story. We can all agree here that this story is not only lame but really unnecessary. If someone posts something new on their page, Instagram is automatically programmed to show us the post on refreshing the feed so there is no chance of missing it. But some users still post a story for their post. This can be to get more number of Instagram likes or even shares. Either way, it’s marketing for them but tiring for the audience.

6. The Meaningless polls story

If you are a regular Instagram user, you know what I’m talking about. The polls. This was another trendy Instagram update that failed to lose its charm but ended up losing its meaning instead. Polls are for yes or no votes. But like always, there are those petty few who turn the polls into a yes or yes voting session. It makes zero sense to the followers and probably themselves. A classic example of such meaningless polls would be “Do you like my long hair?” Vote: Yes, a lot / Yes, okay. Now you get it. Don’t employ these if you want to convert your audience.

7. The endless promotion story

These stories pop up when someone desperately wants to post some good feedback about their product or work. Now, this is a marketing strategy which is frequently seen on influencer pages or start up accounts. These stories sure help in broadening their reach to a larger audience but it is also a huge turn off to the current Instagram followers. Many influencers and celebrities alike follow this regime of feedback stories if it is their own brand or line. So a less annoying version would be to share 2-3 feedback stories and not a string of 10-11 stories at once.

8. Re-re-sharing memes again story

With the coronavirus striking down and people staying indoors at all times, it is hard to stay busy. But memes have truly saved us all from dying of boredom. Sharing memes is a great way of interacting among friends as well as strangers. One solid way to ruin it is by sharing old memes as stories and captioning them as “relatable.” It’s true. We have all done it. This is no crime. It is okay if you post stories of memes you thoroughly enjoyed. We can enjoy it too. But if it is an old meme then posting it on your story makes you look outdated. So steer clear of sharing any old memes as stories.

9. The musical stories

Adding music to mundane pictures is a great way of spicing your story. But a continuous string of such musical stories is completely unnecessary and bothersome too. But let’s talk about the bigger devil here: People who post stories with background music playing on their phones. Why? What is the need when you can easily choose the song you want and have it featured with your picture or video directly from Instagram itself? Not only do those stories have other background noises, but they also ruin the whole experience as well. So thinking of posting a musical story? Play the song from Instagram.

10. The birthday story

Last but not least we address the monster of all story types. The classic birthday story. For those innocent souls who have no idea what I’m talking about, allow me to explain. It’s your friend’s birthday. You have saved up a year’s worth cheesy and embarrassing photos of your friend to post them on his/her birthday. Then you finally start posting all of it in a way to show how close your guys are or just to truly embarrass her. Either way, doesn’t matter because it is quite annoying. As followers, we are just here for mellow time pass. This long, infinite string of stories starting from midnight till the end of the day is truly frustrating to tap away. Don’t do it. Save us all from the awkwardness and multiple taps.

And so, like how all stories end, this too shall end. Keep in mind and steer clear of these 10 story types if you are thinking of growing your reach and want to convert your audience on Instagram. Let us all make it a fun and interactive experience without bothering others too much.

We’re not far from ushering in 2021, and that means new and emerging marketing trends are on the horizon as far as social media platforms are concerned. Due to the way these platforms have transformed digital marketing, both content creators and marketers are waiting with bated breaths for the new marketing tools and tweaks that are set to be added to their long list of existing features. The platform arguably generating the most hype is Instagram.

Then and now

Instagram users account for approximately one-third of all the users across all social media platforms. That speaks volumes about Insta, which emerged as a simple photo-sharing app in 2010. Over the years, several features have been gradually added to the platform. Many of them are, in essence, marketing tools that have resulted in ‘Instagram marketing’ becoming an elaborate subject. Brands, both local and global, have benefited from them, and so have beginner and advanced content creators and influencers.

Today, Insta’s a colorful universe of its own, filled with an endless array of photo and video-based content, created by the most talented influencers from around the world, who are followed by millions. These influencers, along with the brands that support them, rely heavily on the prevailing Insta marketing trends to reach out to their audiences and gain more Instagram followers and likes.

While some trends tend to change from time to time due to feature upgrades, some remain intact for longer periods. In this blog, we’re going to talk about some of Insta’s top marketing trends from 2020, which are pretty much going to be around in 2021 as well.

The Stories will live on

Back in August 2016, Insta launched its ‘Stories’ feature, which was basically a carbon copy of Snapchat Stories. The feature, across both platforms, allows users to share photos and incredibly short videos (up to 15 seconds long).

While there are numerous subtle differences in the feature when compared across both platforms, Insta’s Stories has managed to edge out Snapchat’s version. The two biggest reasons for Instagram Stories’ success are the rapid rise in Insta users and the simple nature of the feature on Insta, which became quite convoluted on Snapchat thanks to too many new sub-features.

As a marketing tool, Instagram Stories has worked like a charm, particularly for influencers. Since the feature’s launch, it has become one of Insta’s most attractive elements and is set to be the crown jewel of influencer marketing in 2021 as well. Many experts estimate that 2021 will see a drastic decline in the number of regular Instagram posts and a skyrocketing of Stories posts.

Live will be alive and kicking

Instagram Live was announced back in November 2016, hot on the heels of the Instagram Stories launch. While the ‘Live’ feature on Insta is similar to live broadcasting features of other platforms, what sets it apart is its ephemeral nature. An Instagram Live video disappears forever once its broadcast comes to a conclusion.

Even though Instagram Live hasn’t hit the heights that the Stories feature has, it’s still a solid marketing tool that brands have benefited from, particularly during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has seen Live usage soar by a whopping 70%. Live allows for real-time engagement between brands, influencers, and their real Instagram followers, making it ideal for conducting Q&A sessions.

Some other types of live videos to have trended include product launches, collaborations, and giving audiences behind-the-scenes footage, which has all facilitated quite a fair bit of transparency. It’s safe to say that given Instagram Live’s marketing potential, it’s a feature that’ll be used heavily in 2021 too.

IGTV content will become more popular

The IGTV app allows Insta users to upload long-form videos. While viewers need to install the app to view the videos, the regular Insta app promotes IGTV videos in the form of minute-long trailers. Launched in 2018, IGTV is still relatively new compared to the Live and Stories features. However, as the popularity of long-form video content is fast gaining ground on Instagram, IGTV is here to stay.

It’s not even been three years since IGTV made its entry, but its benefits have already been felt, as content creators and brands have used the app to further their social media marketing ambitions. From repurposing video content that’s been previously posted elsewhere to creating elaborate tutorial videos, IGTV has given Insta users new ways to connect with their audiences.

Many influencers have their very own IGTV shows as well, just like your regular TV shows that are broadcast at the same time every day/week. While IGTV is yet to climb the heights that YouTube has, the fact that it’s well on its way up certainly can’t be doubted.

In-app shopping is bound to grow thanks to Instagram Checkout

It’s been quite a while since Instagram allowed users and businesses to share shoppable posts. There’s a full-blown Instagram Shop within the app as well that allows users to browse through a wide range of products.

While shoppable posts and Instagram Shop definitely added a different dimension to the platform, what really will revolutionize Insta is its Checkout feature, which was launched back in March 2019. Checkout allows users to make purchases without ever leaving the app, and it has transformed Insta into something more than a social media platform.

Checkout has worked like a charm for brands that are heavily reliant on visual content for promoting their products. For such brands, Instagram is now a combination of a marketing tool and an e-commerce portal. In 2021, the success of such brands is sure to inspire many others to take advantage of Checkout and further the in-app shopping experience for Insta users.

Carousel posts will continue to trend

Carousel posts on Insta are nothing new. They were first introduced in 2015, and allowed users to share up to 5 images in one post. However, over the years, they’ve undergone significant changes. For starters, Insta users can now share up to 10 images through a single carousel post, and they can also include video.

Carousel posts allow brands and influencers to create compelling and detailed posts, and the feature has certainly worked out. According to statistics, one out of every five Insta posts today happen to be carousel posts. But why exactly are carousel posts so popular with users?
The simple reason is that brands get to share detailed information regarding their products through them. A single carousel post can contain a ton of information that would have otherwise been difficult to include in a solitary post. Simply put, it’s the best feature for detailed product demos and numerous brands also use it innovatively to showcase positive customer reviews and encourage audience engagement. The result? More Instagram likes, followers, and most importantly, brand growth.

Fundraising for social causes will gain more ground

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen numerous industries hit hard, with countless brands worldwide having reported losses amounting to millions of dollars. To try and ease things out for such brands, Insta has launched a fundraising feature.

The feature allows both individual users and brands to raise funds for a number of eligible causes that include funds for communities in distress, crisis relief, business, education, medical needs, and more. For now, the feature is available only for Insta users living in Ireland, the UK, and the USA.

However, in 2021, we can expect the feature to be introduced in more countries as more and more individuals and businesses start raising money for the causes they support. Even though the feature is still in its nascent stages, it has already been used to raise funds for important social issues such as the Black Lives Matter movement. Naturally, more brands would be willing to come forward in support of social causes. Think of it as Insta’s very own version of corporate social responsibility.

Conclusion

With no end to the COVID-19 pandemic in sight, the use of social media platforms like Insta will only keep increasing as 2021 gets underway. It doesn’t matter if you’re an aspiring Insta influencer or someone with more experience; the fact of the matter is that as long as the threat of contracting COVID-19 remains, more people are going to go digital. So, it’s time to take advantage of the possibilities, no matter how testing they may seem. Brand success on Insta has a lot to do with consistency and quality, so aim for both and get started.

The six trends we’ve covered in this article are certain to stay strong and relevant in the Insta universe in 2021. However, it’ll also be really exciting to welcome certain new features, which are sure to come our way, even though the folks at Insta have been tight-lipped about it so far. Combined with these older trends, we can only hope that the newer features and trends can work wonders for brands and influencers, both big and small on the platform.