Instagram Social Marketing Strategy Kit

Instagram Social Marketing Strategy Kit

Published in: Social Media, Art & Photos

Instagram Social Marketing Strategy Kit from Mohamed Mahdy

Transcript

• 1. TABLEOFCONTENTS Introduction How to Measure Instagram Engagement Metrics Likes Comments Total Engagement Engagement per Post Engagement as a % of Followers Hashtag Mentions Hashtag Volume Potential Hashtag Reach Potential Hashtag Impressions Follower Metrics Total Number of Followers Percent Change in Followers Optimization Metrics Most Engaging Filter Top Photo Tags 5 Strategic Instagram Measurement Tactics Learn About Your Audience Pay Attention to Timing Check your Competition Hashtags to Build Your Brand Influence on Instagram Conclusion Appendix What Is Instagram? Instagram Timeline How to Post How to Tag
• 2. INTRODUCTION Instagram is one of the most successful social networks of all time, but the value for marketers isn’t in networking like it is with some networks; it’s in storytelling. Launched in 2010, the image-sharing platform’s popularity continues to soar, with brands from retail to commercial real estate using it to tell visual stories in a way that feels intimate and non-intrusive. Instagram is changing the way that brands evaluate their audiences and create content. This is clearer now than ever before. Instagram just announced that over the next year, they’ll start rolling out their new set of business tools, including an Account Insights dashboard and Ad Insights dashboard to help brands understand how users engage with and respond to their photos and videos. These dashboards, which will add metrics like actual impressions to the measurement toolbox, aren’t available publicly yet, but are a signal of the need to understand and measure success on the visual platform. Whether your brand is just starting to invest time and energy in Instagram, or is an established powerhouse on the network, you’ll want to optimize your strategy. This must be done without a solid understanding built on measurement. Through measurement, you can develop a solid foundation of what works, what doesn’t, and what to focus on for your specific brand. This guide to Instagram measurement outlines the metrics required to measure and fully understand the photo and video-sharing network. It then helps outline several strategic measurement tactics that can help any marketer use to get your wheels turning. 3
• 3. 4 HOWTOMEASUREINSTAGRAM To understand any network, you need to know its parameters: what it does, which actions users can take, and which metrics count toward your success. You can’t measure what you don’t know, so we’ll start by defining the different ways of measuring Instagram. Engagement Metrics Likes Likes on Instagram are much like Facebook Likes or Twitter Favorites. They are a signal that the image you’ve posted has resonated with your followers. A user taps a photo or video twice in the center to like it, and the heart icon beneath the post turns solid red. Next to this icon is a count of how many Likes an image has earned. Comments Besides liking posts, users can also share comments. The comments appear under the photo, with the option to collapse or expand when there are more than three. Users can tag other Instagram users and include hashtags and emojis in their comments. Total Engagement Total engagement is the sum of Likes and comments on your Instagram posts during an established time period. Total engagement gives you insight into how active your audience is and how well your strategy is working.
• 4. 5 Engagement per Post The engagement per post metric provides deeper insights than just total likes or comments. It gives you an average of how much engagement you’re getting per post and helps you discover which posts earn the most interaction. Keep in mind that some of your posts will resonate well and earn high engagement numbers, while others will fall flat. In addition, it’s important to look beyond average engagement per post number and take a magnifying glass to your content. This can be done by breaking engagement per post into engagement per video and engagement per photo to give you more tactical insight on which types of content your audience responds to most. Engagement as % of Followers Engagement as a % of followers is calculated for a specific time period, and is an invaluable tool for benchmarking. Engagement as a % of followers shows the portion of your current followers interacting with your posts during a specified time period. By comparing this metric period-over-period, marketers have a starting point to find valuable insight into their specific tactics. Total Engagement in a Time Period ÷ Total Followers = Engagement as % of Followers
• 5. 6 Hashtag Mentions A secondary type of engagement on Instagram is interaction with your brand hashtag. An “engagement” with a hashtag happens anytime an Instagram user mentions a hashtag in a comment or caption on any photo or video across the network. Hashtag Volume Hashtag volume is the total number of hashtag mentions during an established period of time. If you’re more interested in how viral a campaign hashtag is rather than how your Instagram account is being interacted with, you’ll want to pay attention to hashtag volume, the number of times a hashtag has been used in any given period. Potential Hashtag Reach Your potential reach shows you how many people have seen your hashtag on Instagram. For the most part, reach is considered a “potential” metric; just because a post appears on a feed doesn’t mean the target user has seen it. Potential Hashtag Impressions Your number of potential impressions is the amount of times that photos and videos using your hashtag are displayed in a user’s stream. Just like reach, this is a “potential” metric. Reach The number of unique people who have seen content associated with your page Impressions The number of times content associated with your page is displayed
• 6. 7 Follower Metrics Total Number of Followers The total number of followers is the number of unique Instagram users who’ve opted into your brand content. When a user follows another user on Instagram, the followed user’s content will appear in the following user’s stream. This is an important metric to track. It’s an indicator of how popular your Instagram account is and how well you’re doing at advertising your Instagram presence on your other channels. It also helps you benchmark how you’re doing in relation to competitors on the network (more on that later). Since users don’t see photos their friends like, are tagged in, or have commented on like they might on other social networks, gaining followers is even more vital to ensuring that people see your updates. Increasing your follower count helps to further increase your audience and your opportunities for post engagement. When your profile has a substantial number of followers and substantial engagement, your posts are more likely to appear on the Instagram “Explore” page. This page exclusively features posts that have a high number of Likes and comments, signifying that the content shown is popular and worth seeing. Since this is the only in-network discovery method for finding new users to follow, it’s a good place to have a presence. Percentage Change in Followers Another way to keep track of followers is by measuring percentage change over time, allowing you to set baseline goals for follower acquisition and attrition over a month, quarter, or year. To find out how much your audience has grown or shrunk, subtract last month’s follower count from this month’s follower count. Divide that number by last period’s follower count, and (voila!) you have your change percentage. Tracking your progress here will help you answer the following questions: • Which campaign types drive the most audience growth? • Which content types drive the most audience growth? • Who are our Instagram influencers? • Which kind of brand advocates and influencers should we seek out in the future? Who is relevant to our brand’s Instagram growth?
• 7. 8 Optimization Metrics Most Engaging Filter One of Instagram’s most attractive features is the ability to develop unique and interesting content with a quick touch. Instagram’s collection of filters allows users to change the look of their image in a variety of ways. A brand focused on repeat engagement should keep track of the most successful filters used on brand content. Top filters can be measured by analyzing the engagement per photo or video, and bucketing photos and videos by the filter used. Top Photo Tags Hashtags help with discovery and engagement on the network. By measuring the top photo tags used on your content, you get an understanding of the types of content your followers prefer. 5STRATEGICINSTAGRAMMEASUREMENTTACTICS With a solid foundation of Instagram measurement terms, you can start to establish a measurement and tactical strategy. These five measurement tactics will help you understand what you need to create a successful Instagram strategy. 1. Learn About Your Audience The most successful brands on Instagram know their audiences and post content that appeals to them. Sometimes you can’t tell who your audience is on a network right away, even if you have a pretty good idea of who’s attracted to you on other social networks or offline. It’s always best to start with your market instead of trying to push your pre-packaged messaging at people. So, how do you figure out who you’re marketing to on Instagram? You start with the data. This will help you identify tactics that resonate with your audience. This chart from the Simply Measured Instagram Account Report showcases the top photo filters by number of posts and engagement per post. This chart from the Simply Measured Instagram Account Report shows top tags by engagement per post.
• 8. BRAND HIGHLIGHT AMERICA, AM I RIGHT? One of Colt 45’s most engaging posts gives some clues about their Instagram audience and helps them plan future content accordingly.
• 9. 10 Find Your Most Active Commenters Use your most active commenters to get information about which types of people love your Instagram content. Do some research on these usernames. Use your biggest fans to build your Instagram targeting and testing personas. Your most active commenters might also be other brands or in some way connected to other brands. This could be a great opportunity to reach out and form a campaign partnership to build followers and engagement for both of you. Either way, you should be partnering with your already-existing support system to widen your exposure on Instagram. This “Most Active Commenters” chart from the Simply Measured Instagram Account Report shows which of your followers left the most comments during a specific time period.
• 10. 11 Conduct a Keyword Analysis What are the top words people use around your brand’s content on Instagram? This “Keyword Analysis (Comments)” chart from the Simply Measured Instagram Account Report shows which words were used most in the comments on your brand posts during a specific time period. Keyword analysis is not only a fantastic way to gauge which content components are most meaningful to your audience, it’s also a great way to contemplate future hashtag campaigns. Check our example “Keyword Analysis” chart above. #perfectcutejacketdog, anyone? For example, #PerfectBarbourJacket is going to have a lot more resonance and brand association with Barbour jackets than #PerfectJacket, which could refer to any jacket on the market. However, common hashtags can allow you to newsjack or capitalize on seasonal events like #backtoschool or other popular topics. PRO TIP: When it comes to hashtags, the more unique, the better. Greater creativity equals more accurate hashtag tracking and specific brand recognition.
• 11. BRAND HIGHLIGHT Brooks Brothers is best-in-class at capitalizing on trends. This #FathersDay post succeeds by putting all that is manly in one car, and reminding Brooks Brothers followers (as well as users perusing #Fathersday posts) of all the gifts the brand offers for all the different activities dads engage in.
• 12. 13 Identify Your Top Cities You can know exactly where your audience lives more easily today than ever before. With in-depth information about your top cities for Instagram engagement, you can build Instagram campaigns that focus on those cities, and begin doing further research to figure out why your brand gets so much Instagram love there and not in other places. 2. Pay Attention to Timing Measuring engagement by a specific day or time helps magnify your engagement, and shows you how posting times influence your content’s reception. How often you post is largely dependent on your audience. Many audiences appreciate more frequent posts, but too many posts tends to turn users off. When you post is also dependent on your audience. Different audiences access their Instagram accounts at different times of the day. PRO TIP: If you’re just beginning your brand’s Instagram journey, or simply want a fresh perspective, look at the “Top Cities” metric for a similar brand or competitor. You’ll wind up with a much greater understanding of your target audience and what they respond to on Instagram. This “Top Cities” chart from the Simply Measured Instagram Account Report shows where most of your engaged followers were located during a specific time period.
• 13. 14 Start gathering data on engagement trends. One option is to run an A/B content test, posting very similar content in set time increments, or at the same time each day. Then examine the number of comments and Likes for each of those posts, and begin charting your data to find the “sweet spot” for your post cadence. For example, based on your post cadence and frequency, you may find that posts at 9 a.m. PST perform well. Developing an understanding based on this information and your audience location data can help you target content to your audience when they’re most likely to be active. For example, with this information about 9 a.m. PST, you may realize that your West Coast audience has just arrived at work and is catching up on the day’s news, and your East Coast audience is now on their lunch break, giving them time to surf the Web. You can perhaps cater your content to each of these audiences. This “Comments and Posts by Day and Time” chart from the Simply Measured Instagram Hashtag Report shows which days of the week and times of day people used your hashtag most during a specific time period.
• 14. 15 3. Check Your Competition Competitive measurement is vital not only for knowing what your competition is doing but also for benchmarking your own progress against industry innovators on Instagram. Here are the top three metrics you should be paying attention to. Engagement Comparison You know what your engagement statistics look like, but what about those of your competitors? You might find that a brand you consider your biggest competitor in terms of revenue or popularity on another social network is actually not your biggest competitor on Instagram. After you have a good idea of where you stand in comparison to the other brands in your space, take a look at the posts among all those brands that drove the greatest amount of engagement. This “Instagram Comparison: Total Engagement” chart from the Simply Measured Instagram Competitive Analysis shows total engagement and engagement as a percentage of followers for Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez, Austin Mahone, and Harry Styles.
• 15. BRAND HIGHLIGHT Filson outdoor clothing and equipment company had 352 comments on 178 posts in a five month period. That was a rate of almost two comments per post - a significant achievement. How did they do it? They used a strategy of attempting to answer any and all product questions in a conversational and timely manner to drive engagement, recognize involved audience members, and even enable sales.
• 16. 17 This sortable list from the Simply Measured Instagram Competitive Analysis shows total engagement, from largest to smallest, for musicians Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez, Austin Mahone, and Harry Styles during a specific time period. This information about you and your competitors’ success will show you what kind of content, specifically, gets Instagram users to comment and Like a post. PRO TIP: Use the top posts for total engagement among you and your competitors to draft a list of the different types of posts that are proving successful in your field. In your next content planning or brainstorming meeting, use this list as a jumping-off point.
• 17. 18 Relative Share of Followers Once you’ve determined who your true competitors on Instagram are, it’s time to pay attention to the size of the competitive pie you own. This “Relative Share of Followers” chart from the Simply Measured Instagram Competitive Analysis shows how musicians Rhianna, Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez, Austin Mahone, and Harry Styles stack up when it comes to follower count. Add up all of the follower counts among you and your competitors, then figure out who has what percentage of that total. It’s useful to check this “relative share” metric on a weekly basis, especially since a lot of progress on this front can happen very quickly.