4 Marketing Mistakes You’re Probably Making with Instagram

Today we will look at four common marketing mistakes made by Instagram users.

Why You Should Optimize Your Instagram

Instagram is a central social media platform that will not fade into the background of our modern time. As of 2021, Instagram has over 2 billion monthly active users and was also the most downloaded app in 2021. The site encroaches even upon Tiktok’s popularity mark. This makes using Instagram to your best advantage, a great tool for outreach and marketing opportunities. By optimizing your Instagram, you are preparing your account for maximum success. Make optimizing your account a priority. By personalizing your bio, and image captions, and making your username catchy and unique, with a profile image that stands out, users will recognize your account and associate it with your brand. Optimizing your account also helps to form the base of your brand identity, as it will be the face of all your communications and success.

Not Posting Reels

Reels are a popular type of content found on the site. Reels are fun and interactive and are often featured at the top of the algorithm due to their popularity. Not posting reels is a huge mistake when using Instagram, as reels are a great way to hop on trends and stay relevant to followers. If you are not posting reels, you are missing out on a content type that is desirable to users. Not to mention that they can be addicting to watch. Reels are a great way to show your personal image and personality to users, whether it be through the use of humor, entertainment, dance, or information. When creating reels, use other similar brands as inspiration, whether it’s to showcase a product, or communicate who your brand is, reels are a new feature that help your account stay at the top of user’s interactions with your account.

Posting Without a Strategy

Posting without a strategy is an additional marketing mistake that can be made by users. Posting without a strategy can make creating content overwhelming and disorganized. A strategy allows you to create consistent content that is relevant to your niche or account mission. Users may understand that being active is important, but let’s think about why this is the case. In order to drive traffic, or stand out from other similar brands, a strategy is necessary in order to achieve your goals. With a goal in mind, your strategy should reflect what you are trying to achieve, whether that may be gaining more followers or creating engaging content.

Here are some ways to implement and stick to a strategy to avoid this marketing mistake:

• Use a calendar to organize your posting times and stay on top of the algorithm.
• Use reminders to stay ahead of your posting dates and create content prior to the time it needs to be posted.
• Use a visual board to organize your content prior to posting. This will keep your account grid aesthetically pleasing when viewed by users.
• Have a posting schedule. Make sure you are posting during times when your followers are active and most likely to see your content on their feed.

Posts Without Your Audience in Mind

Posting content without your audience in mind is another subsequent marketing mistake that needs to be reconsidered. Your audience is your target, as engagement is the ultimate goal. You want to keep your followers entertained and aligned with what message or impact you want to have. Not catering your posts to your niche will ultimately misalign your account with followers’ expectations and desires. When creating content, ask yourself, Would my followers like this? Does this align with my account type? Relevance to your audience will help you gain popularity and interaction as it helps your followers be excited about what’s next with your brands or company.

Non-relevant Posts

Nonrelevant posts are likely to receive the least amount of likes from your followers. For example, if your account is a clothing business, posting about your personal life will disrupt your marketing impact. It will also confuse your followers on why this is relevant to the rest of your brand. To stay relevant, use trends or other inspirations from similar accounts to stay competitive with other content that is being created on the site. Though personalization is important, try to stray away from irrelevant posts in order to keep your followers engaged.

Hashtag Usage

Using too many hashtags can hurt your post, as hashtags that are trending at the time can be lost by the large volume of users using the same hashtag. Too many hashtags can make your account look like spam, or take away from your caption and content. Instead, use the comment section to put hashtags that target your niche and have lower amounts of volume. The most common number of hashtags used by brand accounts is about one to three per post. Though this is a guiding principle, don’t let it take away from using great hashtags that drive traffic, as using up to 11 hashtags is acceptable. Feel free to experiment with what works best for your account and has the most impact. Try to use new hashtags with each post, as this will prevent your posts from being sorted into the same locations and search results.

Posting the Same Content on Other Platforms

Posting the same content on other platforms can be repetitive and boring. The most important part of creating content is staying up to date and remaining relevant to your followers. Followers can follow several of your accounts because they ultimately like to see your content. Repetitive posting across multiple accounts may result in followers unfollowing your accounts because they are seeing the same content multiple times on their feed. If you feel overwhelmed by creating new content on other platforms, utilize a strategic plan to have different goals for each account.