Pam McBrideWith over 300 million monthly active users sharing 70 million photos per day, Instagram has become the visual social network of choice for consumers around the world. However, many marketers still struggle with connecting to this socially-savvy audience.
If you can crack the Instagram nut, you stand to see amazing engagement rates – recently measured as high as 3.31 percent.
However, it can be difficult to grasp exactly what types of images will resonate with your audience. Many brands are too self-promotional while others swing in the opposite direction and lose their brand messaging altogether.
Here are some tips for creating truly engaging images on Instagram:
Speak to your audience’s values
Knowing your audience is essential on Instagram.
For instance, if you are connected to young, professional women living in large cities, you may want to include images of urban settings, or images that capture their professional goals and aspirations. Or, if you are connected to young male teens who love music and sports, you might want to develop a relationship with a music artist or sports star and leverage their influence in your photos.
Understanding your audience will help shape your messaging on Instagram, as you will be able to take photos that capture their interests, values and demographics.
Put your products in context
Whether you’re selling software or soft t-shirts, you can improve how your product resonates by snapping photos in context.
Consider taking a shot of someone using your product, wearing your product, or sharing your product with a friend. Put it in an environment that your audience will recognize.
Give your audience ideas of how they can incorporate your product into their lives, and you’ll see improved engagement and conversions.
Learn to love micro-moments
Micro-moments – recently defined by Google as when consumers “turn to [their] phones with intent and expect brands to deliver immediate answers” – are increasingly relevant for Instagram marketers.
Consumers are using their mobile devices for more intent-driven searches, turning to brands across a variety of channels for immediate answers to immediate problems. And consumers on Instagram are no different.
Personalization is a great tool for capturing micro-moments. Images that speak directly to a segment of your audience will be more likely to meet their needs in the immediate moment.
For example, if you know you are connected to women in their early 20s who love yoga and health foods, you might post green smoothie recipes or step-by-step yoga poses – ideas that will resonate with your audience’s “I-want-to-know” moments. Or, if you are connected to an audience who prides themselves on being local foodies, you could post images and mini-reviews of local restaurants, which would satisfy their “I-want-to-go” moments.
Capturing the right moment on Instagram – and seeing huge engagement rates – is all about knowing your audience and showcasing your product or brand in such a way that resonates with who they are. If you don’t know your audience, your photos will fall flat.
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