What NOT to Do When Marketing on Instagram

A quick look online will show you plenty of tips for marketing on Instagram, but not all these tips are created equal.

Even worse, if you just get advice from anywhere, you may accidentally do something that goes against Instagram’s rules or marketing best practices. As a result, you may jeopardize your social media marketing efforts.

If you are struggling to make sense of what you should do when creating marketing strategies for Instagram, keep the following things in mind.

Don’t Skip Making a Strategy

It’s easy to just make an Instagram account for your brand and not give it any additional thought. But this is unlikely to lead to the results you want.

Instead, you should take the time to come up with a marketing strategy. Think about your brand image and your marketing goals. Then, develop a plan of action that lets you achieve those goals.

Make sure to come up with actionable ideas to catch your audience’s attention and keep them engaged.

Don’t Forget About Your Audience

While a marketing strategy is important, you shouldn’t rush into it without researching your audience. Take the time to create as many client personas as needed or at least examine the demographics of your target audience.

You can also do some competitive analysis or ask your customers to fill out surveys to help you identify their interests and needs.

Don’t Neglect Captions

Because Instagram is such a visual platform, it can be easy to forget about the importance of captions. But remember that your captions are there to add context to your photos.

They will also help your content appear in search results, especially if you use keywords and hashtags wisely.

Your caption should be a way to enhance the picture and add value. It shouldn’t just repeat whatever the image already says, although including a transcription of the text will help people using screen-readers.

If your caption provides value, viewers will return to your content in the future.

Don’t Ignore Negative Feedback

As with any other aspect of running your business, pay attention to all the feedback you receive, including negative comments. Remember that negative comments can give you an opportunity for improvement.

Additionally, responding to them will show your audience that you value their input, helping to create a positive relationship.

Don’t Go Overboard with Promotion

It is natural to include promotional content on Instagram. After all, one of your major goals is to market your brand. But you don’t want to go overboard with promotional content.

You also want to use content that’s relevant to your audience or niche, such as industry news, or participate in trends. You will have to play around to find a balance that works for your brand.

If you aren’t sure how to balance promotional content and other content, start with a campaign that’s 20% promotional content. The rest of your content should engage your audience and add value to their lives.

Most of your content should be focused on making users want to continue following your Instagram account to see your posts.

Don’t Post Just to Post

Making 80% of your content non-promotional can seem like a lofty goal, but it is very doable. Don’t resort to just posting something just so you have something to post.

Instead, make all your posts intentional. If you aren’t sure what to post, look at competitors or check trending hashtags on Instagram.

Don’t Fail to Engage

Most of your Instagram content should add value to your audience’s lives. For this to work, you must also engage your audience. So, respond to comments and direct messages.

If someone makes a relevant post or uses a relevant hashtag, add a comment. Occasionally share great content others have created.

Set yourself the goal of spending as much time engaging with others on Instagram as you do on creating and publishing your content.

In addition to engaging with followers, look for opportunities to engage with other brands or even relevant influencers.

Don’t Overuse Hashtags

As you create content and comment on other people’s posts, don’t overuse hashtags. Hashtags help people find your posts, but you don’t want them to feel spammy.

Most branded accounts use about one to three hashtags on each post. Depending on your industry and audience, you may be able to use up to 11 or so without it seeming overwhelming.

When in doubt, check what successful competitors are doing or just do some trial and error.

Don’t Post Infrequently

To maintain a high level of engagement with your Instagram audience, you need to post regularly. You can choose your post schedule, but once you do, you need to stick to it. Maybe you want to post a few times a week or maybe several times a day.

The key is consistency.

Don’t Skip Making a Content Calendar

The key to posting regularly is to create a content calendar. This will let you plan your content out weeks or months ahead of time. You can also use the content calendar to assign tasks to your team, such as taking photos or planning captions.

As a bonus, making a content calendar lets you take advantage of special events and holidays and create themed content, which can help boost engagement.

Don’t Skip Analytics and Tracking

No matter the type of marketing you are doing, you need to look at the metrics and analytics of each campaign. Analytics will let you track the progress of your efforts. They will also help you confirm what is working well for your brand and what you should change.

Don’t Ignore New Features

Instagram regularly updates its algorithm and adds more features that marketers can take advantage of. If you aren’t paying attention to these updates, you will fall behind. So, find a way to keep up with Instagram updates and new feature releases.

Conclusion

Once you know what not to do on Instagram, you’ll find it easier to set up successful marketing campaigns. Keep the above best practices in mind and watch your followers and engagement soar.