• Are you wondering whether you are doing the right thing as far as Instagram Marketing goes? Not able to get enough followers? Check out these powerful tips.
• For marketing, the accounts must be Business ones as this offers more features like ad targeting, analytics, a contact button, etc.
• Hashtags, Engagement, Content, Image, Captions, Likes, Shares and Bookmarks are all important to promoting an account. However, these are not enough. Instagram does micro testing in which a post is first shown to 10% of people following the account. If this generates positive feedback in terms of liking, sharing, commenting etc., then it is shown to everyone. Instagram posts fall into two categories – High quality and low quality. A post with only 10% viewer engagement is categorized as low quality.
• Interlinking posts as much as possible will help to generate greater interest. There is a limit of 30 hashtags per post, so it is important that there should be at least 15 hashtags for each.
• Instagram divides hashtags into two categories, King hashtags and Soldier hashtags. King hashtags are those which are most commonly used in the niche a post is a part of. Soldier hashtags are those which are less commonly used. This is important because if there are under 10,000 followers, the account will be inundated with other hashtags and the focus will be lost. Such accounts should use only Soldier hashtags.
• There is a process for selecting Soldier hashtags. Go to the search bar on Instagram and type in a hashtag as shown in this illustration. There are over 362,000 posts for the hashtag “Online Learning.” This is a King hashtag that should be avoided. Using one that has between 1,000 to 150000 posts is much better. If no hashtag suitable can be found, go to https://www.all-hashtag.com/hashtag-generator.php and search for suitable alternatives. For example, Distance Learning 2020 will show just over 1,700 posts which greatly increases the chances of it being found.

• A Verified Account on Instagram adds value. It is highly coveted and Instagram has its rules whether your account is accepted as a Verified account or not. Verified Instagram accounts have many advantages and one of them is to add a post with a link to a website which unverified accounts cannot do. You can add a link to a post even if it's unverified but you must have over 10k followers! For information on how to verify your account, click here
• Using the stories section to generate interest is a good idea and people are always looking for them. Making them interactive by asking questions or creating polls will increase the buzz. If the budget permits, consider posting stories instead of regular posts.
• Links can be added to stories if the account is verified or if there are over 10,000 followers.
• The more descriptive and catchier the captions are, the more attention it will attract.
• Find the influencers in a niche and follow them. Turn on Post Notifications and whenever something new is posted, interact with the poster. In time, your influence will grow and the brand you are marketing will gain prominence.
• Do not ignore the Bio section. The links here can be to specific business areas to tighten the marketing focus. These links can be changed as often as needed.
• The best time to post on Instagram is on Wednesdays at 11 AM. If that is not possible, then the next best option is between 10 AM to 3 PM from Monday to Friday.
• Instagram is a very powerful marketing channel with a great number of tools that can be effectively used. Starting with what is given here will open the doors to the full potential of Instagram marketing.

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