If you’re here, chances are you know how important Instagram is. At the very least, you believe it can help your business grow. If that’s the case, you’re correct. There are so many different things to think about when it comes to Instagram, it can seem like navigating through a jungle.
To simplify the process, it helps to connect the strategies with a common thing to better understand their efficacy and help remember each one. Since trees are everywhere we’ll use them to help explain each component of Instagram marketing. Don’t fret, we won’t mention any spoilers.
Roots – Define Clear Goals
Strong roots are the base of any healthy tree and protect the tree from falling over while also sucking up water and giving vital nutrients to the plants. This relates to your Instagram strategy by reminding you to be consistent and writing out your brand’s goals. Is your account meant to be entertaining or informative? Is it to showcase gorgeous pictures?
Whatever your goal for Instagram is, make sure you write it down and keep it in mind. One of the best ways to irritate your followers is to post random things that surprise them.
Your Instagram strategy should be hyper-consistent and purposeful. Once you have a well-thought-out strategy, stick to it. Every image and caption you post should try to accomplish that goal.
Tree Trunk – High Quality Content
The trunk of a tree is what holds everything else up. Without a trunk, the tree couldn’t be a tree. It would just be a bush. The same is true for your Instagram account, what is THE most important thing in an Instagram post?
The Picture!
Facebook and Twitter let you post without having an image, Instagram does not. So in order to really get the most out of your Instagram posts, you will need a high-quality camera, newer smartphones can work, and at least a basic understanding of photography.
Branches – Keep Organized
The logical next step in a tree is the branches. They grow out of the tree and help keep everything organized. Can you imagine a tree with no branches? Leaves would only have the surface area of the truck from which to grow.
Using different software to aid you in your Instagram strategies can make you more efficient and your posts more effective.
Photo Editing
Post Creation
Scheduling
Analytics
Leaves – Create Engagement
Leaves are what give the tree energy. Through photosynthesis, leaves turn solar light into energy for the tree to use to survive and grow.
In order to engage people on Instagram, it is crucial to appeal to their emotions. Whether it is a cute video about puppies or a meme to make your audience laugh, an emotional appeal goes a long way.
Instagram is your stage and your followers want you to perform for them. In keeping with the first point, this doesn’t mean that if you are an NFL team you should post a video about puppy licking a baby. Yes, it’s cute and your followers will go awwww, but then they’ll be more confused as to why you posted it. Unless, of course, it’s relevant to your brand in some way.
If you own a business that is inherently emotional, such as a restaurant for example, your posts could highlight all the great memories people would make at your restaurant if they would only eat there.
Tree Bark – Create Connections
Bark protects the tree and is the first line of defense in protecting the softer innards from weather, diseases, bugs, and birds. In the world of social media, the best line of defense is an active one. Whether it is actively responding to peoples pics that they tag or mention you in or responding to people’s comments on your posts.
Remember, people use social media to connect with other people. Even if it’s the people who run a business.
Take a second and think about your favorite brand. It could be whatever brand you follow the most: shoes, clothing, Russian nesting dolls, whatever. Now, how cool would it be for you if the next time you commented on one of their Instagram posts, they went onto your page and found one of your pics where you are using their product and commented, “Sweet pic! Thanks for showing us off to everyone!” Would you freak out? Most likely, yes. Believe it or not, there are people out there that love your brand just as much as you love your favorite brand!
Make sure you respond to everyone and make it thoughtful. Your devout customers can be your best brand ambassadors!
Seeds – Create an Ads Campaign
The best way for a tree to make new trees is to spread seeds around. Trees do that in various ways. One is to drop them on the ground, like acorns and hope squirrels bury them and then forget about them. Other trees produce fruit that hopefully gets eaten by birds and then the seeds are spread by the animals away from the original tree.
The comparison here to your Instagram strategy is ads. If you have money in your budget, you can use ads to put your message out there. The only limit to the people you reach is the depth of your pockets. Don’t think that you need a huge budget to reach a lot of people, though. For $5 a day you can put your post in front of more than a thousand people. This is a powerful piece of your Instagram strategy that should be utilized. If you’ve never used Instagram ads, they’re very simple to set up. If you have used Facebook ads before and your Facebook and Instagram accounts are connected, good news—IG ads are already set up! Get started with Instagram Ads.
