I love Instagram! Many successful business using Instagram as part of their marketing activities. Used correctly, Instagram can be a highly-targeted, visual advertising channel for your brand. It was started really for creative people who wanted to show their art and passions, so I think a brand should use Instagram as their social media marketing practice. 

Business success or marketing success, depends on how you use Instagram to deliver your marketing messages to the audience. Instagram is becoming one of the big players in the world of social media marketing. A recent study it was discovered that Instagram provides brands with 25% more engagement over other social platforms. This mean that Instagram is a prime channel to build your brand for your eCommerce business.
As the CEO of your blog and personal brand, Instagram can be a powerful way to connect with your audience. How can you, as a business, effectively tap into Instagram's visual community?

For businesses, marketing is about tapping into existing audiences to earn new followers. It’s about getting people to notice your brand and working them through the sales cycle. Instagram is fairly simple to understand and get into, but like all social media sites, there are special nuances there that can help you grow a following unlike any other audience you may have.

Instagram marketing 101: 14 Ways To Promote Your Business on Instagram 

1. Build Content

When you use Instagram as social media marketing, the content that you put together and share is the key ingredient. Instagram is a predominately visual form of social media, and an ideal platform for showing off products through video or images. When building your content you need to determine which method will work best for the service or products that you are marketing. Video is often the best way to advertise practical products, 
such as tools, as you can demonstrate the use of the product. For more object-based products, like clothes or designs, images are more suitable.
Read: How to build a Branded Instagram Feed

2. Tell You Story

Make sure to tell a story and show some personality as Instagram is, in essence, a place to share images. Use it to paint a fuller picture of your business for you audience. Capture moments and places that define you. Include captions that show your expertise, humor, or at least add some context to your photo. 

3. Engage with Instagram audience

Engage by asking questions in your photo captions and respond to comments by others. Comment and like the photos of others. Find people you consider your potential customers and start to engage with them. You get what you give, so like the photos of your target customers. People like when others notice and love their content. Don’t take shortcuts with this. If you’re not ready to be authentic you’ll come across as a spammer or troll and it will backfire for you quickly. Do not forget that engagement is the main theme in social media marketing that applies to multiple channels and platforms.

4. Create a brand specific strategy

Keep your Instagram content strategy focused on your brand’s unique way of seeing the world. Instagram is a photo (and now video) sharing site. Connect your business with your ‘tribe’ on Instagram in a consistent and particular visual way.

5. Use a Link in your Bio

Within Instagram you are able to crate a bio which you should link to a landing page. Your bio may contain up to 150 characters where you can outline your brand and what it’s about. The link to your landing page allows you to direct the audience you build on Instagram, to a page where they can be converted to customers. 
Read: How to get more Instagram followers and Like

6. Launch a product live on Instagram 

If you’re launching a new product, taking your music group on tour, or opening a new store, etc - do it live on Instagram. For example, the day you launch your product, make a few 15 second videos of you and staff behind the scenes preparing for the launch, and the actual launch with excited customers. Post this to Instagram.

A photo posted by Nashas (@nashainc) on Dec 6, 2016 at 11:56am PST

7. Conduct research

Track your photo engagement and your hashtags. It’s important to measure and track your brand’s Instagram success. Tracking your account’s metrics and the engagement of your community can help you learn more about your audience, grow your existing followers, understand what your audience values, and convert your followers into loyal customers.

8. Use Sponsored Ads and Sponsored Posts

The use of Instagram’s sponsored posts and ads have finally become global and are proving very popular. Instagram advertising is still in the early stages of availability. Ads are available in 30 second video format, as images, and in carousel format. These adverts are an ideal way to direct consumers to your website or to tell the story of your brand.
Read: Five ways to make money with your Instagram account 

9. Use hashtags (#’s) in your updates 

Hashtags are a major part of Instagram. Using hashtags in your posts can be an incredibly effective way to expose your content and account to a much wider audience than those who already follow you. The more popular the tag the more views and engagement you’re likely to receive.     
Include a few tags (but not too many - or you’ll look desperate) in your posts to get connected.
Read: 200+ Most Popular Hashtags on Instagram

10. Use The Right Hashtags

Your goal on Instagram is to engage your current audience while also growing your following. Posting new, interesting and engaging photos will satisfy the first requirement but to begin growing you'll find hashtagging your photos to be extremely important. Hashtagging your photos makes it easy for people to find your photos that are searching for those specific terms.
So which hashtags should you use? 
Just like with Twitter and other social sites, users on Instagram use certain hashtags over others. If you use the right hashtags within your photos, you're much more likely to reach new users and be discovered.

11. Here are the top 20 hashtags on Instagram:

1. #love 546,312,756 posts 
2. #instagood 252,226,047 posts 
3. #me 238,166,943 posts 
4. #follow 208,003,100 posts 
5. #tbt 205,718,608 posts 
6. #cute 203,174,797 posts 
7. #like 193,577,034 posts 
8. #photooftheday 189,818,506 posts 
9. #followme 183,736,791 posts 
10. #tagsforlikes 171,593,674 posts 
11. #happy 165,534,554 posts 
12. #beautiful 163,122,231 posts 
13. #girl 162,838,871 posts 
14. #picoftheday 140,266,148 posts 
15. #instadaily 126,075,675 posts 
16. #fun 124,017,892 posts 
17. #smile 120,121,394 posts 
18. #igers 118,454,910 posts 
19. #selfie 117,998,320 posts 
20. #friends 117,809,423 posts
    

Most popular hashtags on Instagram! Using existing hashtags allows you to tap into existing audiences where people are actively looking for photos on specific subjects.Check out this list to find more popular hashtag on instagram.

12. Use “fill in the blank” posts

Make updates with a sentence followers can complete. For example, if you sell groceries, create a post with an image of breakfast cereals. Include a “fill in the blank” post such as “I love starting my day with a bowl of ______”.   

13. Post about celebrity sightings

When you’re attending an event for your product, you’ll probably run into a few celebrities. Snap a photo and upload it onto Instagram to grab the attention of fans. And don’t forget to hashtag or tag the celebrity in the photo!

14. A few key points for Instagram marketing:

• Use your business name as your username. If it is taken, choose a username that is instantly recognized with your brand.
• Include a cool, branded photo, a short informative bio, and a link to your website.
• Link with your other social media profile like, facebook, twitter.
• Use trending hashtags, but related to your product.
• Mention your customer in your post.
• Like other's photos on instagram.
• Comment on other's cool instagram posts.
• Embed photos on your blog posts. 
• Add a follow on Instagram button on your website or blog.
• If anyone mention you, respond it as soon as possible.
• Be creative when capturing photos for instagram
• Be creative when writing caption on instagram
• A new trick for using a product can open your audience’s eyes to a number of possibilities. Think alternative options to use products and show it.
• Make your Instagram followers feel special by holding a contest exclusively for them.
• Every once in a while, it can also help to create a typography quote specifically for your brand. Inspirational or uplifting posts always get its fair share of interaction. Inspire your audience. 

Your Instagram marketing strategy is important for garnering rapport and support from your online audience and transforming them into high-quality leads that you can nurture later with marketing automation. Keep these Instagram tips in mind the next time you’re looking for something to post!