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For businesses, social media marketing is the next best thing since sliced bread.
Publishing relevant content and sharing it on social media can help you get instant traffic and exposure — practically for free. Social media networks also have audience research and targeting tools baked in.
In this post, we’ll focus on one of the most lucrative social media networks for digital agencies: Instagram.
We have a lot to cover — from building a content strategy to publishing Stories that will supercharge your lead generation.
But first, here’s a quick rundown of the benefits of promoting your agency on Instagram.
Why promote on Instagram?
Unless you’re living under a rock, you should know that Instagram is one of the biggest social networks worldwide.
Next to Facebook and YouTube, Instagram is the third biggest social networking platform with roughly 1.4 billion users.
Instagram also lets brands — B2C or B2B — leverage the power of visual content to grow their reach and generate leads.
According to a survey, 87% said they saw and engaged product posts on Instagram. A whopping 90% of Instagram users also said they follow business pages on the platform.
So, if you want to build your authority and attract clients in the process, Instagram is the place to be.
Let’s start by building your agency’s official Instagram business page.
Build your official business page
To create a business page on Instagram, you need to switch to a professional account. You can do this by going to your settings page, tapping ‘Account,’ and then selecting ‘Switch to Professional Account.’
The next steps involve choosing your industry and professional account type. Since you’re an agency, select ‘Business’ when given the choice.
You can complete the process by entering your business information and connecting a Facebook account.
When done, you should now be able to access extra features like:
- Instagram Insights
- Ad tools
- Content analytics
- Learning resources from other Instagram brands
Spice up your business profile
Switching to a business account is only the first step.
To lure profitable leads on Instagram, you need to give your profile a makeover.
Start by uploading a professional profile photo that can catch the attention of prospects.
This could be your own photo or the logo of your agency. Choose one based on the type of presence you want to build on the platform.
For the sake of this guide, let’s look at UX Bucket’s Instagram page.
To finish your profile, be sure to write a captivating description that highlights your agency’s value propositions. Include a couple of keywords that will let potential clients know what you’re offering.
Of course, you shouldn’t forget to include links to relevant pages, including your website, contact page, or services page.
Looks neat, right?
You probably also noticed the images below UX Bucket’s Instagram profile description (Divi WordPress, Submit Work, etc.).
These are Instagram Story highlights.
Make the most out of Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories are photos or videos that will stay live for 24 hours (unless you turn them into highlights).
Stories are great for promoting special offers and events since they have an element of urgency. You can also take advantage of interactive stickers to do a lot of cool stuff, like:
- Run a poll
- Have a 24-hour Q&A session
- Encourage your audience to ask questions
- Create shoppable links
- Invite your audience to submit user-generated content
As you’ve seen in the screenshots above, Stories can also be used to highlight evergreen posts on your profile.
Agencies on Instagram have been creative with highlights by grouping posts into categories.
For example, Peng Joon uses IG story highlights to make important lead generation content easy to find.
To create story highlights, you need to upload Instagram stories first. Once uploaded, launch the Instagram app and tap ‘Story highlight’ from the create menu.
From there, tap ‘Edit cover’ to replace it with something more branded.
You can even use reliable user story software to develop an informal and general explanation of, let’s say, your app’s specific feature, from the end user’s perspective. Then, you can translate that into an engaging and valuable IG Story.
Be Active in Instagram: 4 Content Hacks to Pull In Quality Leads
At this point, you should now have a professional-looking Instagram profile worthy of your prospects’ attention.
The only thing missing now would be visual content — loads and loads of top-quality, engaging visual content.
Here are four hacks that can help turn your Instagram profile into a well-oiled lead generation machine:
Automate your posting schedule
It’s perfectly reasonable to bulk upload Instagram posts if you’re building a new profile.
However, you need to think about your Instagram posting schedule if you want to maximize results.
There are a handful of Instagram tools that can help you build a consistent and effective posting schedule. Vista Social, for example, lets you create a custom posting schedule based on your target audience’s behavior. It’s one of the better alternatives to using popular task management software with social media management features.
Here are some of the best known posting times that can maximize your content’s visibility on Instagram:
- Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays
- 11AM-1PM, 7PM-9PM
- Once or twice daily
There are a couple of reasons why Vista Social is recommended for agencies that are new to Instagram marketing.
First, you can use it on up to three profiles for free.
Second, it comes with a host of other features that can help build and grow your social media presence.
A great example would be the smart publisher. It works by automatically pulling content from relevant sources and sharing it on social media.
Promote your best blog posts
With your posting schedule set, it’s time to focus on your actual Instagram content.
Agencies on Instagram tend to have different content strategies based on their marketing goals.
For example, Dain Walker’s strategy is to promote bite-sized branding tips using impactful image quotes.
This is great if you want your Instagram content to be consumed within the app.
But if your goal is to generate leads for your agency, your goal revolves around three things:
- Building your authority
- Reaching your target audience
- Taking them to key conversion pages
To accomplish the first objective, create or purchase top-quality content online and promote blog title images on Instagram. This strategy can bring leads to your blog where they can get to know your agency and realize your expertise. When it comes to reaching your target audience, you could considering researching the best site to buy Instagram likes so that your content has the best chance of being seen by as many people who might be interested in your agency as possible. Eventually, your following will come organically, but it doesn’t hurt to have a little help initially, especially as building up your following can take a long time.
Write meaningful post descriptions
Aside from promoting blog posts, there are other ways to build your authority within Instagram.
You can publish image quotes, tutorial videos, customer reviews, testimonials — anything that will prove that you know your stuff.
Whatever you do, be sure to write informative post descriptions that will hook your target audience. More importantly, it must contain a clear CTA that shows what to do next.
Another approach is to create data visualizations that highlight relevant trends and statistics.
Leads love to work with agencies that are in tune with the state of the industry.
Here are some of the best content software that will allow you to create Instagram-worthy blog title images:
- Canva
- Pixlr
- Piktochart
Use searchable hashtags
Finally, don’t forget to sprinkle your posts with a nice helping of hashtags to boost their searchability.
Hashtags are like keywords that enable posts to appear in Instagram search results.
The trick is to find hashtags that your target audience tends to use and inject them into your descriptions. Alternatively, you can add them as a first comment if you like to keep descriptions clean and aesthetic.
To search for hashtags, here are some of the best tools recommended for agencies:
- KeywordTool.io
- Hashtracking
- All-Hashtag
Start dominating on Instagram
With the tips above, you’re well on your way to becoming a major player in the Instagram marketing game.
Just don’t expect to rake in tons of leads overnight.
Different agencies require different solutions when it comes to Instagram lead generation. Regardless of your strategy, remember to track your results.
Take one step at a time and monitor competitors while you’re at it. It’ll only be a matter of time before your Instagram-powered lead generation machine starts pumping.
