What to Keep in Mind for a Successful Instagram Marketing Strategy

You know you need to be on Instagram, and you want to use it successfully for your practice. But how should you do it? If this is your dilemma at present, you’re not alone. Many businesses are present on social media simply because they feel pressured to be present on every social platform. They create a profile without thinking through their marketing strategy.

Know Your Audience

Instagram is a powerful visual social platform and with a well thought-out strategy, it can help you grow your online presence. Here are some of the marketing touch points that you need to keep in mind while creating your brand’s Instagram promotion strategy:This is the most crucial aspect of any marketing strategy. Who do you want to showcase your services and products to? Determine who your audience could be, their age, gender, location, profession, etc. This research will form the backbone of your Instagram marketing efforts.

Know Your Competitors

Try to assess the demographic profile of the people at your practice or your competitor’s. What are the kinds of posts your patients like and share on Instagram? What do they comment on? You can also start by monitoring popular events and interest hashtags relevant to your practice. Check out people using and engaging with these hashtags. This will give you an insight into their needs, and over time you will gain deeper marketing insights towards your audience.Now that you know who your target customers are on Instagram, next important thing you would want to consider is who your competitors are and how you can outperform them. Remember, a thorough competitor analysis is paramount if you want to dominate your local market.

If you already know your top competitors, start by searching for their Instagram profiles. Or simply, search for terms related to your business or niche to find similar accounts. Conduct a quick audit of related accounts to seek the following answers:

• What kinds of posts are getting maximum engagement?
• What popular hashtags are they using?
• Captions used?
• Frequency of posting?

Plan Your Instagram Content

Do a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis of your key competitors to identify any opportunities they might have missed, which you can then capitalize on. These insights are essential for your brand’s success.Once you have determined what you want to post and how frequently you want to post on Instagram, the next thing is to plan a schedule for the content to go out. Brands on an average post 1.5 times a day, a schedule you should mimic then make you own. This can be time consuming and it can be difficult to keep a track of all content you want to post.

Consistency Is Key

The best way to do this would be to create a social calendar so you know what to post and when on your Instagram account. There are a number of automated tools available which help you schedule your posts. This saves both time and effort for you to manage your presence effectively.Lastly, you should be consistent in your postings on Instagram. Whatever you post, the broad message and vision should remain the same. Random or disjointed content will only confuse your audience and will be detrimental to your practice.

Introduce variety into your Instagram content, but keep it relevant to your professional practice. The idea is that the audience should be able to visualize your brand through your posts and feel connected with it. This will invite them to not only try out your services, but keep coming back because they feel a connection to your practice.

Related Articles:

• Social Media Do’s and Don’ts for Physicians
• Top Social Media Marketing Trends For Your Digitial Marketing Strategy

About the Author:

Naren Arulrajah is President and CEO of Ekwa Marketing, a complete internet marketing company that focuses on SEO, social media, marketing education, and the online reputations of physicians. With a team of 180+ full time marketers, www.ekwa.com helps physicians who know where they want to go, get there by dominating their market and growing their business significantly year after year. If you have questions about marketing your practice online, call 855-598-3320 to speak one-on-one with Naren.