Self-promotion tools on Instagram. Promotion on Instagram: the most detailed instructions Promotion on Instagram: free or effective

The number of Instagram users today is 130 million active users, with billions of new likes appearing every hour. When used correctly, this service can provide instant viral marketing success. But if on the contrary, then failure is inevitable. For those who have just started promoting a brand on Instagram, business2community.com has compiled 52 helpful tips on how to successfully run an ad campaign using this social platform.

account settings

1. Create an Instagram business account - it's very easy.

2. Use the name of the company or brand as the name. If it is taken, then select the name that is most associated with the brand.

3. Fill in your profile information: upload a nice branding photo, add a short information about yourself, link to the company's website.

4. Integrate your account with Facebook.

5. Set up automatic integration of photos from Instagram to Facebook, this will increase the number of shares. Companies like Mercedes Benz get a lot of likes through cross-posting:

6. Come up with a unique brand strategy, rely on it in all aspects of promotion, show people your company's view of the world, focus all content around a bright, unique idea.

Advertise your account

7. Use the tools to promote your Instagram account. For example, in Russia, large brands use plibber.ru - it is enough to come up with creative content and an image, and then select the accounts in which you are going to advertise. The average cost of one organic subscriber is from 1 to 3 rubles.

Hashtags

8. Hashtags in updates are one of the key components of the service. It is with the help of hashtags that the user can find photos of the desired brand. Unlike Twitter, there is no limit to the number of characters, but don't overdo it, it looks intrusive.

9. Include the brand name in the hashtag. Create unique hashtags for individual advertising campaigns. For example, if you decide to run a photography contest, come up with a special hashtag for that. This tactic will not only become a good advertisement for the brand, but also allow users to establish a connection with each other, thus the participants of the competition will see who they are competing with. Here's how Dry Soda used #fridayDRYday to engage users and share photos:

10. Use generic hashtags in every post. For example, if you are a coffee shop owner and have posted a photo of a latte, add the hashtags #latte or #coffee.

11. Use popular hashtags. Instagram trends change very quickly, so if you managed to join the fashion movement in time, add a suitable hashtag. Thus, your post will be among the most famous, and the number of views will be measured in thousands.

12. Be sure to keep track of new and relevant hashtags on Instagram. Add them to your posts. Take some time to reach out to users who add these hashtags, comment and like their posts. Your activity will not go unnoticed.

13. Monitor the Web and look for users adding your brand name as a hashtag. This is how subscribers use feedback to tell you about something important. Track all mentions just like on Facebook and Twitter. Respond quickly to ensure a good and lasting customer relationship.

the main thing – thisclients

14. Prove to your subscribers how much you value them: post and share their best photos on social networks. But remember, be sure to ask permission before posting. Starbucks, one of the top three most successful brands on Instagram, uses this tactic a lot. Once every few weeks, they dedicate a post to one of their followers, posting his artwork depicting one of the Starbucks products.

15. With the new Instagram feature that allows you to embed Instagram photos on other sites, you are given the opportunity to host full fan posts. Make sure the user is aware that their post will appear on your site.

16. Like your followers' photos, especially if they have your brand on them.

17. Comment on photos of subscribers.

18. Respond to all comments that are left on your photos / videos, even if they are negative.

19. Use @ mentions. Users love to be approached in person. For example, Coca-Cola singled out a subscriber who won a photography contest:

20. Use @mentions and tag celebrities. If your image is somehow connected with the figure of a famous person, then you should not be afraid to mark a star. Perhaps the photo will interest him / her so much that a repost will follow.

21. Focus on customer acquisition, create publications with customers constantly in mind. An Instagram business should be geared towards the lifestyles of your customers.

Show yourself

22. Don't forget to be creative: use different filters, interesting angles, lighting effects and other photography tricks. Add variety with programs like Photoshop, Diptic or Photoshake. Combine multiple images into one. Here's a great example of how you can combine three photos:

25. Show users how to use your company's products in real life. Here's an example when Whistler Water showed fans drinking their water at a concert:

26. Always maintain a perfect image: Subscribers love cool brands. For example, Pilot Pen USA, which sells pens, is an example of successful marketing. Their Instagram is filled with stylish photos of sticky notes and pens:

27. Colorfully illustrate a brand's story: Post beautiful photos and videos to show users the founding principles and values \u200b\u200bthat drive the life and work of the company.

28. Open up to the world: post pictures of your employees, tell who is behind the success of your brand. Shoot a video from behind the scenes, share how a standard working day is in your company. This will strengthen your brand image and subscriber perception. Williams Sonoma practices a similar technique:

29. Publish funny, entertaining videos about the CEO of the company to be closer to the people. For example, shoot short, funny videos where he talks about what he likes to do outside of work hours.

30. Post unique content to make users feel special. Share photos that cannot be found on other social networks.

31. If you are launching a product to the market, organizing the first concert of a band, or opening a new store - do it on Instagram. For example, on the day of the premiere, shoot a video of how the staff prepares for the official moment, and the buyers wait in anticipation.

32. Create a teaser that shows the preparation of the product for launch to the market or event for the opening. But do not reveal the secret of what exactly it is about.

33. Post to Instagram a report of the event that has already taken place. Feel free to show how your employees work in real life.

34. Build partnerships with other brands, no matter what business you represent: a small store or an international holding. You can achieve ideal cooperation - mutually advertise the products of companies in the feed. For example, Wimbledon and Nike:

Be creative

35. Ask users to write comments. If you want to maximize engagement, don't be silent. Questions give rise to discussion. Ask readers what they think of a recently published post or image.

36. Ask questions about the company or product, get users to talk about them. Ask them if they used the brand's product today, create a hashtag that subscribers can use to post photos on this topic. Target, for example, asks questions like “What taste of popsicles do you like?” And users, in turn, start discussing the brand on the web.

38. Create fill-in-the-blank interactive publications. For example, if your business is a grocery store, post a picture of a cereal breakfast cereal and sign “I love starting my day with plate _____.” People will discuss your product and give their opinion.

39. Another original way to grab the attention of users is to ask them to come up with a caption for the image. Show originality and post an unusual photo of one of your products. Announce a competition for the best signature and don't forget to come up with a small prize for the winner.

40. Use crowdsourcing: ask users to post photos of what role your brand plays in their lives. This will help you understand the target audience, and will also be useful for further research aimed at business development. But in order to attract the maximum number of users, you will have to launch a photo contest.

Competitions inInstagram

41. An Instagram photo contest is an opportunity to get a huge amount of user generated content and new ideas, or just get all the attention for your company. Set the theme of the competition you need and give the opportunity to clients to show their creativity. For example, what you can do if you sell mocha:

42. If you've launched a contest on Instagram, make sure the prize is good enough to motivate you to participate and spread the word online. Sometimes it is the prize that can cause the viral effect of a photo contest.

Don't forget mobile users

44. Use geotagging - linking photos to a map. Add your location to the post, thus target local users.

45. Stop separating online and offline reality. Post QR codes on Instagram so that users can scan them and receive discount coupons, for example.

46. \u200b\u200bIf you are organizing an event, create a suitable hashtag where people can post their photo reports and check out others.

47. Organize an online meeting for active users who are potential buyers.

Increase ROI

48. Regardless of the number of subscribers, post content constantly. Users will specifically browse through the brand's account knowing they will find interesting updates.

49. Decide on the frequency of publications. Some brands post 2-3 times a day, others 2-3 times a week. Use analytics to determine the frequency that's right for you.

50. Find out what is the best time to publish content. Each brand is different. Therefore, you should resort to the help of analytics to find out when photos get the most likes, or how many subscribers are actively using hashtags.

51. Analyze the results: track activity by all indicators (hashtags, likes, reposts, etc.)

52. Improve yourself. Based on the results obtained, draw conclusions and improve the content.

Today there are many services for the automated promotion of your Instagram account that, for a small fee, can help you attract followers and increase brand awareness.

53. The Zengram online service has combined in its functionality a wide range of advantages and opportunities associated with the promotion of Instagram accounts.

Its main advantages:

• simultaneous maintenance of an unlimited number of accounts from one personal account;
• full control over actions;
• advanced targeting settings;
• mutual likes of their subscribers;
• sending welcome messages to new users in direct;
• instspy;
• attentive and responsive tech. support;
• full analytics;
• work through a proxy;
• cleaning from bots and commercial accounts;
• parser and like comments.

The cost of the service depends on the number of days of subscription, the more days you buy, the more you save. The first 7 days are provided for each new user for free.

The Zengram blog regularly publishes useful informational articles about promotion. If you haven’t figured out how to set up an Instagram account for your business, check out the article “What to write about yourself on Instagram: setting up a business profile.” In it, you will find a guide to choosing a name to promote a small / large business or personal brand. tips for designing a profile header and maintaining an account.

54. Instapromo, an innovative SMM tool for promotion, occupies one of the leading positions in all areas of Insta promotion. The service offers a full range of services:

• promotion (massage, mass commenting, mass following)
• delayed posting

Free Instagram promotion on your own: techniques and recommendations of experienced analysts. Self-promotion and programs for boosting Instagram.

Instagram promotion: free or effective?

How does the self-promotion of Instagram begin? From the search and selection of suitable promotion tools that, in your opinion, are capable of bringing your blog to the top positions in the popularity rating. Whether this is done in order to achieve publicity or to implement a business project - at this stage it does not matter. Search engines still target sites with an offer to wind up subscribers and / or likes. These tools are important for self-promotion of Instagram, but they work in conjunction with other techniques. Which ones? Let's figure it out together.

Promotion on Instagram for free

You will not find step-by-step instructions or an algorithm for free Instagram promotion, since they do not exist. Instead - the conclusions of analysts, who empirically determined the effective methods of pumping accounts. Such experience is provided by studying thematic literature, attending a single master class, trainings, and then - practice and learning from their own mistakes.

Such thoroughness will require a lot of time, which in a rapidly changing world will only remove you from the cherished success. Today, in order to succeed, it is important to act quickly and accurately. Your promotion on Instagram directly depends on the speed of response to system changes.

Promotion of an Instagram account requires an integrated approach, which implies:

• competent description of the profile;
• choice of page subject;
• publication of photos and videos (optional);
• placement of descriptions;
• adding geo tags and hashtags;
• increase in audience.

For self-promotion, Instagram is a prerequisite. So, hashtags and geotags will increase your blog's visibility in search. Subject accounts are more attractive to users, therefore they are gaining popularity more intensively. Compliance with the chosen style and format, information in the profile description using keywords are additional bonuses for promotion on Instagram.

Programs for promotion on Instagram

Today, numerous websites offer tools for self-cheating subscribers. Such promotion programs are available for download for free. These services are responsible for automating work on Instagram, attracting followers, traffic arbitrage.

They perform the search for the target audience by geolocations, hashtags and other requests, however, the automatic placement of likes and comments, the promotion of subscribers is far from a panacea. Often, such actions end up with a page ban for account owners. Promotion on Instagram requires flexibility and responsiveness. Only an individual approach guarantees the achievement of positive results in pumping your own blog.

Leah Canary

Why you need to create an Instagram account now

You can link Facebook and Instagram accounts only if you have administrator rights on your company Facebook page. If they do not exist (or there is no brand page), then you can link to a personal page.

To link FB and Instagram accounts, you need to select "Settings" - "Account" - "Linked accounts":

Select Facebook and enter your login details:

You will now see the name of the page that you linked your Instagram to:

You can skip these points if you have already linked your account to your company's Facebook page at the first stage.

Then you can adjust a few more important parameters.

For example, disable commenting on your posts. To individual photos / videos or to all posts at once.

If anything, remember - you can always report spam right in the comments:

By the way, Instagram is seriously concerned about - as Kevin Systrom (CEO and co-founder of the photo network) puts it - with the "psychological comfort" of its users. So the owners of private (closed) accounts can delete any subscribers without notice. And soon it will be possible to send anonymous messages about users who urgently need medical and psychological support. A sort of panic button for Self-Injury Posts (literally: self-torture posts).

Stage 2. Description, link and avatar: we register the account correctly

1. Profile description.

In the profile description, place important information about your company: USP, a short description of the nature of the services. Do not fill the description with hashtags, a large number of emojis (smiles). Remember the 150 character limit.

To track traffic from Instagram, you can put a UTM tag at the end of the link in your profile description. But Google Analytics, until recently, was bad friends with Instagram. Traffic from the application in GA reports was assigned the source - direct (direct traffic). However, some of the traffic from the application may still not be recognized in GA. This problem is solved using a redirect.

For an address like https://site.ru/?utm_source\u003dinstagram&utm_medium\u003dsocial&utm_campaign\u003dbhphotovideoaccount did not bother users, we make a link like http://site.ru/instagram (or similar) and add it to our profile. And then we set up a 301 redirect to the UTM link, which will lead to our site. When a user clicks such a link on your Instagram profile, the added parameters will be sent to Google Analytics - and the corresponding data will appear in your reports. Plus Instagram considers such links to be more reliable than shortened ones. Attention! Google Analytics is case sensitive: utm_source \u003d Instagram and utm_source \u003d instagram will show up as different traffic sources

1. Link to your site.

If you want to make multiple links on your Instagram, use services like taplink - this one is an internal app, for example. That is, the taplink.cc URL does not take you away from the social network, but can function as an information business card and store. Classic content on a free plan will look something like this:

Stage 5. Pay attention to hashtags

1. Hashtag always must match the topic of the post.
2. Make at least 5 hashtags per post. Yes, the more hashtags there are, the wider the reach. However, 30 hashtags for one post will be placed on the screen so poorly that they can distract the subscriber from the main thing - the picture itself. Don't make posts look like spam.
3. Remember that the most popular hashtags in search will quickly move you down.
4. Make your own hashtag and experiment constantly.
5. Bugs are sometimes incredibly attractive. Typos can be a trick if you try. This is how the domain and name of one of the agencies in Moscow appeared, for registration and approval of advertising signs. The Reglama option delighted my client. REGISTRATION and deliberate mistake in the word advertising, dare you?

Remember that not only usefulness and emasculated photos from the studio can sell, but also trash and humor:

Style will help you stand out, there will always be grateful users

Nature itself will help to emphasize the mood of the brand:

Moving on to the video. Previously, videos in the Instagram feed were limited to a 15-second interval, today the maximum time for a video post is 1 minute. Now we can say with confidence that video posts are gaining much more reactions than photos.

And in late 2016, Instagram launched a new feature - live video streaming. Live broadcasts can now be saved and shared with other users. Be sure to try working with live broadcasts: we told you how to launch them and make them look.

But YouTube's laurels probably haunted social media developers, which is why Instagram in 2018 launched a new video platform, IGTV, which is designed for long vertical videos.

Remember that video use must be based on your brand's digital strategy and have specific goals. Development, shooting, video editing is not the cheapest item of expenses, so decide in advance what tasks you want to solve with its help. Smart video marketing will allow you to stand out from the competition and make your content diverse and attractive.

If you don't know where to start, I've collected for you the best brand ideas to inspire you:

1. Take a social video. Social advertising from PornHub is the best thing to do to raise awareness about environmental issues. This is how the video service for adults outlined its position on the problem of ocean pollution.

Instagram's success only confirms the hypothesis that niche demarcation is the future of the social media market. As Western marketers predicted, social media is beginning to be shared not only by user type, like LinkedIn (for professional contacts), but also by content type, like Pinterest and Instagram “visuals”. By the way, both of the latter are dedicated exclusively to graphic content, but it is Instagram that has become an amazing success story.

The number of Instagram followers is growing every second. It would be rash not to use such a "live" platform in the interests of your business, given that the largest social networks have long and more than successfully been used to promote brands. Strategies, methods have been developed, a real industry of SMM services has been created. Perhaps it's time to look at the capabilities of Instagram through the eyes of social media specialists, since it has long been not one of the billions of applications, but a social network that, like others, can become a powerful marketing channel for brands.

II. What Instagram gives brands

Instagram in terms of its potential is an "unplowed field" of various opportunities for both B2C brands (aimed at the end consumer) and companies oriented to a business audience (with a well-built business strategy). By the way, unlike the methods, the goals that can be achieved using the service are largely identical to those set in a standard social media marketing campaign, namely:

#Recognizability

Although there are no ads on Instagram, you can pinch off some of the fame from here: you need to provide such content so that users themselves follow you (it is important not to slip into an account with funny pictures). Everything is complicated by the absence of a viral effect, since for sharing (placing other people's posts in your feed) you need a special application. In what situation will the user rush to install it? Perhaps, if only you take a picture of him and he wants to get a picture of himself. There is only one way out: to become the very best, the most interesting, the most useful.

#Loyalty

It's such an interesting thing when people love your brand. Not products, not employees, but just a brand for what it is. Yes, not every online bearing retailer will be able to replicate Apple's success. But you can and should try to make the buyer fall in love with you, and then visual content will help you. Today, when people have no time to read, communication through pictures can be considered the beginning of flirting.

# Reputation management and feedback

Any impact on someone else's opinion gives rise to instant opposition, as in Newtonian mechanics. You can make the most wonderful product (which we have no doubt about), but there are still critics. You need to respond to angry reviews (whether fair or not). Answering questions about the company, products and services is your sacred duty and the opportunity to win over a potential client.

The process is hampered by the limited search functionality on Instagram. The principle "hashtag or nothing" works here, which also gives good results.

# Lead generation (receiving targeted appeals to the company)

Let's start with the disappointment: Selling directly from Instagram is hard enough. Of course, the service can indirectly present the product to a potential client, but the issue of moving to an order / purchase will have to be resolved by indirect methods (a personal appeal to the account moderator, a call to visit the site, a callback, etc.). The main difficulty is the inability to perform the target action directly from the service.

As such, clicks on links cannot be considered. And in principle, there is only one active link - in the account description in the profile. But no one bothers to sign under the photo that the product has appeared on the site or in any store, tell about the new model, etc.

III. How to maintain an account

The main difference between Instagram is that people come here exclusively for cute content, while other social networks serve several purposes: communication, entertainment, information (for example, consulting with friends about which frying pan to buy as a gift). This is why you have to do anything to promote your brand, but give the user that delicious image. There are several tools to help you.

Strategy

Before registering an account on Instagram, you need to understand what might be your "chip". If you plan to post photos of your product from different angles, you will not achieve anything (it is better to immediately give the budget to someone who urgently needs money). At this stage, you cannot do without a clear digital strategy tailored for this social network. Let's consider its main components.

#Idea

Look at successful brand accounts or just Instagram bloggers with many thousands of followers who may not be famous people. Each of them has some idea. Perhaps the most famous example is the account of the photographer Murad Osmann and his project "Follow Me".

Of course, some Madonna will just need to take a picture of herself in the bathroom mirror. If you are not Madonna, you have to work much, much more. You need to provide content that is really interesting, or at least useful, without straying far from your brand. Suppose you have an online sweets store: no need to photograph the counter or copy a catalog of sweets. Shoot a lot of beautiful still lifes with different moods and post a couple a day.

# Content plan

This life-making thing is usually always written into the strategy. So, whatever the enterprising advertisers promise you, remember: an Instagram account is when less is more. Just imagine yourself in the place of a user who, yawning, opens the Instagram feed in the morning and instead of friends' selfies in every second photo he sees, in fact, advertising content of some brand. Think of what a news feed looks like on a smartphone. This is really a tape where you need to scroll through photos from one to another, from interesting to even more attractive, and everything will immediately fall into place. That's right: everything boring and intrusive will only cause irritation and a desire to immediately cancel such a subscription.

As an example, let's take the account of the home appliance manufacturer Korting. According to the concept and content plan, photos of delicious dishes with good wishes were posted to the community several times a week, and only on Thursdays - branded content, designed in the style of the company.

#The target audience

It's important to reach out to your audience so that your content is interesting and useful to her - this rule applies to all social media marketing, and it also applies to Instagram.

Be sure to make your profile photo - your business card - bright and memorable. It will be a pure company logo, some variations or an image within the chosen account strategy - it's up to you. But remember: the vast majority of users watch the feed from the screen of their smartphones, and they are quite small. You definitely won't have a second chance to make a first impression on potential customers - think this moment in advance. Let's take the Forever "21 brand as an example: a bright, recognizable yet laconic profile photo that fits perfectly into the overall concept of the account.

Content

There are two types of content on Instagram: photos and videos. The ability to shoot video appeared not so long ago, the timing of videos is limited to 15 seconds, and you can't do anything about it. Undoubtedly, at the moment, the photo has a huge advantage over video, as it requires less cost in both creation and viewing.

Uniqueness. We have already talked about the uniqueness of your content as a defining property of successful promotion on Instagram. So this is actually very important: the content must be truly original. If you take any existing pictures, at least they should not be worn out. Here, various photo banks, of which there are a great many on the network, will help you.

Description. It is often useful, in addition to hashtags, to add a description to each photo (some kind of short explanation, question or comment). Of course, the option of a simple posting of photos also has a right to life, but it's better to somehow show yourself. The main thing is not to confuse Instagram with Facebook and do not write long posts. A couple of sentences are enough. But remember: users prefer to like rather than comment.

#Photo content

It can be interesting to everyone or narrowly thematic, useful or extremely entertaining. One thing is important without a doubt - it must be of high quality, both in meaning and in the quality of photographs. Yes, there are individuals who create content for Instagram exclusively using their smartphone's camera. Of course, this is a personal matter for everyone, but your branded account should not contain any blurry images, pixelation and other joys of a pseudo-photographer.

Use a variety of options - still lifes, collages, portraits - whatever that might grab attention. Do not be limited to photographing your products, think a little more broadly. Play charades with your brand, act on associations. Take a look at how the accounts of various Western brands look like, for example, a very “delicious” Oreo company page:

But even lesser-known, if not local, brands may not be inferior to the titans of marketing. Here's a stunning Instagram showcase for American clothing store Topo Designs. It's just interesting to be subscribed to such an account. The best photos of users are placed here, which is why it all looks so attractive. Note that they manage to do this without actively promoting their own hashtags. But here a little trick is also used, which you can safely take into service. Along with the glossy account that attracts users, there is a second one, already specifically representing goods from the store.

Do not place your logo image instead of photos. Even if your boss is happy about it, who else is interested? And in general, you shouldn't overdo it with branding: remember, the viral effect on Instagram is negligible. If a person subscribed to your account, it means that he has already expressed a certain degree of trust and there is no need to disappoint him. For example, Red. Bull's energy page reflects the brand's concept and emotional message:

Now, imagine what your account would look like if it had photos of jars with an energy drink.

We'll talk about contests, promotions and bonuses later, and as part of a conversation about content, we can mention such a form of interaction, such as the publication of photos of subscribers selected according to certain criteria. The best photo of the month, the hundredth shot, the first photo of the day - it doesn't matter. The main thing is that the picture from the user's feed, posted in your account, is at least the joy of the author of the masterpiece himself and the interest in what happened on the part of all his subscribers.

# Video content

This format, which appeared not so long ago, in principle, is already popular, especially among brands that have everything they need to create it. The most interesting videos are Western accounts of Oreo, Lego, National Geografic, Go Pro, etc.

Additional features

#Hashtags

Hashtags are one of the main magical powers of Instagram, so let's talk about them in more detail. It is with the help of these words, and sometimes phrases, that the inhabitants of this kingdom communicate.

Why are hashtags needed? This is a kind of cataloging within a social network. When you search for text, for example, VKontakte, in theory you can find it by the words that it includes. Photos are more complicated. Therefore, under each picture, arbitrary hashtags are put down: they can refer to what is shown in the photo (#cat), display any mood (#happy), season, weather, event - whatever. Top hashtags can be seen here.

Using hashtags, you can both search for images and tag your pictures so they can find you. You can put a hashtag with the brand name under your images or come up with your own as part of the current advertising campaign. Each hashtag is an active link. By clicking on it, the user sees all the images that he has marked.

For example, the well-known western brand of youth clothing Forever .21 maintains its account under the motto Wear it. Share it using your own hashtag # F21xMe. It is also interesting that this hashtag does not just voice the brand. He helps customers feel connected to him, as if to say, "This is Forever 21 in my performance."

# Locating

Instagram functionality allows you to determine the location where the photo was taken. You can choose the current location or create a new one using the proposed options (right in the service interface, at the stage of preparing a photo for publication).

How can this be used in marketing? There are many options. Here's an example: has a new store opened in your network? It is very convenient to take beautiful pictures and mark the location. Also, under an interesting photo of the product, you can mark in which store it is sold, etc.

# Going beyond Instagram

Instagram “outside of itself” provides ample opportunities for posting existing content on other sites. You can:

• Post photos from your account on the company's website
  It is very easy to do this directly from the Instagram web interface (from the official website, not from the mobile application). In this case, you will receive a clickable photo from Instagram with a link leading to your profile. In order to get this link, you need to open the desired photo, click on the button with three dots and select Embed - a window will open with a link that can be inserted into the code of the website page.

What does it do? Photos from Instagram can be used for a variety of purposes: from summing up the results of the competition to a selection of images, in order to highlight an interesting event, pictures from which users uploaded to the application (with a specific hashtag).

Photos inserted in this way will retain both the likes and the link to the profile, and since they are often captured on the phone and are far from perfect in quality, it is better to indicate this separately.

However, photos can also be saved directly from the Instagram feed. However, this allows you to get only an image opened in a separate tab (without likes and comments), which can be saved as a picture. On mobile devices, this can be done using various applications, for example, InstaSave works on iOS and Android. In the web interface, it is enough to open the source code of the page and find a link to the photo itself, for example, //photos-g.ak.instagram.com/hphotos-ak-xaf1/10735041_1480567495564702 _720656284_n.jpg:

An even easier way to download a photo is to use a dedicated service like 4kdownload.com.

Be prudent: it is extremely difficult to contact the technical support of a social network. Frankly, in Russia, compliance with the rules may not always be monitored or as quickly. However, this does not exclude the risk, and the likelihood that sanctions will be applied remains quite high.

IV. Instagram promotion techniques

After you have decided on the strategy, content and other main points, a logical question arises: how to make sure that at least someone sees it all? Yes, ads will appear on Instagram soon. However, no one names the exact dates, and it is still completely impossible to assess its actual effectiveness. Nevertheless, there are millions of accounts. How did they achieve such results?

There are, in fact, only two methods of attracting subscribers to your account. Let's conditionally divide them into artificial and natural.

Artificial attraction of subscribers

This category can include both quite effective methods of paid posting in popular accounts, and senseless cheating of subscribers (and likes). Let's take a closer look.

# Boost the number of subscribers

The method, frankly, is controversial. It consists in buying subscribers, and simply bots. These accounts are either originally registered for advertising purposes, or are bought out or stolen from their owners. And if at first glance, especially to a non-specialist, they may seem quite natural, for the most part there is no sense from them, but your account can be blocked for cheating.

If we are to resort to this method (for example, to promote a “zero” account, to create the appearance of activity), then it must be done very carefully, and it is better to refuse altogether.

Therefore, although such a method exists, it, like in other social networks, can at best act as an auxiliary one, but most likely it will not bring you anything but harm, waste of time and money.

# Paid Instagram posts

If you already use Instagram and follow any public pages or celebrity accounts, then you've probably seen paid posts. But even if you haven't come across anything like this, pay attention to this promotion format - it has shown itself well in practice.

It's actually pretty simple. In the same way, advertising is bought on public pages in other social networks, be it Facebook, VKontakte, or Odnoklassniki. First, you need to make a list of thematic accounts (find them by hashtags or in the popular list) and contact them. The second option is to use the Instagram ad exchange - a site that will act as an intermediary between you as an advertiser and the owners of popular accounts of interest to you.

Further - it is easier. A post is posted in the required account, you (your account) are marked on the image (in the description). As a result, you get coverage, subscribers and other bonuses - depending on the goals, content quality and the correct choice of the site. For example, promoting your Oh, My Master! in the official profile of the famous model, presenter and fashion blogger Victoria Boni gave excellent results (including in attracting new subscribers).

The most traditional of the paid types of promotion is promotion in blogs, with the help of PR-articles, on websites. These are all kinds of promotional materials, including your account in the selection of the "10 most fashionable Instagram accounts that you need to subscribe to" on any popular resource. This can be an active link to a photo from your profile inside the material or on the site where your target audience is concentrated. It is advisable that the resource on which you are hosting has a responsive layout for mobile devices.

Natural ways to promote

If all the previous methods were united by the fact that, as a rule, you need to pay for them, here the situation is the opposite: it all depends on your skills and your coolness. But in any case, such methods of promotion require certain labor costs, please note.

# Using popular hashtags

We have already talked about where to look at this list, but you can resort to other methods, for example, use search engines. We will not risk listing the TOP 100 hashtags right here: it is constantly changing and from the moment of writing a book to reading it, it will have time to become outdated several times.

Hashtag search works great - users love it, it is convenient for brands too. When posting any content in accordance with the chosen strategy, it will not be superfluous to put a hashtag from the list of popular ones. This way you can significantly increase the reach of your post, get new likes and even subscribers if they like your content.

Also, too common hashtags like #happy may not give an unambiguous effect. It is difficult to find your target audience when such tags are used by every third user around the world.

# Subscriptions and likes

If the mountain does not come to you, then pack your backpack and go to the mountains. Go to subscribers, like their photos found by thematic hashtags, subscribe to their accounts. Too hard? However, it also works more than effectively: personalizing ads is a great trick. At least the user will come in to see who subscribed to it.

It is impossible to measure such an important metric as coverage. Here we would recommend resorting to using various statistics collection services, for example, J.conosquare, known from SMM specialists. Due to the novelty of this type of promotion, there are much fewer similar tools for Instagram than for other social networks, however, you can choose the one that is more convenient for you from the available ones.

# Contests, discounts, bonuses

Nice "goodies" are still a good means of engagement, because everyone loves to receive gifts. Discounts, bonuses for subscribers, drawings of a priceless prize - here your imagination is not limited. As for the methods of conducting competitions, at the moment there are two main ones most often:

• Using a custom hashtag
  The main condition of the competition is to post a (specified by the rules) photo in your personal account with a specific hashtag.
  It's great if it contains the brand name. Also, one of the prerequisites for participation can be a subscription to a promoted account.
  But in such contests, significant motivation (a good prize, bonus) and a simple task are required. Few people want to sew a Batman costume and climb a high-rise in it because of a branded lighter.

An example of such a technique would be a competition in the account of a manufacturer of household appliances Korting. Participants were asked to upload photos of various dishes with pleasant wishes and the hashtag # cutemeal. About fifty pictures were posted, and the most active took part in a professional culinary master class.

• Using a repost app
  In the wake of the spread of such applications, contests like "Repost this record and get a pink elephant" began to gain popularity. Actually, this phrase describes the whole point. In this way, you can get a large coverage, but there is one "but": the user must have the same application for reposts installed.

Instagram has come a long way in its several years of existence. Today it is one of the largest social networks with 400 million active users. For most American teens, this is the main playground. But not only for them: according to Simply Measured, 85% of brands have Instagram accounts. To make the promotion in it effective, each marketer uses one or another service. Today we will present 5 effective tools - perhaps among them you will discover something new for yourself.

Formerly Latergramme, a tool used by Lonely Planet and the Wall Street Journal. There is a function of delayed publication, uploading photos, videos and quick repost. The free version provides limited functionality: a maximum of 2 accounts and only 30 posts per month. Paid packages - from $ 19.

You can work simultaneously with three social networks: "Instagram", "Facebook" and "Twitter". There is a function of deferred publication, managing multiple accounts, editing photo images. Five package options - from Starter for $ 19 a month (1 account on Instagram, 5 each on Facebook and Twitter) to Enterprise Plus for $ 179 (20 Instagram accounts, 25 each on other social networks ). There is a free period of 7 days.

Has been working with 35 (!) Social networks, with Instagram - only since last year. A great tool for analytics, getting feedback from the audience and measuring their engagement. Also helps keep accounts secure. The Hootsuite collection contains 80 social media productivity apps. There is a free trial (3 profiles, basic analytics) and paid Pro and Business packages.

Another analytics tool. Allows you to sort followers by engagement and value for you, determine the best time to post and those posts that your subscribers like the most. There are three packages: for digital agencies ($ 299 per month, 20 accounts), business ($ 79, 3 accounts) and regular users ($ 29, 1 account). All three plans have a free trial period.