4 Powerful Instagram Marketing Tips to Borrow from Beauty Brands
In the age of social media influencers and visual content, Instagram is a powerful branding and marketing tool. According to SproutSocial, 59% of 18-29 year olds and 38% of online women are present on the platform. That provides a unique and impactful opportunity to get your brand in front of your target audience (especially if your target demo is young or female). And nobody has taken more advantage or done this better than beauty brands like MAC, Sephora, or NYX. So what can we learn from these #InstaFamous industry giants? Here are four powerful Instagram marketing tips to borrow from beauty brands.
1. Always Post Strategic, Cohesive, & Visually Striking Content
Instagram is, at its core, a platform driven by visuals and aesthetics – which means your brand needs to master its brand visually in order to gain a following. Check out a popular brand like Anastasia Beverly Hills (with over 17 million followers). They have a clearly defined color palette, style, and personality with high quality photos and videos.
The focus should be simple in every photo, nothing should be overcrowded, and try to keep your color choices complementary. Consistency allows your followers to easily identify your brand without even seeing which Instagram account it is. It also lets potential followers know what they can expect from you, ensuring a loyal and familiar follower base.
2. Utilize Trending Hashtags and Photo Tags
Hashtags are the way of the future. Not only can users look up a specific post topic using a hashtag, but they can also follow a hashtag to have it show up in their feed. Do some research to find out what hashtags work best in your industry by taking a look at what competitors or other industry leaders are using. You can also reference hashtag recommendation websites like For Display Purposes Only.
Photo Tags allow you to tag people and places in your photo. Beauty brands often tag models, the products they use, and other beauty brands. If you can partner with other brands, you can use those partnerships to leverage more reach and engagement. Knowing which hashtags and photo tags to use in your posts helps to expand your reach and get in front of followers who will connect with your content and brand.
3. Connect & Engage with Your Followers
Social media is called social media for a reason – it’s a social platform. Start a conversation with your followers the encourages them to connect with your brand. Ask them questions, give follow backs, and like other brands and followers’ posts. Don’t just have bots generate automated, scheduled posts. Put humans behind your brand to start conversations and generate buzz among your followers!
Create even more incentive for people to follow your brand by offering Instagram-only discounts or giveaways. You can also offer sneak peaks at upcoming products, services, or events! Creating a feeling of exclusivity in the right way can help to build a community around your brand that customers are excited to be a part of.
4. Be Active & Post Frequently
There’s nothing more important than staying active and engaged on your brand’s Instagram. Now, don’t go overboard and flood people’s feeds, but it’s important to post frequently and to interact with other users on their posts and yours.
Brands can also keep their followers updated with Instagram Stories. This feature has been around for a while now, but not everyone knows or uses it. It allows users to take videos and post them to their story feed for 24 hours. You can also have the option to pin them to your story if you want to preserve them for longer. There are so many options with these, whether posting GIFs along with them, providing polls, or using creative filters. You also have the option of tagging people and places.
Instagram has a reputation for being feminine and young, but the Instagram community is actually much more diverse and expands more every day. Most brands can find their niche on the platform if they just know where to look. Feel free to test it out for your target audience and see how it goes. Getting the user engaged with your brand and you engaging with the user is what marketing is all about! Build the cult following you want with these powerful and effective Instagram marketing tips.