When used properly, Instagram can be a major part of your marketing strategy – and recent trends show that while other social media networks are going through some growing pains, Instagram continues to rise.
In fact, Instagram’s ad revenue is growing four times faster than that of Facebook.
This isn’t happening by accident. Instagram’s audience skews younger and is more highly engaged with online content than users of other social media platforms.
In fact, 59 percent of the platform’s users in the United States are under 30, and among teen users, 72 percent get on Instagram every day.
It’s clear that Instagram has significant potential for marketers who understand the basics of creating high-quality content. But for many, there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to truly dominate Instagram marketing.
Here’s a closer look at how one brand got around this obstacle:
The Challenge
Lucia and Alicia Civile, sisters and co-founders of LACE Photo Media, had a problem …
Though they had gotten off to a strong start with their business of creating branded graphics and providing product photography and social media management, the amount of time required for engagement and analytics was greatly limiting their potential for growth.
Image Source: LACE Photo Media
“We were limited to a handful of accounts because we were doing all of the engagement in-house,” Lucia explains. “We were stuck manually liking photos all day for growth. We were doing a good job with the clients we had, but we had no way to expand.”
Attempts at expansion were tricky, at best …
Pull too much effort away from one client, and the quality of the content would drop. But remaining with a small set of clients wouldn’t help the sisters maintain the growth their young company needed to chart a successful future.
The Solution
Feeling stuck, LACE Photo Media decided to turn outward, and in November 2017, began a partnership with Kicksta, an Instagram growth service focused on bringing new, targeted and real followers to Instagram accounts.
“Our focus is organic engagement,” explains Alexz Miller, marketing manager at Kicksta.
“We’re not worried about creating content because other brands and creators already do that so well. Instead, our goal is to bring more eyeballs and traffic to the content they are creating by engaging with relevant targeted audiences to increase their likelihood of following the brand.”
Image Source: Kicksta
Kicksta soon became deeply involved with LACE Photo Media’s accounts in a wide range of industries, ranging from skincare to auto dealers. For the Civile sisters, the results have been impressive.
“Instead of spending endless amounts of time liking photos to get growth for our clients, we can spend it creating compelling content and cultivating a community on the accounts we run. It saves us hours and hours a day,” Alicia says.
“It’s given us the freedom to focus on content creation and strategy versus spending all of our time on the engagement aspect, which is essential to organic and targeted growth.”
Not only has this helped LACE Photo Media dedicate more time to content creation; it has also allowed them to offer a wider range of services to potential clients.
By delivering greater value, they have also been able to charge more for their services.
Image Source: LACE Photo Media
As Lucia explains, “Our Instagram management services are all encompassing and include post images (image sourcing, branded graphics, and product photography), content creation for the post copy, hashtag research and strategy, demographic research, influencer collaborations, time and content analytics so we can post at the best days and times for your specific account, community management including comment monitoring and response, and with Kicksta’s help, we offer Instagram growth as an additional revenue stream.”
Your steps for success
So what does this example mean for your own agency or brand? First, success on Instagram starts with great content that tells a compelling story that incentivizes viewers to make a purchase.
“People want to see not just the product or service they’re getting, but what the company is about, what the vibe is, what people are saying about it, and what sets them apart from others in their niche. Instagram is a platform that allows people to see all of these metrics in real time and immediately click through to purchase,” Alicia notes.
“This instant conversion capability paired with gorgeous imagery makes it a pleasurable shopping experience for customers while allowing the brand to express themselves in a way that leads to growth. With appropriate hashtags, companies can literally give customers exactly what they’re searching for, making Instagram a platform with consistent warm leads.”
Image Source: LACE Photo Media
This was the area of expertise for LACE Photo Media – but content creation is only half the picture, as sound engagement and targeting practices also play a crucial role in Instagram growth.
“Kicksta has opened major doors for us in terms of social media management scalability. It’s made it possible for us to scale without losing the quality of results,” explains Lucia.
“By supporting client’s Instagram growth with targeted engagement and follower acquisition, Kicksta has helped expand the length of our client relationships and increase revenue because clients are so thrilled with their follower and engagement growth.”
As with LACE Photo Media, you’re likely not a complete expert in every aspect of Instagram marketing. Because of this, investing time and energy into these other areas, rather than focusing on your specialties, can result in lost hours, limited productivity and sub-par results.
“Partnerships are essential for a successful presence on Instagram,” says Miller.
“It’s just like any traditional business. You don’t expect the owner of a hardware store to select products, plan advertising campaigns and run the cash register all at once. He delegates to others who can provide quality results so he can focus on what he does best.”
Delegating elements of your Instagram marketing campaign may seem a bit scary at first. But by giving yourself more time to focus on the things you do well and getting other experts to take care of the rest, you’ll be able to attract larger audiences, grow your brand and ultimately use Instagram to drive additional revenue for your business.
All the time in the world
There are only so many hours in the day. Chances are, there’s not enough time to manage every possible task related to building a strong brand on Instagram – especially if you cover multiple client accounts.
You don’t have to try to go at it alone. By partnering with an Instagram marketing service like Kicksta, you can focus on your areas of expertise and let other digital marketing experts shore up your weaknesses with their skills.
Taking advantage of the tools that are out there won’t just help you save time – it will also allow you to achieve far better results than you would on your own.
Guest author: Ronan Galvin is one of the co-founders of Kicksta. Originally starting out as a manufacturing and sourcing company, they helped entrepreneurs launch their products on Kickstarter and from there began Kicksta as a small side venture to help their clients sell on Instagram. Kicksta’s mission is to make life more convenient for businesses by simplifying social media management.