Microblogging on Instagram – How to Use it to Your Marketing Advantage

Blogging, as a communication medium, has been in use for over two decades. However, a relatively young innovation is taking a new twist in the form of microblogging. With the ever-growing popularity of photo-centric Instagram, marketers are incorporating microblogging onto the social media platform.

The ease of sharing Instagram images combined with some element of blogging is the foundation upon which microblogging is built.

What is Microblogging

Microblogging is the creation of short-form blog posts that are posted along with Facebook or Instagram photos. Unlike the contemporary blogs that are made up of 500 to 800 words, microblogging relies on conveying important information using short and precise blog-like posts.

According to recent studies, online users tend to read only about 20% of the material you share. Therefore, short message posts are the way to go. A combination of an information-packed story with attractive visuals increases your chance of getting users’ attention.

Although microblogging can be used across various social media platforms, its use on Instagram is increasingly becoming widespread. Microblogging has the most potential on Instagram as marketers take it up in their Instagram marketing projects.

How to Use Microblogging on Instagram to Your Marketing Advantage

Microblogging on Instagram can be a useful tool for driving sales and promoting brands by marketers. The combination of relevant visuals with short-form blogs about the product you intend to promote can help lure users into looking into your product.

Contrary to traditional blogs, microblogging is not too detailed to the extent of boring or turning off potential customers. Besides, the use of high-quality photos along your blog post gives you an added advantage since your post becomes more conspicuous.

Below are some of the tips to help you effectively incorporate microblogging into your Instagram marketing project. Get advanced tips to download Instagram photos from InstaDL.

1.    Be Original and Unique in Your Posts

The worst mistake you can do is going for generic content. Instagram users are drawn to posts that are creative and original. It is common for people to link up all their social media platforms to cut off on time used in posting a similar image on every single platform. However, this is not advisable. When you start posting your marketing microblog on Instagram, try to avoid using stories and information you are posting on every other social media platform.

The more unique your microblogs are, the more reasons for your followers to be curious about your product. Why would one look into your post if he or she has seen the image or caption somewhere else? Be unique, combine your business posts with some touch of emotion and personal experience to help win over the trust of your followers.

2.    Always Start with the Most Important Information

While Instagram’s character per caption limit of 2,200 might seem adequate, most of the words won’t be visible to Instagram users until they click on “more.” Therefore, you should start with the essential information that can make viewers very curious to click on “more.”

Do not use unnecessarily long and irrelevant statements at the start of your microblog. Your first sentence should be clear enough to inform users about what they will be reading. In most cases, readers should be able to relate your visual post with the first sentence of your blog almost immediately.

Avoid obvious statements that might discourage users from reading more of your post. Try and be creative.

3.    Share Appropriate Tricks and Tips

Your microblog should be able to promote your business while providing helpful information to your followers. Therefore, although personal stories might help you capture the humane side of Instagram users, useful information such as insider tricks, tutorials on using a particular product, and life hack can also increase your post’s traffic.

The accompanying image can capture an essential feature of a product. You can then provide additional information in the caption. Alternatively, you can also give some details and tricks that a person can pull off using the product.

If readers find the information shared helpful, they will explore more about your product. They will definitely click on the link on your bio. If the trick or tutorial provided is relevant to the users, they would want to get the product.

4.    Engage Users through Comments

Posting a captivating feed on your Instagram page is only the first part of capturing the attention of users. Engaging your followers through the comment section will help capture the attention of your potential customers on a more personal level.

Consider asking questions in your caption. Ask for opinions and input from users. This would make them feel useful and valued. And, when people comment, ensure that you always reply to the comments. If you request for inputs or opinions and a person provides one, reply with a thank you!

The Instagram algorithm favors posts with the highest numbers of comments. Thus, if your microblog attracts more comments and engagement, your post will be pushed to the top. Do the best you can to drive the engagement.

5.    Share Activities behind the Scenes

The accompanying photo can capture activities behind the scene. People enjoy getting exclusive access to behind the scene activities. Thus, sharing photos of your office, the production process, or maybe the renovation in progress, can help get users on your side.

Most posts are heavily edited to capture the best side of the business or products. However, if you share the raw, unedited photos, you are more likely to gain the trust of your audience. You will come out as an honest person whose product or brand can be trusted.

Also, people are inquisitive about how a product comes to be. Sharing images of the production process will draw more individuals to your post. The more people visiting your Instagram page, the better the chances of them clicking onto the external link to your business website.

6.    Run Competitions

Competitions are the most effective tool for engagement. People like freebies. Therefore, you can come up with rewards for the best contestants to encourage your followers and Instagram viewers to engage more about your product. These competitions are better if they are exclusive to Instagram users. The exclusivity makes Instagram users feel recognized and valued.

One of the most common and effective ways to undertake these competitions is to encourage Instagram users to come up with original content of their own and post them using a content-specific hashtag. You can then go through these posts and select the winner among the competitors.

The motivation of winning something, as well as the recognition on the platform, will motivate people to use your product for the competition. Besides, posts by your followers will produce a multiplier effect, where more people, especially followers of your followers, are able to view posts about your product or brand. As a result, the outreach to new potential customers will increase.

7.    Always Remember to Incorporate Link in Bio

It is vital to always direct viewers of your post to your business website if you are looking to maximize on your post.

First, ensure that you have a link on your profile. Then, put an effort, in directing users to the external link in every post. It is simple. You just need to finish all your captions with the words “link in bio.” That way, viewers will always know where to go if they are interested in whatever you are marketing.

You can also come up with a trackable unique URL with tools such as bit.ly to help you monitor the traffic flow to your business website from your Instagram microblog posts.

8.    Employ Hashtags

Microblogging on Instagram is only as useful as the number of people viewing the posts. Hence, you should strive to improve the reach of your posts among Insta users, with hashtags being very effective in doing this. A hashtag generator can be a useful tool for this, helping you to find all the right hashtags within your niche.

Hashtags help you get your content to Instagram users who are not following you yet. Employing hashtags ensures that your post pops up in search results whenever a person searches a particular hashtag and thus exposing your product to a broader audience.

The choice of your post is critical to the success of your microblogs. If your hashtag choice is poor, you might not effectively reach out to your target audience. Avoid general hashtags that are extensively used. Instead, use hashtag generators to obtain relevant hashtags that will increase your posts engagement and increase traffic to your post.

Final Thoughts

Microblogging on Instagram is a growing trend. The short blogs, in combination with captivating visuals, are very effective in capturing Insta users’ attention. Marketers on Instagram have an opportunity to employ the tool in Instagram marketing to their advantage. If the tips discussed above are applied, Instagram marketers can effectively reach out to a wider audience and get better reception among users. Microblogging can help you, as a marketer on Instagram, to build trust among users.