Gone are the days when business presence in the physical market was the way to grow it. These days, you can run a business entirely in a virtual manner, without having a physical presence at all. In making it a reality, the social media platforms like Instagram can help a great deal. You can plan the best Instagram marketing strategies that work for your business, and growth would e surprising. 

This post will look at how B2C and B2B Instagram marketing collide, as well as some things that B2B marketers should think about when targeting today’s B2B buyer on Instagram.

The Business Presence on Instagram

According to Instagram’s most recent data, 90 percent of the platform’s over 1 billion active Instagram accounts follow a company. Instagram’s large viewership, networking features, and ad offerings are already being used by B2C enterprises to target customers. For example, an insulated water bottle firm, Hydroflask, designed Instagram stories advertising that resulted in an 80% increase in revenue.

Businesses can use Story advertisements to showcase photos and videos in a vertical style that works well on mobile devices. Promoted Stories (e.g., Story Ads) last as long as the advertiser wants them to, unlike organic Stories, which expire after 24 hours. So, if you want to increase your story presence and multiply the business growth, you can run an ad on it and make it last for a long period of time, attracting the majority of your target audiences. Promoting the stories is amongst the best Instagram marketing strategies as people are more inclined towards the vertical format stories that just prompt on their screen as they scroll their feed.

For businesses looking to reach clients using Instagram, the numbers speak for themselves. According to Instagram’s business portal, 60% of users claim the platform helps them discover new products. They do so by either directly searching for the product through the search bar or following the relevant hashtags that take them to their desired products. If your brand can be in that search result, you obviously have higher chances of sale, and your revenue will multiply many folds.

Every day, more than 200 million Instagram users view at least one company profile. So, to ensure that they stick to yours when they visit, you have to create an eye-catchy and engaging feed. Now, it doesn’t happen overnight. You have to curate a plan, including the best marketing strategies for instagram. It would include posting regular content that is relevant with your platform and will attract more customers. This way, you can stick your visitors to your business and turn them into potential customers.

So, what are some customer-targeting tactics that B2B marketers might employ? The best method to do it is to give an example.

Profile

Slack and Cisco, for example, use their Instagram accounts to promote their companies, develop their followings, and offer corporate news and stories.

When it comes to developing a successful company presence on Instagram, you would have to follow a strategic approach. Understand that what works for other business domain may not work for you! So, you have to pick the best marketing strategies for instagram that would prove fruitful for your business and create a plan that support revenue and sales growth. 

Here are a few best practices to keep in mind while planning your instagram marketing strategies.

  1. In your bio, include a link to your company. Consider developing a unique landing page on your website for individuals who click on that Instagram link — this allows you to track Instagram referrals and customize your landing page experience for Instagram users.
  2. Include a one-sentence (very brief) summary of your business, product, or service.
  3. Don’t use overly promotional or boilerplate language in your profile; keep it simple yet genuine.

Advertising on Instagram for Businesses

As previously stated, B2C businesses are already advertising on the platform, including paid ads in their instagram marketing strategies. Businesses can choose from a variety of ad formats, including the following:

Story Ads (Video And/Or Image) are a type of ad that tells a story.

Story advertising take full advantage of the user’s screen and are optimized for mobile devices. They accept MP4 or.mov video files, as well as.jpg or.png picture files. They also allow for a video of up to 120 seconds. The adverts appear at the top of your followers’ feeds and allow them to react in the same way that they would to organic Stories (e.g., by replying with emojis, sharing the story, and commenting). Our free instagram followers can also help you generate new leads in your market.

The fact that your boosted stories will appear in between when your target user is scrolling all the updates posted by the people or profiles he is following makes it one of the most productive marketing strategies for Instagram.

Ads using Instant Experience (IE)

Only mobile devices are supported by these adverts, which were previously known as “canvas” ads. The commercials are displayed in a full-screen immersive format, allowing brands to express their narrative in a visually captivating way. Images, videos, product carousels, form fill-outs, and tagged products are all supported by IE advertisements, which are ideally suited for merchants but may also be a wonderful method to promote your brand.

As a majority of Instagram users opt for mobile devices while using the platform, promoting the story would be a fruitful thing to do. Thus, for businesses looking for promotions, it should be amongst the most used marketing strategies for Instagram.

Ads with images

Image ads are the most common ad style customers see when scrolling through their Facebook or Instagram feeds. They consist of single images with descriptive text above and below the ad. Image advertising can be “promoted” posts—organic posts that the advertiser converts into ads to increase their reach on Instagram—or they can be standalone ads that appear outside of the organic feed.

Advertisements in Video

These are essentially the same as picture advertising, but instead of an image, they show a video. These commercials are ideal for short promotional videos, DIY projects, or other videos that emphasize your company, product, or service. You have to careful while using them in your plan of action as videos have to be short, crisp, and to the point. If your video is too long, the user will leave it midway and if it is too short, it wouldn’t deliver the right message. So, the ideal marketing strategies instagram is to create a balance and make videos that are eye catchy and helpful in keeping the consumers glued. 

Carousel ads are essentially image ads pumped up a notch. Advertisers can utilize numerous photos in a “carousel” arrangement, which consumers can browse through. Carousel ads are wonderful for stores with visual products to exhibit (e.g., Hydroflask) in the B2C area, but B2B marketers can benefit from them as well, for example, by featuring photographs of a warehouse production process.

Carousels are amongst the best marketing strategies for small businesses on Instagram as it allows them to share elaborate information. The best part is that they do not have to invest in creating videos, as these carousel ads provide them equally effective results.

Businesses can buy Instagram advertisements directly through the app by boosting organic posts they’ve already posted on the network, through Facebook ads management (Facebook owns Instagram and the two platforms use a common ads manager), or through a Facebook marketing partner (if you prefer outsourcing your advertising).

Influencers and Hashtags

Most users of social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter are familiar with hashtags, which are words or phrases preceded by a hash (#) sign.

Posts using hashtags appear in Instagram’s “search” page, so this is an excellent way for those who don’t follow you to find your post (if your profile is public). Including hashtags in your posts can assist increase their visibility in a variety of ways. For starters, because hashtags are searchable, users searching for relevant content on Instagram are more likely to come across your post.

Businesses can also use hashtags to promote their own brands, events, services, and goods. Popwallet, a mobile wallet marketing company, has a post in the Instagram search results with the hashtag #b2bmarketing.

Finally, combining hashtags with influencers can assist businesses and B2B marketers in achieving massive organic reach. People who have a devoted, specialised following on social media are known as social media influencers. Because of their innate authority, these persons have the ability to influence purchasing decisions. Influencer marketing is a significant B2C trend, with some influencers (such as Kylie Jenner) garnering massive followings of millions of people.

B2B influencers often have fewer followers than B2C influencers, but their influence in endorsing and promoting brands can be enormous. In 2017, Microsoft teamed up with National Geographic photographers to encourage women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The #MakeWhatsNext hashtag was used in conjunction with National Geographic’s Instagram account to highlight 30 female scientists and “adventurers.” National Geographic and its network of photographers were among the influencers in this case.

Liu Juan, a research scientist (and panda keeper), was pictured nuzzling a panda youngster in the top post. This post, which promoted a STEM event at multiple Microsoft locations, earned over 500,000 likes and over 3000 comments.

B2B Marketers’ Best Instagram Marketing Strategies are fueled by B2C Instagram tactics.

B2B marketers may definitely benefit from incorporating Instagram into their marketing strategies. B2B buyers are already aware with the platform, which is being driven by an increasing number of millennials in the workplace. They are also aware that this platform can provide them with much-needed help in getting in touch with other businesses that will eventually help them in business growth.

Maintaining your authenticity and keeping your messages as relevant as feasible is critical in any social media outreach strategy. Stick to relatable, human stories that assist your clients and prospects feel connected to your brand instead of overtly promotional articles and commercials.