Rebelling

Since its advent in 2010, there has been no looking back for the Facebook-owned social photo sharing app. With more than 300,000,000 users Instagram has already surpassed its much older friend, Twitter in attracting people. Instagram is no more just a space for the selfie crazed generation, it has proved to be a flourishing ground for brand marketing as well. Marketers having taken a clear hint from the huge success and thrown themselves into creating material suitable for the space. Brands are continuously building a social media presence, in such times mistakes are hardly forgiven by social media audiences. So we help you avoid the no-nos of Instagram while marketing your brand. Here are four crucial points to look over:

Over-using hashtags on Instagram

Agreed that hashtags immensely increase visibility and Instagram runs on these, but one of the biggest mistakes committed by users these days is getting too caught up in the hashtag game. With five hashtags being the recommended maximum, it is criminal to create an entire sentence using hashtags. Using short, simple and a good few of them, not only sounds better but gives your post a professional look as well. Don’t believe us? Here’s an example:

This - #Change #your #look #in #a #few #clicks #Visitus #Women’sfashion #greatprices #Hurry #Offer

As opposed to this - Change your look in a few clicks with Women’s fashion #Women #fashion #Offer #Onlineshopping

Remember you’re marketing your brand, your presence online goes a long way in building your brand name.

Advertising on other people’s comments

Promotion on Instagram can be tricky. Your sole reason as a marketer is to promote your brand. But Instagram is a bit more complicated than the usual social networking sites. You need to give in the time and patience to cultivate followers to like and comment on your products. One of the worst ways to market your brand is by writing about it on someone else’s comment. It not only annoys your followers, but also spells out unprofessional in caps.

‘Do you want a new look in minutes? Follow and like our pictures to know more’ Posting this on someone else’s comments is not the way to go.

Simple. Don’t do it.

Ignoring Comments

Since you are on Instagram to promote your brand, it is crucial to respond to comments good or bad. When people post comments, this only means your brand is getting noticed and talked about. Since you will be speaking for the brand, it is your duty to respond appropriately and bring in the brand in question when relevant.Instagram is a social network and if you are not social on it you’re missing the point.

‘Great effort! Can I get a link to your website?’ Reply to comments without fail.

Posting other people’s images without credit

Reposting images is found to be very common on Instagram, this in fact can help you widen your audience if and when appropriately used. Responsible users are those who repost these with due credit to the actual person who the image belonged to. Being a spokesperson for your brand, you should belong to responsible category if you are ever in need to repost an image. Claiming other people’s image as your own without giving proper credit, may lead to bad publicity and result in mass unfollows.

Don’t beg for likes and followers

This one is hard to wrap your head around. Social media norm suggests that you don’t beg for followers but earn it. You might succeed in getting more overall followers begging for it but, the followers you earn will not remain loyal. So if you are ready to risk degraded audience quality and overall damage of how your brand is perceived in the long run. Go for it. So instead spend time on creating quality content and social media interactions.