Boost Instagram Reach with Proven Content Strategies

Hello and welcome to section four of the Instagram Bootcamp. In this section, we're going to discuss tactics and strategies that will increase both the reach and visibility of your content on this platform such as creating and using content themes, the importance of consistent visual branding, and leveraging the algorithm and the use of post cadence to help increase that visibility. But first let's discuss perhaps the most successful brand campaign on Instagram, by a very well-known brand, the Hashtag Shot on iPhone campaign.

Apple harnessed user-generated content, or UGC, to increase awareness about an important feature of the Apple phone. The Apple phone had just recently been launched when this campaign was launched. And the idea was to demonstrate to the public the fact, a brand promise of Apple, that you can create professional type images by using an Apple phone, right? And at the point in time of Apple's evolution, that was still a novel concept to many consumers, right? So what better way to demonstrate that than to harness UGC content, having your customers, your followers, your fans, to promote the brand by posting original content such as images, videos, etc., where they were using the iPhone, Shot on iPhone, right? That was the hashtag.

And these were everyday people creating images, as you can see, that were of a professional grade, right? So this campaign created excitement and engagement because Apple fans wanted to be featured in the campaign, but it also delivered authenticity and believability because these images were not coming from professionals, but they looked professional, right? And it was extremely successful in achieving that goal of driving home the brand promise, the big idea, which we'll discuss in a little bit, that you can use your Apple smartphone as if you were using a sophisticated, you know, professional camera, right? It creates a similar type of result. Here's another example of a user-generated campaign from a well-known brand, in this case, Red Bull. So Red Bull encouraged their users to post content of the soapboxes, go-kart type videos that they built, and it's very in keeping with the Red Bull aesthetic of, you know, extreme sports and offbeat sports events, right? And it created, again, a lot of engagement, a lot of excitement on this other platform, and increased awareness for the Red Bull brand, tying into the excitement that they want to deliver to fans of the brand.

All right, so let's talk about the different types of content themes, right? We alluded already to user-generated content, UGC, all right, where you are enlisting your users to, in many ways, become advocates of your brand by posting content around that brand, but there are other types of content as well, of course, other types of themes. Educational, helpful and informative posts that makes your audience's life easier, better, or more interesting, and it's coming from your brand, so it's creating positive brand associations, it's positioning your brand as an expert, or it's just being helpful to their needs. Clients and partner themes, do you collaborate with others in the community? Tag them, right? It builds credibility and highlights your trustworthiness as a brand.

You can gain from the credibility and the reputation of that brand, and they gain from yours, and you also gain exposure to the audience who follows their brand, right? And they, too, can have their content also exposed to your brand audience, so it's a win-win for you and a partner. Reviews and testimonials, of course, you know, this is extremely important factor of, you know, in the consideration phase when consumers are choosing your brand or, you know, comparing your brand to alternatives. Statistics show that 80% of people read reviews, 58% will purchase a more expensive product if it has a more positive review, right? And I would say that increasingly, particularly with the younger generation, millennial consumers, Gen Z consumers, they tend not to make any product decisions without first consulting a review or a rating, and TripAdvisor or some other similar platform, right? So it's just as a shot at iPhone could help create authenticity, so do reviews and testimonials.

It's coming from your customers. Brand building themes, original brand content that includes your brand elements, focuses on brand benefits and features and advantages, creates awareness, visibility, as well as providing reasons why your customers should choose you, right, by highlighting certain advantages of your product. People and culture posts are where you can highlight employees, show you the company culture, invite your audience behind the scenes at events, right? You use stories to deliver that type of, you know, close look, you know, behind the curtain look, right? It's also a great way of improving your employee satisfaction.

One of my clients was a residential commercial cleaning company, and each month we would feature a different employee of the company, keeping in mind that, for the most part, we're talking about cleaners, people who do a lot of hard work and don't generally get much recognition for it. And it shows your audience, you know, the work ethic, the expertise, the brilliance of your employees, right? The people will be delivering the service to them, right? Contests and giveaways are a great way of generating excitement, right? Engagement, and that could be combined with user-generated content, as the iShot on iPhone campaign demonstrates, right? Incentives and promotions, right? Who doesn't love to be able to save money on a purchase, right? And you can create urgency for people to make purchases, sign up, enroll, right? And the only drawback to this type of content is you don't want to overuse it, and then people may only purchase when there's a sale, right? 

So you want to strategically use it, in short-term situations, to create excitement, to push the needle a little bit, and certainly something your audience will look forward to. Then motivational quotes and inspiring stories, right? A lot of the content you create will appeal to people, rational, you know, rationally explaining, you know, the advantages of your product, or how you solve problems for them, or how to do things better, easier, etc.

But there is something to be said for being able to connect with your audience emotionally, right? Empowering them, inspiring them, and this type of content, the goal of this kind of content is to do that.