7 Ways to Refresh Your Instagram Content Strategy

In terms of content marketing for small businesses, Instagram is a key social media platform to optimize.

If you’re worried that your content strategy isn’t up to date, or you haven’t figured out a strategy yet, don’t worry – a good Instagram content strategy can be refreshed at any time.

To find out how to update your strategy and improve your Instagram follower growth and engagement, keep reading.

Signs That Your Instagram Strategy Needs Updating

Have you noticed that Instagram seems to be evolving without you? Are the accounts you’re following posting with different features? Do you feel like you’re missing out on trends? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, it might be time to reassess your Instagram content strategy.

These are some important reasons to refresh your game plan:

• You don’t receive as much engagement as you used to;
• The services or products you offer have changed;
• There are new trends you’re not participating in;
• Instagram has new features that you’re not using;
• You want better results from your content.

What to Do When You Need a Content Refresh

In case your Instagram content strategy needs an update, we’ve put together some key tactics to boost your Instagram account to make sure you’re THRIVING on social media.

Here are some of the best ways to improve your online engagement.

1. Explore Your Audience

Without question, your content should always be aimed at a specific audience or customer. To define your intended audience and create a long-lasting connection, try researching your target market group.

Create a Customer Profile

Your customer profile could include factors such as:

• Income
• Age
• Location
• Interests
• Shopping habits
• And more

Thinking about your customers' day-to-day lives will enable you to create content that resonates with their values.

2. Look at Your Competitors

If you haven’t done so already, start researching competitor brands or accounts to see how their content is performing. Take note of what content works well for them, and use this to inspire future posts. Note that this doesn't mean copying other brands. Rather, it's important to differentiate yourself from competitor accounts, as you want to stand out from the crowd instead of blending in.

3. Set Goals

When creating Instagram posts, write down what you want these posts to achieve. Are you trying to sell products on Instagram? Drive more traffic to your website? Promote user-generated content?

Defining a clear reason for posting will help you pinpoint the purpose of each post. Instead of vague social media content, each image or Story will have a clear goal to improve your Instagram growth.

4. Follow Your Metrics

While tracking your likes and followers is important, there are other metrics to track too.

Clicks and Visits

Be sure to keep track of profile visits or link clicks on Instagram Stories, which will allow you to create more future stories that have higher click rates.

Hashtags

It’s helpful to watch your hashtags to see which phrases perform well. This can inform your hashtag strategy for future posts.

Whenever you see a post, Story, Reel, or hashtag doing well, look beyond the likes to see what content you can effectively use in your Instagram strategy.

5. Be Consistent

Often small business owners, creators, and influencers feel pressured to create and post a large amount of content. The truth is, this approach is unnecessary and unrealistic.

What’s more important than volume is consistency. So, rather than focusing on quantity, make consistent posting your goal. This will be more manageable and will yield better results.

Pro-tip:

Maximize your content by posting when your audience is online. Our “When to Post” mini-app uses YOUR account to show when YOUR audience is active - no relying on guesswork.

6. Always Post Quality Content

Consistent posts are important but don’t fall into the trap of posting low-quality content. This doesn’t mean you have to spend a fortune churning out over-produced images and Reels; just make sure your posts provide value to your target market.

When reviewing your Instagram content strategy, compare it to your customer profile. Quality content should do one or more of the following:

• Entertain
• Educate
• Inform

Ideal content will engage your target customer and it can also entice them to stick around for more. If you’re struggling to come up with content ideas, check out this blog article.

7. Manage Your Time Well

The bottom line is, a good content plan that's designed for Instagram follower growth and engagement will run like clockwork. If you take time to make a content schedule that includes a range of quality posts and hashtags, you should get positive results. Also, be sure to engage with new trends and features, and research your consumer, and you’ll invariably see a boost in engagement online.

Pro-tip:

Utilize the mini-apps in the new Tools tab to save time:

• Post Captions
• Hashtag Keyboard
• Curated Hashtags

The Takeaway

A good Instagram content strategy is important for anyone looking for Instagram follower growth and increased post engagement. It’s important to frequently review what you’re posting to make sure you’re up to date with your competition and the needs of your target market. Pre-planning, consistency, and quality are key with Instagram content.

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