Marketers are always looking for new ways to drive traffic to content, and the social media site of the moment, Instagram, might be one of the best. Fortunately, you don’t need a huge budget to tap into its power, and you can repurpose content that you or your agency has produced for a campaign.
Instagram is a more effective distribution tool when used regularly according to recent research by Tailwind. They found that a schedule involving seven or more posts a week drives 14 times more engagement compared to the single post per week equivalent.
Instagram is obviously a visual-focused platform, but blog content can still come in handy when creating posts, which ties into the latest marketing trend of recycling and repurposing in order to maximise budgets and ROI.
A simple method for turning excellent written content into an image is by taking a quote from a blog or article and using software to convert it with a graphic design template. Make sure that you use your brand’s colours, style and voice so that it aligns with your broader branding efforts.
Creating similar images every day will become tiresome for audiences though, so mix things up by following a documented five-week plan. Content Marketing Institute recommends following a ‘VALUE’ framework, where each day of the week will see you offer either ‘valuable’, ‘aspirational’, ‘lifecycle’, ‘unique’ or ‘evergreen content’.
On a Monday, you could provide ‘valuable’ educational content and key insights for audiences to take away, and then follow up on Tuesday with ‘lifecycle’ content with calls to action. Targeting a different type of content every day will keep things fresh and boost engagement levels.
The valuable content could feature a dictionary definition of a trending keyword or important topic within your industry overlaid on an eye-catching image, while lifecycle content could put dates for an event or breaking news stories front and centre with a relevant accompanying image.
There are lots of ways that you can experiment with Instagram, but the most important thing is to maintain a regular posting schedule. You should also rotate through topics and include a link in your bio to direct people to your written content.
