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Email marketing is one of the oldest and best tricks in the communication playbook, and newsletters are an excellent tool for brand awareness, audience engagement, and lead nurturing. But newsletter planning is challenging. Coming up with and delivering fresh ideas...
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Instagram is one of the most important social media platforms for brands, with over a billion monthly active users and a sparkling influencer scene. A strong presence is crucial for brand awareness, customer engagement, and sales. However, effective Instagram management can be challenging, particularly for social media managers and agencies that manage multiple Instagram accounts across various clients.
There’s plenty of content floating in the social ocean, and people won’t hang around your Instagram account for long if you don’t grab their attention and deliver value.
That’s why you need a structured and strategic approach to Instagram management, with transparent processes for everything from creating visually appealing content to analyzing performance metrics.
Let’s look at best practices and efficient tools that help support your Instagram strategy.
Instagram management involves overseeing and optimizing all aspects of an Instagram account to achieve specific goals, such as boosting followers, visibility, and engagement. The process includes content creation and scheduling, community engagement, analytics monitoring, and strategic optimization. Effective management ensures your Instagram account is aligned with brand objectives and helps maintain a cohesive and compelling online presence.
Imagine setting out on a voyage across the vast sea without careful planning and organization. Inconceivable, right?
Granted, managing an Instagram account may not be as dangerous as sailing a boat, but it is complex, and the waves of the competition can sink you.
Fortunately, there is a map. Follow the steps below to streamline your Instagram journey, take advantage of social currents, maintain a smooth publishing rhythm, and course-correct to successfully achieve your objectives.
First off, plot your coordinates by establishing strategic goals. Without a clear destination, your Instagram presence will drift aimlessly and waste resources.
Goals direct your Instagram engagement plans toward realistic and tangible outcomes. They also help you measure success and plan for optimization.
Here are a few examples of common Instagram goals:
Increase visibility and recognition of your brand. For instance, Nike frequently uses Instagram to showcase its latest products, athlete endorsements, and inspirational content. Their posts emphasize their brand’s identity and message.
Use Instagram to capture potential customer contact information. This goal is frequent in B2B social media strategies, as is the case for Unbounce, a platform that leverages Instagram content to promote reports and webinars.
Encourage followers to visit your website via bio links, Stories, or CTAs in posts.
Increase sales through direct Instagram shopping features or promotional campaigns.
Engage with your audience to encourage repeat business and build a community. Starbucks is a good example of this, a brand that frequently shares user-generated content and publishes interactive posts like polls and Q&A sessions.
Use Instagram to gather feedback, reviews, and insights from your audience.
Whether developing a personal brand or growing a business, prioritizing goals and focusing on the most important outcomes will help you make better decisions, maintain motivation, and see results.
Defining your visual identity on Instagram is similar to crafting a signature style that instantly communicates your brand’s personality, values, and aesthetic to your audience. While it can be fun to be creative at this step, remember to stick to a cohesive theme and to brand guidelines.
Your Instagram grid serves as a digital storefront showcasing your brand’s visual identity at a glance. Consistency is key here. A cohesive visual theme across your grid creates a harmonious and memorable experience for your audience, reinforcing brand recognition and loyalty.
Focus on elements such as color palette, image composition, typography, and overall tone of voice. For instance, a lifestyle brand might use bright, vibrant imagery to evoke energy and vitality, whereas a luxury brand might prefer sophisticated, minimalist visuals to convey exclusivity and refinement.
In the example below, you’ll notice that Planable’s Instagram account has a cohesive look, with colors derived from the logo and the same style and tone of voice for the posts — while still providing variety to keep users engaged.
Understanding your audience is crucial for creating relevant Instagram posts that drive engagement. This involves gaining insights into who your followers are, what they like, and how they interact on the platform.
Analyze demographics such as age, gender, location, and interests. This data provides valuable context for tailoring your content to match your audience’s preferences.
In addition, psychographics help you understand your audience’s attitudes, values, and lifestyles and empathize with your followers.
Here are a few tips on getting valuable data about your audience:
Audience research is a continuous process that empowers you to create content that addresses needs and sparks meaningful conversations.
Creating and planning an Instagram content calendar ensures a consistent and cohesive presence on the platform.
A calendar allows you to maintain a regular posting schedule, keeping your audience engaged and interested. Consistency also signals reliability and professionalism, enhancing your brand’s credibility on Instagram.
Instagram content calendar in Planable
Using a content calendar helps you brainstorm Instagram post ideas, schedule content in advance, plan for specific holidays or special occasions, and incorporate diverse content formats.
By planning your content calendar around business milestones, events, holidays, and promotional campaigns, you align your posts with your broader marketing strategy. This ensures that your Instagram content complements your other marketing efforts and reinforces your brand messaging.
Remember the sailing analogy in the beginning? Compare steering a ship on your own — or with a very small crew, to having an experienced team with diverse skills by your side. You’re definitely going with the latter option if you want to make it safe to the next harbor.
While I’ve seen more than one social media manager try to juggle everything independently, getting the wider team on board has always proven successful.
Leveraging your team’s diverse expertise and perspectives can streamline the content creation process, generate fresh ideas, and ensure alignment with business objectives. Collaboration also breeds creativity and innovation. Schedule regular brainstorming sessions to encourage people to explore new content formats and angles.
Collaboration on social media content in Planable
The best part? Involving team members from different departments can help create a sense of ownership and responsibility for your Instagram accounts, driving employee engagement and advocacy.
With Planable, you can even get a perfect preview of how your Instagram grid will look so that you can adjust it before publishing.
Instagram grid view in Planable
Establishing a smooth workflow for social media approval ensures that all content meets your brand standards before going live.
This process involves clearly defined roles and responsibilities, transparent communication channels, and efficient feedback loops. When you streamline the content approval process, you minimize delays, reduce errors and frustrations, and ensure content quality and consistency.
Moreover, a well-oiled approval workflow builds trust and accountability within your team, empowering members to contribute confidently to your social media strategy and be as creative as possible in their roles.
Required approval flow with content lock in Planable
Scheduling Instagram posts in advance is a game-changer for effective Instagram management. Imagine adding an engine to the ship that you previously needed to row.
When you schedule Instagram posts ahead of time, you avoid the stress of last-minute scrambling and ensure a consistent presence on the platform. This strategy allows you to strategically time your posts for maximum engagement, taking advantage of your audience’s peak activity periods.
It also frees up valuable time for other tasks, such as brainstorming creative ideas, engaging with your audience, or analyzing performance metrics.
Social media post scheduling in Planable
While scheduling is a must for efficient Instagram management, remember that social media is dynamic. Be prepared to make last-minute changes if something unexpected happens or you discover a trend that could benefit your Instagram strategy.
Embrace Instagram’s features and experiment with different formats, and you’ll be able to diversify your content strategy and keep your audience captivated.
Here are a few formats and ideas to try out on your Instagram profile:
By integrating all these formats and features into your content calendar, you maximize engagement and keep your Instagram account fun.
Engaging with your audience through comments and direct messages (DMs) is crucial for building a community and driving account growth on Instagram.
You should actively respond to comments and DMs. This will allow you to demonstrate authenticity, build trust, and strengthen relationships with your followers.
Engaging with your audience also signals to the Instagram algorithm that your content is valuable and worthy of visibility, potentially improving reach and amplifying your impact on the platform.
Are you on track to achieving your goals? Use Instagram analytics tools to measure progress and adapt your strategy for optimal results.
Depending on your goals, track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as engagement rate, follower growth, and reach to gain valuable insights into the effectiveness of your Instagram management efforts.
By monitoring these metrics regularly, you can identify trends, understand audience preferences, and refine your content strategy accordingly.
These analytics tools empower you to make data-driven decisions, optimize performance, and ultimately drive meaningful outcomes for your brand on Instagram.
Social media management tools help you streamline collaboration and planning for one or multiple accounts. With easier content creation and publishing, you can keep Instagram followers happy and engagement metrics growing.
The tools below are great for saving time and ensuring consistency across platforms. Let’s examine their main features to help you decide which one best suits your needs.
Planable offers a comprehensive suite of features that simplifies Instagram management.
Designed to streamline content planning, Planable lets your team work together on all types of content, from ideation to publication. Its advanced approval workflows ensure seamless collaboration in all the stages of the content creation process.
Team members can comment and give feedback directly on posts in real-time, ensuring everyone is on the same page and that content meets the brand’s standards before going live.
Planable also offers an intuitive calendar view, so you can easily plan and organize your posts, Stories, and Reels, ensuring a cohesive and consistent content strategy.
Content calendar in planable
The platform excels in publishing capabilities, allowing you to schedule posts, Stories, Reels, and even the first comment on Instagram posts.
You can plan your Instagram grid to maintain a visually appealing profile, add locations to your posts, and tag other accounts directly in images, enhancing your engagement and reach. Did I mention you can also edit photos directly on the platform before publishing them on your Instagram account?
Image and video content editor in Planable
Additionally, Planable provides detailed analytics to track the performance of your content, giving you insights into what works best with your audience and how to optimize future posts.
Key features
Drawback: Planable does not yet offer social media listening features.
Pricing: Planable offers a free limited plan, starting at $11/month per user.
Loomly is a social media management platform with user-friendly features focused on content creation and publishing across various platforms, including Instagram.
As one user put it in a review, it’s a “great program for beginners” because of its ease of use and integration for someone not having handled social media from a business perspective before.
Key features
Drawbacks: Some users report Instagram limitations regarding Story editing options, previews for Reels, and collaboration on Instagram content.
Pricing: Loomly offers a 15-day free trial and various pricing plans starting from $32 per month.
Known for its comprehensive social media management capabilities, Agorapulse simplifies content scheduling, publishing, monitoring, and analytics across multiple platforms, including Instagram.
It caters to businesses and agencies seeking advanced features for managing their social media presence effectively.
Key features
Drawbacks: Steep learning curve for new users.
Pricing: Agorapulse offers tiered pricing plans starting from 49€ per month, with a 28-day free trial available.
As a versatile photo editing app, Snapseed empowers users to enhance and manipulate images directly on their mobile devices. Available on both iOS and Android platforms, Snapseed is ideal for photographers and content creators looking to add a professional touch to their photos before sharing them on their Instagram accounts.
Key features
Drawbacks: Limited support for video editing.
Pricing: Snapseed is available for free on both iOS and Android platforms.
With its user-friendly interface and extensive video editing features, InShot is a popular choice for any Instagram specialist looking to quickly edit and share videos.
The app offers tools for trimming, cutting, adding music, filters, text overlays, and more, making it suitable for social media enthusiasts, vloggers, and content creators.
Key features
Drawbacks: Limited access to advanced editing features compared to desktop software.
Pricing: InShot offers a free version with basic features and watermarked videos, as well as a premium plan that starts at $3.99/month.
Here’s how to make the most of Instagram for your business to optimize your profile, share content that really resonates with your audience, and track your performance to help your brand grow and succeed.
Effective Instagram management goes beyond mere posting — it’s about creating meaningful connections, building brand loyalty, and driving measurable results. With the right tools and strategies in place, you can be an Instagram marketing pro and navigate content seas smoothly.
Want to see first-hand how effortless content management can be? Try Planable now and get 50 free posts to test all of its awesome features!
Sabina is a freelance writer with 15+ years of experience in the MarCom industry. Her to-do list includes helping people write better and businesses sell more through content. She is the host of Zest, a podcast that brings writing within listeners’ reach.
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