It was a packed house for Strategic Partnership Manager, Fadia Kader’s, Instagram Master Class. The industry dot connector spoke on the social app’s best practices, new features and how the new algorithm works. Now days who doesn’t use Instagram? Initially developed in 2010 it now has over 800 million global followers. It’s one of the fastest growing platforms ever! It’s a beautiful and fun way to instantly share your life with friends and family through a series of pictures and videos. However, it can also be a great marketing tool to reach new audiences, engage with fans and monetize your music.
Fun fact, Instagram user are music fans! On average 42% of users spend money throughout the year on music related items. They also spend 30% more time listening to music in a week compared to general population. Utilizing the live feature and Instagram stories are perfect ways to introduce new music. Some of the best practices Fadia mentioned were the following.
1. KEEP IT REAL
Authenticity is important. It’s 2017, fans know when you’re being fake and putting up a front. Be yourself no matter what, even when you have something important to announce. Fans will appreciate that. Videos are the best way to promo something. Get creative and share in a meaningful way.
2. POST OFTEN
Most people are looking at ig content all day long. Your posts have to break through a lot of noise. The algorithm is actually meant to help you by allowing the people who you interact with the most to see your content frequently. Instagram did a case study to understand how these young teens have so many followers. The trick is they’re posting about 2-4 times everyday.
3. LOOK AT YOUR INSIGHT
You should have a business account, this allows you to see what day and times you have the best engagement. As well this helps you understand who’s viewing your content and who your target demographic is. Video content is king! It continues to grow as of June 2017, the time spent watching video is up more than 80% year after year.
4. ENGAGE WITH YOUR FANS
Building strong connections with fans is so important to an artist’s career. You can optimize your engagement by using IG Live for a Q&A, @ mentioning people in your stories, hashtags stickers in your story, geo locations, liking your comments, or even using their new polling sticker feature. The IG swipe up feature is actually responsible for 90% of video views for DJ Khalid’s “Wild Thought” featuring Bryson Tiller and Rihanna.
5. LIVE VIDEO
This tip is significant to connect with your fan community. Keep it in the moment and even pin a comment to the video to remind viewers what’s going on. Talents also usually use branded content in live videos. Once you’re done, you can share and replay your live stores for the next 24 hours.