After the success of our post about promoting your brand on Facebook, this article is the next logical step.
Above all, this article is about learning. Let's talk about Instagram and how you can and should promote your brand on this social network.
I'll be honest, I'm not the biggest Instagrammer out there. It's a social network that we like a lot here at Maudlin Merchandise but that we don't have much experience working with (although we publish daily). I have a lot to learn and that's why I didn't think it was right to write an article about something I haven't mastered.
In the spirit of this blog - being a source of information for clothing brands - I asked those who actually use Instagram as a source of sales to help me with tips for those who want to promote a brand on this channel.
Here at Maudlin we are privileged. Every day we do something new and different that we can show our potential clients. Because we have new jobs every day, we use Instagram to show what's happening in the company that day.
By using a fun and "young" form of communication, we were able to reach our target audience and gain new followers on a daily basis. We don't massacre people every day with the same type of publication and we don't actively look for sales. It's rare to find a photo in which we use the word "purchase". Our main focus on Instagram is to use it as a portfolio of the work we do in order to position ourselves in the market we want to focus on and work in.
We also use Instagram to show the company's progress. As an example, we've posted photos and videos of the work we're doing on the warehouse and the new machines we've received. We try to make those on the other side feel that they are accompanying the company's growth and that they are (or can be) part of it.
We believe that hashtags are important, but we try not to abuse them (we don't put the hashtag #serigraphy on all our photos, for example).
One of the tactics we often try to use is to identify our customers. By identifying them, we can sometimes get shares of the publication and potentially reach many of that client's fans.
A good example was a post we made about HMB's snapback caps that reached at least 2,000 fans on the band's Instagram.
Nowadays, Instagram is undoubtedly one of the best tools for promotion.
In my case (Warrior Clothing) it has been very useful for publicising the brand. It's the ideal social network to show the brand's DNA through photos and videos. As a social network with 400 million users, the chance of growth is enormous.
In my case I use hastags, it helps to publicise the brand, show its personality and also interact with your target audience. E.g. : #nevergiveup
My growth strategy for this year involves media influencers, people with lots of followers who "influence" others. I'm identifying some people who I think have something to do with the brand to send some clothes to, so that through them I can publicise the brand and reach more people.
We have examples of Portuguese brands that do this perfectly, such as PROZIS. Have a look around.
I also wanted to share with you the importance of other social networks such as Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. We can't be "stuck" with one social network, because we saw what happened with HI5, it was the biggest social network and from one moment to the next, it collapsed. That's why I'm trying to grow on these networks too.
NR: As a curiosity, we've interviewed Nuno here in the past
Hello, we are Insonia Collection.
Insonia Collection is a brand created with tattoo lovers and music lovers in mind.
We have various strategies for developing our brand and reaching our target audience. One of them is undoubtedly one of the most important tools, Instagram. We use different hashtags for the different photos we post.
E.g:
#insoniacapcollection, when we post our fantastic Caps :p
#insoniainkcollection, when we post photos of tattoo artists' work...
#insoniabeaniecollection, when we post our caps...
and so on.
With that involved, and get more followers who love tattoos, caps, etc.
Instagram is where we sell 90 per cent of our items at the moment. We also have a Facebook page, but it's not as effective as Instagram.
We sponsor various posts to get more contacts from potential customers.
We hope we've helped you.
