Food Brand Instagram Followers: Quantity, Quality or Both?—Part 2

Let’s get tactical about connecting with your Instagram audience.

In Food Brand Instagram Followers: Quantity, Quality or Both?—Part 1, The topic of conversation was the importance of going deep with your current audience vs. growing wide. In part two, we will continue with some tactical ways to do both.

Have you ever felt annoyed with a platform for changing/updating or adding new features when you “just got the hang of it”? You’re not the only one. But the truth is, whatever the newest feature released; the platform will reward you. So as annoyed as you may be, its best to jump on the new-feature bandwagon.

For Instagram specifically, the newest thing is IG TV.

IG TV allows you to create longer videos for your audience. But here is the key: Always choose “yes” to preview so that Instagram will create a post. This way, your IGTV post shows up in your feed, and even those followers who aren’t yet using IGTV, will see it! Another hint? When creating your thumbnail, make sure all the important content is in the center of the screen so that it looks great when posted to your feed!

Here is another new IG feature: Going live WITH A PARTNER. The beauty of this? The live video reaches not only your audience but your partner’s audience as well. Talk about going deep and wide!

Some more Instagram tips to keep in mind:

• Don’t overproduce your posts or stories. You don’t need each post to be designed.
• Real is rare, so show your audience who YOU are as an individual or brand, but be real about it, stop hiding behind over-produced videos and filters.
• If you still aren’t on stories, you’ve got some catching up to do. Check out our crash-course.
• Save the designed posts for ad purposes
• Don’t sell on social media
• Build a relationship on an email list. Give them something free (resource, guide, tool) for signing up for your email list. Then actually interact with those who sign up. Email list is passive income. Social media is not. It’s a pull-thru strategy.

How to go deep (connect to your current audience):

• Answer DMs first. Your audience wants to talk to you, this is the best news you could ask for. Don’t ignore them. This is your chance to talk to them one-on-one; get to know them, answer their questions about your product or service, etc.
• Keep stories short and use captions for those who watch on silent.
• Use IGTV. Your audience is there for something longer. If you feel its easier, try using videorama to shoot the video, then upload to IGTV. Don’t forget to share the preview to your feed, and make sure your preview is centered to that it looks beautiful and seamless.

To go wide (grow audience):

• Use relevant hashtags on your regular posts to try to gain new followers that may be interested in that post or your brand.
• Did you know that your IGTV and IG live posts appear on explore page? Remember, you’re being rewarded for using the newest features!

If you would like to learn more about this topic, or how we can help with your social media strategy or ad creation, please reach out to the NewPoint team. If you are interested in more food marketing topics, please visit our “Food for Thought” page. Alternatively, check out NewPoint’s book: Moving Your Brand Up the Food Chain.