A Strong Instagram Presence This Year

Today we are discussing how to best strategize for a strong Instagram presence. Instagram continues to play an important, if not the most important, role for businesses investing time in social media for marketing purposes. This year there are a few new ideas to become aware of and others you’ll want to continue practicing.

When you begin to strategize your Instagram game plan you must first consider how Instagram’s algorithm works. Users scrolling through their Instagram feed aren’t seeing the most recent posts, but seeing content Instagram believes to be the most relevant to the viewer. Instagram’s algorithm is set up to reward users who actively engage with their followers. This means replying to both comments and DMs within 60 minutes as well as posting relevant content your followers want to engage with. By relevant we mean sharing moments of your day and highlighting both staff and patients (make sure to tag them in the photo!). The more effort you put into engaging your follower base, the more Instagram will feature your account– which is the ultimate goal for every business account!

Instagram will also reward users who make a point of using the latest features the platform has to offer. Some of Instagram’s main features are: stories, story highlights, Instagram Live and IGTV. We already have a great blog you can read here about creating Instagram stories and another blog on going live that you can read here. IGTV is the newest of Instagram’s video features– it most notably allows for longer video content, up to 10 minutes long! Creating lengthier videos is a way to stand out from your competitors and share your office culture, patient experience, and health tips to your followers.  

A strong social media presence, especially one on Instagram, is moving away from number of followers or posts and becoming more about creating an engaged follower base. Stay authentic, personable, and forget about the number of followers your account has. Social media is about curating a community people want to join and be a member of, and as long as you’re posting quality, mindful content, that will happen on it’s own.

Happy posting!

— Jennie Rogers, Social Media Specialist, Sesame Communications