Today we are going to talk about how to market a new product on Instagram.
First what are the different ways of marketing on Instagram that work right now? Next the biggest thing to focus on in your marketing. Finally, the best marketing game plan and routine to crush it on Instagram.
What are different ways of marketing on Instagram?
Obviously there’s stories. I want to explain how stories work, okay? Stories are not typically going to be seen by people who do not know you. They are typically going to be seen by people who already follow you, like you, know you and want to see your stuff. Think about stories as what would I put on my refrigerator and who would see that? Who’s going to see? Are people driving by your house and looking in and seeing…while they are not seeing your refrigerator door. It’s people that you invite over, it’s people that like you, it’s people you hang out with. Your stories, you should think a little differently about what you post on there.
There’s your standard post, (which you hopefully know about) you can post an image or whatever with a caption. You have Instagram reels, which are super hot right now along with Facebook reels and of course TikTok. Instagram reels are really cool and we have done so many of them. One thing I want to encourage you is don’t think that it always has to be your own content.
Instagram was running a promotion just started a couple days ago where they will pay you based on the amount of views you get on your reels. Now this may not be something you’re offered but that’s is not the point. I reposted someone else’s Instagram reels using an app called repost. r-e-p-o-s-t. All I did was I clicked the link, shared the link, copied it, went into repost, reposted it, gave them credit. I didn’t say look at my original video right? I didn’t pirated or plagiarism. I gave them credit, I tagged them back and I just put out there this video. Well that video got over 30,000 views because Instagram was running a reel special, I got paid 175 bucks for that. Not bad, right? I mean you can’t retire but hey not bad. I was going to post it anyway.
Don’t be afraid to look for other people’s reels and actually use them. In the past you wouldn’t get as much traction if you were using other people’s stuff but I found that to no longer be the case. My team and I are constantly on the lookout for good reels that we might repost, so it doesn’t have to be just on you. In fact there are entire accounts dedicated to reposting other people’s stuff and a lot of them make a lot of money. A lot of them do really, really well. If you have a new product then I want you to think about, how do I get more engagement and eyeballs on my account first, then we are going to talk about marketing that new product. We will get into that, but you have Instagram reels and you also have the IGTV.
IGTV, that’s where you have videos longer than a minute. Those typically get less traction than your Instagram reels. Instagram reels are definitely hot and that’s what’s getting more traction right now. If you have something that is longer content that you really like or you want to share, you can put it on IGTV which is your longer format. We are going to break into best practices around this here in a second.
What is the biggest thing to focus on in your marketing?
Well specifically if you have a new product, ask yourself “who?” Instead of focusing on “what,” what do I have to sell, think about “who.” Who might be interested in it? Who might consume it. I want you to think about that in all of your marketing. For example, when you’re uploading Instagram reels or if you do IG TV’s, you have to use a cover photo. Don’t just upload the video lazily and not have a cover photo that says what it’s about. In Instagram (for whatever reason) it’s not that easy to create a cover photo so I actually use TikTok. I’ll actually upload the video, create the cover photo in TikTok, screenshot the picture, save it in my camera roll and then use that as the cover photo over on Instagram. Why is that important? Well if you don’t then the people scrolling, they won’t have any idea what it’s about most likely unless you have a very interesting background and scenario and stuff. They won’t know what it’s about so they won’t open it.
This is kind of like a store front. If a storefront doesn’t have any signs on the outside and you don’t know what is in that store, are you just going to walk up to every store like that and just kind of look in for a little bit? Or will you be like “I’m going to check things out? I don’t know what’s in here but I’m going to check it out.” Well that’s what you’re asking people to do when you don’t have a cover photo on your video. You’re just saying I hope you have all the time in the world to watch this video that you don’t know what it’s about. Put a cover photo on it.
Think about whatever your new product, whoever it helps, think about that person. If your new product helps parents then maybe you want to start looking, start searching Instagram for parenting reels. Maybe you want to build up your audience and get more parents on board watching your stuff and then do a video about the benefits of your product. Start to think more like the person you’re trying to attract. That is the number one thing for you is to think about…the person you’re trying to attract. Who is it? Is it a parent, is it someone who’s been through abusive relationships, is it someone trying to lose weight? What is it? Think more about the who than you do about the what you have for sale.
Let’s connect!
Hey, let’s share the love here. What is your Instagram handle? Drop it in the comments. We would love to follow a few of you. If I follow you and I like (specifically your cover photos) you just might win a prize. So drop a comment, give me your Instagram handle and let’s make sure we’re following each other.
What is the best marketing game plan for Instagram?
The main thing is being consistent. Are you going to upload content consistently to Instagram and are you going to consistently engage with the people that are engaging on your stuff? It’s funny to me that so many people say, “I wish I got more engagement,” but they don’t even engage with the people already engaging in their stuff. If you’re not replying to the comments that you’re already getting then why should you get more? Engage with them, they took the time to drop a comment, engage with them. It’s consistency. If you went out there and for the next 30 days, you did two to three Instagram reels a day, your account would blow up. Whether it’s reposts from other people or your own original content, your account would explode.
You have to be consistent. You have to be consistent knowing that there’s some videos that are going to bomb. There are some videos that are just going to suck, there are some videos that you’re going to get a lot of hate on. There are some videos that if you do this consistently are going to blow up and are going to get you what it is that you actually want. If you’re not consistent, you’ll never see that happen.
Now I’ve noticed that a lot of people struggle with consistency and unfortunately it’s a little bit deeper than is am I just lazy or am I not lazy? It’s actually consistency is a very important characteristic of conclusions you’ve drawn over your life. I’ve seen people that struggle with consistency that they’re actually avoiding success because they drew a conclusion that success meant something bad. Maybe they had parents that were super successful but ignored them. Well now that they have kids, they may have drawn the conclusion as a kid that being really successful means I have to ignore my kid. I don’t want my kid to feel like I felt so I just won’t become successful. No one will say that consciously, no one will say that out of their minds but that’s how their subconscious will work and that’s how they’ll show up. They’ll start sabotaging if they start actually creating success.
I encourage you to become aware of your programs and if you find yourself getting a little bit of success and then slacking off, become defiant to that program. Say you know what? Me being successful doesn’t mean I have to ignore my kids, doesn’t mean that something bad is going to happen, doesn’t mean that I become a jerk, doesn’t mean that I’m greedy or evil or whatever. More money just means I’m able to do more. If you’re someone that likes to make a difference with more money, you can do more good. This past Christmas, my wife and I, we funded the creation of 850 toys for kids in foster care. Can’t do that if I’m not making money.
You making more money is a good thing. You being more consistent is a good thing. It means you’re helping more people and so stay consistent. Don’t be so worried about the metrics of every single video. Not just for your new product but for anything that you’re wanting to market, Instagram is a fantastic resource.
Would you like to crush it with short video?
I mean Instagram reels, Facebook reels and TikTok. We have a three step launch that will really help you. It will walk you step by step on how to do that and you can watch it for free. Here is the link Higdongroup.com/3steplaunch, click that link and good luck. I know you’re going to love it. Follow the three steps and you’re going to be crushing it in your video business.
Ray Higdon
Play Bigger. Make An Impact.
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