Instagram has become the go-to social media platform and one of the challenges is how it can lead to customer and potential customer engagement. This article looks at tools to manage engagement marketing on Instagram.

Instagram has great potential for marketing, especially for businesses targeting younger markets. More than half of the 1 billion active users log into the site every day, with millennials and the under 25s being particularly active.

This is part of a series of posts on Instagram and engagement marketing.

We’ve looked at initial advice and 3 ways to increase online customer engagement as well as specific market sectors:

• Customer Engagement for B2B Companies
• Customer Engagement for Charities
• How B2C Companies are Winning at Customer Engagement

And we’ve also looked at Customer engagement via AI  and so this post looks at Instagram as a platform and how it can lead to customer and potential customer engagement.

What is Engagement and Why Does It Matter?

Success on social media is about much more than posting content and accumulating followers. It is about building relationships and actively engaging with people by getting them to interact with your posts. Likes, comments and clicks that bring people to your website or lead to sales are what really matters. The time and money you spend on maintaining your social media accounts isn’t worth much if no one is reading or if this interest is not being converted into sales. A successful social media strategy will connect with your target audience so that they amplify your voice by sharing posts and give you a real return for your efforts.

Challenges are that Instagram is considering removing the likes function – this can be automated which means it has less value. Owned by Facebook, Instagram is keen to offer value for corporations using it as a marketing tool.

Boosting Engagement on Instagram

Instagram has the highest interaction rate among social networks, at 2.2%, and 80% of users are following at least one business. However, that doesn’t mean that it is easy to connect with people on Instagram. You need to create the right kind of content for your brand and to ensure that it encourages active engagement that will turn into sales.

Creating high quality content and advertising your handle to gain followers is key. You also need to be aware of how to use tags, stories and other tactics to catch the attention of your target audience. Businesses on Instagram also have a selection of effective tools that can be used to boost engagement.

Comparing Instagram Tools for Engagement Marketing

If you’re a business looking to make the most Instagram then there are lots of different tools available to help. Here are some of the top engagement marketing tools that you might want to use.

Instagram Tool for Engagement Marketing #1 – Kicksta

Kicksta helps you to build relationships with your target audience on Instagram. You suggest a few target accounts that appeal to your market and Kicksta will start engaging with their followers. It will target users who might be interested in your business, liking their posts to draw their attention. Engaging with other users is one of the most effective strategies for getting them to interact with you in return and potentially to become a follower. Kicksta gets better at identifying the right users to engage with as it learns from the responses it generates. It can be an effective tool for generating real followers as it will filter out any suspect accounts. The service starts from $49 a month and it is particularly useful when starting out as it can build up your audience.

Instagram Tool for Engagement Marketing #2 – Hootsuite

Hootsuite includes a selection of different tools for managing your Instagram account. You can use it to publish and schedule your posts, to track your competition on the site, or to engage with your audience. One handy tool for engagement is the search stream, which you can use to find out who is engaging with your own hashtags or which accounts are most influential in your field. Analysing what people are talking about on Instagram can enable you to be part of the right conversations. You can use Hootsuite to manage multiple Instagram and social media accounts, with prices starting at £25 a month for up to 10 social media profiles.

Instagram Tool for Engagement Marketing #3 – Later

Later provides one of the most effective and popular scheduling tools for Instagram. It also makes it easier to manage your comments and to repost user-generated content. The Linkin.bio tools for businesses are particularly useful as they can help you to turn Instagram posts into sales and to monitor these interactions. Small businesses can use the Free Forever plan for up to 30 photo posts a month. Paid options start at $9 a month, depending on how many posts you want to make and the number of social profiles you’re managing.

Instagram Tool for Engagement Marketing #4 – Iconosquare

Iconosquare can assist with a wide range of engagement marketing approaches, from interacting with other users’ posts to holding contests via Instagram. One feature that is particularly useful is that it enables cross-posting on other platforms such as Facebook, which can make managing your profiles much more efficient. The analytics tools can also be very useful, especially as they include specially designed tools to enable you to monitor the impact of your Instagram Stories. Plans start at €29 a month.

Instagram Tool for Engagement Marketing #5 – Curalate Like2Buy

Like2Buy can change the way people interact with your Instagram posts. It enables you to offer people the chance to buy when they click the like button, so it is ideal if you’re often posting pictures of your products. Making it easier for people to purchase can increase sales and enhance the customer experience. Like2Buy is designed for larger businesses, but a similar tool called Soldsie can provide similar services for smaller businesses. Soldsie is free for the first 49 clicks then costs from $5 a month.