How often do you take a look at your businesses social media content and assess its purpose?
It sounds like a silly question, but it's actually something that a lot of business owners don't do. They're usually just "out there", posting things ad-hoc into the void... and then wondering why they aren't seeing any results from doing so.
Like many things in business and in life, having set goals and a strategy in place in order to achieve them is crucial for success on social media.
If you're in business and need to sell your services or products online, you will more than likely be in need of Instagram content that moves the needle towards conversions.
Instagram, whilst having its roots as a humble photography app - now has over 1 billion active users per month, with over 70% of them using the app for "product discovery". So, to not be utilising the platform and all it's unique features in order to gain more customers for your business, is crazy!
However, strategy is important when it comes to the type of content to use for this purpose. No one likes a page that constantly "pitch-posts" to them. Asking your followers to simply "buy your stuff" every day of the week isn't a great way to drive conversions on any social media network, never mind Instagram.
Instagram itself, as well as the users on the platform, value brands that think outside the box when it comes to content, in order to convey the value that their products or services bring to their customers/clients.
The brands that make a lasting connection with their followers using the content that they produce and the customer relationships that they develop as a result, are usually the higher performing brands on the platform.
That's why we thought we'd show you 5 great examples of "content that converts":
1. Lick: The "Art" of "Before & After" story posts.
Whilst it's not something you can utilise in paid campaigns, when used properly (and ethically) the "before/after" post is still a great way to drive organic engagement for your profile, specifically in stories, as this faster paced style of content consumption is much more suited to this style of post than scrolling through a feed post.
Check out how new home decor brand Lick utilises customer generated "before and after" shots in their Instagram stories to drive sales for their paint products:
This is a brilliant way of driving conversions for their range of home decor products, as they are not only showing the results of their products in the posts, but they are using client photos/examples to do it.
This is a relatively in-expensive thing for a company to organise with their customers and is a great way of utilising 'social proof' in your content marketing strategy to entice more customers (as well as developing relationships with your existing customers).
People are much more likely to trust a brand that many other people are using and enjoying. So not only is this ticking an important box by showing the end results that the customer desires (a nicely decorated living space), they are also building trust with their audience by using real homes in the content, warts and all. Bravo!
Could you ask your customers to show/send you before & after shots using your products/services?
2. Fiole - Using video to show your customers how it works.
If you are a company with a slightly more complicated service offering, or you sell a product that needs a bit more explaining than your average e-commerce product... what better way to educate your followers and potential customers than filming someone open or "unbox" your product and try it for the first time, capturing all of their thoughts and reactions on camera as they go?
Revolutionary online perfumery brand Fiole has executed this perfectly with this video on their profile, in which two guys, Craig and Ashley - both try "the Fiole experience" and share their thoughts.
This video explains to customers how their product/service works in an entertaining and engaging way.
It helps to translate what would be a lengthly piece of written text into a piece of content that can be used time and time again, in many formats - to explain to potential new customers how great the results of their product are and how easy it is to use.
Could you explain your product or service offering more intuitively using video?
3. Hammond & Smith: Listing properties with a personal touch.
Real estate can be a tricky niche to promote on social media, as selling a home can be a stressful experience.
People want to be able to trust the agent they work with and are now gravitating towards independent 'boutique' estate agencies rather than the big chains in search of the "personal experience".
New Essex based agency Hammond And Smith have found a great way of promoting new listings to their audience, by making sure to include a personal quote from the current owners about how much they have loved living there. Example below:
We think this is much more effective than simply captioning "JUST LISTED" or "FOR SALE" and then listing the amount of rooms a property has, which we see A LOT of!
By using the sellers personal description of their house, it evokes emotion into the post and helps people to imagine all the great times that they might enjoy for years to come if they bought the place.
It also removes the agent from the "sales" conversation temporarily, allowing the previous owners to talk about the breath-taking sunsets on the patio in the post - which is always more believable coming from the current residents. (A nice touch is the extra formatting they've put into the quote part of this post 👌). Well done Hammond and Smith, we hope this house goes to some lovely new owners soon!
Could you add a more personal touch to your content?
4. Sophie And Luna - Ask people what they want to see on the shelves.
London based floral millinery brand and recent Dragons Den contestant "Sophie and Luna" have a very unique type of product that they sell to their customers, in the form of wearable flowers that last for years.
When you have such a specific product offering and target demographic, it's important to know your customers and more importantly, know what they want. This can be achieved through years of experience in a trade, research or thanks to Instagram story polls, simply asking them!
As you can see below, Sophie and Luna are embracing this opportunity to understand their customers by doing just that, using the Instagram story "polls" feature.
This style of content can act as a highly effective form of market research for your business, takes little time at all to prepare and post and is absolutely free! Stories also tend to get more reach and engagement than feed posts initially as you're only asking simple yes - no / this - that style questions, it's a very small commitment for your followers to make! From here, you can use this to help inform product decisions in order to provide your customers with what they want.
It's also important to note, that if you decide to act on this information, let your followers know! Knowing that they have had a part in your decision will really help them feel connected to your brand.
We hope this post helped Sophie and Luna do just that!
Is there a question relating to your business that you could ask your followers using Instagram story polls?
5. Slab Records - Flicking through what's available
Last but not least is our awesome record store client Slab Records, who buy and sell vintage and previously enjoyed vinyl records.
Every week they post a "vinyl flick-through" video to their socials, which features the store owner flicking through a pile of their new stock before it's uploaded to their online store.
Browsing/flicking through records in record shops is a big part of record-collector culture that doesn't really get emulated very well when using a typical e-commerce site.
The fact that you could come across an absolute gem whilst flicking through some records by pure chance is taken away by the product filter bar and so on.
This type of 'flick-through' video content re-engages that aspect with the vinyl community, and our client also uses these videos to call his audience to action by saying things like: "Be sure to message us if you see anything you like here" and "We can bulk records together in a parcel to save on postage." - which drives messages and conversations that lead to multiple sales for the business, sign ups to their mailing list and more!
Need help with ideas for your Instagram content that converts?
Speak with us today for an unbiased opinion on your current strategy!
💥 info@longmanmedia.com